Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the latest game to grace the cover of Game Informer. As part of my cover story trip to Capcom’s Osaka HQ, where I played the game and interviewed the team making it, I also got to speak to Motohide Eshiro, the planner of Onimusha: Warlords and director of Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny (and its recent remaster).
I published an in-depth retrospective about Onimusha’s success, its “Sengoku Biohazard” origins, and more based on my interview with Eshiro, and you can read that right here, but I also spoke to him about watching this series return after a 20-year hiatus. Though he’s not officially working on Way of the Sword, he works at Capcom in a producer role, supporting up-and-coming producers working on various projects at the publisher-developer.
Game Informer
Motohide Eshiro
Sitting beside Way of the Sword director Satoru Nihei, Eshiro tells me he’s been “very surprised and impressed” with the way video game graphics, particularly across the Onimusha series, have evolved alongside the action genre over the past two decades since Onimusha’s start. He also believes Nihei and the rest of the Way of the Sword team have nailed the swordplay action.
“I feel that one of the strengths of it is the swordplay,” Eshiro says. “In particular, I found it was quite an interesting evolution from the base game, but also, maintaining elements like the Issen, that satisfying feel of pulling it off, and the back and forth of Japanese swordplay – I feel they’ve done a really good job of capturing that feeling and creating a bit more of a realistic start of the swordplay action.”
There is a clear but polite embarrassment in the room from Nihei, as he listens to Eshiro discuss Way of the Sword’s strengths, and it’s endearing to see. Nihei refers to Eshiro as a legend and is happy to hear he thinks Way of the Sword is satisfying in its action. “When we have legends like [Eshiro] check out the game, I definitely feel nervous,” he says. “Are they going to be like, ‘What are you doing here?’ There’s definitely a bit of pressure, but obviously I look forward to hearing what they have to say about the game.”
Delving further into his impressions, Eshiro says he is very impressed by what the Way of the Sword team has accomplished with today’s technology. “Coming from someone involved with the past titles, I am very impressed with that and am really happy to see the project in good hands,” he adds. “I’m very excited for people to get their hands on the game.”
Ever the studio man, Eshiro closes out his thoughts by saying if someone is excited about Way of the Sword and wants to learn more about the series, “I would love for people to check out the Onimusha 1 and 2 remasters to see how the series has changed over these 20 years.”
I actually played through both remasters in the lead-up to this cover story trip for Way of the Sword, and though I loved the games as a child, I was surprised to see how well they hold up. Onimusha: Warlords, in particular, remains a fascinating game; it really is “Sengoku Biohazard,” the first game’s codename, à la a Resident Evil game (even set in a singular location like Spencer Mansion) but with samurai instead of agents and swords instead of guns. Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny ups the ante, expanding the game’s scale, complete with a wide-spanning friendship system and multiple branching paths that are still intriguing pieces of game design history today. All of this is to say, I echo Eshiro’s thoughts: Give Onimusha: Warlords and Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny a go if you’re waiting for Way of the Sword and in need of more swordplay action.
I’ll be diving deeper into Capcom’s return to Onimusha as part of Game Informer’s month of Way of the Sword coverage. We’ll be publishing exclusive gameplay and behind-the-scenes videos (including a Rapid-Fire Interview) on the Game Informer YouTube channel as well. Keep an eye on the Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub so you don’t miss any of it.
In the meantime, here’s some additional Onimusha: Way of the Sword reading for you:
What’s your favorite Onimusha game? Let us know in the comments below!