Capcom has undergone a powerful interval of rejuvenation within the final decade. The benefit of successes with Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, Avenue Fighter and Satan Might Cry is that the developer is now reviving extra inherited franchises for brand spanking new initiatives. A type of revival is Onimusha: Sword pathThe following restart of the Samurai Motion-Horror collection that transformed step one of Capcom into the period of the subsequent era of the 2000s.
In Summer season Recreation Fest 2025, we have a look early to the primary recreation for Sword path And he interviewed the director of the sport Satoru Nihei and producer Akihito Kadowaki about his creation, which ended up being one of the crucial commented video games of the showcase. Seeing the brand new fight and visible model of the restart in motion, we talked about how Capcom’s newest know-how was important to return life to the collection.
The destiny of a brand new samurai
“We started to consider this new recreation in 2020, and one of many issues we actually needed was to focus deeply on essentially the most cinematographic and passable recreation of swords for the collection, and we’ve a greater know-how to make use of for this contemporary model of Onimusha,” mentioned Nihei. “We additionally put numerous effort within the story, the stage and the characters too, we’re constructing one thing utterly new to the collection.”
The unique Onimusha Initially it was conceived as a PlayStation 1 spin-off for the Resident Evil collection, with the goal of taking the survival terror expertise to Japan of the Sengoku period. Lastly, he turned his personal venture and have become one in every of Capcom’s first technical exhibitions for the PS2 in 2001. Along with his elegant fight, robust environmental design and facial seize and reasonable efficiency, the actor from which Kaneshiro is held because the protagonist, Samanosuke Akechi, the unique recreation turned one of many PS2’s boqueros.
Onimusha’s restart entails an identical promise of an thrilling samurai motion fantasy that has spectacular character and environmental photographs. Seeing the prolonged demonstration in SGF, the venture appears to be a worthy showcase for the RE engine, which has fed current video games comparable to Monster Hunter Wilds, Dragon’s Dogma 2and subsequent Resident requiem.
Within the restart, the story focuses on the historic Japanese swordsman Musashi Miyamoto (modeling after the late Toshiro Mifune actor with the approval of the Mifune property), which turns into an involuntary proprietor of the ONI Gauntlet who provides him drive to face the demons invading and take in his soul by extra energy. Armed together with his trusted sword, a demonic glove and a mysterious companion who guides him via Fudal Japan infested from ONI, Miyamoto will face harmful monsters and even the horrifying rival who search to say a rustic in chaos.
There’s a powerful stage of element inside the design of the evident situation within the demonstration, which takes place in a crumbled city earlier than shifting in direction of an invaded citadel. Capcom builders labored extensively to recreate feudal Japan, together with actual world places such because the Kiyomizu-Dera temple, which was created from contributions from native historians.
In keeping with Nihei, a selected focus space to construct a brand new onimusha motion recreation was to transmit a sense of realism and movie shine. This was current within the unique, however the restart is extra inclined to this, with the protagonist as a exceptional and emotional swordsman, in addition to a reluctant hero who navigates the encounters with a decision that’s nonetheless hardening.
“By way of the movie sensation and every part, we put numerous effort within the facial seize for the characters,” mentioned the sport director. “We pay shut consideration to wrinkles on faces and the completely different traits of those characters, comparable to once they press their faces and emotional particulars, (particularly) through the fight encounters. We actually deal with the animation of the fight and characters expression, and the various kinds of land within the setting wherein the characters are.”
Redefining Samurai’s motion motion
The fight and common construction of Sword path Go to a development extra based mostly on historical past, which is an fascinating deviation from the evil resident evil roots of the collection. The builders declared that it’s primarily a linear expertise, however the recreation will nonetheless provide alternatives to discover, work together with the townspeople and assume elective actions.
The fight is rather more deliberate and methodical with its recreation of swords than within the earlier collection. It’s much less about utilizing mixed assaults to scale back the well being of the enemy and extra of being environment friendly, clarifying enemies in half with one or two assaults. Nevertheless, one factor that builders have been clear when stating was that the struggle was not impressed by soul video games, which have had a major affect on the motion style through the decade.
“We actually do not take note of different motion video games comparable to Darkish Souls and Sekiro After we have been growing our model of an onimusha recreation, “mentioned the director.” An important factor for us was how we introduced the collection and its concepts in a convincing manner. What actually does an onimusha recreation and how will you use the most recent know-how to convey the appeal and attractiveness of the collection to trendy gamers? These questions have been an important factor for us after we have been constructing the sport. “
The overall fight movement focuses largely on involving a number of enemies and anticipating their actions to reveal their weaknesses. The enemy assaults will open their protection, which is able to permit you to launch a counterattack. Should you use an rising approach to hit an enemy simply earlier than your assault arrives, it’s going to give an on the spot loss of life blow.
Miyamoto can be a scruffy fighter and may use contextual captures and abilities to counteract enemies. In a enjoyable encounter, Miyamoto snatched a desk to make use of it as a protect of the enemies taking pictures arrows and instantly threw them again when a gap arrived.
Testifying the event of fight with excellently designed animations was spectacular, particularly Musahsi’s particular demonic weapons that pierce the veil among the many kingdoms. Capcom Re -motor know-how continues to be a terrific showcase for detailed animations of characters and transmit a spread.
In keeping with Nihei, the actual imaginative and prescient of the crew to Onimusha: Sword path It will solely have been doable with present know-how obtainable to the developer.
“With the brand new know-how we’ve, we have been capable of get the very best of our particular results and the definition of characters within the recreation, particularly through the battle scenes that you just noticed of the presentation,” he mentioned. “We even have a chief assembly that may make assaults that may divide the bottom. That type of element and high quality stage that we’ve for this recreation was one thing we will solely do with the engine know-how we’ve now, and that’s what will make this entry (of) onimusha really feel actually particular.”
