Review Roundup: Onimusha: Way of the Sword Lands an 85, Series' Best Reception in Years

A note before we begin: HotGameNews staff have not played Onimusha: Way of the Sword. This is a roundup of published reviews and aggregate scores, not our own hands-on review. The game launched September 25, 2026 for PlayStation 5, with PC and Xbox Series X|S versions alongside it, and topped Steam’s top-sellers list within 24 hours of release.

The scores. Way of the Sword holds a Metascore of 85 from 82 critic reviews on the PS5 version — a strong number for a series that’s spent most of its history as a cult favorite rather than a mainstream hit.

What critics love. The parry-focused combat system is the headline. Reviewers consistently call out how polished the parrying feels, along with the variety of Oni weapons players get to wield. Boss fights draw specific praise too, with several outlets singling out the staging and difficulty curve of individual encounters as series highlights.

The complaints. The criticism is narrow and mechanical rather than structural. Reviewers flag repetitive mini-boss encounters that reuse the same enemy types too often, plus a mid-to-late-game difficulty spike that some found artificially inflated rather than a natural escalation of the systems already in play.

How to read it. An 85 from 82 reviews is a large, consistent sample — this isn’t a thin early-access snapshot. The complaints are specific (mini-boss variety, one difficulty spike) rather than a broad knock on the combat system that’s earning the praise, which suggests the core of the game is landing as intended even where pacing wobbles.

The bottom line. Way of the Sword’s 85 Metascore and day-one Steam top-sellers spot make it one of Capcom’s best-received releases of the year, with reviewers pointing to the combat and boss design as the reasons to play and the mid-game pacing as the one thing to brace for.

Scores reflect Metacritic at time of writing and may shift as more reviews are added.