Onimusha: Way of the Sword

I started Onimusha: Way of the Sword on the harder difficulty, made it all the way to Rasho Gan, and then switched. In this guide, I explain what the difference actually means in practice.

From the names of the two modes and just how tough “Action” really is to a menu option that lets you fine-tune the challenge yourself: Here’s everything you need to know before your first swing of the sword.

What difficulty levels are available in Onimusha: Way of the Sword?

There are exactly two at the start, and the game gives you its recommendation right on the selection screen. Story (Easy) is described by Capcom as the difficulty for players who want to focus on the story and is recommended even for those with little experience with action games. Action (Normal) is aimed at players looking for challenging combat and is explicitly recommended for experienced action-game players.

More interesting than the names themselves are the labels in parentheses. The harder of the two options isn’t called “Hard” but “Normal.” In other words, Onimusha doesn’t even offer a high difficulty setting at the start, which explains a good part of the debate that has been going on since the demo. Anyone expecting Sekiro is looking for a difficulty level that simply isn’t there.

Note: In Story mode, the game locks Action Suggestions to “On.” This means the game displays prompts telling you which button to press and when. If you played the demo in this mode, the game was guiding you through combat without you necessarily realizing it. That alone accounts for a noticeable part of the impression that the game is “too easy.”

How difficult is “Action” really?

Regular encounters are still manageable as long as you develop a feel for the timing windows for Parrying attacks and Deflecting. You won’t constantly hit a brick wall; you simply have to understand what the combat system expects from you. Button-mashing won’t get you very far, especially because enemy Stamina gauges play such an important role.

Bosses are a different story. They will put you to the test, and Rasho Gan was where I called it quits. Not because the fight was impossible, but because I clearly had several more attempts ahead of me and simply didn’t have the time that evening. That was the point where I lowered the difficulty and continued playing.

So how easy is “Story”?

This is where the debate surrounding the demo misses the mark, and where my own experience differs from the general online consensus. I didn’t simply breeze through the game after switching. A later boss still took me three attempts even on the easier difficulty. Regular Genma go down faster, no question, and you can take significantly more punishment before things get dangerous. But bosses are still bosses.

So the answer to “Onimusha is too easy” is this: Neither difficulty turns the game into a cakewalk. The difference is less about whether a boss stops you and more about how long it keeps you there.

How to change the difficulty at any time

You can change the difficulty at a Spirit Mirror, the same locations where you save, travel, and upgrade your character. Open the menu and select Difficulty, which is described as the option to change the difficulty of your adventure.

The game also makes it clear that there’s no downside to changing your mind. The selection screen explicitly states that you can change the difficulty as often as you like without any negative consequences. That means no locked trophies, reduced rewards, or other penalties if you lower the difficulty for a particularly tough section.

Note: Don’t look for the option in a fixed position on the list. The Spirit Mirror menu expands as you progress through the game because features such as the Hozuki Bag are added later. As a result, the difficulty option moves farther down the menu the further you get.

Action Suggestions: the hidden difficulty slider

This is the setting hardly anyone talks about, even though it arguably changes the experience more than switching modes. The Action Suggestions display prompts during combat telling you which button to press. You can turn them off in the options regardless of which difficulty you’ve selected.

They’re enabled by default in both modes, including Action. If you really want to learn the combat system, turn them off. You’ll start watching enemy animations instead of waiting for an icon to appear on the screen, which is exactly how Onimusha’s combat is designed to work. On the other hand, you can play on Action and leave the suggestions enabled if fights become too difficult to read. In practice, that gives you four levels of challenge instead of two.

Note: If you switch to Story, the game automatically turns Action Suggestions back “On,” even if you previously disabled them. Check the setting after every difficulty change or you may end up with the prompts enabled again without realizing it.

Which difficulty should you choose?

Start on Action if you’ve already played Sekiro, Nioh, or other Souls-like games. Story will probably feel too easy, and the on-screen button prompts take away some of the appeal of the counter-based combat system.

Start on Story if you’re short on time or primarily here for Kyoto and the cinematic presentation. It’s not an inferior way to play Onimusha, and as mentioned above, the bosses still won’t simply hand you the win.

If you’re unsure, start on Action. Switching costs you nothing and only takes a few menu inputs at any Spirit Mirror. Starting on Story, on the other hand, may keep you from seeing what this combat system is really capable of — and you might not even realize what you’re missing.