Capcom is bringing back one of its old game franchises on September 4, 2026. In Onimusha: Way of the Sword, players take on the role of the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi. MeinMMO was able to ask Director Satoru Nihei and Producer Akihito Kadawaki a few questions at gamescom 2026, including about the legendary main character.
Who did MeinMMO speak to in the interview?
- Satoru Nihei (featured in the title image) is the Game Director behind Onimusha: Way of the Sword. He worked as a Game Designer on Sengoku Basara 4 and as a Player Designer on Exoprimal. Now he takes on the role as Director for the new Onimusha.
- Also present was Akihito Kadowaki, the Producer of the game. He recently served as Producer on Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Stories 2, and as Executive Producer on the re-release of Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny.
- As an interpreter, Daniel McCalla was present, translating between English and Japanese.
The interview was edited for readability and slightly condensed. We also divided the conversation into logical sections. An overview of the individual topics can be found here:
MeinMMO: Hello and thank you for this opportunity. First of all: With remakes, sequels, and re-releases, Capcom is actively working with its own history. How did you approach bringing “Onimusha” back to life with a new game after such a long time?
Akihito Kadawaki: So in terms of reviving, bringing back the “Onimusha” series: Since the release of the last “Onimusha” title in 2006, there has always been a strong internal desire to make a new “Onimusha” game. But it’s one of those things that hasn’t really been possible so far, because we couldn’t get the right team together – or, of course, because it takes a lot of time and many people to develop such big titles.
It was around 2020 when we finally managed to bring the right number of people together, and our RE-Engine was maturing – it was just the perfect starting point to kind of the “Onimusha” series again. But instead of wanting to develop a remake from the ground up, it has always been a big concern of ours to create essentially a brand new, fresh start for the “Onimusha” series. […]
I’d like to add something to that. Of course, we make a lot of remakes of the “Resident Evil” games, but with “Onimusha,” the situation is quite different, as “Onimusha” does not have the same global recognition as the “Resident Evil” series. […] We realized that this wasn’t really the right way to introduce people to the world of Onimusha, and we concluded that a brand new title would be the best way to achieve that.
Monsters and Sword Fights
MeinMMO: Talking about doing something new and different: You have many different designs for the Genma in Way of the Sword. What was the philosophy behind their design?
Satoru Nihei: Our approach to designing the Genma this time is that many of the Genma designs are essentially based on Kyoto, specifically the locations where these games take place. Kyoto is associated with a long history filled with many myths and legends, and we wanted to take some of those myths and legends as motifs to inspire the designs of the game this time around.
An example of this is Rasho-gan, the boss you must fight at the Yasui-Konpira-gu Shrine, who has many arms […]. Thus, we have this concept of “severing fates” associated with this shrine. So, the design of his giant shears, his weapon; but of course, he also has many limbs, and these limbs are essentially “harvested” from people who go there to pray. So, we have a design philosophy that is heavily oriented to the locations and places.
But beyond that, we also want to add our own spin on things to make our own iconic and interesting designs. For instance, we have the pair of Ifuu and Burai, which were featured in the newest trailer, and they are somewhat based on Japanese delinquents, or so-called “Yankees”. […]
So [we] don´t just take the traditional Japanese side of things, but also inject interesting and unique design elements. And also, Ifuu has these very large, lung-like appendages on his back, which he uses to kind of blast wind. So, we’ve tried to approach the design in a way that it feels realistic on one hand, but also very fantastic and interesting to make them very iconic.
MeinMMO: For me, the combat animations are some of the most interesting aspects. […] How did you design and animate them? Particularly in regard to making them work smoothly in gameplay and not just in directed cutscenes.
Satoru Nihei: We worked very closely with motion capture experts, whom we have relied on for many of our games. They have very experienced motion capture artists and extensive expertise in the industry. We worked closely with their sword fighting experts and masters to capture realistic, very credible movements through motion capture.
But of course, we want the game to be entertaining. While the animations exhibit these realistic aspects, we have also included some exaggerated elements to make the game really attractive.
And as you mentioned, there are many variations in the animations. Therefore, we captured numerous variants from different angles, considered different ratios of force, simulated fights against larger opponents, and ensured that walking and similar actions conveyed a sense of weight. We invested a lot of work into that.
But one thing we noticed when we began the motion capture sessions was working with the sword masters who were very experienced: many of their movements were very – I would say – refined and very pure. And although that looked good, all movements in the game somehow felt the same because they seemed so controlled. So, we really fine-tuned the direction to bring in these kinds of imperfections and a somewhat rougher side to create more variation.
Musashi as a Legendary Figure
MeinMMO: One announcement that particularly caught my attention was that you took the legendary actor Toshiro Mifune as a model for Musashi’s face. Are there any lesser-known samurai films that you would recommend to “Onimusha” fans in this context?
Akihito Kadawaki: [Among my favorites] is “Hissatsu: Sure Death” [Note: The Japanese title is not entirely clear, but based on the pronunciation and description, we refer to “Hissatsu: Sure Death”]. But it is a film that features both samurai and ninjas, so it’s a very cool film […]. However, regarding the question of whether players should watch the movie before playing the game: I think it’s better to first play the game and then […] explore the world of the periods on Japanese site.
Satoru Nihei: [Among my favorite films] is “13 Assassins,” a film by Takashi Miike. What I particularly like about this film is the atmosphere. The scenes are consistently very dark and rainy, and I appreciate this rough side of the samurai genre.
MeinMMO: Talking about Musashi as a character: How did you implement the story and mythos of this character in the game? I mean, he is even one of the best-known samurai in the West.
Satoru Nihei: There are definitely elements from Musashi’s kind of real history that we brought into the game. One particular aspect is his rivalry with Sasaki Kojirō – in the game, it´s Ganryū. This is something we really want to focus on as one of the central conflicts in the game. That is one thing from real history.
Furthermore, in this game, we are seeing a young Musashi before he reaches the peak of his swordsmanship. So in this sense, he hasn’t truly mastered his typical two-sword fighting style yet that he is known for. We wanted to ensure that the game is historically accurate in that regard. And then Musashi, in the legends and stories about his fights, was also someone who never hesitated to use everything around him to achieve victory.
This was also an element we thought would be really cool in the game as part of the gameplay. So we integrated that as well. As for other historical elements, he naturally receives the Oni glove in our game. And this leads to the storyline diverging significantly from the actual historical development. So we want to tell our own interpretation of the legend of Miyamoto Musashi, rather than being purely historically accurate.
MeinMMO: You mentioned Sasaki as a kind of rival. Can you tell us more about the relationship between Musashi and Sasaki? In this new demo, I feel like he is not just an enemy, but also feels a bit of [nostalgia] about how Sasaki develops as a samurai.
Satoru Nihei: Regarding the relationship between Ganryū and Musashi: Both were essentially imposed with Oni gloves against their will. And while Ganryū has also gone off to defeat Genma and collect souls, feeling quite confident in his power, he is very frustrated when he loses early on against Musashi because he feels he should actually be stronger. So, he essentially takes a very different path in search of more power than Musashi.
While Musashi wants to get rid of the glove and rely solely on his own strength, Ganryū simply wants to wear it, be the best, and become stronger. As both explore what it means to be strong and gain more power, they encounter all sorts of challenges.
And as you said, there is a sense that he is not just an enemy. The path he did not take has a certain tragic side. So yes, we will definitely see elements where Ganryū fully accepts the power of the glove and seeks to maximize its use, while there is significant resistance, especially on Musashi’s part, against the idea of using it. So you will see a lot of that in the themes of the game as you process.
The Benefits of Action Games
MeinMMO: What I particularly like about the genre of the new “Onimusha” is that it resembles a linear action game. Twenty years ago, I believe that was the most important genre. Today, however, open-world games and large titles with many different paths dominate. What makes linear games just as important today as, let’s say, twenty years ago?
Satoru Nihei: One of the strengths of linear games is definitely that they can provide a much more carefully crafted player experience than in an open-world game. But beyond that, it’s not just about having a game that you can invest as many hours into as you want. It’s nice to have more compact experiences whose completion is very fulfilling and rewarding. So we see one of the strengths of linear games: we can offer a more cinematic experience that is finely crafted […].
The flip side, however, is that a purely linear experience can feel somewhat constraining. You cannot simply go off to explore the world and see more of it. In this title, we have therefore chosen a structure where there are indeed linear sections, but also a more open Kyoto that can be explored. Players can switch between these two modes to get a better feel for the world.
MeinMMO: One topic I’ve always wanted to talk about is “Onimusha 3” with Jean Reno from Capcom’s history. I think the game […] was ahead of its time. If you could work with a big actor today, who would you most like to make a game with?
Akihito Kadawaki: Just because of the where we are […] [we] really want to focus on stories in Japan. And therefore, it would be a departure from either setting an “Onimusha” game in a foreign country or introducing a character from a foreign country […].
Currently, such a world backdrop for new titles would probably not feel right. But certainly, at some point, once we have established the more Japanese backdrop and atmosphere, we might consider ideas that bring foreign places into this world.
MeinMMO: Thank you.
What do you think of Onimusha and the portrayal of Musashi? Are you looking forward to the game and do you have experience with the series? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. Another interview with Capcom can be found here: Role-playing games like Dragon’s Dogma cannot be found elsewhere; the creators reveal their secret recipe and what the future holds
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