While Capcom had confirmed back in February that the protagonist of upcoming action game Onimusha: Way of the Sword is based on classic Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune, it took two years to get the rights to use his likeness in the game. Speaking to Game Watch (via Automaton Media), director Satoru Nihei and producer Akihito Kadowaki also indicated that development on the title had started back in at least 2020.
According to Nihei, the idea to use Mifune’s likeness for the protagonist in the upcoming game came about because he wanted a cool samurai in the game, and Mifune is what he thought of when thinking about “what it is about samurai that makes them actually cool.” For context, the late Toshiro Mifune is famous for having played roles in several classic Akira Kurosawa movies, including seminal works like Rashomon and Yojimbo. In these movies, Mifune often played the role of a cool samurai.
Nihei turned to classic Japanese movies and started looking for a character that could be described as “a young samurai who fights roughly, covered in blood and mud.” Mifune’s work from Kurosawa movies, as well as his 1954 role in Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto where he portrayed the eponymous Miyamoto drew Nihei’s attention to the actor.
“There are already many portrayals of Musashi Miyamoto’s character out there,” noted Kadowaki. “That is why we were very particular about making our new protagonist Musashi into a brand-new character. And in that sense, we were absolutely determined to use Mifune’s face to portray him. With how much we were particular about the details, we are confident that he turned out to be an exceptionally great series protagonist.”
Mifune’s likeness being used for the protagonist on Onimusha: Way of the Sword first became clear back in February when a trailer was released for the upcoming game. In the trailer, we got to see some of the title’s combat, as well as how it will use the series’ traditional classical Japanese setting. The trailer also indicated that players will be taking on hordes of demons in melee combat.
More recently, Onimusha: Way of the Sword got another trailer, this time around with a much heavier focus on showcasing the title’s sword-swinging gameplay. Throughout the trailer, protagonist Miyamoto Musashi can take on a wide range of challenges thanks to his ability to deal with just about any attack with well-timed parries. The trailer also gave us a look at some of the magical abilities that players will have at their disposal, including what appears to be a pair of heavy maces that can cause breaks, in reality, to deal massive damage to enemies.
The parrying was quite clearly the star of the trailer, however, with everything from simple melee attacks to massive swings by giant enemies making use of colossal weapons seemingly parryable, leaving the enemies open for swift counterattacks.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is slated for release in 2026, and will be coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
