Quick answer (as of November 3, 2026): No. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is not a Soulslike, and its director has said so before and after launch. Satoru Nihei calls it a character-action game, and in a late-October PC Gamer interview he said the team never meant it "to be a particularly difficult game" like Sekiro or Nioh. Steam's numbers are consistent with that: the global achievement rate for beating the final boss is 52.9% two months after release, and you can pick an easier mode at any save point. The hard version exists, but it is optional: the rate for clearing the post-game Carnage mode is 12.1%.
This page was first written before launch, when nobody outside Capcom had played the full game. The game has been out since September 4, 2026, so this update replaces the old guesswork with what Capcom has said since, live Steam achievement rates and a side-by-side with Sekiro. It also corrects one claim from our pre-launch version (see "Did Capcom make it harder after the demo?" below).
Key takeaways
- Not a Soulslike, officially. Director Satoru Nihei has called it a character-action game since before launch, and said after launch that the team did not set out to match Sekiro or Nioh.
- Capcom says player data confirms the target. "We think it's hit the right spot in terms of the difficulty," Nihei told PC Gamer, citing tracked progression data.
- You choose the difficulty. Story and Action are available from the start and can be swapped at any Spirit Mirror. Carnage, a near one-hit-kill mode, unlocks after one clear.
- Over half of Steam players have finished. The global achievement rate for beating the final boss is 52.9% as of November 3, 2026.
- The Soulslike label is a Steam store tag, not Capcom's genre. "Souls-like" is still the 4th tag on the store page, but the same tag list also says "Open World", which the game is not.
Is Onimusha: Way of the Sword a Soulslike?
No, and Capcom has not wavered on it. Before launch, Nihei described the game as a character-action title that expands on what the series is known for, not a Soulslike and not an open world. The team's reasoning, repeated across preview interviews, was practical: games are expensive, and they did not want to make one that most buyers could not enjoy to the end.
After launch, Nihei went further. Speaking to PC Gamer (relayed by Eurogamer), he named the comparison directly. The team's intention wasn't for Way of the Sword "to be a particularly difficult game" like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice or the Nioh series. He described the target like this:
"There are points where [players] do stumble, they do die, they do get defeated. But they're able to overcome that and progress. That was what we set out to achieve in terms of pitching the difficulty for the game." Satoru Nihei, director, to PC Gamer
The series is also older than the genre. The first Onimusha came out in 2001, years before Demon's Souls, and its signature counter, the Issen, has been in the series since then. Way of the Sword is the first new mainline entry in more than 20 years, and Capcom built it as a return to that cinematic, counter-based action rather than a move into FromSoftware's lane.
What did Capcom say about difficulty after launch?
The headline from the October interview is that Capcom checked its own data and is happy with where the game landed.
"We've been looking at the data that comes back from people playing, so we can see where people are struggling and how they're progressing through the game. What we've seen in the trends in the data is that it's close to what we set out to achieve, in terms of difficulty." Satoru Nihei, to PC Gamer
He summed it up as "We think it's hit the right spot." Critics broadly agreed with the approach. The game sits at Metacritic 85 (PS5) and OpenCritic 85 ("Mighty"), and IGN gave it a 10/10 (aggregates as of September 12, 2026; see our review round-up). In Eurogamer's review, Dom Peppiatt praised how it advances action combat without leaning on Soulslike tropes, writing: "There is no game out there that makes you feel more like a swordsman of legend than Onimusha: Way of the Sword."
Not every player agrees. PC Gamer's writer noted that one of the most popular community mods for the PC version increases enemy aggression, a sign that some action veterans wanted more bite from the base game, especially since the hardest mode is locked until you finish the story once.
How hard is Onimusha: Way of the Sword, really?
Opinions are easy to find. Numbers are better. Steam publishes a global unlock rate for every achievement, so the boss achievements give a rough picture of how far players get. These rates were read on November 3, 2026 from Steam's achievement stats. Spoiler warning: the table names the final boss.
| Milestone (Steam achievement) | Share of Steam players |
|---|---|
| Drive off Sasaki Ganryu (first duel, Kiyomizu-dera) | 90.7% |
| Defeat the Greater Nue | 73.7% |
| Defeat Benkei (first fight) | 69.7% |
| Defeat Dokyo | 57.2% |
| Defeat Minamoto no Yoshitsune (final boss) | 52.9% |
| Land 50 Issen attacks | 53.9% |
| Complete the game on Carnage ("True Onimusha") | 12.1% |
| Unlock every achievement ("Peerless") | 7.9% |
These rates describe where players are, not why anyone stopped, and they do not split Story from Action. Still, two things stand out. The rates decline in steps between the first duel and the final boss rather than collapsing at one fight, and more than half of Steam players have unlocked the final-boss achievement within two months of release. HowLongToBeat players log about 23 hours for the main story (more in our how long to beat guide).
How does that compare to Sekiro?
Sekiro is the game players compare it to most, so here are the equivalent Steam rates, pulled the same day:
| Milestone | Onimusha: Way of the Sword | Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice |
|---|---|---|
| First major boss | 90.7% (Sasaki Ganryu, first duel) | 57.1% (Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa) |
| Beat the main final boss | 52.9% (Yoshitsune) | 31.4% (Sword Saint Isshin Ashina) |
This is not a controlled difficulty test. Sekiro came out in 2019, so its rates cover seven years of buyers, while Onimusha's cover two months of mostly launch-window buyers, and that difference alone could move the numbers. Treat it as context: the gap at the first major boss (90.7% vs 57.1%) is consistent with what Nihei said about aiming below Sekiro.
Why does everyone call it a Soulslike?
There are three reasons, and none of them is Capcom.
1. The combat is parry-first. Fights revolve around parries, deflects and the Issen, a perfectly timed counter that kills or staggers in one stroke. Modern parry-focused action is associated with Sekiro, so the timing loop feels familiar. Our Issen guide covers the timing in detail.
2. Steam's store tags. As of November 3, 2026, "Souls-like" is the 4th tag on the Steam store page, after Action, Singleplayer and Swordplay. Steam lets players, developers and moderators apply tags, and the page does not show who added this one. Either way, a tag does not override what the director says, and the same list includes "Open World", which the game is not.
3. Reviewers reach for Sekiro. Eurogamer reported that many critics called it "the true successor to Sekiro" and a new benchmark for parry-based combat. That is praise for the sword fighting, not a claim that the game is built like a Souls game.
What actually separates it from a Soulslike?
Here is how the shipped game lines up against the features people usually mean by "Soulslike".
| Feature | Typical Soulslike | Onimusha: Way of the Sword |
|---|---|---|
| Difficulty options | Usually one fixed difficulty | Story and Action from the start, Carnage after one clear |
| Lowering difficulty after repeated deaths | Not offered | After several deaths to the same fight, the death screen offers a switch to Story |
| Changing difficulty later | Not offered | Any Spirit Mirror, as often as you like |
| Combat help | Learn by dying | Optional on-screen Action Prompts show when to counter |
| Structure | Interconnected world | Mostly linear missions with explorable areas (Capcom says it is not open-world) |
| Length | Varies widely | About 20 hours, per producer Akihito Kadowaki; HLTB main story about 23 hours |
On Story, the parry and Issen windows are wider and Action Prompts are on by default. Action is the mode Capcom recommends for experienced action players, with tighter windows and prompts off. Carnage is the hardest mode: enemies can kill in a single hit, some bosses gain new moves, and once you pick it you cannot switch back. It raises the difficulty, but it does not change the game's structure, so it is still not a Soulslike. Our difficulty settings guide walks through exactly how to change modes.
Did Capcom make it harder after the demo?
No, and our pre-launch version of this page got this wrong. In summer 2026, some demo players said the game felt too easy, and several outlets reported that Capcom was adding difficulty settings in response. Producer Akihito Kadowaki later told RPG Site that "making adjustments to the difficulty or to the game based on feedback about the difficulty is not something we've done." In his video message to players, he explained that the demo was a slice of the early story that deliberately gave Musashi moves he would not have that early (VGC). The Story, Action and Carnage structure was the plan from the start.
Eurogamer's post-launch take is that the passive enemies that stood around in the demo are still in the final game, but "much less pronounced".
Which difficulty should you pick?
- You avoid Souls games because they are brutal: start on Story. You get the full campaign, wider timing windows and Action Prompts. You can switch up at any Spirit Mirror if it feels too easy.
- You play action games regularly: start on Action. It is the mode Capcom designed the encounters around, and the death-screen switch is there if one boss stalls you.
- You came for a Sekiro-level test: finish the story once, then go into Carnage. That is where the 12.1% figure comes from. Read our Carnage mode tips first, because you cannot back out once you start.
FAQ
Is Onimusha: Way of the Sword a Soulslike? No. Director Satoru Nihei calls it a character-action game, and after launch he told PC Gamer the team did not intend it to be as difficult as Sekiro or the Nioh series. "Souls-like" appears on its Steam page only as a store tag.
Is Onimusha: Way of the Sword hard? It is challenging but built to be finished. The global Steam rate for beating the final boss was 52.9% as of November 3, 2026, across Story and Action combined. The post-game Carnage mode is far harder, and its clear rate is 12.1%.
Is Onimusha: Way of the Sword harder than Sekiro? Capcom designed it not to be, and the Steam data points the same way, though it is not a controlled comparison. 90.7% of Onimusha players have got past the first Sasaki Ganryu duel, while 57.1% of Sekiro players have beaten its first major boss, Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa, and 31.4% its final boss. Sekiro's much longer time on sale could account for part of that gap.
Does Onimusha: Way of the Sword have an easy mode? Yes. Story mode widens the parry and Issen timing windows and turns on Action Prompts. You can switch to it at any Spirit Mirror, and the death screen offers it after several losses to the same fight.
Why does Steam tag it as Souls-like? Players, developers and moderators can all apply Steam tags, and the store does not show who added this one. The parry-heavy combat reminds people of Sekiro. The same tag list also says "Open World", which is wrong.
Is Carnage mode a Soulslike? No. It is the hardest mode, but difficulty and genre are different things. Enemies can kill in one hit, some bosses get new moves, and you cannot lower the difficulty once you start. It unlocks after you finish the game once and is required for the "True Onimusha" trophy and the Platinum.
