Onimusha: Way of the Sword is just a month away, so Capcom invited us to check out an updated build running on PlayStation 5. While the original preview and public demo generally covered the same ground, this latest build appears to pick up after the demo's end. Having won the fight against Sasaki Ganryu, you use the Oni vision to find a path through a mountain wall and into a new area where you find the Oni Bow.

The Oni Bow is both a long-range weapon and a tool for puzzle-solving. There is a basic puzzle in the immediate area (a locked door that can be opened by shooting the lock through a window), but it'll be a necessity later in the game. There are doors and platforms that can only be moved by shooting a trigger. The door to leave the cave where you find the bow is straightforward, but later in the demo, there's an area where part of the challenge is identifying the correct spot to shoot the trigger.

Outside the cave was an area that seemed to exist in an "in between" realm. It wasn't hell, but it also wasn't the regular world. Navigating was straightforward enough, but there were plenty of low-level Genma to keep me busy. The game introduced environmental hazards as a gameplay tool, with carefully placed rocks that could be knocked loose with a well-placed bow shot to crush unlucky Genma.

Throughout it all, there was a large monster in the background that's hunting for food. The Diadara the Slavering Glutton was the first boss fight of this preview build, and it was also the point at which the game reinforced its reliance on technique. In short, I quickly got stomped ... more than once.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is all about restraint and timing. If you button-mash, you're not going to last long. The game forces you to look for an opening and only react when the time is right. That may be an attack, a parry, or a dodge, but once you commit, you're going for it. You can't approach Onimusha: Way of the Sword like a typical action game. It demands you play it strategically.

One option that I found quite helpful displays a suggested action on your opponent. At first it may look like a QTE, but it's not. If you try to treat the suggestions as QTEs, you're going to fail because of the timing. Although the game will suggest a move, it doesn't tell you the exact time to use it. That's something you need to figure out. As you get used to playing, you can ignore the suggestions or turn them off entirely, but for someone new to the franchise or for someone who hasn't played since the PlayStation 2 days, they are a useful tool.

After besting Diadara, it was back to Kyoto, which served as a hub area. Here we learned more of the story, including the gauntlets, the Oni, the Genma, and the ultimate big bad who is responsible for defeating the Oni and spreading the Malice throughout the world.

The voice acting continued to impress, with the actors conveying both gravitas and humor in equal amounts. Watching the main character interact with the Oni in his gauntlet is a treat because his frustration is real. It's obvious that your character doesn't want to be in this situation, but there's nothing he can do about it, since the fate of the world is resting on his shoulders.

Before exploring the immediate area, I took a quick look at the skill tree and upgrade options. Onimusha: Way of the Sword has multiple ways to upgrade your stats, including by equipping charms. You can enhance charms at the temple through a combination of red soul and favor. Favor is earned by offering items that you find and/or get from residents by saving them from roving Genma.

There is also a practice ground where you can run through drills to test new abilities (useful after unlocking them in the skill tree) or pull up an old boss fight for a rematch.

Mission goals are marked on your map, but there is also a tool called the Johari Shard that acts like a glowing firefly to lead you to your next destination if you don't want to navigate manually.

After clearing out two small bits of Malice in the city, I was tasked with a basic search-and-retrieval mission to unlock the second boss fight. Rasho-gan the Wish Warper is a Genma who grants people's wishes in the worst possible way — monkey's paw indeed.

Unlike Diadara, I found the fight against Rasho-gan to be more at range, only closing in when there was a distinct opening. Having played for a bit at this point, I was also getting familiar with some of the more advanced moves, and that certainly helped. That's something that Onimusha: Way of the Sword seems to do well; it encourages you to build on the skills you've learned instead of leaning on one or two primaries the entire time.

Even when I was losing, I didn't feel like the game was unfair. As a result, winning felt that much sweeter.

The final section of the preview involved exploring a new area of Kyoto where the Malice was heavy. The concentrated Malice at ground level caused my health to drop whenever I was within the cloud, so it was vital to move quickly and gain the high ground. The Malice was cleared after eliminating the massive plants that were generating it, which also revealed the final boss fight and the end of the preview build.

After spending a little over two hours on the PlayStation 5 version of the game, I hopped over to the Switch 2 to give the motion controls a try. The motion controls mapped both primary attacks and the bow. Motion controls could be used alongside all the regular buttons, so they appear to be complementary, which should help with the learning curve.

While using the motion controls for the bow was fun, it was quite the challenge to get the correct timing for the attacks. Part of that may have been the fact that I was playing on the Switch 2 screen instead of a big screen TV, but even in the practice area, trying to land an Issen with the motion controls was extremely difficult. I suspect this may be a fun thing to try, but I'm not yet sold on the idea of motion controls being a preferred control option.

Everything else about Onimusha: Way of the Sword is looking good. The heavy reliance on technique and strategy is sure to please fans of the series, while providing a challenge for those new to the franchise. Once you start getting the timing down, the power fantasy is real. Assuming the story delivers on the depth it teased during the preview, Onimusha: Way of the Sword will be another hit in Capcom's catalog.