Onimusha Way of the Sword Enemies: Genma Types and Design

Enemy design is where this game is most obviously a continuation of the series rather than a reinvention. The Genma return as the core threat, but the roster is being rebuilt from scratch, and the design philosophy behind that rebuild is more interesting than any individual enemy.

This page covers what has actually been shown, what the director has said about the design approach, and the systems that apply to enemies generally — grabs, stamina, dismemberment.

What the Genma are

The Genma are the demonic force behind the miasma swallowing early-Edo Kyoto. In the premise Capcom has outlined, the city has fallen into despair and the Genma have settled into it, striking bargains with residents rather than simply slaughtering them.

That bargaining is the story hook and it also shapes enemy encounters. Preview coverage describes a town where residents have made deals with the Genma, sacrificing parts of their bodies to solve their problems. Finding the Genma collecting those body parts is a stated objective in at least one section.

The practical upshot for combat is that the human population is not the enemy. The threat comes from the Genma themselves and from the creatures they have made out of the city.

Every enemy is a new design

The most direct statement about the roster comes from director Satoru Nihei. He has said that all the enemies in this game are completely new designs, and that while the team pays homage to past works, they are not simply bringing old enemies back.

The nuance matters. Rather than reusing an enemy wholesale, the team takes elements from previous Onimusha games and recombines and remixes them into something new. The result is meant to feel familiar to long-time players while still being a fresh lineup.

The clearest example given is a new enemy that will remind players of a classic one from the first Onimusha. That is a deliberate echo, not a return — old players get the recognition, new players just get a well-designed enemy.

Enemy types shown so far

A small number of enemy archetypes have been publicly demonstrated, mostly through the playable demo and hands-on previews.

• Standard street Genma. The basic melee opponents in the demo's town and temple sections. Readable telegraphs, and the enemies to practise parry and Issen timing against.
• Spider-type Genma. An arachnid enemy appears in the interior section of the demo route, and is one of the more distinctive silhouettes shown so far.
• Water-dwelling Genma. A previously unseen enemy that begins as a figure standing in water before something large and fish-like attacks. It performs a spinning water attack and is designed to teach grab counters.
• Grab-attack enemies. Not a species so much as a behaviour: certain enemies, including the water Genma, attempt grabs that you can reverse with a counter input, throwing them back.

Beyond these, the bosses page covers the boss-class encounters, which are mechanically distinct from standard enemies.

Stamina and how enemies break

The system that matters most against every enemy is stamina. Parry redirects an attacker and can knock them into the environment for stamina damage. Deflect destabilises them and drains stamina without repositioning. Both are worth more than blocking, which generates nothing.

Once an enemy's stamina is fully drained you can perform break Issen, which against a boss lets you target specific body parts. Against standard enemies it is the fastest route to a clean kill.

The Oni weapons built for stamina damage — the earth shakers and the sledgehammer on the weapons page — exist to accelerate this against slow, armoured enemies that shrug off normal attacks.

Crowd control

Fights in this game are rarely one-on-one, and the tools for crowds are specific.

The wind blade Oni weapon is the direct answer: it pushes enemies back, covers a wide area and blocks projectiles while dealing heavy damage. If you are surrounded and have a full blue meter, this is the activation.

Issen chains are the no-resource answer. Because a successful Issen damages several enemies at once and generates more souls, chaining counters is the fastest way to clear a group while also funding your next Gauntlet activation.

The environment is the third option and the most overlooked. Musashi can lift and throw objects such as tatami mats, blocking an enemy's line of sight so they temporarily cannot target you. Push it further and enemies can injure their own allies.

Dismemberment

Worth flagging for players deciding whether the game is for them: the finishing system is explicit and varied. Attacks can cut through an enemy's chest with the upper body sliding off along the direction of the swing, or split an enemy cleanly in half.

Previews describe this as intentional rather than incidental. Capcom has made no attempt to soften the brutality of sword combat, and the variety of finishing animations is part of the presentation. The Story difficulty setting exists for players who want the systems without the gore.

What is still unconfirmed

Sources and confidence

The Genma's role and the Kyoto premise come from Capcom's own announcements. The recombination design philosophy is from director commentary. Individual enemy types come from the playable demo and hands-on previews.

• Capcom official website
• Capcom press release
• Steam store page (App 2638890)
• Steam community discussions