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Onimusha Way of the Sword Hands-On: Back to the Demon-Killing Samurai Grind

Capcom’s triumphant return to the Onimusha franchise felt pretty rote in a short demo — until the outstanding boss fight.

It’s been 19 years since Capcom released another game progressing the story of its samurai action horror franchise, Onimusha — but in 2026, Onimusha: Way of the Sword will arrive as the next game in the series. Ahead of Gamescom, Capcom gave US media a preview of the game with a short 15-minute demo, a mere taste to show us where the next game is going in the two decades since the last mainline Onimusha.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword continues the franchise’s tradition of basing characters on historic figures and then having them fight demons. Players take on the role of Miyamoto Musashi — one of the most famous swordsmen in Japanese history — tasked with destroying the Genma, an army of demons plaguing the land. You’ll hack, you’ll slash, you’ll parry, you’ll kick ass.

The Onimusha games have always been something of an arcade hack-and-slash with parrying mechanics, a novelty when the series debuted in the early 2000s, but which other games have adopted in the decades since. Period samurai games have been in vogue in recent years, from 2019’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima (and Ghost of Yotei releasing soon) to this year’s Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. 

While my demo with Onimusha: Way of the Sword was brief, it seems like Capcom has resisted mimicking the stealth and hyper-mobility of those more modern samurai games and preserved the idiosyncrasies of the originals. Musashi receives the power of the Oni gauntlet, through which he can absorb orbs of the hordes of demons he slays — and no, you still can’t jump.

Most of the modernizations to Onimusha: Way of the Sword is through the parry system, which has four different ways to deflect enemy attacks, presuming you time it correctly. Yet it’s still a game about cutting apart demons with your sword in frankly brutal fashion, depleting their block meter to get in a final slash that will frequently slice them in half in a gruesomely satisfying fashion. 

A short slice of Onimusha: Way of the Sword

The demo opened up with the player as Musashi walking down a forest path to get to a temple, passing fleeing villagers and sword-wielding demon soldiers pursuing them. Killing them was easy — the game was on the Action difficulty (with an even easier Story difficulty if I wanted), and even with my middling Sekiro and Elden Ring skills, it was a breeze, so I’m hoping for a tougher option when the game releases.

A dark fog gathered around the temple, which Musashi called Malice, which sounds like a concentration of demonic presence (but what do I know). As I approach the temple gates, the Oni gauntlet, the soul-gathering demon armor piece that’s iconic to the franchise, speaks to Musashi. When he moves to touch a glowing orb, ghostly memories of villagers march into the temple. To enter myself, I had to use Oni Vision — basically a Batman-style detective sight — to find the right spiritual binding to cut.

Naturally, more demon soldiers await me in the temple, giving me a chance to use my special weapons — a pair of twin blades I can summon when I’ve revved up enough energy in the Oni Power Gauge using my regular sword. Presumably, I’ll get to use a variety of magical arms this way in the full game, but it does seem like most of the combat will be using my trusty katana (and a lot of parrying). 

I finally entered the main sanctuary of the temple overlooking the valley below, which had another ghostly memory for me to watch — recalling the corrupting Malice convincing elderly villagers to toss their children into the abyss. Grim stuff. But I was quickly shaken out of my reverie by an old friend of Musashi’s who greeted him with a blade. There’s some unspoken history between your legendary swordsman and the seemingly unhinged newcomer (named Sasaki Ganryu), but he’s got an Oni Gauntlet too, and a desire to cut you down.

Unlike the fodder I’d fought before, Ganryu as a boss was a satisfying and lengthy fight, requiring plenty of counters and measured attacks to break your opponent’s stance. When you do, you’re given a choice of where to land your critical hit — in the boss’s body for extra damage, or in his Oni Gauntlet to get more orb currency. 

While you have some healing items to use normally, I couldn’t apply them during the boss battle — but successive attacks will make healing orbs pop out, rewarding precise play while forgiving missteps. It’s a promising alternative to other punishing slash-and-parry games, like FromSoftware’s Souls titles and their imitators. 

With the boss defeated, the demo ended, and thus our first look at a brand-new Onimusha game in two decades. While Onimusha: Way of the Sword comes in the wake of several other action games set in historical Japan, Capcom’s contribution has the arcade feel and brutality, combined with demonic mystery, that could set it apart from more grounded and realistic samurai simulators.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is coming out in 2026.

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White House Joins TikTok With New Account. Here’s What It’s Posted So Far

An official White House account has shown up on TikTok, with one video featuring the caption: ‘We’re so back’.

The White House has officially joined TikTok, even as the administration is trying to help determine the future of the platform in the US.

So far, the TikTok account has four videos, a mix of videos of President Donald Trump speaking, footage of the White House itself over music and the caption: «We’re so back.» There’s also a video of Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responding with hostility to a press conference question from a New York Times reporter, which is one way to set the tone early doors. As of this writing, the account had more than 123,000 followers so far.

The tagline for the account is: «Welcome to the Golden Age of America.»

After a move to ban TikTok in the US due to its Chinese ownership, the administration has delayed a shutdown as it seeks to help the company’s owner ByteDance, transfer ownership to a US company. There are expectations that new ownership could be announced as early as September as the company works on a US-only version of the TikTok mobile app. 

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ROG Xbox Ally: Release Date, Specs, Price and How It Compares to Steam Deck

Can Microsoft and Asus give Valve some handheld competition?

The Steam Deck has yet to find a real competitor in the PC handheld gaming device battle. Other hardware companies, including Asus, Lenovo and MSI, have tried, but so far, their devices keep falling short. Asus plans to try to take another swipe at the crown, though, this time with the help of Microsoft.

In June, the two revealed their partnership for a new handheld device: the ROG Xbox Ally. This handheld will come in two variants and will attempt to bring the Xbox console experience to a portable device. Microsoft confirmed the release date for the Xbox Ally of Oct. 16 on Wednesday, but there are still some questions about the handheld. 

Will the Xbox Ally outdo the Steam Deck, or will it wind up being just another wannabe?

How much will the Xbox Ally cost?

Neither Microsoft nor Asus has confirmed an official price yet. One thing for sure is that the Xbox Ally won’t be cheap.

Multiple leaks suggest the price will be 599 euros for the Xbox Ally and 899 euros for a higher-end version, the Xbox Ally X. That does leave the question of what the price will be in the US. Most likely, the price will be the same just in dollars, as that is the typical practice for gaming hardware prices.

Discount social media poster Wario64 tweeted Best Buy listings for the Xbox Ally, Xbox Ally X, charger dock, and case on Wednesday. There’s no pricing on the site for the devices, just a button to be notified when preorders become available. However, Wario64 states the pricing on the back end shows the Xbox Ally at $550 and the Xbox Ally X at $900, while the charging dock is listed on the site $100 and case for $70. The dock and case prices are on Best Buy and are accurate. It’s unclear if Microsoft changed plans at the last minute. 

Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the post. 

The uncertainty about the price of the Xbox Ally is likely due to tariffs. Microsoft recently increased the prices of its Xbox Series consoles and Asus has done the same with its laptops and its current ROG Ally lineup.

When does the Xbox Ally come out?

Microsoft did confirm the release date of the Xbox Ally on Oct. 16. This date was mentioned in previous leaks regarding the handheld device’s price. 

When can I preorder the Xbox Ally? 

Preorders are not available as of yet. In the blog post about the release date, Microsoft says preordering and pricing will be announced sometime in the future. Best Buy does have the listings for the Xbox Ally, Xbox Ally X, charging dock and case, and those interested can request to be notified when preorders become available. 

What’s the difference between the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X?

There are two versions of the Xbox Ally: the lower-priced Xbox Ally and the higher-priced Xbox Ally X.

The key differences between the two are in their processors, storage and memory. The Xbox Ally will have the AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor, while the Xbox Ally X will use the faster AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor. Memory will be different, with the lower-priced Xbox Ally having 16GB of LPDDR5X-6400 and the higher-cost handheld coming with 24GB LPDDR5X-8000. Both will come with SSD storage but the Xbox Ally will have 512GB and the Xbox Ally X will have 1TB. The Xbox Ally X will also come with a bigger battery but with a faster processor and more memory. It’s not clear if that difference in capacity translates to a longer battery life.

Specs for Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X

ROG Xbox Ally ROG Xbox Ally X
Operating System Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Home
Controls and grip Contoured grips inspired by Xbox Wireless Controllers deliver all-day comfort. ABXY buttons / D-pad / L & R Hall Effect analog triggers / L & R bumpers / Xbox button / View button / Menu button / Command Center button / Library button / 2x assignable back buttons / 2x full-size analog sticks / HD haptics / 6-axis IMU Contoured grips inspired by Xbox Wireless Controllers deliver all-day comfort, complete with impulse triggers for enhanced control.ABXY buttons / D-pad / L & R impulse triggers / L & R bumpers / Xbox button / View button / Menu button / Command Center button / Library button / 2x assignable back buttons / 2x full-size analog sticks / HD haptics / 6-axis IMU
Processor AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor
Memory 16GB LPDDR5X-6400 24GB LPDDR5X-8000
Storage 512GB M.2 2280 SSD for easier upgrade 1TB M.2 2280 SSD for easier upgrade
Display 7-inch, 1080p, IPS, 500 nits, 16:9; 120Hz refresh rate, FreeSync Premium;Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + DXC Anti-Reflection 7-inch, 1080p, IPS, 500 nits, 16:9; 120Hz refresh rate, FreeSync Premium;Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + DXC Anti-Reflection
I/O Ports 2x USB-C (2 x DP 2.1, PD 3.0), 1x microSD, 1x analog audio 2x USB-C (1x USB4, 1x USB 3.2 both w/ DP 2.1, PD 3.0), 1x micro SD, 1x analog audio
Network and Communication Wi-Fi 6E (2 x 2), Bluetooth 5.4 Wi-Fi 6E (2 x 2), Bluetooth 5.4
Dimensions 29.1×12.2×5.1 cm 29.1×12.2×5.1 cm
Weight 670g 715g
Battery 60Wh 80Wh
Included ROG Xbox Ally 65W charger Stand ROG Xbox Ally X 65W charger Stand

What makes the Xbox Ally different from the Steam Deck?

The most notable difference between the Xbox Ally and the Steam Deck is the operating system. Like the ROG Ally, the Xbox Ally will also use Windows 11, while the Steam Deck uses Valve’s SteamOS.

Even though every PC game works with Windows, handheld gaming devices running Windows have had serious issues, as the OS implementation has been a bit buggy. Portable consoles like the ROG Ally, MSI Claw and Lenovo Legion Go simply don’t run well with full Windows because the OS is designed for laptops and desktops and not handheld devices. SteamOS, however, is designed to run almost every game on Steam without issues and regardless of device size.

The Xbox Ally changes that by giving it an Xbox interface. This would be similar to how the Xbox app on PCs works for running games. It would also be able to download Xbox games directly to it, remote play them off a console or stream them via Xbox Cloud.

Another big difference is the hardware. The Steam Deck came out in 2022 and it was the first mass-produced handheld gaming device for PC. At the time, Valve had to use custom AMD processors but since then, AMD has produced more processors for handheld devices, which are now much more powerful in just a few years. The Xbox Ally would also have faster RAM. Both the improvement in processors and RAM should significantly increase the number of games the Xbox Ally can run versus the Steam Deck, which is already struggling to run newer games at 30fps.

Externally, the Xbox Ally will come with the same size 7-inch display but it will have a higher refresh rate of 120Hz, a brighter screen at 500 nits and increased resolution at 1080p. There will also be some slight differences in the physical size of the Xbox Ally, which will be a little bigger and heavier. Another difference from the Steam Deck is that the Xbox Ally controls will be more similar to the Xbox controller.

Microsoft and Asus have a large hill to climb if they plan to have the Xbox Ally dethrone the Steam Deck. It will be especially tough if Valve decides to announce the Steam Deck 2 soon. 

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Sony Raises Prices of PlayStation 5 consoles

Starting Thursday, you can expect to pay more for a new PlayStation, thanks to «a challenging economic environment.»

Sony will increase the prices of its PlayStation 5 consoles in the US, starting Thursday, Aug. 21. This follows the trend of console manufacturers such as Microsoft and Nintendo raising prices for their hardware in response to tariffs. 

The PlayStation-maker posted about the pricing on Wednesday. The jump in price is $50 more than the current price for each model.

The new prices are:

«Similar to many global businesses, we continue to navigate a challenging economic environment,» Sony said in a post about the price increase. 

Back in March, Microsoft increased the price of the Xbox Series consoles back in May, and Nintendo hiked the original Switch console price and Switch 2 accessories earlier this month.

While the companies didn’t point to the tariffs instituted by President Donald Trump as the reason for the hardware price jump, it would explain the trend in recent months. 

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