Compare Onimusha: Way of the Sword vs CONTROL Resonant

The reviewers who discussed technical reliability reported playthroughs without notable bugs, glitches, or crashes.

Technical bugs are not portrayed as constant, but the glitches that do appear can be disruptive, including enemies getting stuck, traversal oddities, and occasional postgame or loading issues.

Fetch quests, repeated demon-clearing jobs, and reused overworld activities create a clear sense of repetition between the stronger set-piece missions.

The best missions keep escalating into strange, memorable scenarios, giving the campaign a strong sense of surprise beyond standard combat objectives.

Wall-running is a small but well-liked traversal addition that expands movement without turning the game into a platformer.

Precision platforming becomes frustrating when gravity changes, tight trajectories, or awkward geometry demand more exact movement than the traversal system comfortably provides.

Facial animation is repeatedly described as among the game’s best visual work, especially Musashi’s expressive mannerisms and subtle reactions during both cutscenes and gameplay.

Facial work is one of the visual weak spots, with some expressions looking stiff or strange compared with the quality of the environments and effects.

Detailed environments, expressive characters, fluid presentation, and the historical-fantasy setting create strong immersion for many reviewers. Repetitive Kyoto layouts and repeated activities can break that spell for some.

One critic found repeated combat and progression interruptions strong enough to pull attention away from the world and story, reducing immersion despite the striking setting.

One recurring complaint is that the overworld leans on repetitive objectives and familiar enemy groups, reducing variety outside the bespoke story stages and bosses.

Side stories, altered objects, puzzles, bosses, and strange one-off scenarios keep the world varied, though a layer of repeated activities and combat encounters can feel like busywork.

Spirit Mirrors make revisiting areas straightforward, although travel is tied to those points rather than available from anywhere. One reviewer specifically liked that restraint.

Requiring physical fast-travel points can be inconvenient, but it also nudges players to stay in the world and stumble into side content rather than teleporting past it.

Movement is mixed: modern 3D navigation and wall-running can feel good, while the dodge roll, lack of a normal jump, and some traversal friction draw criticism.

Traversal is one of the game's most consistently celebrated strengths. Double jumps, air dashes, hovering, grappling, and gravity shifting make moving through Manhattan fast, expressive, and frequently exhilarating.

The combat is easy to understand but demanding to master, and many reviewers enjoy the process of learning timing and boss patterns. Some training and system explanations could be clearer.

The opening can be daunting because movement, builds, enemy pressure, and RPG systems arrive before the combat fully blossoms. Once more tools unlock, the learning curve becomes far more rewarding.

One critical review argues that some late skill upgrades feel more like delayed quality-of-life fixes than genuinely meaningful progression choices.

The skill tree supports multiple builds and can be satisfying to optimize, yet several critics find its apparent depth overstated or its upgrades less transformative than the sprawling layout suggests.

Difficulty is demanding but generally regarded as rewarding, with Story mode offering a gentler route and Action mode asking for precise play. Opinions split where normal enemies feel too easy or late bosses become punishing and unforgiving.

The default difficulty is one of the most disputed elements, especially in the opening hours and against tanky late bosses. Better builds and extensive Assist Mode settings help, but progression walls can still feel abrupt.

Oni Armaments fill distinct roles such as healing, stamina damage, and crowd control, and at least one reviewer found each option useful rather than redundant.

Weapon forms offer different rhythms and build possibilities, but critics disagree on how meaningfully those choices change combat. Some forms feel expressive, while others seem like variations on the same basic loop.

Combat benefits from environmental tools such as carts, planks, flames, and destructibles, but one reviewer disliked how many seemingly fragile objects cannot be touched.

Physics, destructible scenery, telekinesis, and gravity manipulation make the environment feel like part of the action rather than a static backdrop.

Progression is split between useful skill growth and incremental stat upgrades. Some reviewers enjoy how new abilities change combat, while others barely feel the numerical gains.

Zone leveling, skill points, powers, and build choices often make exploration feel purposeful and Dylan's growth tangible. Criticism focuses on opaque power-level tracking, restrictive respecs, and progression that can become busywork.

The sword combat is the overwhelming consensus highlight: precise, weighty, reactive, and deeply satisfying, with parries, deflects, dodges, Issens, clashes, and Oni Armaments giving players meaningful options. Even critical reviews tend to praise the core fighting.

Combat is responsive, aggressive, and capable of spectacular build-driven highs, but opinion splits sharply on its staying power. The strongest criticism targets repetitive strings, damage-spongy enemies, and a system that can feel shallower over a long campaign.

Collectibles often reward exploration with mythology, story details, cosmetics, or progression, and the Lion Dogs and Oni Portals are particular favorites. Some completion-oriented tasks still feel repetitive or low-value.

Documents, recordings, hidden reports, and other collectibles make exploration feel worthwhile by feeding the world's mysteries rather than functioning as empty checklist filler.

Cinematic camera work can make attacks look spectacular, but combat framing is inconsistent. A few reviewers found the camera could get trapped or become frustrating near walls and bosses.

The camera and targeting can struggle when arenas get crowded or fights move vertically. Mis-targeted attacks and awkward framing around large or airborne enemies are recurring frustrations.

Performance is strong across PS5, Xbox, Switch 2, PC, and handheld testing, with many reports of stable targets and smooth combat. Steam Deck’s Eastern Kyoto hub is the main recurring performance caveat.

Performance is generally smooth on stronger hardware and PS5 Pro, while base-console stress scenes and Steam Deck play can show dips or compromises. The overall picture is solid rather than flawless.

Character banter and comic exchanges give the cast personality, while quieter conversations help sell relationships and the reluctant-hero tone.

Dialogue is uneven: the best exchanges give Dylan and Zoe warmth and personality, while snarky banter and some overt thematic writing can feel forced.

Regular Genma can be overly passive and easy to dispatch without using the full defensive toolkit, making ordinary encounters feel weaker than the bosses.

Enemy behavior draws a sharp complaint for leaning on hectic pressure rather than convincing intelligence, making some fights feel artificially chaotic.

At its best, the loop of dueling, mastering defensive timing, absorbing souls, and upgrading Musashi is highly compelling. Some reviewers felt the opening and repeated hub chores obscure that excellent core.

The combat-exploration loop can be exciting once a build comes together, but repetition is a persistent concern. Several critics felt the same encounter rhythm and combo patterns wore thin well before the campaign ended.

Several reviewers criticize material gathering and repeated combat as unnecessary grind, especially around upgrades. Others found resources plentiful enough that deliberate grinding was rarely required.

One critical take finds progression too dependent on repeating activities and combat to keep pace with enemy scaling, turning advancement into unwanted grind.

The best reviews argue that the swordplay has a rhythm and identity of its own despite borrowing from modern action games. More critical voices feel the broader structure follows too many familiar contemporary conventions.

Even skeptical critics repeatedly call the game singular. Its collision of character-action combat, non-Euclidean Manhattan, paranormal comedy, and art-house spectacle gives it an identity few other open-world games resemble.

Musashi’s reluctant-hero arc and growing acceptance of the Oni gauntlet are widely appreciated, as are several supporting arcs. Some reviewers wanted the Ganryu rivalry and parts of the cast developed further.

Dylan's growth from damaged FBC test subject to a more self-directed person lands strongly, and his evolving relationships give the story a clear emotional spine.

Kyoto, temples, forests, palaces, and supernatural spaces are praised for dense detail, historical texture, lighting, and small visual touches that reward close attention.

Manhattan is packed with strange signage, abandoned interiors, warped streets, and small physical details that reinforce the setting, though some sewers, warehouses, and city blocks repeat too visibly.

Upgrades are mixed: combat skills and some equipment boosts feel meaningful, while incremental stat gains and material requirements can feel dull, imperceptible, or grindy.

Upgrades provide plenty of specialization on paper, but restrictive respecs, material requirements, and number-focused improvements can make the system feel cumbersome or less transformative than expected.

Sparks, slow-motion reactions, attack effects, and cinematic finishing flourishes make clashes look dramatic without obscuring the swordplay.

Reality warping, particles, reflections, shadows, and large combat effects create spectacular scenes, though the sheer visual noise can occasionally hurt clarity or expose platform-specific image issues.

The layered defensive options, soul management, armaments, environmental tools, and resource systems create unusually rich moment-to-moment play. A few explanations and secondary systems can feel confusing or less polished.

The strongest mechanical moments come from combining traversal, gravity shifts, powers, combat, and environmental ideas in ways that feel purpose-built for this world.

The combat, animation, and major presentation beats feel highly polished, but reviewers also point to camera issues, repetitive content, minor technical roughness, and uneven secondary systems.

The game generally feels polished for its scale, but scattered technical hiccups, stuck enemies, audio cuts, and other small scuffs prevent it from feeling immaculate.

The material economy is a weak point for some reviewers: common upgrade resources can be oddly expensive or grindy, and their relationship to the broader progression loop feels less refined than the combat.

Upgrade materials are criticized for being overcomplicated and awkwardly distributed, making some desired upgrades harder to complete than the rest of the progression system suggests they should be.

Post-game play includes harder Carnage difficulty and New Game Plus-style replay, giving mastery-focused players a reason to continue after the credits.

The postgame gives completion-minded players room to keep exploring, finish side stories, refine builds, and chase remaining discoveries after the main campaign.

The body horror, grotesque Genma, corrupted environments, and occasional Resident Evil-like sequences add genuine unease without overwhelming the action-adventure focus.

The strangest spaces still generate strong cosmic-horror unease, using impossible geometry, isolation, and paranormal imagery to make exploration feel unsettling.

Story reception is divided. Many reviewers love the character-driven tale, humor, relationships, and emotional beats, while others call the plot thin, convoluted, or less memorable than the combat.

The story is broadly praised for Dylan's redemption arc, surreal set pieces, and powerful character moments, but the central plot is less consistently loved. Some critics find the overarching tale, finale, or emotional transitions weaker than its best individual scenes.

The easiest Story setting is praised as an effective introduction to modern timing-based action, especially because it teaches defensive responses without turning the game into a passive tutorial.

Newcomers get helpful recap material and can follow the core story without exhaustive Remedyverse knowledge, though the early combat and build systems are not always explained as clearly as they could be.

Pacing is the most repeated non-combat concern: early hub stretches, side activities, backtracking, and recycled fights can drag. The linear story missions and final run of set pieces are much more frequently praised for momentum.

Pacing is a recurring weakness: the opening can be slow, progression sometimes stalls the story, and several late sections drag. Other sources find the game accelerates impressively once it opens up.

Shizuka, Okuni, Takamura, and Ganryu often earn praise for personality and chemistry with Musashi, though some reviewers wanted the rival storyline to go deeper.

Zoe is the standout supporting character, with her radio banter and evolving bond with Dylan giving the journey warmth. Some sources find that relationship rushed or uneven, but the supporting cast is usually viewed positively.

Reviewers praise the way the game modernizes Onimusha and combines familiar action ideas into a distinctive parry-centered system rather than simply becoming another Soulslike.

The sequel earns broad credit for refusing to repeat the original: its melee focus, warped open zones, gravity traversal, and structural experimentation feel unusually bold for a major sequel.

Despite the action-heavy premise, reviewers frequently found the character relationships, personal arcs, and later story beats funny, heartfelt, or unexpectedly moving.

Dylan's guilt, childhood trauma, bond with Jesse, and search for redemption produce some of the game's most affecting scenes. Several critics describe moments that hit harder emotionally than they expected from a Control sequel.

Japanese myths, legends, readables, collectibles, and side stories give the world substantial optional lore without requiring prior knowledge of the series.

Documents, recordings, side stories, and environmental details keep the FBC mythology rich, with the best optional material adding texture to Manhattan and the broader paranatural world.

The revival modernizes movement, camera, scale, and combat without losing the Oni Gauntlet, soul absorption, Issen timing, horror flavor, or eccentric Onimusha identity. Longtime fans largely see it as a successful return.

Despite changing protagonist, setting, and combat style, the sequel usually retains Control's strange humor, paranormal logic, lore, and visual identity. A smaller group feels the open-world structure leaves too much of the original's magic behind.

Common-enemy variety is a recurring weakness, with several reviews noting repeated basic foes and armored variants across a long campaign. Boss variety is much stronger.

The roster has memorable supernatural designs and multiple factions, but ordinary encounters can still feel repetitive. Reused archetypes and endless smaller enemies weaken the sense of variety over time.

The game is widely regarded as gorgeous, with strong character models, lighting, environments, and RE Engine presentation across platforms. Performance modes and the gap between cinematic and gameplay rendering introduce only minor visual compromises for most reviewers.

The game is widely praised as a visual showcase, especially for lighting, surreal geometry, and dense effects. Lower-end modes can introduce softness, artifacting, or weaker lighting that undercuts that presentation.

Most reviewers found the swordplay and boss mastery intensely fun and addictive, often seeking extra fights simply to keep playing. Repetition and padding are the main factors that wear down that enthusiasm.

Most sources found the game highly enjoyable once its systems open up, especially when traversal, powers, and side quests click together. A few harsher takes found the repetitive combat too intrusive to sustain that fun.

Opinions on length are mixed, but the strongest criticism says a superb shorter action game has been stretched into a 25–30 hour experience. A smaller group felt the adventure did not overstay its welcome.

The roughly 25-to-40-plus-hour scale gives the world room to breathe, but the campaign can outlast the combat system's depth. Late repetition makes the length feel excessive for some players.

The blend of samurai action, body horror, mythology, and distinct locations creates a strong dark-fantasy atmosphere. The best areas feel eerie and characterful rather than like generic combat spaces.

The sequel keeps Control's uncanny blend of cosmic dread, bureaucratic absurdity, and offbeat humor alive across Manhattan. A minority feel the broader city setting dilutes some of the Oldest House's concentrated unease.

Story mode earns strong praise for wider timing windows and real-time action prompts that teach parries, dodges, deflects, and Issens. One review still wanted broader visual accessibility options.

Assist Mode is a major strength, with granular sliders and presets that can soften damage, dodge timing, resource pressure, and other difficulty spikes. It gives story-focused players unusually fine control over the experience.

Reviewers consistently praise the grotesque Genma, corrupted Kyoto, historical architecture, and supernatural imagery. The aesthetic feels recognizably Onimusha while benefiting from much richer modern detail.

The warped Manhattan, Patterning effects, impossible architecture, and surreal set pieces are among the game's clearest triumphs. Its visual identity is repeatedly described as bold, gorgeous, and unlike almost anything else in the genre.

The writing is strongest in character banter, relationships, and emotional moments, though a few reviews describe the larger script as more serviceable than exceptional.

The writing is strongest when it balances human vulnerability, bureaucratic absurdity, and strange lore. Some dialogue and thematic beats are less elegant, but the overall character and world writing earns substantial praise.

Animation is one of the game’s clearest showpieces, with bespoke parries, blocks, executions, facial reactions, and combat transitions repeatedly singled out as exceptional. A few reviewers noticed a gap between cinematic and gameplay presentation.

Movement and combat animation generally look polished and energetic, with finishers and traversal selling Dylan's speed and force. A few rough character-animation moments keep it from being uniformly pristine.

Exploration can be rewarding when it leads to charms, upgrade materials, myths, portals, or secrets. The strongest praise comes from reviewers who enjoyed searching every corner despite reservations about the hub structure.

Exploration is a major draw thanks to vertical movement, hidden routes, bespoke side stories, and dense environmental storytelling. Confusing entrances and map limitations occasionally turn discovery into circling the same blocks.

The interface and menus are praised for staying unobtrusive and avoiding unnecessary tab complexity.

One source specifically criticizes loadout management for making important changes more cumbersome than they need to be during an action-heavy game.

Japanese performances receive near-universal praise, while English-language reactions are more mixed because of accent choices and occasional odd delivery. Several English cast members are still singled out for excellent work.

The cast is usually praised for grounding the strange material, especially the supporting performances, but Dylan's delivery is unusually divisive and receives a few pointed complaints.

Musashi is one of the strongest points of agreement: reviewers repeatedly call him charismatic, funny, cool, expressive, and easy to root for, with only a small minority finding his arc less compelling.

Dylan is deliberately awkward and damaged, and most sources warm to his vulnerability, guilt, and dry personality. A vocal minority strongly dislike his writing, voice, or demeanor and would rather have stayed with Jesse.

Reviewers who directly addressed the controls describe them as tight and responsive, which helps the demanding timing-based combat feel fair.

Inputs are consistently praised for immediacy: attacks, dodges, air movement, and cancels respond quickly enough to support the game's fast, aggressive action.

The UI is praised for being restrained, clear, and largely out of the player’s way.

Progress and power-level information can be buried too deeply in menus, making it harder than necessary to understand whether upgrades are meaningfully changing Dylan's strength.

The central Kyoto hub is the most consistent structural complaint. Reviewers often see its fetch quests, repeated streets, and resource chores as padding between much stronger linear levels and boss encounters.

The zoned Manhattan is admired for feeling hand-crafted, vertical, and distinctly Remedy rather than like a generic checklist map. Still, some critics see bloat, repeated activities, or a loss of the first game's tighter spatial focus.

The side content is uneven: Lady Murasaki’s Mysteries and character-focused quests receive real praise, while generic fetch, kill, and resource jobs are frequently dismissed as filler.

Side quests are a major strength, often delivering the funniest, strangest, and most memorable stories in the game. A smaller layer of repeated tasks and weaker rewards keeps the optional content from being uniformly excellent.

Boss fights are the standout attraction: dramatic, mechanically distinct, visually memorable, and built to reward mastery of parries, dodges, deflects, and Issens. The main caveat is repeated use of some minibosses and recurring foes.

Bosses are visually memorable but mechanically divisive. Some fights are inventive spectacles, while many others are criticized for huge health pools, limited move sets, and late-game battles that turn into endurance tests.

Puzzles are a light part of the experience, but the secrets and environmental challenges that do appear can be enjoyable diversions from combat.

Puzzles can be clever and visually inventive, especially when gravity and perspective are involved, but they also produce some of the game's most confusing or progress-stalling moments.

Eastern Kyoto can feel maze-like, and map controls or blocked routes sometimes make simple travel more awkward than it should be.

Navigation is one of the most consistent pain points. The flat map, unclear entrances, multi-level spaces, and gravity-bent geometry can leave players lost even when the world itself is visually compelling.

Sharp sword clashes, parry impacts, executions, and other combat sounds give the fighting strong physical feedback and make successful timing feel satisfying.

Hits, metal transformations, spatial ambience, and supernatural effects are repeatedly praised for giving combat and exploration weight. The audio mix helps sell both spectacle and unease.

The handcrafted linear stages are generally the strongest spaces, with memorable temples, castles, laboratories, and supernatural areas. The hub and a few repetitive routes are less consistently praised.

Level design is a standout, from folding streets and gravity-shifted city blocks to stranger interior spaces that turn perspective itself into a traversal and puzzle mechanic.

Real mythology, Edo-period details, optional legends, and character stories give Kyoto a rich backdrop that many reviewers found unusually rewarding to dig into.

The FBC's bureaucracy, Manhattan's altered neighborhoods, scattered documents, and small survivor stories deepen the setting at nearly every turn. World-building remains one of the sequel's most dependable strengths.

The bespoke story missions work well, but generic Encounter-style objectives and busywork are repeatedly called filler.

Routine world events and chore-like objectives can clash with urgent story beats, making some mission structure feel like open-world padding rather than purposeful adventure.

Boss rematches, harder difficulty, challenge rewards, and New Game Plus give combat-focused players meaningful reasons to return. Replaying padded missions is less appealing to some critics.

Build experimentation, postgame exploration, missed side content, Resonant cycles, and New Game Plus-style interest give enthusiastic players clear reasons to return after the credits.

Console and Switch 2 versions are generally well supported with useful performance options and stable play; Switch 2-specific control features are seen as fun if somewhat gimmicky.

PS5 Pro receives especially strong praise for ray-traced reflections, shadows, reconstruction quality, and a cleaner presentation, while Steam Deck support is notably less convincing.

Reviewers who directly discussed price generally felt the campaign quality, replay options, and production values justify the cost for action fans.

Positive value comments point to the substantial campaign, side content, replay potential, and localized pricing, making the package feel generous to players already invested in its style.

The score is praised for mixing traditional Japanese instrumentation with cinematic fantasy and horror tones without overpowering the action.

Music and licensed tracks remain strong and often memorable, but some critics miss a single transcendent set piece on the level of Remedy's most iconic musical moments.

Technical optimization is a strong point, with reviewers highlighting smooth frame rates and good visual quality even on less powerful or handheld hardware.

Technical performance is usually strong, particularly on high-end PC hardware and PS5 Pro, with ambitious effects running smoothly in many accounts. Some platforms and heavy scenes still show frame pacing, image-quality, or optimization compromises.

The bow’s generous auto-aim makes headshots easy, but lock-on and targeting can occasionally keep attacks moving in an unwanted direction.

The use of Toshiro Mifune’s likeness and the game’s performance casting are generally viewed as fitting and distinctive, even though a minority questioned the ethics or necessity of recreating a deceased actor.

The supporting cast is a major strength, with Shizuka, Okuni, Takamura, Ganryu, and the villains repeatedly praised for personality and memorable interactions.

Checkpointing is usually generous, especially around difficult fights, though one reviewer disliked having to restart multi-phase boss encounters from the beginning.

The reviewers who addressed crashes reported stable playthroughs without crashes, reinforcing the broader impression of strong technical reliability.

Steam Deck and Switch 2 coverage is notably positive, with playable performance and strong visuals on the go despite heavier battery or CPU load in Eastern Kyoto.

DualSense feedback is used effectively to reinforce powers and supernatural moments, adding tactile texture without being treated as a defining feature.

Transitions between cutscenes and gameplay are described as seamless, and retries after defeat are quick enough to keep difficult fights moving.

Loot and world rewards can make exploration satisfying, especially when discoveries feed upgrades, but some reward placement and generic material boxes feel less thoughtfully integrated.

Stealth exists, but the reviewer who evaluated it found direct sword combat far more rewarding.

Story mode’s prompts and the practice systems make the timing-heavy mechanics easier to understand, with reviewers praising their usefulness for newcomers and mastery alike.

Cosmetic options exist, with additional looks unlocking through play and harder modes, but the selection initially feels limited.

The Portuguese localization is received positively overall, including the dub, but the reviewed build had enough missing or inconsistent localized lines to keep it from being fully seamless.