Why Kyoto Was The Perfect Setting For Onimusha: Way Of The Sword

Onimusha: Way of the Sword marks the return of Capcom’s samurai action series after a 20-year hiatus. While previous entries were set during Japan’s Sengoku period – the Warring States period – Way of the Sword brings players to the Edo period. Though Edo, known in the modern day as Tokyo, was the country’s capital then, protagonist Miyamoto Musashi’s adventures in Way of the Sword will largely take place in Kyoto.

For Game Informer’s Onimusha: Way of the Sword cover story, I spoke to various leads working on the game to learn more information about this long-awaited return. While Kyoto is a great city and the setting of various games, it’s also a historic location that makes sense for Capcom’s goals in Way of the Sword.

The Sengoku period began in the 1400s and ended in 1600, and that’s where the first four Onimusha games took place (and also modern-day Paris in Onimusha 3: Demon Siege – it’s a whole thing). Way of the Sword takes place in the early Edo period, which began at the turn of the 17th Century. Director Satoru Nihei tells me that Musashi is in his 20s in Way of the Sword, which means the game likely takes place between 1603 and 1613. And while he’ll visit other locations, like the Oni Realm, the game largely takes place in Kyoto.

“Whilst investigating and researching Kyoto, we started finding all these strange dark stories and myths tied to Kyoto, and felt it was a really good match for Onimusha in terms of having the Genma involved in some of these dark elements of Kyoto’s history,” Nihei says. “That became a point for selecting Kyoto as a location.”

While the real-life Musashi did visit Kyoto, Capcom has taken some creative liberties with why and when in Onimusha, for obvious reasons. Musashi didn’t go to Kyoto looking to fight Genma – he went there looking to put another notch in his successful sword duels belt. When he arrives there in-game, he’ll be quite young compared to his Kyoto-based stories of legend, Nihei says. He didn’t factor into local politics in the real world, and Nihei says don’t expect him to do as much in Way of the Sword. “In terms of politics and the surrounding historical context, [Musashi] doesn’t really factor into that too much, and just because we wanted to release this game to a global audience, we didn’t want to delve too deep into Japanese history and politics, which may not be as accessible for people outside of Japan.”

Kiyomizu-dera Temple, as depicted in Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Way of the Sword lead writer Hiroshi Yamashita says he and his team looked at the legends and myths of Kyoto, developing many of the characters from that starting point, taking bits and pieces from here and there to flesh out more mysterious figures into something more resembling characters. “But in terms of actually writing the characters themselves, a lot of that comes from [me], and then I take that to the director and the rest of the team,” he tells me.

As you might guess, the team at Capcom visited Kyoto many times – it’s just a short 40-ish minute train ride away, after all – to research the area, experience its atmosphere and history, and take in sights and sounds it might want to include in Way of the Sword. Art director Hiroyuki Nara tells me Way of the Sword’s Kyoto is meant to align with the idea of an “eerily beautiful dark fantasy.”

“The general depiction or impression of Kyoto, for a lot of people, is a vivid kind of green, beautiful place, and [I would have] loved to recreate that sense in the game,” he says. “But just because of the setting and the time that it is, it’s obviously got a much darker edge than real-life Kyoto, so it’s something [I had to hold back on].”

That said, a lot of real-life Kyoto is in Way of the Sword, including pagodas, shrines, and locations you can still visit today. I even went to the Yasui Konpiragu Shrine with some of the development team to learn more about it, and the Kiyomizu-dera Temple as well. You can see both locations in the gallery below:

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the latest game to grace the cover of Game Informer, and as part of my cover story coverage, I’ll be posting exclusive behind-the-scenes articles diving deep into the making of this game, the team’s thought processes, and more. We’ll also be posting exclusive gameplay and interview videos (including a Rapid-Fire Interview) on the Game Informer YouTube channel. Keep the Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub bookmarked so you don’t miss any of it!

In the meantime, here’s some additional Onimusha: Way of the Sword reading for you: