The Onimusha: Way of the Sword demo is now available on all platforms, and early technical analysis suggests the game is in much better shape than many feared after the RE Engine issues seen in Monster Hunter Wilds and Dragon’s Dogma 2. Initial PlayStation 5 Pro support is not especially impressive, but the broader optimization picture looks promising.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is launching in one of the most packed Septembers in recent memory, but Capcom has already given players a proper first sample through a demo now available on every platform. For series fans, that matters more than another trailer, because the return of Miyamoto Musashi’s demon hunt can now be judged through combat feel, visual stability, and performance on actual hardware. It also matters because the RE Engine has not inspired only confidence lately.

After the performance problems seen in Monster Hunter Wilds and Dragon’s Dogma 2, there was understandable concern that Onimusha: Way of the Sword could hit similar technical walls. Early tests point in a more reassuring direction, at least within this more linear and controlled structure. A comparison video from ElAnalistaDeBits puts the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro versions side by side in Quality and Performance modes, and the image-quality differences between those settings are minimal on both consoles, often very hard to notice. Performance is where the Pro has the clearer advantage, but that advantage is not exactly spectacular.

On PlayStation 5 Pro, Quality Mode pushes the game into the 50 fps range, while ray tracing brings it into the high 40s, with ray tracing not available on the base PlayStation 5. That is technically an improvement, but it is not the sort of Pro upgrade that immediately sells the stronger console, even with PSSR 2 now included. The final release may still improve this support, and Capcom titles have often changed meaningfully between demo builds and launch versions.

The PC side is far more encouraging. According to an early analysis from MxBenchmarkPC, an RTX 5080 can run the game at native 4K resolution with NVIDIA DLSS in the 70 fps range, which is already uncommon for many modern big-budget releases. With DLSS set to Quality mode and ray tracing enabled, Onimusha: Way of the Sword moves into the 80 fps range, and Frame Generation can push that further. Alongside the solid performance shown by PRAGMATA and Resident Evil Requiem, this once again suggests that the RE Engine remains an excellent base for more linear games.

The newly released demo is the same slice of the game that Wccftech experienced during Gamescom 2025. Back then, the build still showed some roughness, but the months since appear to have helped the polish considerably, and the latest hands-on impression is more positive. The initial PlayStation 5 Pro support disappoints, but the broader takeaway is more important: Onimusha: Way of the Sword does not currently look like another RE Engine performance problem waiting to happen.

Source: Wccftech