Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Release: 2026

As someone who only admired the Onimusha series from a distance during its heyday, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is an exciting prospect. It’s a modernized entry point for newcomers like myself that takes combat cues from its contemporaries while still feeling distinctly of its era. I traveled to Capcom’s San Francisco office to check out the first playable demo of the game, and though my time was short, I’m feeling good about this demonic romp.

My demo unfolds seemingly early into the adventure. Protagonist Miyamoto Musashi, a fictionalized take on the real historical swordsman (and sporting the likeness of Japanese acting legend Toshiro Mifune), arrives at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto to purify it of invading demons, known as Genma. Armed with the powerful Oni gauntlet, an heirloom the brash Musashi doesn’t even want, and his trusty katana, he’s well-equipped for the task.

As I make my way down a mountain trail toward the temple, villagers flee the invading Genma, presenting my first opportunity to sample combat. The feel of Way of the Sword’s light and heavy attacks reminds me of another recent Capcom title, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. It’s not as crisp or fast-paced as some other action games; it’s reminiscent of melee combat from the 2000s (ironically, Onimusha’s prime), and that’s a positive…I think. Most of the enemies I encounter in this section drop fast, however, and the difficulty is extremely manageable. 

Musashi and enemies have stamina meters, and depleting a foe’s energy with successive attacks allows the execution of finishing moves called Break Issen attacks. Musashi may backstab a foe, then slice it down the middle to split it in half, for example. On the defensive side, Musashi’s auto-directional blocking means he can defend from all sides no matter where he’s facing (provided you have the stamina), but I much prefer parrying attacks. 

Parrying drains enemy stamina quicker, and it looks and feels great thanks to cool sword-clashing animations. Parrying also opens foes to attacks by often repositioning Musashi behind them, providing a window to slice and dice unimpeded. Hitting the parry button and immediately hitting X (on PlayStation) executes a strong retaliation attack, such as deflecting arrows back at their senders. Furthermore, parrying or dodging in succession builds respective meters: blue for parry, and red for dodge. When full, the parry meter blankets Musashi’s sword in a sparkling blue aura, allowing me to execute multiple foes in quick succession. A filled dodge meter, meanwhile, unleashes a devastating mult-hit attack. 

Defeated foes drop color-coded souls that Musashi absorbs with his Oni Gauntlet. Red souls serve as currency to purchase enhancements, and yellow souls replenish health. Blue souls fill the Oni Power Gauge, enabling the use of special weapons called Oni Armaments. I have twin daggers called the Two Celestials, and when the Oni Power Gauge is full, I hit R1 to unleash a short but powerful flurry. Landing hits with Oni Armaments also extracts yellow souls, making them great for siphoning health when Musashi is on the ropes. 

After slicing foes and collecting plants called Hozuki to fill my health pouch, I reach the temple complex. A mass of dark energy appears, causing the Gauntlet to react and absorb it, violently triggering a vision of the past. A procession of shadowy villagers marches somberly toward the temple's high platform, where my objective lies, but for what purpose? The Oni Gauntlet speaks to Musashi – yes, it can talk – explaining that the black mass is a concentration of malice created by the cruel memories Musashi is now witnessing. Purifying the temple calls for finding the source of this darkness. 

“Right, Gauntlet Lady. Enough of that,” barks Musashi. He begins to ask questions, but the gauntlet curtly cuts him off to decline his probing. She refuses to be addressed as “Gauntlet Lady,” you see. The annoyed Musashi rolls his eyes and silently acquiesces. It’s a humorous little exchange, and I’m looking forward to seeing how this reluctant relationship develops. 

Witnessing this vision also unlocks an ability called the Oni Vision. This allows Musashi to see the demonic presence in an environment otherwise invisible to human eyes. To bypass a gateway blocked by a supernatural force field, pressing the left and right shoulder buttons sends a gold pulse, revealing a giant spectral rope. Following it leads to a spider-like creature hanging at the rope's base; killing it removes the rope, and the forcefield dissipates.  

I make my way toward the temple’s high platform, where I discover another mass of Malice. This one shows villagers watching helplessly as their neighbors are forcefully thrown off the building to a ravine below, including a father who sacrifices a son despite the boy pleading to spare his life. This disturbing scene is interrupted by a surprise attack by Sasaki Ganryu, another historically significant swordsman and Musashi’s long-time rival. He, too, wears an Oni Gauntlet and is practically salivating at the chance to test his newfound powers on me. 

The resulting boss fight is an enjoyable sword duel that challenges my parrying prowess. Unfortunately for the cocky Sasaki, I have a good handle on deflecting attacks, and countering his assaults creates openings for me to cut him apart while rapidly draining his stamina. Wearing him out creates a special form of Break Issen attacks where I can freely choose a body part to attack, such as his head or limbs. Each area is color-coded, indicating the type of damage it will deal; red inflicts extra damage, while purple rewards extra souls. The fight, with how it encourages and rewards constant parrying, is reminiscent of a sword duel in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, minus the brutal difficulty; I defeat Sasaki in quick and, dare I say, dominant fashion. It may not have been a long time, but it was a good one.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword follows in the old-school-made-new-again template of some of Capcom’s recent hits, such as Resident Evil and Kunitsu-Gami. At its most basic, the action recaptures how the genre felt several generations ago, but the parry system feels sophisticated and flashy enough to hang with similar systems in modern games. In a world where the action genre is increasingly becoming a synonym for Soulslike, it’s also nice to have what is shaping up to be an enjoyable, old-fashioned take on the style. We’ll have to wait until 2026 to see if Way of the Sword can kick off a similar renaissance for Onimusha that Resident Evil and Monster Hunter have enjoyed, but I’m feeling good about its chances so far.

Reviewed on: PC
Platform: Switch, PC, iOS, Android
Publisher: Wholesome Games Presents
Developer: Poti Poti Studio
Release: August 7, 2025

There's nothing I value more in a game than focus – a game with a clear vision that knows exactly what it aims to be – and Is This Seat Taken from Poti Poti Studio is a fantastic example of that. If a game is a meal, this game is popcorn: light, easy to eat, and a perfectly portioned snack. Is This Seat Taken takes a beautifully simple premise – sitting people in chairs – and iterates on it in consistently creative and exciting ways. Thanks to its cute aesthetics and clever puzzle design, it's an experience I'd even recommend to people who don't usually play games.

In Is This Seat Taken, your goal is to drag people (represented as anthropomorphic shapes) into their preferred seats in different environments. Each person has specific preferences about the placement of their seats or their proximity to other people, so it gets complicated quickly. On a bus, for example, some people might prefer window or aisle seats, while others want to sit at the back or the front.

To make matters more complex, some riders are kids who want to sit with their parents, extroverts who want to sit by someone who can hold a conversation, or people with bags they want on the seat next to them. The sheer variety of desires presented across the game's 30 levels was surprising, and I always looked forward to seeing what new preferences would arise in the next areas.

Buses and trains are straightforward seating environments, but others introduce additional wrinkles to the formula. At the sports game, fans of opposing teams don't want to sit next to each other, and some want to stand rather than sit, blocking the view of those behind them. At a concert, some might want to sit or dance while others need to play on stage as a member of the band. And the airport has you check each person's flight to see if they should be in line to board or seated at the gate.

All these variables are arranged in a wonderfully paced sequence, where you never stay in one locale too long, and there are very few repeat environments. Whenever you get comfortable, you're introduced to something exciting and fresh, making it an incredibly engaging puzzle game. Complete every level in a city without messing up a seating request to unlock bonus levels, like a wedding or a beach, that each showcase level-specific mechanics.

The whole journey is presented through a loose story starring Nat, a rhombus who wants to be an actor, on their journey through several cities around the world. Much like the puzzles, it's all about Nat trying to fit in, and I found it charming and effective; just present enough to be a pleasant throughline, but not so distracting that I felt the need to skip through dialogue.

With my 100-percent playthrough clocking in at about five hours, Is This Seat Taken is a satisfying snack of a game. Complete with a chill soundtrack and a cute art style, it felt like a breath of fresh air. While I played it on PC, it would feel right at home on the go on its other platforms, Switch and mobile. It's an easy recommendation for anyone even slightly interested in puzzle games.

Score: 9.25

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Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater released for PlayStation 2 in 2004, meaning it is officially more than 20 years old. Even with all that time since release, I understand if players are trying to avoid spoilers. Some are experiencing Metal Gear Solid 3 for the first time, others want to experience the remake with fresh eyes. For everyone else, however, who just want to see a weird thing that we were shocked made it into the remake, check out the video below.

If you're unaware, Snake's Nightmare A.K.A. Guy Savage is a sequence that only appeared in the first PlayStation 2 release of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. It was not included in Subsistence, the HD re-releases, or (as far as I know) the 3DS version of the game. When Snake is imprisoned in Groznyj Grad, if the player saves and goes to sleep, he experiences a nightmare. What plays out is essentially a tech demo for an unreleased game about fighting zombies and vampires with a character holding two swords. You play the "demo" a bit and then Snake will wake up and he can call everyone and share details about his nightmare.

It's arguably one of the strangest moments in the whole Metal Gear Solid franchise, which has a very high bar for weird stuff. For Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, the team at Konami behind the remake made a new version of the nightmare. You're still "Guy Savage" holding two swords and fighting zombies and vampires, but now you're in an outdoor graveyard. It's as if Metal Gear Solid Delta turns into Bloodborne for about five minutes.

Going into Delta, it was the one sequence in the game I was most curious if it would make it in, and I was shocked and happy to see that it did.

For a whole lot more on Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake eater you can read our review, read our interview with members of the voice cast, and read about our interview with two of the game's producers.

Earlier this month, we visited New York for a Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater event, where we got to play the game for review and meet some of the people involved with the original game and remake, including Delta producers Noriaki Okamura and Yuji Korekado. Okamura has served various roles from writing support to producer on the Metal Gear franchise, starting with Metal Gear Acid 2 in 2005. Korekado served roles on nearly every Metal Gear Solid game, as well as other Hideo Kojima projects like Policenauts. They have been working on the franchise for a long time, and both worked on Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater or its subsequent re-releases.

We spoke to both Okamura and Korekado through a single translator (making it difficult to attribute exactly who said what), and they were understandably excited about the release of Delta, and though willing to talk about Hideo Kojima, they didn’t have much to say. They reiterated that they wanted to stay as true to the vision of the original game as possible and said they hope he checks out the game someday, but otherwise mainly offered polite platitudes about their time working with him and on the original game, of which they have fond memories.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater producers Noriaki Okamura (left) and Yuji Korekado

“When we revisited Metal Gear Solid 3 for Delta, we were quite surprised, even just from the development side, when we went back and modernized this game for current-day audience,” Okamura and Korekado said. “Even just taking that original concept without even changing it? The game still had so many good points and a lot more charm and a lot more emotion and everything, even though we hadn’t really changed anything or added new features at that point. The game still had a lot to offer even though it’s now 20 years old.”

As you can read in our review, it is impressive how one-to-one Delta is to the original. It looks drastically better, some controls have been modernized, and the camo system is improved, but otherwise, Delta is the Metal Gear Solid 3 you remember. It even has secrets that we didn’t think would have made it into a remake.

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (2004)

This isn’t the first time a Metal Gear Solid game has been remade, however. The 2004 GameCube game, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, took a different approach. It re-recorded all the dialogue with the same actors, changed how the primary shooting worked, and all the game’s cutscenes were rewritten and directed by filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura, per Hideo Kojima’s request. Though generally well-received, it is not considered the definitive version of the original Metal Gear Solid, with fans complaining about the changes made to various characters’ accents and the game feeling more like a bombastic action film than a stealthy espionage tale.

I asked Okamura and Korekado if the team looked at Twin Snakes and if it influenced the development of Delta. “Not in particular,” they said. “In regards to any game, when we make a game, there are loads of things we learn each and every time we develop a game. There’s nothing in particular that connects to Twin Snakes that we would say has had any impact this time around. And the way we’ve remade the game is completely different. This is a full-on remake without really changing very much from the original game.”

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (2025)

With the release of Delta on August 28, the future of Metal Gear Solid is uncertain. Its creator, Hideo Kojima, is completely separated from Konami and the franchise, and is even working on an original “action espionage” game with Sony called Physint. I told Okamura and Korekado that if they plan to continue pursuing remakes, I would like Metal Gear Solid 2 next, and they laughed and simply said, “Thanks,” but they did offer a little bit about what the future of Metal Gear may be.

“We are always thinking about what we could do for the Metal Gear series, but in regards to remaking future titles, currently we’re just focusing on the now, and we thought what would be the best way to reach both the old fans and potential new fans, as well,” Okamura and Korekado said. “At the moment, we are focused on delivering Delta in the best possible way to the current generation, and once this game is released, if the fans feel they would like to see more from playing the game, then we would like to consider lots of other games in the future. For now, this is it.”

For more on Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, you can read our interview with some of the members of the original voice cast, and find our 9 out of 10 review for the game here.

Earlier this month we visited New York for a Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater event where we got to play the game for review and meet some of the people involved with the original game and the remake, including some of the voice cast. We spoke with David Hayter, who voiced Snake in every interation of Metal Gear Solid, except for Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain, and Lori Alan, who voices The Boss. Hayter and Alan did not re-record dialogue for Delta, save for a few added tutorial lines, but they were on hand to reflect on the experience of recording Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and share their excitement for the remake.

What were the lines that needed to be re-recorded?

Hayter: It’s primarily the original recordings. For the voices, they really wanted it to feel like the original. The lines we did were mostly new controller instructions. And I think I had to clean up one time saying “bastard” or something and saying it a little softer. I don’t know why.

Alan: I didn’t have to say anything over.

Hayter: Oh, because yours was perfect?

Alan: Yes, mine was perfect [laughs].

Hayter: I am not surprised.

Alan: Well of course! The instructional. That was it. It was really fascinating. I’ve had a low voice for a long time. I’ve been sounding like this since seventh grade. But I remember thinking I had to sort of to drop my voice [for The Boss], but now I am thinking, “Oh, I’m already there now.”

Hayter: Yeah, I have become a lot Snakier over the years.

Alan: And I’ve become a lot Bossier. I just wanted everyone to feel the same feelings they felt when they played it the first time.

From left to right, David Hayter (Snake), Lori Alan (The Boss), and Cynthia Harrell who sings the Snake Eater theme song

How much is The Boss the character that fans associate you with? I would assume it’s not the first, but how often is it The Boss?

Alan: I think it’s more now with the anticipation of Delta coming out, I get it a lot. In fact where we’re staying here in New York I called to talk to them about the rooms and they go, “Your voice sounds so familiar,” and then when I had gotten in my room they did a nice drawing of The Boss. It was very, very cool.

But of course I am on another show that’s absolutely crazy called SpongeBob SquarePants.

I assume that is number one.

[Spoken in Pearl Krabs’ voice] The character is quite different.

It’s usually one or the other.

Hayter: Do you ever mix the two up in the booth?

Alan: Yes, yes. It’s very confusing.

Hayter: “SpongeBob – loyalty to me? Or to the mission?”

Alan: Loyalty to me or to the sponginess?

[Spoken in Pearl Krabs’ voice] CQC?

This is very left field. I am not sure if anyone has ever asked you this, but did you watch the HBO Watchmen show?

Hayter: I did, yeah.

Did you enjoy it? I associate you with the film version of Watchmen.

Hayter: I was on it for eight years trying to get it made, so yeah. I did watch it. I loved it. I thought it was super creative. I thought it really felt like Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ world. I was very impressed. I dug it.

Who knows what the future holds for Metal Gear at this point, but are you open to revisiting the characters if there is a future entry?

Alan: Yeaaah.

Hayter: Yeah. Anytime they ask me to be Snake, I’m in. It’s the definitive role of my life. It’s so complex and so profound and there are so many different aspects to both him and Big Boss – any time it comes up, I am down.

Alan: Me, too. I just hope it lives on forever and ever and ever. Obviously, we’re so thrilled that there is a different generation that gets to play it. It’s so epic and such a beautiful game and it’s so complex. We also have the best fans in the world. I learn so much about the game continuously from them because it’s dense and epic and all that. So of course, the more the merrier. I think we’d all be beside ourselves for it to keep going.

Hayter: Yeah, and to Lori’s point, I get so many people coming up to me now saying, “I just got into Metal Gear last year,” because of the Master Collection. It’s so cool. 18-year old fans and kids discovering it for the first time. It’s very, very cool. A great game should be like a great movie or a great album. It lives on. And a lot of times because consoles change and technology changes, a lot of times games disappear. I’m just grateful Konami is behind this they way they are.

For a whole lot more on the voice acting in Metal Gear Solid, check out Game Informer's deep dive podcast special featuring extensive interviews with the cast of the original game.