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Difficulty Levels
September 7, 2026 at 01:02 AM
Created a new page covering the two difficulty levels, Action Prompts, and the retry screen assist
Onimusha: Way of the Sword offers two difficulty levels, Story (Storyline Focus) and Action (Combat Focus), chosen when starting a new game. Neither choice is locked in: the difficulty can be changed at any time from the Spirit Mirror menu, so a player can start on Story to learn the ropes and move up once comfortable, or drop from Action to Story if a fight is proving too punishing.
Level | Focus | Action Prompts | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
Story (Storyline Focus) | Story | On by default | Recommended for action game beginners. Icons indicating how to deal with enemy attacks are displayed, and battles are easier overall. |
Action (Combat Focus) | Combat | Off by default | Recommended for experienced action game players who want a challenging fight. Meant to keep the player on their toes. |
Action Prompts are the on-screen icons that indicate how to deal with an incoming enemy attack. Story sets them to On automatically; Action sets them to Off by default, but they can be switched on at any time regardless of difficulty level from System Menu > Settings > Gameplay. This makes Action Prompts an independent option rather than something locked to a single difficulty.
After being defeated a certain number of times, the retry screen offers the option to lower the difficulty from Action to Story. This prompt only appears when the difficulty is set to Action; a player already on Story is not shown it, since there is no easier level to drop to.
Regardless of the level chosen, Musashi Miyamoto is not put through a gauntlet of instant-death traps or sudden ambushes. Falling into water or off a cliff during exploration costs only slight damage, with Musashi recovering immediately rather than being sent back to a checkpoint. The difficulty setting instead shapes how demanding enemy encounters and Combat System interactions are, not whether the world itself is hazardous to move through.
Story is the better starting point for anyone new to action games or unfamiliar with parrying, deflecting, and Issen timing, since the Action Prompt icons walk the player through how to answer each attack. Players who already know their way around a swordfight, or who want Getting Started to include a real challenge from the outset, can pick Action and still fall back on the automatic Action Prompt option or the retry-screen downgrade if a particular boss proves too much.
