Revision 1

The main missions make up the Way of the Sword line, the required story of Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Capcom's manual sorts the game's stories into three types: this main line, which has to be followed to advance, and two optional threads, Mysteries of Kyoto and Chance Encounters, that can be pursued alongside it. Musashi Miyamoto takes the main missions in a fixed order, and the Progress screen in the Main Menu shows which stories are open and can set one as the current destination.

Most of the game's boss fights happen inside a main mission; the full roster, including the rematches held at The Practice Ground, is on the Bosses page.

Mission Order

The table lists the main missions in the order they are played, using the English titles recorded by community documentation of the shipped game. Only titles that at least two independent player guides agree on are included, and the Location or Notes column gives a place, boss or unlock only where guides agree on it. Player guides count the campaign differently, mainly because they disagree on whether the opening tutorial and the final fight at Shanaoh Castle are missions of their own, so this page does not give a total.

Where Guides Disagree

• The opening combat tutorial is listed by one guide as a separate Prologue ahead of The Ruckus at Rendaino; other guides treat it as part of that first mission.

• One guide gives the fifth mission's title as Be Careful What You Wish For; the other guides that list it use the shorter form in the table.

• The final boss fight, against Minamoto no Yoshitsune at the top of Shanaoh Castle, is placed by one guide inside The Clash at Rendaino and by another in a separate closing mission titled The Way of the Sword. The manual uses Way of the Sword as the name of the whole main story line, and neither reading has been settled.

Point of No Return

The Clash at Rendaino is the point of no return. The game shows a warning when the mission is started, and from then on Kyoto cannot be roamed freely until the credits roll. Everything optional, including Chance Encounters, Mysteries of Kyoto, Lion Dogs and other collectibles, can still be finished before starting it. After the credits, choosing Continue from the main menu returns the save to just before The Clash at Rendaino, so nothing is permanently missed.

Side Stories Along the Way

The optional story types open up as the main missions progress. Two Chance Encounters are available as soon as that story type unlocks early in the campaign, and more are added after later missions such as Bloodbath on the Bridge, A Tempest at the Temple and The Demon on the Mount. Mysteries of Kyoto unlock after What Lurks in the Shadows, with the remaining ones tied to later missions in the same way. The exact unlock point for each entry is listed on each story type's own page.

After the Credits

Finishing the story once unlocks a third difficulty, Carnage, which can only be played through New Game Plus; see Difficulty Levels. Progress in Mysteries of Kyoto and Chance Encounters does not carry into New Game Plus, while Charms, Genma Notes and Lion Dogs do.

Length

Producer Akihito Kadowaki put the core game at roughly 20 hours before release, and player guides report a similar figure for the main missions alone, with the optional stories and collectibles adding considerably more.