Revision 6

Every defeated enemy in Onimusha: Way of the Sword leaves behind souls that the Oni Gauntlet absorbs from the fallen Genma. Soul absorption is the core economic and combat loop of the series and returns here as a hands-on action. Capcom has confirmed three colours of souls, each tied to a different gameplay system. Yellow souls replenish health, red souls are spent on upgrades, and blue souls fuel the Oni Armaments, the gauntlet's special weapons. Managing which souls to grab, and when, sits at the centre of the moment-to-moment combat system.

The Three Colours

The three confirmed soul colours and their roles:

Yellow Souls (Health)

Yellow souls are the in-combat healing resource. Rather than dropping consumable items or relying on a separate potion inventory, the game loops healing back into the kill itself. Every enemy corpse can yield yellow souls, and absorbing them restores part of Musashi Miyamoto's health. Because the orbs hang in the arena after an enemy dies, the player picks the timing of the heal: sometimes it is safer to finish the next enemy first and sweep both kills' souls at once, sometimes a health bar is low enough that breaking off to absorb is worth the exposure.

The Oni Armaments feed the yellow soul pool directly. Landing hits with the special armaments produces additional yellow souls from the struck enemies, which creates a deliberate offensive loop. Spending blue souls to activate an armament, then using that burst to farm yellow souls, is one of the intended paths for stabilising health in a bad fight rather than retreating.

Red Souls (Upgrades)

Red souls are the game's long-term currency. They are spent on upgrades that develop Musashi's kit across the campaign, from weapon enhancements to character progression. Unlike yellow souls, red souls are not typically used up in the same encounter they are collected; they accumulate over play and are banked for meaningful purchases between encounters.

Because red souls are the slowest resource to spend, the strategic question is patience. Dumping red souls on the first available unlock may pay off early but leaves little for bigger purchases later. Clearing optional groups of Genma and hunting down isolated orbs on the battlefield is the main way to build a red soul reserve for the next meaningful upgrade.

Blue Souls (Oni Armaments)

Blue souls fill the Oni Power Gauge, the meter that gates access to the Oni Armaments. Each Oni Armament is a distinct powerful weapon pulled from the Oni Gauntlet and used as a limited-duration ability. Confirmed armament types include a bow, dual clubs, and a spear, alongside the twin daggers called Two Celestials, which unleash a short but devastating flurry on activation. Different armaments suit different situations, so the blue soul economy doubles as a tactical toolbox.

Because the gauge depletes quickly while an armament is active, blue souls are the scarcest resource in any given fight. Spending a full gauge on a single weak Genma wastes the damage ceiling the armament would offer against a mini-boss or a dense pack. The expected pattern is to hold the gauge, then unload it when the fight spikes: elite enemies, group ambushes, and boss phases.

How Souls Are Absorbed

Souls are not an abstract counter that ticks up automatically. They spawn as coloured orbs in the physical arena after an enemy dies and drift outward before fading if left untouched. The player holds the Oni Gauntlet out to draw the orbs in, which means soul absorption is an active input rather than a passive cleanup. Timing the absorption correctly is part of the tactical layer of the fight, not just a post-fight chore.

The cost of absorbing is time. While pulling souls, Musashi is not swinging, blocking, or countering, so a careless pull in the middle of a group can turn into a hit. Good absorption windows tend to come after a Break Issen or other clean finisher that opens a brief gap in the enemy's next attack. Unsafe windows, where enemies are already winding up, force the player to wait until the arena resets.

Enemies Compete for Souls

Leaving orbs on the ground is not a neutral decision. Capcom has confirmed that the Genma themselves can absorb stray souls. Any orb the player does not collect in time is at risk of being claimed by a nearby enemy, and when that happens the Genma powers up, gaining access to deadlier attacks or new abilities. Ignoring a kill's souls effectively hands fuel to the other side of the fight.

This introduces a pressure that plain currency collection does not. Clearing up quickly is both a way to heal or charge the gauntlet and a way to deny the Genma the same resources. In larger fights the decision loop becomes: finish the next enemy, absorb what is on the ground, or keep pressure on a wounded foe before it can reach an orb. Sloppy play compounds; a missed orb early in a fight can create the upgraded enemy that kills the player later in the same arena.

Resource Management in Combat

Because all three soul types drop from the same pool of enemies, every fight is both a spectacle and a short-form resource puzzle. A clean encounter rewards all three currencies: health to keep pushing, red souls to spend later, and a filled gauge for the next tough fight. A messy encounter leaks yellow souls to the ground, arms the Genma with upgrades, and leaves Musashi poorer on all fronts entering the next room.

Practical priorities in a live fight tend to run in this order. Yellow souls come first when health is low, because losing a life resets everything. Blue souls come second when an Oni Armament would decide the encounter, especially against elite Genma. Red souls are the last concern in the moment, since they carry over and can be collected from the arena floor after the threat is cleared. Players comfortable with Break Issen counters tend to open up more safe absorption windows, because each successful counter ends a threat on the player's terms rather than the enemy's.

Soul Economy and Progression

Across the campaign, the three soul colours form a closed loop. Killing Genma produces orbs, the Oni Gauntlet absorbs them, and the resulting health, currency, and gauge charge are spent on survival and upgrades that make killing the next wave of Genma faster. Each colour feeds a different part of Musashi's growth: yellow souls sustain the run in the short term, red souls build his baseline strength across the long term, and blue souls unlock the ceiling moments where the Oni Armaments change what is possible in a fight.

The design is deliberately aggressive. Because the healing currency is tied to kills rather than rest points, and because unclaimed orbs actively empower the enemy, there is little reason to turtle up. Players who press forward, chain finishers, and clear arenas quickly end up with fuller health bars, heavier red soul purses, and more armament uses available for the next arena than players who play defensively. The soul system is what turns the combat rhythm from trading blows into harvesting the battlefield.

Absorbing Souls While Moving

The developers have said soul absorption was updated so Musashi can absorb Genma souls while moving, rather than having to stand still to gather them. The change is meant to keep the tension and pace high during faster combat, so a player can keep pressing an attack or repositioning while still collecting the souls a defeated enemy leaves behind. The Oni Gauntlet remains the tool that performs the absorption, and upgrading it increases the speed and range at which souls are pulled in.