Onimusha Way of the Sword difficulty modes are Story, Action and Carnage. Story is the forgiving one, Action is the intended challenge, and Carnage is a New Game+ mode where a single hit can kill.
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Onimusha Way of the Sword difficulty modes compared
| Story | Action | Carnage | |
|---|---|---|---|
Available from | New Game | New Game | After one full clear of the campaign |
Musashi's damage | More health and stamina damage | Standard | Standard |
Damage taken | Less | Normal | Near one hit kills |
Parry, deflect and Issen windows | Noticeably wider | Tighter | Much tighter on Issen |
Action Prompts | On by default | Off by default | Cannot be enabled |
Bosses | Clearly easier | Punish mistakes | Extra and accelerated attack patterns |
Difficulty changes the combat encounters only. It does not change the story, bosses, collectibles, drops or the ending, and the traversal hazards — water, cliffs — only deal slight damage with instant recovery on any difficulty.
Which one should you pick
Story
if you are new to action games, or if you want the story rather than the fight. The wider timing windows mean a parry or deflect that you read correctly will usually land, which is what makes it a reasonable place to learn Issen.
Action
is the intended combat experience and the one to learn Deflect, Parry and Issen timing on. It is also the right choice if you plan to attempt Carnage, because prompts are off by default here and Carnage removes them entirely, so you get the practice either way.
Carnage
only exists after you have finished the campaign once. Near one-hit-kill lethality plus much tighter Issen timing means it is a timing test, not a health test.
There is no way to out-level a boss by exploring, so difficulty is the only lever on raw lethality. What the setting does not change is enemy behaviour, which is on the enemies guide.
How to change it
Difficulty is not in the pause or options menu.
- Interact with a Spirit Mirror and choose "Change Difficulty Level".
- Story and Action can be switched back and forth as often as you like, with no penalty and no loss of trophies or rewards.
- After several consecutive deaths to the same encounter, a red option appears on the defeat screen offering to drop Action to Story. It only appears on Action, it only lowers the difficulty, and switching back up requires visiting a Spirit Mirror again.
- Selecting Carnage starts a New Game+ and locks the difficulty for that save: the option disappears from the Spirit Mirror and cannot be changed back during the run.
Which difficulty suits the run you are making
The setting and the run length pull in opposite directions, and it is worth picking before the first Spirit Mirror rather than after. A Story run gives the fastest route to a completed file, because a parry that you read correctly usually lands and bosses rarely punish a single mistake. An Action run is slower per fight at the start and considerably shorter at the end, because the timings you learn there are the timings Carnage asks for.
Carnage is not a harder campaign; it is a rerun. Its New Game+ reset sends weapons back to base stats and clears red souls, so the same play level arrives with less gear, which is why the difficulty choice for the second run is not the difficulty choice for the first.
Softening Action without leaving it
Action Prompts, tutorial tips and navigation UI icons can each be turned on or off independently of the difficulty. Turning prompts back on while on Action is a way to make the game easier while still playing the intended combat, and it is a reasonable setting while you are still learning which telegraph needs which answer.
What carries into Carnage New Game+
Carried over:
Awakened Oni abilities and purchased skills, Oni Armaments including the Oni Bow, charms and charm enhancements, outfits and cosmetics, Hozuki Pouches and their enhancements, Genma Notes, rescued Lion Dogs, and collectibles.
Reset:
weapon, clothing and gauntlet upgrades — swords return to base stats — Red Souls currency, most upgrade materials and items, story and side quest progress, Spirit Mirror save points, and HP and damage statistics.
Clearing Carnage grants the Bishamonten Sword, which raises sword damage and widens parry and Issen timing.
A practical order to play them in
Start on Story if the fight, not the story, is the part you are unsure of, and move up once a boss has been cleared twice in a row without a death. The defeat screen only offers the drop to Story after several consecutive losses, which makes it a safety net rather than a setting.
Carnage belongs at the end, not the beginning. It unlocks only after a full campaign clear, and selecting it starts a New Game+ where weapons return to base stats, so the timing that worked at the end of the first run is the timing you want to bring with you.
What difficulty affects on the trophy side
Two of the 52 trophies require a specific difficulty: True Onimusha for a Carnage clear, and Glutton for Punishment for beating every Boss Rematch opponent on all three tiers. Both are on the trophy guide, and the per-boss difficulty ratings are on the boss difficulty guide.