Issen, Deflect, Parry and Flame State — Capcom's Official Combat Moves Primer

Published 2025-09-08Updated 2026-09-184 min read

Capcom's official moves breakdown for Onimusha: Way of the Sword: the Issen counter, attack deflection, the parry-style guard, and the Flame State buff.

Four answers, one blade.

Capcom's official pre-release primer laid out the four cornerstones of Onimusha: Way of the Sword's swordplay. Here is each one, in plain terms.

Issen

The series' signature: a counterattack timed to the exact moment an enemy attack is about to land. The input window is famously tight and the payoff matches — massive damage plus extra souls. It is the move the franchise is named for, and our framerate guide charts how the window shifts across display modes.

Deflect

Bat an incoming attack aside to break the enemy's balance and drain their posture bar hard. Deflection also handles ranged attacks — incoming arrows can be knocked straight back at the shooter. Deeper mechanics live in our deflection breakdown.

Parry (the perfect guard)

Guard at the ideal instant and the parry-style guard comes out, with effects that scale with the situation: staggers that create attack openings, or shoves that send enemies crashing into walls and each other.

Flame State

Chain successful parries and you enter Flame state, a temporary buff window: blade damage goes up, and blue souls — the kind that feed your special-attack gauge — drop more often. It rewards players who defend on tempo rather than hiding behind guard.

Layer these together and the game's rhythm appears: deflect for posture, parry for control, Flame state for momentum, Issen for executions.

Related: boss-by-boss applications

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