During my exclusive hands-on with Onimusha: Way of the Sword at Capcom’s HQ in Osaka, I sat down with the game’s audio director, Shunichi Suwa, to talk about how the music, environmental and character audio, as well as weapon sound effects were designed.
And, for a game that has a huge focus on duelling with blades, I immediately asked Suwa about how Capcom’s sound team had created the myriad of weapon sound effects in the game. Was it just Suwa and his colleagues going at each other with real swords?
“Yes, we did use real swords and real scabbards for the creation of sounds, especially for like the sheathing actions,” confirms Suwa. “We definitely made use of real weapons there. [However], in terms of making the sounds for the swords, actually using real swords doesn’t always produce the best sounds if you’re using [them in] the natural way, as you usually use swords. So in a Foley studio, we made use of a special katana made specifically for producing those kinds of sounds, and also a variety of different metals and stones as well to create a lot of different sound effects.”
Suwa then shows me the specially made katana, which is visible in the above video. The sword looks normal apart from two things. Firstly, it is thicker than a regular katana, and secondly, it has a pronounced S-shaped kink in the blade near the hilt. It’s like the blade has been folded back on itself a few times. Why create this special katana, though? What does it deliver that is different from a real katana?
“So one of the reasons for using [that] particular sword is that, for this game, we weren’t really aiming to have a very clean sound for the swords. We wanted that very raw, kind of rough feel to the sounds, that really kind of grating, kind of scraping sound. We really wanted to capture a sound that really sold that.”
I’m handed the blade as well as a corrugated iron bar, the sort used in construction, and invited to slide the blade against the bar. The noise it creates is the exact sort of rough, metallic noise that can be found in Way of the Sword when the game’s hero, legendary swordmaster Miyamoto Musashi, deflects the blows of his enemies’ blades.
“The reasoning behind us going for this very raw, kind of rough, unprocessed sound,” continues Suwa, “was that we really wanted Musashi, while he is a sword master, to showcase the kind of raw strength side of him and the way he fights. So we wanted to really portray that part of his character through the sounds.”
Anyone who has played the Onimusha: Way of the Sword demo will be able to relate to what Suwa says. Musashi’s fighting technique is very raw, with wild, powerful swings of his katana. This contrasts with Musashi’s main rival, bad guy Sasaki Ganryu, whose fighting technique and movements are more refined, smooth, and snake-like.
After playing both the publicly released Onimusha: Way of the Sword demo, as well as an extended, multi-stage, hands-on experience inside Capcom’s headquarters, I can confirm that, maybe unlike any other game I’ve played, the sword action in this game delivers a raw, kinetic feeling that is incredibly impactful. And, as you would expect, the sound effects play a large part in that.
To see more Onimusha, be sure to grab the next issue of PC Gamer magazine, where we’ll have a world-exclusive, in-depth preview.