Having played a portion of it recently at Summer Game Fest: Play Days, and the free demo available on the XBOX Store, Way of the Sword feels more like a reinvention of the series – and it’s glorious. Instead of isometric views, now we follow closely behind the hero, like a third-person action-adventure game. The mystical horror elements remain strong, and genuinely creepy at times, but combat has evolved significantly with a variety of slick moves to pull off.

Musashi is fast, no doubt inspired by the actual legendary tales of his prowess with a sword, and can easily slice up supernatural beings with ease, utilizing a variety of parries and dodges to whittle down the most powerful of foes, and pulling off stunning finishing moves that leave them scattered across the ground.

Like previous games, the Oni Gaunlet is a centerpiece to Musashi’s power (even if he doesn’t want it). Able to absorb Genma souls from defeated enemies, Musashi is able to unleash tremendously flashy and powerful attacks, like The Two Celestials, a pair of large blades that strip souls from defeated foes, or the Wind-Whipper, a twin-blade that creates a devastating tornado around Musashi, leaving enemies quite literally in the dust.

This adventure is amplified by the cinematic storytelling on display to help us resonate with Musashi’s journey, with well-produced cutscenes, voice actors eating ham sandwiches, and larger-than-life bosses help bring us into this world. In one scene during our preview, Rasho-gan, a tremendous demonic entity covered in arms and hands, tricks a young lady to cut off her fingers to appease him. To suggest his delivery is over the top would be an understatement, and I loved how much scenery he chewed up along the way.