How to break malice barriers in Onimusha Way of the Sword

How to break malice barriers in Onimusha: Way of the Sword

When it comes to removing these hellish structures, neither training nor a sword can help you. To break malice barriers, you must unlock the Oni Strength ability during the “Careful What You Wish For” mission. This is one of the first main stories in the game, but it can take up to five hours of gameplay to reach it.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

This mission involves investigating the mysterious events surrounding the Hachidai Rikison Shrine and facing the boss Rasho-gan. After you’ve defeated them and a short cutscene plays, you’ll unlock the Oni Strength skill and its skill tree.

This oni power allows you to interact with a malice barrier and break it by holding the action button. Later on, you can unlock the “Destruction Speed” passive node in the Oni Strength skill tree, which reduces the time to destroy barriers. It might not sound much, but this upgrade is rather helpful when you’re trying to blaze through a level while ignoring enemies.

Once you have unlocked Oni Strength, it also becomes an important combat tool. When facing enemies wielding shields or standing in defensive stances, you can use Oni Strength and break their defenses. This ability also lets you grab items like explosive barrels (and even large pillars once you upgraded) and throw them at enemies.