Breaking malice barriers in Onimusha: Way of the Sword is part of Musashi’s mission as he purifies the regions taken by malice and the genma. You will encounter a couple of these barriers in Kiyomizu-dera Temple during “The Stage is Set at Kiyomizu” main quest, and many others as you progress in the campaign.
Besides hiding secondary objectives, these barriers will also block your path during important missions. Since avoiding them is impossible, you must learn how to break malice barriers in Onimusha: Way of the Sword if you want to save Kyoto.
[Ed. note: This guide contains spoilers for Onimusha: Way of the Sword, so continue at your own risk!]
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.
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.