I had a ton of fun with almost every boss fight in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, but this was the first one that was the perfect balance of fun and challenge for me. This was the boss fight that really sold me on how much I liked this game. Ifuu is one of two brothers you’ll fight in this game. He and his brother travel around hell fighting people just because it’s fun. Just like Musashi has learned from Takamura, if you live by the sword, fighting is everything.

Ifuu - Fearsome Gale boss fight guide in Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Ifuu is the first “big” boss fight in this game. Rasho-gan had multiple phases and was quite difficult for some. However, Ifuu has three full phases that he will achieve, and he can be incredibly difficult to defeat if you’re not on your A-game. When fighting Ifuu, you need to be aware of a few things. This is the first fight where you truly need to be aggressive. If you let him stay at a distance, he’ll use that to his advantage and eventually catch you off guard. If he absorbs enough souls, he’ll advance his stages quickly.

In his first stage, he has three major attacks that you should be aware of. His normal swing can be parried, but he does not stagger from the first, and he will immediately follow up with a second attack that can also be parried. Keep in mind that when parrying Ifuu’s attacks, you yourself will be staggered because of the sheer force of his attacks. When possible, I recommend Reflex dodging to avoid being staggered.

Ifuu’s grab attack in the moment it should be dodged

When he finds himself at a distance, there are two things he may attempt. Either he’ll slash his axe, causing a wind blade to fly towards you, or he’ll attempt to grab you. The air bursts should be dodged rather than deflected. It could’ve just been my timing, but I was not able to deflect them a single time when fighting him. His grab is also fairly easy to dodge. When his hand glows blue, he will jump at you and attempt to grab you. It’s crucial that you dodge this grab because he will absorb souls from you, and if he does this enough times, he’ll advance his stage quickly. The easiest way to dodge is as soon as he makes that final lunge towards you.

The second phase is mostly the same. He will get a little faster and more aggressive, but he adds in two new attacks. The first of which is actually quite difficult to avoid. He’ll start the attack by yelling, “Here it comes!” or something along those lines, then he will do a spinning strike at you. This part of the attack is not the difficult part to dodge. However, you need to react quickly because he will leave behind exploding balls of lightning.

The best way I’ve found to avoid this attack is to dodge backwards on the initial attack, then dodge to the left and sprint away to avoid the lightning balls since they explode from right to left. This attack will deal significant damage, so I recommend healing afterwards if you are hit by it.

The second attack he adds is easier to deal with. He will jump backwards and begin to suck in air. This will start to suck you towards him, and as he does this, the pack on his back will begin to swell up. You need to shoot his pack with your Oni Bow. If you don’t, once you’re close enough to him, he will jump into the air and stomp down onto you. This can be Reflex Dodged, but a parry will do no good.

In his final phase, when he charges his axe, he will add one additional attack where he will fly into the sky and suck in air like he did on the ground, except he will do it in circles. It is crucial that you shoot the pack keeping him afloat with your Oni Bow because the attack that follows this deals a great amount of damage.

And I guess my final tip is your Oni Armament. I suggest you use the Wind Whipper because it deals great damage to his stamina, which you can use to your advantage. However, when you’re rechallenging him, you’ll have the Earthshakers unlocked, and I think these are the best Oni weapons you can use on most bosses.

After defeating Ifuu, you’ll soon face his brother, but that comes later. Once you defeat him, you’ll head to a new location where you’ll face a new type of Genma, a Nue. These creatures are a pain to deal with, but they’re not impossible, so good luck!

After fighting the Nue, you’ll soon find yourself in a Dungeon where you might get stuck on a puzzle to open a mysterious door. Check out our guide on that puzzle!

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is available now on PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, Playstation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.