What may frustrate some gamers is that Onimusha's characters cannot perform basic actions that have been taken for granted in most other action-oriented titles, such as jumping, grabbing, and climbing over obstacles. Characters tend to move slowly and can only slightly increase their speed with the dash maneuver by tapping twice in any direction.

The player controls their character using the D-Pad (although later games such as Onimusha 3: Demon Siege and Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams introduced analog stick control) and travels in a fairly linear method, able to rotate slowly with the input of an opposing direction. The control scheme of Onimusha resembles that found in the Resident Evil series.

In each game, the protagonist has the ability to absorb Genma souls from defeated enemies, which helps to restore health, infuse power within weapons and armor, and provide power for the elemental attacks of special weapons. Even though the protagonist changes in every Onimusha title, he is always a skilled swordsman who embarks on a set mission and journey, which involves slaying demons and fearsome enemies during the waning years of the Warring States period in feudal Japan. The gameplay in most of the Onimusha games is roughly based off of the mechanics from Capcom's survival horror franchise, Resident Evil.

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