I was gonna wait to post this...but screw it.
On the surface Nioh looks like a Souls-like game with a Samurai coat of paint on it. When you first pick up and play Nioh, you will instantly notice the Souls-esque UI featuring item hotkeys, stamina bars, health bars, shrines you pray at to level up, everything you would expect from a Souls game. When you encounter your first enemy with your bare hands, you'll instantly be punished in an unforgiving Souls-like way. But that it only the surface. What you'll discover after only a few more minutes of playing Nioh, is a game so much deeper than anything Dark Souls or Bloodborne ever offered you.
Nioh is an action RPG, with one of the tightest combat systems I have ever seen in a game. You play a man named William Adams who magically learned how to be a samurai by reading a book. Fictionally based on a real man and real events, minus the magic, you control William as his journey takes him on a hunt for a man that wronged him through a demon infest Futal Japan. The story is where Nioh instantly starts to break itself apart from it's Souls-like skin. Unlike a Souls game where all the story is told by blurbs on item descriptions, and the vaguest NPC's in history, Nioh tells a fully fleshed out story through voice acted cutscenes. It's ultimately the weakest part of Nioh though, because while the story is a nice addition, it is balls to the wall crazy and can almost take you out of the best part of Nioh and that's the combat.
Speaking of which, the combat in Nioh is where the game really shines. It's fast, it's tight, and it's brutally difficult. Combat where a mistake against the weakest of enemies can leave you dead. Unlike Dark Souls where there are tons of weapons to choose from, Nioh only has five. That's right five melee weapons in total. However it isn't as simple as it sounds, you see William is a martial artist, and wields every weapon in one of three different stances that you can change and combo in and out of on the fly. Each stance has strengths, weaknesses, and move sets, and since you can freely change stances at any given breath it makes the combat much more complex that any Souls game. Thus my final reference to Souls games.
The majority of combat is done with these five weapons, of which you can have two readily equipped at any given time and can also freely swap between just like with stances. As mentioned above each stance leave William with a different mindset to combat. High stance deals incredible damage but sacrifices mobility and defense. Mid stance does decent damage and frees up mobility somewhat for dodging but provides a greater emphasis on blocking and countering. Finally low stance is the speed demon of the trio, attack quickly, dodge quickly, run quickly, everything is quick, however the damage output is much lower than the other two stances. Combat becomes extremely satisfying once you master the interchangable moveset and unleash hell upon the demons you face.
That's not all, in addition to melee you have two types of ranged weapons, Ninja charms and traps, and Magic buffs and spells. With bows and guns you can pick off enemies from a far, thining out groups or just dealing with a sniper before you tackle his melee based friends. Ninja spells allow you to inflict statuses on your foes, evening the playing field against foes that would normally easily over power you. Magic allows you to coat your weapons in elemental damage to exploit enemy weaknesses and further increase the damage you deal to them. All of these aspects make the combat incredibly layered and nuanced while still allowing players to play their own way. You are free to go through the entire game never swapping stances, or using magic, it's up to you. But all these layers weave together wonderfully to make you feel incredible about mastering them all.
Additionally William is enpowered by living Spirits which grant him passive stat bonuses as well as a charge meter that allows him to unleash powerful attacks for a short period of time. This powered up state grants you limit invulnerability and can be used for some clutch moments when both you and a boss are on the last slivers of health. There are a small selection of these spirits you can unlock and equip as your progress through the game, and they can be swapped at any shrine (aka bonfires) and since each comes with an elemental bonus, there is reason to swap them out from level to level, which does wonders for making all of them seem useful at times.
To add to all of this, Nioh is also a true rpg in the sense that enemies constantly reward you with loot. Items and gear will rain from your foes to the point that it almost overwhelms you. This Diablo-like loot system (another game comparison!) will have you upgrading your weapons and armor for wildly varying bonuses. Different rarities on the loo yield different levels of power. There is a weight system in place as well to keep you from making random choices, your movement will slow to a crawl if you overload on heavy armor and you will be forced to judge what bonuses matter to you as you carefully manage your weight limits (which you can increase with certain level up stats).
If your loot luck is bad and you find yourself with a ton of gear you can't use, or just don't find interesting, you can take it to your local blacksmith and have it torn apart and used to make new gear and items you'll actually desire. It is here where Nioh starts to show some cracks. System upon system start to stack up like a tower of Jenga blocks. At the blacksmith alone there is a demantle system, craft system, a reforge system, a bonding system, and while they all work and serve a purpose, it can easily become overwhelming especially since the UI isn't handled very well here. Frankly I never saw any reason to craft or use the blacksmith at all, as the monsters in game where dropping more loot than I could handle anyway. I never found myself underpowered enough that I needed to craft a better item to get by.
Another system is the skill and prestige system. As you fight you earn skill points of various types which you can put into an unlock board that will unlock a new combo move, blocking method, easier parrying, stamina regeneration, etc. Every weapon type has it's own board, with one for ninja skills and one for magic as well. This system promotes finding one or two weapons that you like and sticking with them for the entire game. Which is another crack in Nioh's design. Every weapon feels unique and has it's own purpose, but the game actively seems to want to pigeon hole you into one main weapon and one sub weapon (there is even an early menu in the game where you choose these). This made me feel like so much as looking at any other weapon type was pointless.
Mission design in Nioh is separated by a overworld map. Don't expect an interconnected world here, for the most power you will entire a level, process through to the end and move on to choose a different mission on a different map. While some of the main missions are large enough that there are plenty of shortcuts and side paths to explore, the side missions tend to be smaller segments of the main missions and are mostly straight forward "get to the end" style things. It was clear that they designed the sub missions to be quicker little missions that players can use to farm experience (amrita) or additional items without being bogged down by a big mission. The main missions often took hours to complete, (mostly learning how to fight the boss at the end) while side missions took only ten-thirty minutes. It is an interesting design choice, and while it can disconnect the player, I actually loved this mission style because combat is so intense at times that it was nice to be able to take a breather after beating a mission and sort through my gear and skill points outside of missions without fear of something coming up from behind to tear my head off.
As I've stated Nioh's combat is fantastic, even if there isn't a whole lot of enemy variety. Different demons tend to only be different because they have different weapons equipped, and a lot of basic enemies are reused for far too long. Thankfully the bosses here are nothing short of incredible. Never before have I played a game where EVERY boss requires something different of me. Even by the end of the game when I was pretty much a sword wielding vortex of death, late bosses had me taking different approaches to defeat because no two can be beaten in the same way. Once you learn what a boss is going to do to you, you can ultimately prepare different Ninja skills and magics to capitalize on where you think they are weak. Allowing you to beat them down.
Sadly knowledge is a deadly weapon here. While the game is challenging all the way through, and mistakes instantly leave you dead, I found that once I got a handle of knowing how to prepare for combat or how to deal with a given enemy type, it worked 90% of the time and I breezed through the back half of the game. Even late game bosses only took a small number of tries to bring down because I was basically able to overgear, or over prepare for them with magic buffs and hitting them with ninja debuffs.
At the end of the day Nioh is a fantastic action game. The combat is wonderful and while it starts difficult, there is something to be said about that feeling you get when everything suddenly clicks and you start making the game your *****. The sheer number of systems in place here seem excessive, from loot, to combat stances, to Ki bursting to regenerate your "stamina", to the blacksmithing, the leveling, the selling or breaking down of loot. Looking back on it, it amazed me just how much of the systems I never used, which is sad because it makes them feel like extras that didn't need to be there.
VERDICT
8.5/10
TL;DR - Nioh is a fantastic mix of tight punishing combat with a great diablo-like loot system. Character customization is deep if there are a few too many systems to manage. At times the game can feel like you are messing with menus a little more than you are fucking up the bad guys. Once you find your groove though, you will charge through Nioh and never look back.
On the surface Nioh looks like a Souls-like game with a Samurai coat of paint on it. When you first pick up and play Nioh, you will instantly notice the Souls-esque UI featuring item hotkeys, stamina bars, health bars, shrines you pray at to level up, everything you would expect from a Souls game. When you encounter your first enemy with your bare hands, you'll instantly be punished in an unforgiving Souls-like way. But that it only the surface. What you'll discover after only a few more minutes of playing Nioh, is a game so much deeper than anything Dark Souls or Bloodborne ever offered you.
Nioh is an action RPG, with one of the tightest combat systems I have ever seen in a game. You play a man named William Adams who magically learned how to be a samurai by reading a book. Fictionally based on a real man and real events, minus the magic, you control William as his journey takes him on a hunt for a man that wronged him through a demon infest Futal Japan. The story is where Nioh instantly starts to break itself apart from it's Souls-like skin. Unlike a Souls game where all the story is told by blurbs on item descriptions, and the vaguest NPC's in history, Nioh tells a fully fleshed out story through voice acted cutscenes. It's ultimately the weakest part of Nioh though, because while the story is a nice addition, it is balls to the wall crazy and can almost take you out of the best part of Nioh and that's the combat.
Speaking of which, the combat in Nioh is where the game really shines. It's fast, it's tight, and it's brutally difficult. Combat where a mistake against the weakest of enemies can leave you dead. Unlike Dark Souls where there are tons of weapons to choose from, Nioh only has five. That's right five melee weapons in total. However it isn't as simple as it sounds, you see William is a martial artist, and wields every weapon in one of three different stances that you can change and combo in and out of on the fly. Each stance has strengths, weaknesses, and move sets, and since you can freely change stances at any given breath it makes the combat much more complex that any Souls game. Thus my final reference to Souls games.
The majority of combat is done with these five weapons, of which you can have two readily equipped at any given time and can also freely swap between just like with stances. As mentioned above each stance leave William with a different mindset to combat. High stance deals incredible damage but sacrifices mobility and defense. Mid stance does decent damage and frees up mobility somewhat for dodging but provides a greater emphasis on blocking and countering. Finally low stance is the speed demon of the trio, attack quickly, dodge quickly, run quickly, everything is quick, however the damage output is much lower than the other two stances. Combat becomes extremely satisfying once you master the interchangable moveset and unleash hell upon the demons you face.
That's not all, in addition to melee you have two types of ranged weapons, Ninja charms and traps, and Magic buffs and spells. With bows and guns you can pick off enemies from a far, thining out groups or just dealing with a sniper before you tackle his melee based friends. Ninja spells allow you to inflict statuses on your foes, evening the playing field against foes that would normally easily over power you. Magic allows you to coat your weapons in elemental damage to exploit enemy weaknesses and further increase the damage you deal to them. All of these aspects make the combat incredibly layered and nuanced while still allowing players to play their own way. You are free to go through the entire game never swapping stances, or using magic, it's up to you. But all these layers weave together wonderfully to make you feel incredible about mastering them all.
Additionally William is enpowered by living Spirits which grant him passive stat bonuses as well as a charge meter that allows him to unleash powerful attacks for a short period of time. This powered up state grants you limit invulnerability and can be used for some clutch moments when both you and a boss are on the last slivers of health. There are a small selection of these spirits you can unlock and equip as your progress through the game, and they can be swapped at any shrine (aka bonfires) and since each comes with an elemental bonus, there is reason to swap them out from level to level, which does wonders for making all of them seem useful at times.
To add to all of this, Nioh is also a true rpg in the sense that enemies constantly reward you with loot. Items and gear will rain from your foes to the point that it almost overwhelms you. This Diablo-like loot system (another game comparison!) will have you upgrading your weapons and armor for wildly varying bonuses. Different rarities on the loo yield different levels of power. There is a weight system in place as well to keep you from making random choices, your movement will slow to a crawl if you overload on heavy armor and you will be forced to judge what bonuses matter to you as you carefully manage your weight limits (which you can increase with certain level up stats).
If your loot luck is bad and you find yourself with a ton of gear you can't use, or just don't find interesting, you can take it to your local blacksmith and have it torn apart and used to make new gear and items you'll actually desire. It is here where Nioh starts to show some cracks. System upon system start to stack up like a tower of Jenga blocks. At the blacksmith alone there is a demantle system, craft system, a reforge system, a bonding system, and while they all work and serve a purpose, it can easily become overwhelming especially since the UI isn't handled very well here. Frankly I never saw any reason to craft or use the blacksmith at all, as the monsters in game where dropping more loot than I could handle anyway. I never found myself underpowered enough that I needed to craft a better item to get by.
Another system is the skill and prestige system. As you fight you earn skill points of various types which you can put into an unlock board that will unlock a new combo move, blocking method, easier parrying, stamina regeneration, etc. Every weapon type has it's own board, with one for ninja skills and one for magic as well. This system promotes finding one or two weapons that you like and sticking with them for the entire game. Which is another crack in Nioh's design. Every weapon feels unique and has it's own purpose, but the game actively seems to want to pigeon hole you into one main weapon and one sub weapon (there is even an early menu in the game where you choose these). This made me feel like so much as looking at any other weapon type was pointless.
Mission design in Nioh is separated by a overworld map. Don't expect an interconnected world here, for the most power you will entire a level, process through to the end and move on to choose a different mission on a different map. While some of the main missions are large enough that there are plenty of shortcuts and side paths to explore, the side missions tend to be smaller segments of the main missions and are mostly straight forward "get to the end" style things. It was clear that they designed the sub missions to be quicker little missions that players can use to farm experience (amrita) or additional items without being bogged down by a big mission. The main missions often took hours to complete, (mostly learning how to fight the boss at the end) while side missions took only ten-thirty minutes. It is an interesting design choice, and while it can disconnect the player, I actually loved this mission style because combat is so intense at times that it was nice to be able to take a breather after beating a mission and sort through my gear and skill points outside of missions without fear of something coming up from behind to tear my head off.
As I've stated Nioh's combat is fantastic, even if there isn't a whole lot of enemy variety. Different demons tend to only be different because they have different weapons equipped, and a lot of basic enemies are reused for far too long. Thankfully the bosses here are nothing short of incredible. Never before have I played a game where EVERY boss requires something different of me. Even by the end of the game when I was pretty much a sword wielding vortex of death, late bosses had me taking different approaches to defeat because no two can be beaten in the same way. Once you learn what a boss is going to do to you, you can ultimately prepare different Ninja skills and magics to capitalize on where you think they are weak. Allowing you to beat them down.
Sadly knowledge is a deadly weapon here. While the game is challenging all the way through, and mistakes instantly leave you dead, I found that once I got a handle of knowing how to prepare for combat or how to deal with a given enemy type, it worked 90% of the time and I breezed through the back half of the game. Even late game bosses only took a small number of tries to bring down because I was basically able to overgear, or over prepare for them with magic buffs and hitting them with ninja debuffs.
At the end of the day Nioh is a fantastic action game. The combat is wonderful and while it starts difficult, there is something to be said about that feeling you get when everything suddenly clicks and you start making the game your *****. The sheer number of systems in place here seem excessive, from loot, to combat stances, to Ki bursting to regenerate your "stamina", to the blacksmithing, the leveling, the selling or breaking down of loot. Looking back on it, it amazed me just how much of the systems I never used, which is sad because it makes them feel like extras that didn't need to be there.
VERDICT
8.5/10
TL;DR - Nioh is a fantastic mix of tight punishing combat with a great diablo-like loot system. Character customization is deep if there are a few too many systems to manage. At times the game can feel like you are messing with menus a little more than you are fucking up the bad guys. Once you find your groove though, you will charge through Nioh and never look back.
