I just finished Nioh 2 on the default difficulty, including all side quests and dojo missions. Being that this was one of my most anticipated games ever, I though I'd document my thoughts on the game at this time. Below is a spoiler-free review of Nioh 2.
Presentation
The game really does feel like a top notch product. The graphics are great, the art direction is excellent and imaginative, the sound design is delightful and the music is one of the best soundtracks you can find in a video game, living up the high standard set by its predecessor. Another aspect oft overlooked is the animation quality, which showcases the near peerless talent of Team Ninja's animators when given a proper budget and time.
Structure
This is a fully-featured, content-rich game with immense replay value for both single-player content, and multiplayer. The disjointed co-op system from the first Nioh has been revised to offer an excellent co-op experience with your friends from the get-go, and still allows you to easily assist other, random players if you should feel so inclined. There are tons of unlocks, missions, side missions, challenges, complex gear, items, stats and expansive skill trees that allow every player to tailor their experience to their liking, while keeping them yearning for more to push their character and/or build even further. Level design, however, is a bit less distinct. While most main missions in Nioh 1 followed clear, distinct motifs (cave level, docks level, snow level, sewer level, mountain level, ninja level, etc.), Nioh 2's levels are far more visually interchangeable. They aren't bad, as in poorly mapped, but many simply lack the memorable flair that nearly all stages had in the first to make each feel fresh and exciting to jump in to.
Story
Nioh 2 features your custom character as a mute protagonist, with the narrative's dramatic beats primarily following your relationship with a man called "Tokichiro" that you encounter in the first level. While this is done fairly well considering the limitations of the set-up, I found the other story beats largely un-engaging. I'm aware such criticisms were levied towards the first Nioh, but I actually found the first game's story quite powerful, and I wound up caring for the passions and struggles of all the different characters caught in the war without expecting to, much like William does. In Nioh 2, I can't quite say the same. The narrative covers a long period of time, hopping between different historical events without offering much reason to be invested in any particular skirmish before leaping to the next one. The "big bad," so to speak, is not imposing, intimidating or charismatic, and your drawn-out campaign against the villain ends with an incredibly underwhelming climax (one that I've heard many others praise). There were moments in Nioh 2's story that I loved, but it is a bit disappointing after how impressed I was with the original game's story. Perhaps it's simply a matter of expectations and I hyped myself up too much.
Gameplay
Okay, so here there have a lot of notable improvements over the first, but also a number of prominent set-backs.
The game has done very well expanding on the freedom and variation between weapons, with expanded weapon skills and customization and the introduction of two new weapon types. The new switchglaive is perhaps a bit too versatile, but I can't deny that it's great fun to use. I don't have as much experience with the Dual Hatchets, but their charged projectiles seem to offer an interesting new approach that sets them apart from the other existing weapons. Most of the new enemy types are fun and interesting, and there are numerous QoL changes and additions to menus, stats, affixes, etc. that make the game's complex systems more accessible and exciting to engage.
Living weapon has been replaced with Yokai Shift, and while I don't miss the Living Weapon at all, I can't say that I like Yokai Shift any better. I basically neglected it the entire game, only using the shift as a last-resort measure for some free i-frames when I was backed into a corner. Along with this is a new meter resource called "anima" which allows you to use Yokai abilities taken from felled monsters. I never used these, as my interest was in playing a hack'n'slash moreso than a Pokemon game. I suppose they're a fine addition for those who wish to go that route, but it's important to note that your Guardian Spirit's stats are affected by which monster abilities you have attuned to them. I'm not sure if this only affects the Guardian Spirit's skill, your Yokai Shift, your passive stats with the Guardian Spirit, or all three. I found it tedious managing all the soul cores however, and simply gave up halfway through the game and never bothered to update them.
The anima system also allows you to "burst counter," a type of reversal move that beats certain enemy attacks when they glow red. Your burst counter type is determined by your guardian spirit, as is your Yokai Shift, with Brute form giving you an attack, Feral giving you a dodge, and Phantom giving you a sort of shield. I simply used the type that corresponded to the Guardian Spirit I wished to have, which meant I used Feral for the first half of the game and Phantom for the second half. I recall from the demo that the Brute counter was by far the most reliable to land against most enemies' burst attacks, with Feral coming in second and Phantom being rather tricky. This system is fine in theory, but I don't like how much it streamlined certain strategies. Some enemies were given attacks that are totally overpowered, but then "balanced" by making them vulnerable to burst counter. So if they do that attack, you are often forced into using your burst counter rather than employing other, unique strategies respective to your weapon and/or build.
Finally, there's the new "Dark Realm," a mode that turns your screen black-and-white, often making it terribly hard to see. In these instances, you have decreased ki regeneration, increased anima regeneration and empowered yokai shift, but yokai enemies become much tougher. This mechanic was clearly implemented to try to force players to explore their Yokai Shift, Yokai abilities and burst counters, none of which I really wanted to do. Bosses will initiate this mode when their stamina meter is depleted, punishing you for damaging them with counter-hits and aggressive play. Thus, a new, bizarre mini-game began where I developed strategies to inflict the most damage I could while simultaneously inflicting as little stamina depletion to each boss as possible. While I don't enjoy having my pressure and mobility gimped by the Dark Realm's ki debuff, what really made me seek to avoid it was how obfuscated my view became. I genuinely do not like playing the game when it's in "Dark Realm" mode because I can't see clearly, even jacking up the brightness on my monitor to the point that non-Dark Realm is so bright it causes eyestrain. The "mist" visuals and removal of color simply make it a chore to discern what I'm even looking at, let alone manage to play competently when the game is at its most challenging. I cannot stress how much I detest the Dark Realm mechanic, and I hope that Team Ninja does away with it if they decide to make another Nioh game.
Lastly, the game is simply too easy. I beat literally every boss within three attempts with only two exceptions (more on that below), and I'm not an exceptionally talented gamer, nor did I use summons or a build that was over-leveled or relied on "cheese" strategies. I used light armor (I died in about two hits from basically every enemy in the game, boss or regular), tonfas, switchglaive and single katana, and limited omnyo/ninjutsu. I avoided Sloth Talisman and electric weapons (the latter being at least as cheesy as the former in this one), and again, neglected Yokai Shift and Yokai Abilities almost entirely. There is no reason I should have skated through the game this effortlessly (the only consistent challenge came from trying to make the single katana a viable choice), especially given how regularly I died on my first run in Nioh 1. If you're good with burst counters, most enemies basically kill themselves. The exception is enemies that have a multi-strike burst attack, such as those with AoE elemental attacks. These can still be hard countered with Brute counters as the warm-ups can be interrupted with the preemptive attack, whereas Feral and Phantom, being reactive counters, will still cause you to take damage since many of these multi-hit attacks will last through your i-frames even if the enemy is staggered with a counter after the active frames have been triggered. Burst attacks and burst counters were just integrated in a very sloppy, hap-hazard fashion that does a disservice to the game's otherwise fantastic, intricate combat system.
Finally, let's discuss the problem child, as it showcases much of what is wrong with Nioh 2's new mechanics. This is a boss somewhere around the mid-game, so if you wish to avoid all spoilers, skip over this section in the spoiler tags:
Overall, Nioh 2 is a fantastic game and I really do love it. I intend to delve into the post-game content, higher difficulties and DLC, and fully intend to get the game again when it's released on PC and do it all over again. That said, I don't feel that it is universally superior to its predecessor, despite making many improvements and offering a great, content-rich experience.
Presentation
The game really does feel like a top notch product. The graphics are great, the art direction is excellent and imaginative, the sound design is delightful and the music is one of the best soundtracks you can find in a video game, living up the high standard set by its predecessor. Another aspect oft overlooked is the animation quality, which showcases the near peerless talent of Team Ninja's animators when given a proper budget and time.
Structure
This is a fully-featured, content-rich game with immense replay value for both single-player content, and multiplayer. The disjointed co-op system from the first Nioh has been revised to offer an excellent co-op experience with your friends from the get-go, and still allows you to easily assist other, random players if you should feel so inclined. There are tons of unlocks, missions, side missions, challenges, complex gear, items, stats and expansive skill trees that allow every player to tailor their experience to their liking, while keeping them yearning for more to push their character and/or build even further. Level design, however, is a bit less distinct. While most main missions in Nioh 1 followed clear, distinct motifs (cave level, docks level, snow level, sewer level, mountain level, ninja level, etc.), Nioh 2's levels are far more visually interchangeable. They aren't bad, as in poorly mapped, but many simply lack the memorable flair that nearly all stages had in the first to make each feel fresh and exciting to jump in to.
Story
Nioh 2 features your custom character as a mute protagonist, with the narrative's dramatic beats primarily following your relationship with a man called "Tokichiro" that you encounter in the first level. While this is done fairly well considering the limitations of the set-up, I found the other story beats largely un-engaging. I'm aware such criticisms were levied towards the first Nioh, but I actually found the first game's story quite powerful, and I wound up caring for the passions and struggles of all the different characters caught in the war without expecting to, much like William does. In Nioh 2, I can't quite say the same. The narrative covers a long period of time, hopping between different historical events without offering much reason to be invested in any particular skirmish before leaping to the next one. The "big bad," so to speak, is not imposing, intimidating or charismatic, and your drawn-out campaign against the villain ends with an incredibly underwhelming climax (one that I've heard many others praise). There were moments in Nioh 2's story that I loved, but it is a bit disappointing after how impressed I was with the original game's story. Perhaps it's simply a matter of expectations and I hyped myself up too much.
Gameplay
Okay, so here there have a lot of notable improvements over the first, but also a number of prominent set-backs.
The game has done very well expanding on the freedom and variation between weapons, with expanded weapon skills and customization and the introduction of two new weapon types. The new switchglaive is perhaps a bit too versatile, but I can't deny that it's great fun to use. I don't have as much experience with the Dual Hatchets, but their charged projectiles seem to offer an interesting new approach that sets them apart from the other existing weapons. Most of the new enemy types are fun and interesting, and there are numerous QoL changes and additions to menus, stats, affixes, etc. that make the game's complex systems more accessible and exciting to engage.
Living weapon has been replaced with Yokai Shift, and while I don't miss the Living Weapon at all, I can't say that I like Yokai Shift any better. I basically neglected it the entire game, only using the shift as a last-resort measure for some free i-frames when I was backed into a corner. Along with this is a new meter resource called "anima" which allows you to use Yokai abilities taken from felled monsters. I never used these, as my interest was in playing a hack'n'slash moreso than a Pokemon game. I suppose they're a fine addition for those who wish to go that route, but it's important to note that your Guardian Spirit's stats are affected by which monster abilities you have attuned to them. I'm not sure if this only affects the Guardian Spirit's skill, your Yokai Shift, your passive stats with the Guardian Spirit, or all three. I found it tedious managing all the soul cores however, and simply gave up halfway through the game and never bothered to update them.
The anima system also allows you to "burst counter," a type of reversal move that beats certain enemy attacks when they glow red. Your burst counter type is determined by your guardian spirit, as is your Yokai Shift, with Brute form giving you an attack, Feral giving you a dodge, and Phantom giving you a sort of shield. I simply used the type that corresponded to the Guardian Spirit I wished to have, which meant I used Feral for the first half of the game and Phantom for the second half. I recall from the demo that the Brute counter was by far the most reliable to land against most enemies' burst attacks, with Feral coming in second and Phantom being rather tricky. This system is fine in theory, but I don't like how much it streamlined certain strategies. Some enemies were given attacks that are totally overpowered, but then "balanced" by making them vulnerable to burst counter. So if they do that attack, you are often forced into using your burst counter rather than employing other, unique strategies respective to your weapon and/or build.
Finally, there's the new "Dark Realm," a mode that turns your screen black-and-white, often making it terribly hard to see. In these instances, you have decreased ki regeneration, increased anima regeneration and empowered yokai shift, but yokai enemies become much tougher. This mechanic was clearly implemented to try to force players to explore their Yokai Shift, Yokai abilities and burst counters, none of which I really wanted to do. Bosses will initiate this mode when their stamina meter is depleted, punishing you for damaging them with counter-hits and aggressive play. Thus, a new, bizarre mini-game began where I developed strategies to inflict the most damage I could while simultaneously inflicting as little stamina depletion to each boss as possible. While I don't enjoy having my pressure and mobility gimped by the Dark Realm's ki debuff, what really made me seek to avoid it was how obfuscated my view became. I genuinely do not like playing the game when it's in "Dark Realm" mode because I can't see clearly, even jacking up the brightness on my monitor to the point that non-Dark Realm is so bright it causes eyestrain. The "mist" visuals and removal of color simply make it a chore to discern what I'm even looking at, let alone manage to play competently when the game is at its most challenging. I cannot stress how much I detest the Dark Realm mechanic, and I hope that Team Ninja does away with it if they decide to make another Nioh game.
Lastly, the game is simply too easy. I beat literally every boss within three attempts with only two exceptions (more on that below), and I'm not an exceptionally talented gamer, nor did I use summons or a build that was over-leveled or relied on "cheese" strategies. I used light armor (I died in about two hits from basically every enemy in the game, boss or regular), tonfas, switchglaive and single katana, and limited omnyo/ninjutsu. I avoided Sloth Talisman and electric weapons (the latter being at least as cheesy as the former in this one), and again, neglected Yokai Shift and Yokai Abilities almost entirely. There is no reason I should have skated through the game this effortlessly (the only consistent challenge came from trying to make the single katana a viable choice), especially given how regularly I died on my first run in Nioh 1. If you're good with burst counters, most enemies basically kill themselves. The exception is enemies that have a multi-strike burst attack, such as those with AoE elemental attacks. These can still be hard countered with Brute counters as the warm-ups can be interrupted with the preemptive attack, whereas Feral and Phantom, being reactive counters, will still cause you to take damage since many of these multi-hit attacks will last through your i-frames even if the enemy is staggered with a counter after the active frames have been triggered. Burst attacks and burst counters were just integrated in a very sloppy, hap-hazard fashion that does a disservice to the game's otherwise fantastic, intricate combat system.
Finally, let's discuss the problem child, as it showcases much of what is wrong with Nioh 2's new mechanics. This is a boss somewhere around the mid-game, so if you wish to avoid all spoilers, skip over this section in the spoiler tags:
Katsuie Shibata is a fucking asshole. In his basic form, he's a hulking bastard with damaging, sweeping attacks that deplete tons of ki on guard and is confined in a tiny little room. Despite this, it's actually a rather fun challenge. You need to be nearly-frame perfect in a drawn-out war of attrition as dodging his assault with keeping enough ki to retaliate is actually pretty tricky, especially considering that he's a massive damage sponge but basically one hit from any of his attacks will kill you instantly. But then he activates Dark Realm. You now can't see anything and the floor is literally lava, sucking away at your health and forcing you to use elixirs against a boss that has zero interest in giving you any down time. His attacks are even more bullshitty than before, managing your ki with dodging, attacking and now having to create windows to use elixirs, you are juggling so much for so long only to be nicked once by some bullshit from anywhere in this tiny deathbox and then you have to restart the whole damn process.
My stats say that he killed me 8 times, with one of those being thanks to a side-quest where they force you to battle this son of a bitch again. Dying 7 times to a boss may not seem too bad, but it is when each attempt takes forever and is utterly devoid of fun. The other boss I died to multiple times was Azai Nagamasa, and not because he was incredibly challenging, but because I loved the fight so much I wanted to beat it using the single sword without taking any damage (I eventually settled for "not using any elixirs" because this one wind-sweep kept clipping me). But I didn't mind repeating that because it was fun as hell. I actually like a good challenge. I do not like Katusie Shibata. He epitomizes Nioh 2's approach to "difficulty" in such a horribly ostentatious way. Huge health pool, everything one-shots you, nearly-unavoidable damage sprinkling the floor with fire pools, discouraging fast-paced, hack'n'slash gameplay in favor of meter-gimmicks and obscuring your ability to see what the fuck is going on with the new "Dark Realm" vision.
Fuck. This. Guy.
My stats say that he killed me 8 times, with one of those being thanks to a side-quest where they force you to battle this son of a bitch again. Dying 7 times to a boss may not seem too bad, but it is when each attempt takes forever and is utterly devoid of fun. The other boss I died to multiple times was Azai Nagamasa, and not because he was incredibly challenging, but because I loved the fight so much I wanted to beat it using the single sword without taking any damage (I eventually settled for "not using any elixirs" because this one wind-sweep kept clipping me). But I didn't mind repeating that because it was fun as hell. I actually like a good challenge. I do not like Katusie Shibata. He epitomizes Nioh 2's approach to "difficulty" in such a horribly ostentatious way. Huge health pool, everything one-shots you, nearly-unavoidable damage sprinkling the floor with fire pools, discouraging fast-paced, hack'n'slash gameplay in favor of meter-gimmicks and obscuring your ability to see what the fuck is going on with the new "Dark Realm" vision.
Fuck. This. Guy.
I've heard a lot of people found the final boos cool and hard. I found him boring and easy, aside from Phantom form, which is obnoxious, and his AoE lightning attack for reasons addressed above. Doesn't help that it's a battle "in your mind" and I never give a shit about that stuff. Best bosses were Azai Nagamasa and Shuten Doji, with honorable mentions to the Kamataichi and Saika Magoichi.
Overall, Nioh 2 is a fantastic game and I really do love it. I intend to delve into the post-game content, higher difficulties and DLC, and fully intend to get the game again when it's released on PC and do it all over again. That said, I don't feel that it is universally superior to its predecessor, despite making many improvements and offering a great, content-rich experience.
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