Team Ninja’s take on an Action RPG and what many will refer to as a Dark Souls type of game, Nioh immediately throws the player into the action where its quick to let you know this is not a walk in the park.
Based in feudal Japan, William, or the man with a guardian spirit, traverses the country to retrieve Saoirse, the guardian spirit that was taken from him by an alchemist. On the way, many enemies are to be fought, pathways to be discovered, items to be retrieved, people to be met, and various obstacles to keep vigilant for.
The world of Nioh is vast with deep character building and intricate fighting techniques. Combat takes a slower, more tactical approach that rewards the patient and those that give the effort to learn its intricacies. Between various weapon types, fighting stances, the plethora of skills and abilities, and ways to add to combos, the potential for different fighting styles is massive. With the many different enemies, each with their own attributes and approaches to combat, every encounter feels unique. There are countless efficient and inefficient ways to confront each and every foe.
Stances can be high, medium, or low. The stance taken generally adopts either power, defense, or speed. This is done by changing the combos altogether—each stance having its own move set. What works with each weapon, or against each enemy will vary. Two melee weapon types and two ranged weapon types are allowed to be equipped at any time. Adequate room is given to experiment before one should begin to know what they’re doing.
Swapping weapons and changing stances is intuitively done with simple button commands and is simple to execute in the midst of battle. Quickly changing inbetween combos can certainly be used to one’s advantage depending on how the combatant reacts, or the number of foes fluctuates. The freedom given to the player is great given the very high skill cap and extensive room to master the controls.
Ki plays an important role in combat. Ki acts as a stamina gauge that drains as you attack and refills as you rest. Attacking carefully and thoughtfully is key in winning any battle. Too many attacks in a row will cause William to run out of breath and stand helplessly for a moment, leaving you wide open to be punished. This can happen to enemies as well and it’s beneficial to watch their Ki gauge in addition to your own.
In a pinch, living weapons can dramatically turn the favor to the player. The Living Weapon Gauge fills as enemies are defeated, and when summoned, grant massive bonuses based on the spirit animal chosen. When used wisely, death can be avoided more effectively.
Nioh does not feature an open world, but an overworld with locations and missions within it. The story progresses as you clear an area and move across the country in pursuit of Saoirse. These missions are tough—and they’re supposed to be. Some of them can be a struggle, but it is far from unforgiving. Dead adventurers litter these battlefields. The bodies can be looted and they generally give you vital items to aid the progression of the mission. Finding a few arrows or an antidote can be a boon rewarded to observant players. Twilight missions can appear on the map to offer an extreme difficulty objective. Completing these will reward players with more powerful equipment. A perfectly fair way to compensate highly skilled players.
As a general rule of thumb, expect to die. It takes less than a huge mistake to encounter multiple enemies or miscalculate an attack and get impaled by an outlaw. Upon death, William drops his unspent amrita and his spirit animal will wait at the location of death, where it can then be revisited and retrieved. Amrita acts very much like experience points and are spent at shrines to level up. Dying without retrieving your amrita will cause the spirit animal to return to William and the dropped amrita will be lost.
Shrines are the essential checkpoints of Nioh. These are where William returns when he resurrects. Using them well refill your health and resets the generic enemies. Bosses and other special enemies cannot return, though. Shrines are well spaced in levels and are never too far. Areas may need to journeyed through multiple times if death is frequent, but the suitable placement of the shrines will never make these a long trek. Kodama offer blessings as assistance at shrines. Kodama are very small creatures hidden away within every level. Keep an eye out for these little guys as they are sure to help out.
The ample amounts of equipment never leave William without a fair assortment of weapons and armor to wear. Any unwanted equipment can be exchanged for amrita and will often come with healing items for the exchange. The names of said equipment can be read from the ground as well as up or down arrows to quickly inform whether or not it is better than what you are currently wearing. Quality of life tools such as this never go unappreciated.
Armor pieces themselves come in different weights and can affect your mobility accordingly. Multiple pieces of the same type of armor may grant set bonuses, but it’s also safe to mix it up when the power is seen fit. When mixing and matching, it’s particularly nice that most pieces don’t appear to visually clash with each other. Find the right balance for you and go out in style.
Revenants appear in spots where other players have died. This only requires an active internet connection and fortunately a PlayStation Plus subscription is not needed. A revenant grave will not only clue you in to what killed them and what danger may be nearby, but will also allow you to collect some of their armor or weapons. Standing near them fills you in on their level and the general kind of armor they are wearing. Summon them and fight them as controlled by the computer. Defeat them and they will drop some of the equipment they were wearing. The higher the level you take on, the better the rewards are likely to be and can help better take on the rest of the level. Revenants are great for gaining experience and equipment and adds to the variety of enemies seen throughout.
If the main levels aren’t delivering a significant challenge, the bosses certainly will. Bosses take the most patience and are by far the most difficult aspect of Nioh. Failing repeatedly against a boss drains healing items from the inventory as they are continually consumed while attempting to stay alive, making successive attempts even harder. Bosses are indeed meant to provide this kind of challenge, even if it does feel a bit overboard at times. With one-hit-kills being a possibility, these are one of the few times real frustration is a factor. If nothing else, they are very satisfying to conquer.
Nioh manages a deep system and meaningful combat moves while maintaining a fresh feeling to each new level. Story and characters leave an immemorable impression, but does little to get in the way of the core gameplay. The drab gray and brown scheme that is commonly superimposed on the world does leave the narrative with a dull presentation. Granted, this was likely a design choice. So, I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder. With nothing particularly awe-inspiring, it’s a great and consistent ride all the way through.
