Nioh is not ashamed to sneak in features from the Dark Souls series. But who cares when it's this good?
It would be easy to start this review by commemorating From Softwares Souls Games, drawing examples of how developers after developers failed to copy the concept and try to analyze what makes Dark Souls, Demon's Souls and Bloodborne so good. Team Ninja's forever-forsaken Nioh can be seen as a shameless steady copy of the successful series.
Yes, Nioh appears initially to fit the frame of being a tribute to Souls. It does not take long before you are forced to fight the first giant boss, and before that you meet ordinary enemies who will have you killed in a few slashes if you are not careful. As in Dark Souls and Bloodborne, it is important to plan carefully, read attack patterns and counter at just the right time. By dying, you will not only fly back to the last save point, but you'll lose all the Amrita you've collected - Nioh's equivalent to the souls you use to level-up in the Souls games.
The similarities hardly stop there. The mood is heavy as lead, with dark graphics and an story that does not exactly attempt to lighten it. And as you progress, you can upgrade your character into a variety of different styles. Of course, it is also possible to design your own game style, and whether you want to move quickly or focus more on heavy combat, there are a lot of different armor and weapons to choose between.
Developing the genre
At the same time, it would be extremely unfair to dismiss Nioh as another title in the line of all countless Souls copies that appeared throughout the years. As soon as you scratch the surface and seriously start to familiarize yourself with the mechanics, there are several details that not only make Nioh unique, but also develops the concept.
To begin with, it is the environment that is the obvious difference between Dark Souls and Nioh. While From Software triumphs in Gothic medieval times, Team Ninja has gone all-in to Japanese mythology. We talk sword-equipped samurai's, holy temples, talking cats and well-taken care of gardens all over the place. Team Ninja has previously explored the theme, not least through the brilliant Ninja Gaiden - and the super-Japanese atmosphere feels both exciting and fresh in this type of a game.
Plan your attacks
In addition to the combat system, Team Ninja has added the opportunity to see the stamina of your enemies - or Ki, as it is called here. That means you know when the opponents starts to get tired, and thus you can more easily plan when to effectively counter. In addition, to maximize your own stamina, press R1 as soon as you've attacked. When you're right on target, you get back a certain amount of your Ki meter, something that is more or less necessary to survive towards the end of the game.
When you get used to the system, the fighting becomes very dynamic and really entertaining. In fact, in it's best moments, especially when fighting one of the game's many bosses, they are at least as awesome as in Dark Souls and Bloodborne.
On the minus side we have some less exciting environments in the form of cramped cave systems, which honestly feel right out uninspired. Technically, it also appears that Nioh has an extremely long and brutal learning curve for the player, of course, you get the opportunity to play at 60 frames per second (you can choose between that or higher resolution), which makes wonders in a precision-focused game like this - but both animations and effects hardly make it possible to measure with the main competitors in the action genre (still good enough to be enjoyable though).
Pure and true gaming joy
Despite the fact that Team Ninja took a lot of inspiration from the big games in the genre, Nioh is still able to stand on its own feet. It has a flow that hardly even Bloodborne comes close to, and it offers a depth that keeps us constantly developing our game style. The new theme also feels refreshing, hacking & slashing in dark, sinister areas get's a bit repetitive after some time.
Nioh is an excellent example of what makes this genre so special. Sure, it's difficulty is sometimes a bit crazy, and you'll want to throw the handset in the wall of pure anger more than one time. But as soon as you start bathing in the glory of victory of what initially seemed to be a completely impossible boss, it's pure and joyous fun.
The Best
- Incredibly good battles with a new interesting setting.
- Challenging just the right way.
- 60 frames per second.
- Bosses.
The Worst
- Some uninspiring levels.
- Graphically outdated.
Sources
- teamninja-studio.com/nioh/