Nioh

It took me a long time to decide to purchase this game because those negative comments really make this game sound like a garbage. After playing 157 hours, I have a completely different opinion. I enjoy it very much.
Some negative comments mention the map design is terrible, but they didn't mention this game gives player markers to identify visited places. They also didn't mention this game gives equipment with abilities to show enemies, treasures, and kodomas on the mini map.
Yes, enemies can 1 or 2 hit kill you, but the game also gives you various ways to overcome the difficulty: you can learn magic "sloth" to slow down enemy action, you can learn a ninjustsu which gives you a second life, you can activate living weapon which makes you over powered for a period of time which is sufficient to turn over the table, you can use a ninjustsu to become invisible to avoid fighting tough enemies, you can also set mines to blow enemies away.
For grinding, the game usually places 1 or 2 idiot enemies near a reviving spot. It's fast and easy to farm and level up.
I have a good time playing this game, and next I will play NIoh 2.
* Check out these two OSTs:
- NIoh Main Menu Theme
- NIoh Okatsu Theme

If Dark Souls is a normal ass gorilla, NIOH is an orangutan that can cast spells and spit out poison mist. It's a crazy game for insane people. There is a vague family resemblance between the two series, but also not really at all.
Now that NIOH is at a steep winter discount, I'm afraid lots are going to try it and this game's reputation is going to TANK HARD. This was the most putrid, "I-can't-believe-this-BS-is-actually-happening-on-screen???" experience I've ever had with an action game. I would absolutely never recommend this to any sane person. But it was strangely fun and exhilarating, and I fondly look back at my time with it. Ultimately, I'm really glad I played it. Once I got to the DLC after the already-massive campaign, it became one of my favorite things. But the only reason I didn't uninstall it before that and quit forever was because it is a MASSIVE 70 GIGABYTES!! So if it weren't for my glacial internet speeds, I might have dropped this game at like 10 different points.
The game is ULTRA JAPANESE--lots of historical figures and historical environments. The monsters come from Japanese myths: they are "oni" as opposed to being ghouls and gremlins. But it's not really a samurai power fantasy. It's not you and your sword vs the world. The fantasy is more like you are this WEIRD WITCHER DUDE, and your witcher adventures take place in this historical, demonic Japan. Every enemy will use ungodly amounts of BS against you. And so it is your job to use EVEN MORE ungodly amounts of BS to counteract them.
Recommended for:
-Someone who prefers smashing things rather than contemplating "lore implications". This game is goofy AF. Definitely not fit for one of those emotional, "you felt this too huh?" YouTube videos.
-Masochists.
-People who don't mind bad graphics/resolution. I don't know what sort of screwed up setting I had, but I think my Nioh 1 was broken. It always looked kind of bad and blurry. By contrast, when I launched Nioh 2, I literally said all sorts of profane things outloud; it was like putting on glasses after years of smudgey vision.
-People who liked Dark Souls 2 (masochists).
-Loot fiends and stat lovers.
-Someone who really wants levels as opposed to an "interconnected world". Each level has a clear starting point. And once you beat the final challenge (usually a boss of some sort), you are prompted to immediately exit via a floating orb.
-Someone who wants to endlessly practice an incredibly complex combat system. This game constantly reuses levels and enemies. A lot of "main missions" introduce new set pieces. But the optional "sub missions" have you replay those locations, only with different enemy types and enemy placement. It is cool to see how different enemies affect how the levels play out.
The goal is not to explore. The goal is to increasingly become better and scarier with all of the many tools available. At first, your combos will probably look like: light attack, light attack, light attack. Simple one, two, three. But after so much repetition, you get to know all of the enemies really well. You get to know their movesets, so your combos become more intricate and risky.
-Someone who lives for loud, bombastic music. Every time I hear the "Yuki Onna Boss Theme," it makes me want to replay the whole thing all over again.
Not recommended for:
-Some who can't stand the "Yuki Onna Boss Theme". It comes up A LOT.
-Beginners. Most video games can be played as someone's "first game". But this one absolutely cannot. Intermediate+.
-People who despise dying to one-shots.
-People with a very short amount of game time available. Huge, huge game with lots of repetition. Absolutely plenty of moments where you get far, die in a heartbreaking way, and then have to claw your way back.
The combat is like practicing an instrument. If you keep at it, you get a lot of muscle memory. And it is very satisfying to improve at it and pull off crazier stunts mid-battle.
If you have big chunks of time available, it is fun to be stuck in a level or a boss fight. But if you have limited time, it can feel disrespectful to have to redo stuff, or be stuck at a boss for so long.

If you play with mouse and keyboard, there is a bug that the game tries to look for a controller every 3-4 seconds causing lag. You can bypass this by connecting a virtual controller. You can then still play with mouse and keyboard but without the lag. I've used DS4windows.

1. This game is hard, it was made to be hard. If you do not like hard games do not buy this game.
2. If you have a preferred playstyle, you need to invest your skill points into said playstyle. Trying to make a "Balanced" playstyle is very very bad in this game.
3. Expect for things to try and kill you around every single corner and play it as such, this is not a run and gun game.
4. Most enemies are not following the same rules as you and attack faster than you do in a lot of cases. Do not button mash or you will be punished.
5. Try to play this game in 2-3 hours sessions. It's a VERY long game and it will drain you if you just try to play it for very very long periods of time, so just play it in short bursts instead. Get an area done and call it a day, etc. It's not that the game isn't fun, it's just mentally taxing.
That being said, this is a very very good game for those who like difficult combat titles. There is a lot of depth to the game as well as a lot of learning that needs to be done. It is mostly fair with the only unfair parts being bosses that can attack 2-3 times for your one attack and enemy tracking (meaning the enemies tracking of your position when they attack) being too high at times. I could not help but laugh once, for instance, when an enemy was charging up an attack and did an immediate 180 when I got behind them. That was absolute filth and why having maximum turn radiuses in a game like this are important, especially when enemies typically move faster than you do.
This is a very, very skill based game. I have to say this again for the crowd in the back, if you do not like very hard games, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME!
Oh and this is an action combat RPG. As with all other action combat RPGs, they are NOT made to be played with a mouse and a keyboard, use a controller and only use mouse and keyboard to go through menus or if you want to use a weapon such as a bow, matchlock, cannon, etc. and even then, just stick to the controller most of the time. With a Mouse a Keyboard you can use these weapons in actual combat since you can actually aim, so unless you plan on doing that (which you should not because the delay it takes to use these weapons will make you get hit in combat) just stick to using a controller. Do not even remotely bother with Mouse and Keyboard here.

A Masterclass in Action Mechanics
Nioh is a unique and demanding action-RPG where the brilliant, technical combat is the true star. Let's be clear: its battle system surpasses anything in FromSoftware's games in terms of depth, speed, and mechanical mastery.
The game's soul is its brilliant, layered combat system. Fighting is a fast, punishing dance built on a foundation of three fighting stances (low, mid, high), meticulous stamina (Ki) management, and precise dodging. The weapon variety is exceptional — each type, from the katana to the kusarigama, feels like a completely different fighting discipline with its own skill trees and unique mechanics. Coupled with deep Ninjutsu and Onmyo Magic trees, the build-crafting and customization are incredibly rich, though they truly blossom in New Game+ and the challenging post-game.
However, this excellence comes with notable caveats. The story is a forgettable, convoluted mess of Japanese folklore and historical figures that serves mainly as a vehicle to move you between battles. While individual level design is strong with smart shortcuts and verticality, the overworld and visual variety between locations are severely lacking, leading to a repetitive aesthetic across its long runtime.
Is a masterful game for a specific player: one who craves deep, technical combat and limitless build-crafting. However, if you're new to the series, you should seriously consider starting with Nioh 2. The sequel is a direct and superior evolution in nearly every aspect—better enemies, more weapons, improved co-op, and a more engaging core loop. Play the first if you fall in love with the second and crave every last drop of its superb combat. Nioh is a brilliant, if flawed, foundation for what became a true genre masterpiece.

You play as Weeaboo Geralt and travel to Japan to rescue your waifu. I'm not even joking. That's the plot. 10/10

TL;DR
Nioh isn't "Dark Souls in Japan". It punishes Souls habits early on, but once you learn ki pulsing, stance switching, and play aggressively, the combat becomes fast, fluid, and extremely rewarding. The early game is brutal, the loot system is heavily RNG-based, and real builds don't shine until true endgame (after NG+4) - but if you stick with it, Nioh offers one of the deepest and most addictive combat systems in the genre.
Review
A lot of people jump into Nioh after clearing a pile of FromSoftware Souls games, looking for their next fix. Totally fair. The problem is that many of them walk in expecting Dark Souls but in Japan, and that mindset gets them absolutely demolished. Nioh does not care about your Souls resume. Play it the Souls way, and it will happily introduce your face to the floor - repeatedly. Cue frustration, rage quits, and angry posts about how the game is “unfair”.
Yes, Nioh is a Soulslike...but only up to a point. Under the hood, it plays very differently. The combat system throws a lot at you right away: three stances, ki pulsing, weapon skills, living weapons etc. Dodge i-frames are way less forgiving than in Souls games too, so panic rolling like your life depends on it (because it does) just doesn't work here. Another classic Souls-vet mistake is min-maxing damage stats early. In Nioh, spreading your stats more evenly - usually around 20, or 30 for Ninjutsu and Onmyo Magic - unlocks a ton of useful tools that make life significantly less miserable.
Once things finally click, though, this is where Nioh starts showing off. Mastering ki pulsing and stance switching completely changes the feel of combat. What once felt punishing and overwhelming suddenly becomes fast, smooth, and weirdly elegant. You stop surviving frequently in fights and start styling more on enemies - and that's when the game becomes seriously addictive.
Compared to the slow, deliberate pacing of Souls games, Nioh is all about speed and aggression. Enemies don't wait their turn, bosses don't respect personal space, and hesitation gets you deleted. In Souls games, backing off to study a boss is usually smart. In Nioh, staying too far away is basically an invitation for the boss to start firing off unhinged long-range attacks like they've had too much caffeine. One of the biggest lessons I learned is that sticking close and staying aggressive is often the safer option - counterintuitive, but very true.
That said, Nioh absolutely does not ease you in. The early missions can feel borderline cruel, especially before you unlock key Ninjutsu and Onmyo Magic abilities. Once those systems open up, the difficulty drops a noticeable amount. I'll admit it - I almost quitted this game after sinking nearly 10 hours into it in the beginning, barely crawling through the first few missions.
Even though I love Nioh, I can't pretend its loot system doesn't drive me a little insane. Gear is heavily RNG-based, and your character level matters way less than your weapon and armor levels. You'll constantly swap out gear every few missions because a slightly higher-numbered sword dropped from a random enemy and the enemy levels up when you progress. Because of that, using the blacksmith to upgrade gear rarely feels worth it until very late in the game. Real builds don't truly come together until deep into the Abyss after NG+4, and honestly, a lot of players will lose patience long before then.
There's also at least one achievement that's painfully RNG-dependent (Holy Trinity). In my case, the item I needed didn't drop until the very last mission in NG+4 I played. I've seen plenty of players complain about grinding for hours just to obtain 100% achievement because the RNG gods refused to cooperate.
Visually, Nioh isn't going to win many beauty contests. The enemy designs are cool, but a lot of environments are dark, muddy, and kind of forgettable. The Tower of London in the opening mission, in particular, is a pretty rough first impression - not exactly a great way to sell the game.
All that said, I still strongly recommend Nioh - as long as you go in with the right expectations and a willingness to learn its rules. Once it clicks, the fast, fluid combat is incredibly rewarding and dangerously addictive. Just be warned: Nioh is a marathon, not a sprint. You don't really see everything it has to offer until deep into NG+4 and endgame content (the Abyss), often 50+ hours in. If you make it that far, though, it's absolutely worth the pain.
* Disclosure: AI tools were used solely to assist with grammar and polishing the writing in this review. The review's content, structure, and viewpoints are entirely my own and were developed through substantial personal effort.