Nioh

Free on Epic Store

As someone who played Nioh 2 for more than 600h before getting Nioh 1
Having enjoyed Nioh 2 so much, I decided to get into Nioh 1 as I was really interested in the events between 1600 and 1615, during Hide's sleep.
What's impressive about Nioh 1 is that it does not feel outdated in any way whatsoever, in fact it feels almost exactly the same as Nioh 2. The game plays great, feels great, looks great and has a ton of content and replayability. It is also quite thrilling to see all the locations and characters from Nioh 2, even their descendants like Fuku (daughter of Saito Toshimitsu) and Lady Cha-Cha (daughter of Lady Oichi), since Nioh 2's story happens before Nioh 1's. Overall the game is very impressive and so worth playing.
There is however one nuisance worth mentioning with Nioh 1 and that is its unfair artificial difficulty. Having played Nioh 2 for more than 600h, the entire experience felt like one long phenomenal journey where fights were an intricately intimate dance of skill. It felt phenomenal and I loved every single second of it because the game played fair and kept challenging my own skill at all times.
Nioh 1 follows the same principle for the most part, however when it comes to its end-game missions it completely disregards personal skill in favor of builds. Nioh 1's idea of end-game difficulty is to overwhelm the player by swarming them with a lot of enemies/bosses to fight simultaneously. These missions in which you fight two bosses at the same time are incredibly messy and some of the worst level designs I've ever witnessed and I can say with absolute certainty that Everlasting Duty mission is the worst level I ever had the displeasure of playing in any game ever. Overwhelming the player with quantity rather than quality boss fights with intricate mechanics is not an enjoyable nor satisfying experience because all it comes down to are builds specifically made to withstand two bosses at the same time and being lucky not to get wombo-combo'd to death. I simply felt no satisfaction whatsoever beating these missions because they weren't a test of skill, but rather a test of builds and I'm glad Nioh 2 did not repeat the same mistake, but rather redesigned, improved and perfected everything.
But despite its unfair artificial difficulty, Nioh 1 is a very impressive experience with an insane amount of content and replayability, just like its sequel. Very rarely do older titles in a franchise feel on par with their sequels so I fully recommend playing it. Just be aware that the game is unfair in some sections and can get extremely tedious because it is artificially made hard just for the sake of being hard.
P.S. - If you're interested in experiencing the story chronologically then play Nioh 2 first before Nioh 1 because:
Nioh 2's story is a prequel with time jumps from 1550 to 1600
Then Nioh 1's story occurs between 1600 and 1615
Then Nioh 2 subtly connects and continues the story from 1615

Don't try it if you are trying to quit smoking.

All the babies in the reviews that are complaining about the game being too hard and having a steep learning curve are completely right.

I would definitely recommend this game if you are patient and willing to repeat things until you beat them, or enjoyed titles like Dark Souls, Elden Ring, or Sekiro. Having played games like Dark Souls myself, I really appreciate the more technical combat in this game, with different moves, combos, abilities, etc. The combat is very fun and once you get skilled at it you can look awesome pulling off fancy moves and generally running circles around bad guys making fools of them. And then you get to a boss fight and those are intense! So many cool warriors to battle, and you have to be FAST or get annihilated, because they will be pulling the fancy moves on YOU! Learning to stay alive and fight these demons and heroes on an even footing feels pretty awesome when you get there. Big fights against these cool historical characters leave me breathless and exhilarated after I finally conquer them. Very cool story with a historical basis and fantasy elements, every item has a little lore and you can look at models/descriptions of every monster & important character you meet. The cute girls in this game are a bonus too, of course! ;) I also enjoy the mission system, breaking the game into stages that you complete with optional side stages. I have heard that the missions are repetitive, with reused areas, but in my experience it is not near the extent I have heard. I have seen some somewhat more generic areas used multiple times, but this is more common on the shorter side missions. Also, even if you are on a stage that is reused from a previous one, the enemies and treasure are in different places, and the route you have to take is often different too. Main missions don't seem to ever repeat areas, although sometimes main mission areas are reused. However this is under the pretext of returning to that same place to do something else, which isn't a problem. I personally haven't had too much difficulty or frustration overcoming any challenges in the game thus far, although I have yet to take on anything beyond the first run through the story. There is one boss relatively early on that can paralyze you and leave you to helplessly be defeated which can be very frustrating if you aren't prepared, but the game provides ways to mitigate paralysis through craftable and lootable items, alongside a skill you can invest in. I personally got stuck on a giant frog boss that seemed to be able to kill me instantly anywhere in the room, but once I realized the greatest basic strategy in the game I was eventually able to conquer him. Try to stay behind the boss, hit him a few times every now and then, and dodge attacks. Don't be afraid to block if you have to, it can save your life especially when you don't have room or time to dodge. The window of invincibility on dodges is very very small so don't count on it to save you, try to move to where the attacks are leaving or at least not going. It's intimidating, but staying close to the boss can be safer than running back sometimes. Many levels also have nasty traps and enemy placements to increase the odds of you getting suddenly defeated. Keep an eye out for these, and also any way you can use the enemies and terrain to your advantage. Keep well stocked on ammo, and spells and ninjutsu when you get them. Remember, make all the necessary preparations, and don't be afraid to play dirty. They will.
Have the courage to swing the sword!

epic！！！

Geralt of Rivia in Japan