Nioh
Ready to die? Experience the newest brutal action game from Team NINJA and Koei Tecmo Games. In the age of samurai, a lone traveler lands on the shores of Japan. He must fight his way through the vicious warriors and supernatural Yokai that infest the land in order to find that which he seeks. The Complete Edition contains the full game, as well as the three expansions with additional story chapters: Dragon of the North, Defiant Honor, and Bloodshed's End. Dragon of the North This expansion opens up the Tohoku region, where the "one-eyed dragon" Date Masamune is secretly gathering spirit stones. Defiant Honor Fight your way through the Siege of Osaka's winter campaign as you follow the story of one of Japan's greatest generals from the Warring States period, the brave Sanada Yukimura. Bloodshed's End Join the summer campaign of the Siege of Osaka as the Warring States period draws to a close in this, the final chapter of William's tale.
Steam User 104
This game is, sort of, like Dark Souls if it had an advanced combat system based on the complexity of Ninja Gaiden because, well, that's exactly what it is. If you have never played Ninja Gaiden before but are a fan of Dark Souls then let me explain what that means.
Imagine Dark Souls except let's start by increasing the speed by 2 times because this is Ninja Gaiden. Okay, now, you know how Dark Souls has different weapon types and each weapon has a Light Attack and a Heavy Attack combo string and these vary based on One-Handed vs Two-Handed grip? Okay, let's get rid of the One-Handed vs Two-Handed thing and replace it with "Stance Switching" which gives each weapon THREE (sometimes FOUR) different move sets (Low, Middle, High, and Sheathed). Low stance is a fast-paced move set with weak power and high evasive abilities. Middle stance is a medium-paced move set with medium power and multiple defensive tools. High stance is a slow-paced move set with high power and not many defensive or evasive options. Sheathed leaves you unguarded but you may have access to new abilities/combos depending on your weapon (like Iai Quickdraw with Sword).
Okay, now let's throw in combo-finishers so that transitioning from a Light Attack to a Heavy Attacks mid-combo will initiate a combo finisher that differs depending upon the number of Light Attacks that were input and is unique to each stance. Let's also add directional input commands as well so, pressing something like left-stick forward plus dodge will be an attack which differs for each weapon/stance. On that same train of thought, let's add commands that can be triggered while guarding which vary per each weapon/stance. Okay, let's also add the ability to switch stances mid-combo which will initiate a special attack that varies for each weapon. We will be using the Stamina bar from Dark Souls in this game as well (called "Ki") to limit our actions BUT we are going to reward skilled players by adding the ability to recover lost stamina mid-combo by timing a certain input correctly. We are also going to reward aggressive play by making it so that the player can stagger an enemy and initiate an ultimate finisher by reducing their Ki to zero. And... that should do it for the combat? Oh wait, I forgot to mention that each combo finisher, ultimate, and special move can be customized by the player for each weapon/stance. Also there are Magic and Ninja abilities as well which are their own beast.
"Wow, that sounds pretty complicated. And you said this game was faster than Dark Souls as well?" Yes and yes. This game's combat is more complex, faster, combo-focused, and rewards aggressive play whereas Dark Souls is the opposite. Dark Souls is simple, slow, poke-focused, and rewards defensive play. But... that's what makes this game SO fun! This game is unashamedly about the combat whereas Dark Souls is more about the atmosphere and exploration. If you want to play a challenging, intricate, and stylish action game with fun combos then this is the game for you. I hope this clears up any confusion about whether Nioh is like Dark Souls. It's not. It is like a spiritual successor to Ninja Gaiden with Action RPG elements and... that's a good thing!
Steam User 61
Based irish weeb travels to japan to murder a satanic anglo
Steam User 57
I summoned a player and he one-shotted the boss. True teamwork.
Steam User 31
spent the first 10 hours in the first mission :)
Steam User 24
Nioh is Dark Souls on steroids.
The combat, the weapons, the movesets, it has so much more depth than any other Soulslike game.
Actually calling Nioh a Soulslike does not do justice to the game, Nioh is Ninja Gaiden + Devil May Cry with the loot system of Diablo...and a bit of Dark Souls.
Also everything before NG+4 (Way of the Nioh) is just a tutorial, Way of the Nioh unlocks the 999 floors of the Abyss, new enemies variants with extra movesets and skills.
Godlike game!
Steam User 21
If you fancy being a skilled samurai set on a long journey to the far east with a supernatural veil and animal spirits scripture, you need not to look far.. as it can't get better that nioh.
Steam User 20
I dismissed Nioh as a mere Dark Souls knock off for far too long. I am glad I finally played it, as it is a fantastic game.
Set in late 1500's Japan, Nioh tells the long secret tale of how two westerners factored into Japan's history. As already referenced, Nioh is strongly influenced by Dark Souls. The combat, while adding its own wrinkles, is strongly based on From Software's masterpiece, as is the gameplay loop of enemies coming back when you saving, losing your xp when you die, and yes, the difficulty is just as high. That being said, the combat and the gameplay are fantastic.
Yes, it is influenced by another game, but it is no mere knock off, it is exceptionally well done. One large difference between the games is that Nioh does not seek to overwhelm you in all ways, the way the Souls games do. It has a coherent narrative, a strong tutorial/training dojo, and discreet levels rather than giant maps. You never have that feeling of being completely lost and wildly out muscled, like in a souls game, for better or worse.
Nioh does not give the user quite as much agency in its graphical settings as some games do, but it is a great looking and sounding game that runs well. The game has a ton of meat on the bone, main missions, sub missions, twilight missions, a ton of different weapons to master, each with three different stances, ninjitsu abilities, Onyo magic... If you find yourself enjoying Nioh you will definitely get your moneys worth. I got the credits to roll, and did every sub mission available before the last main mission, but did not do any of the post credit stuff. Not because I was not enjoying the game, I just have way too many games to play and would rather move on to the sequel and other stuff.
9/10
I enjoyed the game both on my main rig and my Steam Deck. Deck protip - if you put everything on low and turn shadows completely off, you can pretty much lock 60. Game still looks fantastic on the small screen. Shut the SteamOS frame limiter off and enable "allow tearing". This is by far the best way to play.