Have You Played a “Souls Like” Game Before?
Nioh is the latest ‘Souls like’ game, meaning it shares many commonalities with the Dark Souls series. Similar to games like Lords of the Fallen, you control one character in a sequence of closed environments, battling merciless enemies in a third-person action-RPG style. The main character William can run, sprint, jump, and use combat abilities which all drain his Ki bar. This works the same way as the Stamina bar in a Souls game, and when the bar is empty, you’re vulnerable to attack.
Having some experience with Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or another Souls like experience will definitely help ease you into Nioh. It’s a tough game, and although it’s not a clone of the Souls series, the same concepts and systems generally apply. Of course, not having played a Souls game isn’t a deal breaker, just be ready for something very different from what you’ve played before.
Are You Interested Japanese History and Mythology?
Nioh is set in Japan during the year 1600, in a fictionalized dark-fantasy version of the Sengoku period, when the clans of Japan were locked in war under the Tokugawa Shogunate. As you might expect, there’s quite a bit of Japanese history and mythology utilized in the game. While you absolutely don’t have to have an understanding of the mythology or history to enjoy Nioh, an interest will definitely help you get into the game.
Nioh follows the story of William, a blonde-haired westerner that has come to Japan seeking an enemy of his. Along the way he comes into contact with many historical figures of the time, like Hattori Hanzo, Li Naomasa, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and more. Additionally, many of the demons and monsters you encounter are Yokai based off of Japanese mythology.
Nioh should be a real treat if you have a working knowledge of these subjects. However, even if you aren’t up to date on Japanese culture, if it sounds like something you’d love to learn more about, than Nioh should be a sure fit.
Are You Patient?
Nioh is a hard game, brutally difficult in fact. Much like the Souls games, Nioh is absolutely unrelenting, making you tackle tough enemies and challenges around every corner. On top of this you have to juggle various stats as you level up, and keep in mind the weight of your armor and weapon and how that affects your movement and attack speed.
There are complex layers to Nioh’s gameplay, and it’s going to take a while to get adjusted. Also like Dark Souls, you accrue experience as you kill enemies, and you can raise William’s experience by praying at shrines scattered around the world. The catch, of course, is that praying at shrine respawns all enemies, and getting killed means you drop all experience you have at the exact spot you died. Chances are, you’re going to be dying a lot.
Considering this, Nioh is a game that requires patience, and lots of it. It can be frustrating to continuously hit your head against the wall on one section or boss, but the rewarding feeling after you overcome it is so satisfying. Besides that, you’re also going to spend a lot of time distributing stat points between the three skill trees of Nioh — Samurai, Ninja, and Onmyo. These correlate to different weapons and equipment, and your ability to wield them. Experimentation will be key to finding which weapons you meld best with and what works best against certain enemies.
Don’t let the difficulty and deep systems deter you from experiencing the game, just go in knowing full well the amount of patience you’re going to need.
Are You Ready For an Incredibly Lengthy Game?
Besides being incredibly difficult, Nioh is also an fairly lengthy experience. The average Souls game takes players anywhere between 40-60 hours depending on skill level and completion, and Nioh looks to be hitting that sweet spot. Last year, Nioh’s director even confirmed that the game will take 70 hours on average to beat.
This is a long one that you’re certainly not going to be able to beat in just a few days. Nioh will have you in for the long haul, especially considering the difficulty could up that hour count by quite a bit. Keep that in mind considering the slew of other great titles coming up soon, including Horizon Zero Dawn, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, NieR: Automata, and Mass Effect: Andromeda.
It’s important to ask yourself if you’re willing to put the time into Nioh. And if you can’t beat it by the next big game release, will you put it down and pick it back up later?
No Really, Are You Alright With Dying a Lot?
It cannot be stated enough; you need to be prepared for defeat in Nioh. Koei Tecmo has painstakingly made sure to fine-tune the difficulty in the game after taking fan feedback from the demos they’ve released. Some fans, after demos and early reviews, have even painted Nioh as being more difficult than Dark Souls III. If you haven’t played the Souls titles, it’s going to be a shocking experience, and could still be even if you have played them.
It’s easy to get turned off of a game because of excessive difficulty or lack of progress, so just make sure you’re prepared before picking up Nioh. If you are up for the challenge, however, then you’ve got one hell of an experience ahead of you.
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