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Nioh

Nioh - Final Impressions

Less than a month ahead of its release, we've sampled Team Ninja's Nioh, and talked with the game's director.

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Why are some games so difficult? Failure isn't a great feeling, and it's not a huge amount of fun having to repeat the same section of game over and over again. To purposefully provoke feelings of disappointment, frustration or even anger is a very dangerous path for a developer to walk down, and the issue of difficulty and challenge in video games is complicated. There are currently a handful of titles out there that are considered challenging in this way, and that have achieved a dedicated following as a result. After our recent hands-on with Team Ninja's next game, we would also file Nioh in this category.

The story takes place in 16th century Japan. Protagonist William is the first Western samurai, ever, and sets out to take on the demons that plague the country. The narrative is inspired by real people and real places, building around historical events. Whether the quality of the story ultimately holds up remains to be seen, as the focus here seems mainly on the general player experience and, in particular, the combat system.

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As with the story, the design of your demonic adversaries is informed by Japanese folklore and myth. The supernatural creatures are called Yokai, and they have uncanny powers which no normal mortal enemy can withstand (this subject is also examined, albeit it in a very different way, in Yo-kai Watch on 3DS). Nioh underlines the power of these dangerous creatures via an extremely high degree of difficulty.

The action is very similar to what you'll find in Dark Souls. There are ninja abilities that unlock character-based skills. William uses these skills to intercept enemy attacks with feints or light kicks, and is able to evade potentially devastating attacks at the last second. Weapons may be imbued with elements and magic so as to deal more damage and cause minor side effects. In-game currency collected is invested in the shrine to level up and specialise your character. The downside of using the shrine is that all defeated enemies appear again - so you'll need to weigh up the pros and cons.

But for the most part the parallels between this From Software's Souls series end there, because Nioh possesses a lot of its own subtleties. The most obvious feature is the stances. These affect the speed and damage of the blows you land, regardless of which of the many weapons you equip William with. You don't switch them immediately, so it's not a bad idea to put some distance between the hero and his opponents before you change.

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Nioh's fighting system initially reminded us of Dark Souls' hit and run strategy, but Team Ninja uses its own twist to bring a lot more pace into the game. When we execute a series of attacks, William loses stamina. The energy, however, has not entirely disappeared. It only leaves his body, and anyone who can collect it at the right moment regains their energy. This feature requires concentration, as you only have a small window of opportunity between a successful hit and the enemy's reaction. If the move succeeds, we dance around our adversary with deadly sword attacks, but if you time it wrong you almost always stand to lose more than a few endurance points.

Nioh differs significantly from comparable games in terms of weapon diversity. A significant portion of the time you play is spent finding new equipment and comparing it to your existing gear. All enemies drop their weapons and armour parts, which have different values and are broken down into different levels of rarity. Loot is definitely very important in Nioh. We didn't noticed any restrictions when it comes to the inventory, but the shrine can be used to sacrifice gear and get experience points in return. You can also invest skill points in improving selected weapon sets to unlock new attack combos.

In contrast to games like Salt and Sanctuary or Lords of the Fallen, you're obviously not meant to run past opponents in Nioh. Many enemies are grouped and don't stand too far apart. Level design involves narrow pathways and treacherous passages, and these are paved with enemies and usually there's no way past other than going straight through them. If you do get past, many will chase after William for a time. For our part, the best strategy was to slowly and deliberately draw one enemy at a time into combat, or bombard larger enemies with ranged weapons and bombs to soften them up. Nioh tends to punish rushed actions, pretty much all of the time.

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The PvP component will be added to the game as a free update later on, and so far we're only allowed to compete against AI versions of player-characters. They're summoned as soon as you touch swords found on the ground, and these are everywhere in the world. They mark where another player has fallen in battle, and if such a spirit is defeated, you'll receive a reputation boost. Additionally a season pass has already been announced and it will cover three DLC. Hence, the game is going to be supported for a while following launch.

On paper Nioh has us completely convinced. It's a Dark Souls action-RPG with plenty of Japanese style and design. Team Ninja has proven in the past, in particular via the Ninja Gaiden series, that they now how design difficult yet rewarding games that appeal to a very specific group of players, those who long for a challenge. We sincerely hope that the studio delivers this challenge alongside a gentle learning curve, so as to ease new players in. We also hope that there's enough substance to the story to make your investment worthwhile as you deal with the superbly designed Yokai.

We also had an opportunity to talk with game director Yosuke Hayashi at a recent event. Head to the next page to find out more about the game.

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Gamereactor: Nioh got not one but two demo versions in 2016. What was the feedback like from the players? Have you made many changes based on that?

Yosuke Hayashi: Feedback was positive, particularly from our European and American users. They enjoyed the game and an overwhelming majority gave Nioh an extremely high rating in the survey which was conducted. They also provided feedback on areas which we could improve such as ensuring that the game is not unreasonably difficult. We made the game challenging so that gamers would feel a sense of accomplishment in defeating enemies, but also an ownership of their shortcoming. We also adjusted the camera so that it was easier to fight enemies.

GR: During the development process, did you think of Nioh as a franchise with a potential sequel?

YH: Our focus was on developing Nioh and thinking about the potential for a sequel after evaluating gamer's response to the game.

GR: Are there any plans for DLC in the future?

YH: We plan to offer a free Player vs. Player mode in the near future after the launch of Nioh. We also already offer a season pass available for pre-order on PlayStation Store. We will offer three major DLC which will also launch in the near future after the launch of the game.

GR: Nioh's development began back in 2004 and has since undergone many changes. What from the early stages has remained in the current game?

YH: The hero has remained a blond, blue eyed samurai from the West.

GR: Why is the game structured with levels and not set in an open world? Is it a design decision or a technical decision?

YH: Nioh introduces many historical regions and locations from Japan. We structured it by levels so that gamers could experience many of these locations rather than one or a select few.

GR: Nioh is often compared to games like Dark Souls or Lords of the Fallen. Is this comparison fair? Which are the main differences?

YH: We have a lot of respect for Dark Souls and Lords of the Fallen. However, we incorporated originality that is unique to Koei Tecmo. Nioh is a combat-based action-RPG with a samurai hero from the west and takes place in war torn 16th century Japan. Nioh offers a deeper combat system with weapons and equipment as well as the opportunity to enhance William's combat capabilities.

GR: The game is set in Japan and there are fantasy elements, but have you been inspired by real historical events as well?

YH: The game takes place in 16th century Japan and Nioh incorporates many actual events that occurred and historical military leaders that existed during the period. Based on this, we also incorporated fantasy elements such as Yokai which are supernatural creatures which have existed throughout Japanese folklore.

Nioh is heading to PlayStation 4 on February 9, 2017.

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