Nioh 2 (PS4)

Firstly, 2 things to mention to point you in the right direction:If you love Dark Souls, you'll probably love Nioh.If you played the first Nioh, you'll probably love Nioh 2 because it's just more of the same.I loved the first game of this series. It was like an awesome blend of many of my favourite titles, and being a 'souls like' game it gave you the challenges, and indeed rewards that Dark Souls does. This game is very good at making the hours very quickly disappear. With most of the country currently in isolation this game couldn't have come at a better time!The best way I can describe this game in a nutshell is imagine Dark Souls but the combat is more arcade like, with a focus on combos and all out aggression generally being the best approach. Use caution like in Dark Souls and it'll probably cost you. Bloodborne's combat is a good comparison. Your stamina (ki) meter is your best friend, and needs to be closely monitored at all times.If you haven't played Dark Souls, expect a very challenging experience, but be aware that persevering will really pay off. Finally beating that boss you've been stuck on or gaining enough experience to level up your character is really very rewarding.Unlike Dark Souls, Nioh's story is based around missions that the main story ties into. There's no linked together stages spread across one massive world like in Souls. There's an overhead map with missions and sub missions, you can complete these as many times as you like and it adds to the arcade feel of the game. It reminds me a bit of the main story mode from the older Soul Calibur games.Level design is good. Again, very Dark Souls. Plenty of locked doors and doors that open from the other side and paths which eventually lead you back for a well earned rest at a shrine (Nioh's version of bonfires). Experience comes in the form of Amrita, which you can spend to level up. If you die, you lose your Amrita and will have to go back and retrieve it. This gives that same feeling of stress and tension that you get from the Souls series.If you're into properly building up a character and investing time into their skills, you'll love this game. There's a wide choice of weapons, and fairly clear guidance on which stats you'll want to improve to get the best out of the one you most prefer. There's plenty of loot, and the menus are laid out in a very clear and logical way, with filters and sorting options to make sifting through all your goods easy. As another reviewer mentioned on here, it's generally best to pick one weapon and stick with it, as you'll be levelling up your character based around this selection. I think the option to re-allocate stats is available later in the game.If you're stuck there's a great online mode, you can summon other players to help you or you can summon NPCs based on other players. You can also summon hostile NPCs. You can happily play this game as alone or as accompanied as you like.I can't comment on the strength of the story as I haven't yet completed it. As said above, if you're a Souls fan or a fan of the previous game, you'll definitely love Nioh 2.I've read a few negative reviews on here from people saying the game is way too difficult. It is a difficult game yes, but that's no reason to give it a bad review. It's a game that takes practice and patience. If this isn't your thing then fair enough. I had just played through Dark Souls 2 again before playing this and the biggest issue I've had is pressing the wrong buttons in the heat of combat and paying for it. Difficulty wise it's probably similar.This game is great.

A refined Nioh 1, lots more content and mechanics. Decent performance; fps wise. Not too difficult (so far) I'm in the third area, I haven't a clue what all the other reviews complaining about the difficulty are on about. If you use the burst counter system, you almost completely nullify most bosses; however I will state, the burst counters don't always feel consistent, with certain attacks having larger or small hit boxes and collisions.Lots of gear, to the extent that most feels redundant, however this all works in the games favor, due to the system of recycling all items for materials or Amrita (The leveling currency). Many more micro-mechanics that you won't for the most part notice, unless you come across them by happenstance, or you're specifically looking for them. Such as a stat page, that shows literally every stat increase and bonus that you currently have.If you're just starting out, here's some info you must know. I strongly recommend you pick the feral form at the beginning, this gives lots of mobility. Look out for set bonus armour and weapons, these give you a special effect when you have multiple of the same type on. Try and make a build for your character, pick one or two weapon types and focus on them, this allows you to have some level of character focus, as the weapons can take a while to learn, due to the sheer amount of nuances between them all.You level skills up via usage, if you want magic, use spell items until you get level one, then spend that point on the items to keep leveling it from the skill tree, this goes for the ninja tree too; this also applies to weapon trees.Most bosses in coop are a complete cakewalk, I recommend you solo the bosses, as they can be too easily trivialized, this can ruin some of the levels.The game can be completely completed online. The Torii Gate, allows you to join randoms, I assume to help someone on a mission, that you've already completed yourself. You can host missions that you have yet to complete and join others; if you complete a mission this way, it will count as completed for both the host, and the players; this effectively allows you to complete the whole game in coop (I believe), if that's what you desire.So far it's been enjoyable, there's been a few moments where it feels cheap (Think Super Meat Boy world 4 boss), however they're few and far between. I'll update this review once I've completed the game.

Darksouls style gameplay that is annoying, frustrating and annoying. Master the fighting or it's going to be a long slog.