Nioh 2

[Alphard]

I got this . I'm so excited to play it. Souls drought was getting pretty bad with no elden ring in sight. Now i just need 1 day with turned on pc so my shitty 3 Mbit connection can download it

 

[Shackleton]

One thing I get with the Nioh games more than any other, (including Souls games) is that you can be standing at an entrance to an area and be actually nervous about going on. They really create a good atmosphere of impending danger with the level design, yokai haze and hidden corners. You just *know* dangers are everywhere and even though getting back to your corpse is usually pretty trivial, the sense of threat going into some areas is palpable.

And the Switchglaive is awesome.

 

[felipepepe]

One thing I get with the Nioh games more than any other, (including Souls games) is that you can be standing at an entrance to an area and be actually nervous about going on. They really create a good atmosphere of impending danger with the level design, yokai haze and hidden corners. You just *know* dangers are everywhere and even though getting back to your corpse is usually pretty trivial, the sense of threat going into some areas is palpable.

True, some levels are hellish deathtraps, and the way the game handles stats progression means monsters are never laughable... it's really hard to die as a high level character in early Dark Souls areas... in Nioh, you have to always stay sharp because stats alone can't save you.

 

[Nortar]

Horse is not that hard. He's slow. Died more on that thing before him, guarding the key.

Playing all the turn-based shit made me weak.
I had died to the second - literally, the second - enemy in the game about half a dozen times.
Half of that before I even learned how I can do the burst counter.

But the practice payed out , as the boss of the first mission looked like a pushover, he just
gave up all his stuff so I won't pound him into the ground with my demon form any longer.

The game is good, I'm enjoying it as much as the first one.

 

[NJClaw]

does it have good level design?

Level design has already been a great improvement over Nioh 1 so far in my 7 hours of play, and that's coming from someone who enjoyed the level design in Nioh 1 quite a bit already.

In fact, as has probably already been said before, Nioh 2 is an improvement on Nioh 1 in pretty much every way as far as I can tell. Extremely happy with it. Everyone who played the first and enjoyed it would be a fool not to play this. Glorious incline.

I don't understand how anyone could say that level design has been improved. It's literally the exact same, nothing changes in that department between the two games (I still haven't played the DLCs though, so I can't judge those). They are so much the same thing that Nioh 2 reuses some levels from the first one and they are indiscernible from the other stuff. Most levels also look a bit too samey and monotonous, while in the first game there was a lot more variety in area visual design (with areas like the Umi-Bozu level and the Yuki-Onna palace). I think the only real outlier is the flooded palace where you fight the drunkard boss, which is much better than everything else and almost feels like a different game (again, maybe the DLCs are on the same level, still haven't played those). The only innovative thing in the area design is the mission with the bird-sentinels that give the alarm when they see you.

But I agree, the game is absolutely amazing. Only a fool would sleep on this.

 

[Alphard]

One thing I get with the Nioh games more than any other, (including Souls games) is that you can be standing at an entrance to an area and be actually nervous about going on. They really create a good atmosphere of impending danger with the level design, yokai haze and hidden corners. You just *know* dangers are everywhere and even though getting back to your corpse is usually pretty trivial, the sense of threat going into some areas is palpable.

And the Switchglaive is awesome.

Glad to hear SG is good, i plain to main that. In the first Nioh i mained Kusarigama

 

[NJClaw]

One thing I get with the Nioh games more than any other, (including Souls games) is that you can be standing at an entrance to an area and be actually nervous about going on. They really create a good atmosphere of impending danger with the level design, yokai haze and hidden corners. You just *know* dangers are everywhere and even though getting back to your corpse is usually pretty trivial, the sense of threat going into some areas is palpable.

And the Switchglaive is awesome.

Glad to hear SG is good, i plain to main that. In the first Nioh i mained Kusarigama

The switchglaive is awesome. Just remember that to get Magic skill points you ABSOLUTELY need to equip those base projectile spells and spam them as much as possible. Be sure to equip as many projectile spells as possible and to use all of them before dying, and in no time you'll accumulate more skill points than you will ever be able to actually use. If you only rely on buffs, you will gain no proficiency at all and consequently no skill points, because proficiency gain is somehow linked to damage dealt, and the elemental weapon buffs don't deal nearly enough damage.

 

[Lyre Mors]

I don't understand how anyone could say that level design has been improved. It's literally the exact same, nothing changes in that department between the two games (I still haven't played the DLCs though, so I can't judge those). They are so much the same thing that Nioh 2 reuses some levels from the first one and they are indiscernible from the other stuff. Most levels also look a bit too samey and monotonous, while in the first game there was a lot more variety in area visual design (with areas like the Umi-Bozu level and the Yuki-Onna palace). I think the only real outlier is the flooded palace where you fight the drunkard boss, which is much better than everything else and almost feels like a different game (again, maybe the DLCs are on the same level, still haven't played those). The only innovative thing in the area design is the mission with the bird-sentinels that give the alarm when they see you.

From my experience there has not only been more branching paths and shifts between vertical levels, but also more interesting encounter design between them. It's absolutely comparable to the first game's, but if you can't tell the difference then you're either desensitized or not paying enough attention. Right from the gates it's more interesting and varied. The inclusion of yokai realm has even furthered the improvement. I can see why people would say it's similar to the first game's, but it's a massive improvement in my eyes.

 

[Correct_Carlo]

Played 10 hours. It's like Nioh 1, only more of everything. I like the new "only level skills if you use them" system too, although I don't really understand how to level up the spirit alternate form yet.

First boss was really hard until I realized how to burst attack, then it became trivial. Second boss was annoying, but there hasn't been anything terribly difficult yet.

Game runs wonky, though. For about 90% of the game, I can run it maxed at 4k and a stable 60 FPS. However, then you enter a random area with either fire effects or the demon defiled effects, and suddenly frame rates drop inexplicably, for no reason. I hope they fix this as there really seems to be no logical reason why a system like mine (i7, RTX 2080) shouldn't be able to run a stable 4k.

One thing I don't understand: Are the blue flame grave helpers real players? Or are they NPC copies of real players? I know that you can co-op in this game, but I can't recall if you actually have to summon someone at the shrines for them to be real players, or if anyone can throw down a blue flame like Dark Souls summoing.

 

[NJClaw]

I get the "branching paths" thing and that's true, maybe I can't appreciate that because, due to how I play, that branching has absolutely no effect on my experience: I can't accept finishing a level without having defeated every enemy and looted every container, so after exploring a branch I backtrack as needed to explore the remaining ones. And it's not like the various paths offer you a gameplay choice: you randomly pick one route and get on with it.

However, I don't understand what you mean with the shifts between vertical levels. Just like Nioh 2, Nioh 1 had that from the very first level and kept improving on it for the entire game.

Then yes, obviously the improved amount of enemies and types of encounters naturally gives a more varied experience throughout the game, but that has nothing to do with the areas and how they are structured.

One thing I don't understand: Are the blue flame grave helpers real players? Or are they NPC copies of real players? I know that you can co-op in this game, but I can't recall if you actually have to summon someone at the shrines for them to be real players, or if anyone can throw down a blue flame like Dark Souls summoing.

They're NPC copies.

 

[Reinhardt]

I'm just running around with fists in low stance. Beating exhausted enemies ip man-style is so much fun!

 

[Kruno]

Where's DLSS and RTX? This game is literally unplayable until they add RTX. Cyberpunk had RTX, why doesn't this game have RTX?

 

[Lyre Mors]

However, I don't understand what you mean with the shifts between vertical levels. Just like Nioh 2, Nioh 1 had that from the very first level and kept improving on it for the entire game.

It had it, but not to such a degree. There's ladders leading to places that end up a dead end, but also, you see how it connects to other paths. There's just more of it going on here. It's subtle, but there are so many places that an unobservant player would miss if they were just forging ahead. I think all of these places give the player a leg up on the challenges they're about to face. The smithing village being a prime example.

I'm just running around with fists in low stance. Beating exhausted enemies ip man-style is so much fun!

Fists in high stance is much more rewarding, imo. Give it a try.

 

[Reinhardt]

Fists in high stance is much more rewarding, imo. Give it a try.

Not enough ki for long kumfu combos yet. And i like long combos - it gives me feeling i know what i'm doing(i don't)

 

[Alphard]

wait were there realeased dlc for this game and are them included in the CE? that would be amazing

 

[Reinhardt]

yes

 

[Ezeekiel]

-KBM controls are better than in Nioh 1. For one, you can bind side mouse buttons, something you could not do in Nioh 1 even after multiple updates to the PC port and you had to use 3rd party programs if you wanted that. With some proper keybinding setup you can definitely make kb+m work and be comfortable. The default KBM controls are dogshit (tab to block, etc.). I recommend a mouse with more than 3 buttons if you want to do KBM.

steam reviews were "mixed" yesterday, and most of negative ones were saying that mouselook felt like you're moving emulated analog sticks, i.e. there's no raw mouse input. Is this true?

Yeah, they're right.

If you move the mouse very, very slowly it's jerky as fuck with, I guess, some sort of deadzone and minimum view movement distance or something. If you move it just a bit faster it goes smooth, but at a faster speed than it should, etc.
No infinite acceleration though, thank god. There's something weird going on with the visuals when you move the camera fast though, even at max 120FPS steady... Even with motion blur off. Just doesn't look right at all.

Unfortunately though, it doesn't stop there... The camera will at times move to some degree on its own even if you switch that off in the options. Worse if you fall/jump down somewhere and don't move your mouse at the same time, the camera will suddenly aim right below you at the ground. There is some degree of your character attacking towards the camera facing, but in a combo it doesn't work well at all and you only turn a bit etc. If you run from left to right or r to l relative to your view the camera will follow ever so slightly... And this messes with your mouse if you want to move it a little bit, too (a little bit like in some games' vehicle turret sections where vehicle movement fucks with your turret turning/aming sensitivity or something, if you know what I mean).

The somewhat awkward small camera movement that happens constantly also looks a little weird... It's like... If you move your mouse currently (past the deadzone), the camera is under your control entirely, or mostly.. Some degree of mouse vs game-control of camera fighting going on sometimes.

I wonder if the motion blur settings even work at all. Mouse sensitivity settings do not save no matter what, for example, but blur is shown as turned off...


Other than that, the menues are awkward, you get some sort of auto snap-to everywhere if you hit the keyboard buttons which causes your mouse cursor to jump to whichever place you selected. Clearly controller emulation bs. Worse when you're in the skill learning menu where your cursor is magnetically attracted to the on-screen skill buttons or something.
With all the button shit you have to press to navigate most menues instead of just clicking everything or using a simpler button scheme, it really does feel like a super awkward port.




I'll probably switch to the stupid gamepad if they don't patch things, but oh well. You can definitely play it with kb+m, the devs just obviously don't care to make the experience a pleasant one.
Dark Souls 3 had perfectly fine mouse movement, so I wish they'd copy *that* part as well. DS2 had some bullshit going on with mouse button input delay because of the default double-click for heavy attacks and such, and turning it off didn't save between gameplay sessions, but it was also fine other than that, iirc and fixable. Nioh 2 is just much, much worse.

 

[Ezeekiel]

wait were there realeased dlc for this game and are them included in the CE? that would be amazing

Yeah, if you make the mistake of clicking on the dlc button at the shrine the game suddenly turns into the new Vegas awakening scene and you get 5000000001391301248 pieces of DLC gear, one after the other... And you have to click every notification to get through it all.

 

[Ezeekiel]

Ah yeah, performance so far has been perfectly locked at 120 for me at 1440p.
I only set the effects quality to low (there's only high and low anyway). That setting does seem to get rid of any framedrops.
Others have mentioned turning down shadows, but that makes a noticeable visual difference and I didn't need it, anyway.

No crashes or blackscreens as were reported in the steam forums. 2080ti, 3900x, 32gigs of Ram and running win 10 on my overpriced samsung evo 970 evo plus 2tb. Outdated nvidia driver, if it matters.

 

[Alphard]

Ah yeah, performance so far has been perfectly locked at 120 for me at 1440p.
I only set the effects quality to low (there's only high and low anyway). That setting does seem to get rid of any framedrops.
Others have mentioned turning down shadows, but that makes a noticeable visual difference and I didn't need it, anyway.

No crashes or blackscreens as were reported in the steam forums. 2080ti, 3900x, 32gigs of Ram and running win 10 on my overpriced samsung evo 970 evo plus 2tb. Outdated nvidia driver, if it matters.

Why would you spend spend 1000 $ on 2080ti, have 32 GB ram with very good processor and best ssd and not update nvidia driver lol

 

[Alphard]

wait were there realeased dlc for this game and are them included in the CE? that would be amazing

Yeah, if you make the mistake of clicking on the dlc button at the shrine the game suddenly turns into the new Vegas awakening scene and you get 5000000001391301248 pieces of DLC gear, one after the other... And you have to click every notification to get through it all.

Is dlc gear equippable at lv 1 and make you op thus ruining the game or only equippable once you reached the appropriate requisites? I don't want to take the fun out of the game

 

[Ezeekiel]

wait were there realeased dlc for this game and are them included in the CE? that would be amazing

Yeah, if you make the mistake of clicking on the dlc button at the shrine the game suddenly turns into the new Vegas awakening scene and you get 5000000001391301248 pieces of DLC gear, one after the other... And you have to click every notification to get through it all.

Is dlc gear equippable at lv 1 and make you op thus ruining the game or only equippable once you reached the appropriate requisites? I don't want to take the fun out of the game

Equippable at level 1. I think the light suit requires 9 in an attribute for the special stuff to activate, but the special heavy armor works at base attribute level fully, but is a little above your max equipment load so you do need to pump 1 or 2 points into the relevant stat so dodging doesn't remove all your ki if you want to wear the complete set.

That being said, the weapons and armor are not that amazing or anything. Weapons have a bit more damage and some very basic extra buffs.
Don't know about how crafting and upgrading affect that, though.

The most useful aspect of the dlc gear is probably that the light armor set and one of the heavies have heal on kill attributes if you equip enough armor pieces.
Nice for basic exploring but not too overpowered imo. It's like 1/9th of your starting healthbar for the heavy armor skill, and a between 1/5th and 1/4th for the light one (but it needs higher stats than you start with to activate that skill/attribute/whatever).

There are also 3 trinkets, which give you kodama-sense, some other sense (forget which) respectively and also some basic buffs.

 

[Ezeekiel]

Ah yeah, performance so far has been perfectly locked at 120 for me at 1440p.
I only set the effects quality to low (there's only high and low anyway). That setting does seem to get rid of any framedrops.
Others have mentioned turning down shadows, but that makes a noticeable visual difference and I didn't need it, anyway.

No crashes or blackscreens as were reported in the steam forums. 2080ti, 3900x, 32gigs of Ram and running win 10 on my overpriced samsung evo 970 evo plus 2tb. Outdated nvidia driver, if it matters.

Why would you spend spend 1000 $ on 2080ti, have 32 GB ram with very good processor and best ssd and not update nvidia driver lol

I update them every now and again if major functions/fixes are added or they're made for a game I want to play, but there's no Nioh 2 driver out yet, is there?
Outside of the above situations it just doesn't make a difference. Avoids issues with some new driver versions as well... So others can beta-test them for me.

 

[Mojobeard]

Brute's counter seems to be much easier to pull off, in case anyone else was scratching their heads at the timing of those.

 

[NJClaw]

Brute's counter seems to be much easier to pull off, in case anyone else was scratching their heads at the timing of those.

Each counter has its own enemies and types of attacks against which it excels, but which is the strongest/easier to pull off mostly depends on how you play and react. To me, the brute counter is absolutely the most unreliable one, while the feral counter is easy mode: once you master it, you can reliably counter everything with huge windows for mistakes. But you also find people online saying that the feral counter is useless, so I guess it's all a matter of personal preferences.