Nioh 2

[Suicidal]

This is actually pretty impressive. Nioh games were always kind of niche and scared off normies so I'm happy for the devs. I hope that they don't actually make a Nioh 3 but make another game just like it but set in another region using its lore and mythology (preferably medieval China or some other place that hasn't been overused to death).

They already did this, Nioh but in a different setting is exactly what their new Final Fantasy game is.

I was thinking more along the lines of another real world country but with magic and monsters from their mythology like what Nioh did.

 

[Lambach]

Beat the final boss of the 3rd and final DLC a little while ago on Dream of The Strong. I've seen people say Dream of the Wise is where things start getting really spicy, so I wanted to check some of my stats to at least try and estimate what my odds are of having a non-painful experience. Came to a pretty discouraging and depressing conclusion:



I fucking suck at this game, lads.

Near the end of my playthrough of Dream of the Samurai, I managed to, by sheer accident, "stumble" into what seems like a pretty powerful build - Dream of the Strong was certainly much more smooth sailing and it took me something like 30-35% of time to complete compared to the virgin run (all Main + Side Missions in all Regions), but this build feels like it hit a hard-cap and won't be able to scale well into Dream of the Wise or beyond.

Guess I'll have to learn to actually play the fucking game rather than just spam Onmyo/Ninjutsu for damage and Confused Status while obliterating enemies and keeping myself at full health with Kasha Soul Core cheese.

 

[Arthandas]

Do you guys also get random freezes/crashes with DLSS turned on?

 

[Lambach]

The OST this game hosts is pretty mediocre overall, but my god, there are some legit goddamn bangers in there. I didn't get the chance to appreciate them until Dream of Demon because I was too busy just trying to stay alive, but now that my overtuned, overleveled build is fucking bitches left-and-right (contrary to my previous expectations), I can actually take a nice backseat and appreciate how certain tracks feel 100% appropriate to the situation.

An honorable man forced into a completely desperate situation with no honorable way out, willing to do anything to protect his waifu:



Similar situation:



Former best friends now at each other's throats, trying to murder each other in order to determine the fate of the world (that they know of):



Call me a faggot if you like, but goddamn, this Hollywood-tier cringe here just fucking works™

 

[Deflowerer]

You forgot this banger:

 

[Lambach]

You forgot this banger:

I didn't exactly forget it, per se, I deliberately chose to ignore it. That Yoshitsune cunt completely invalidated my entire playstyle, being very resistant to all elemental damage that he is, so I had to rely on Sloth + other Onmyo Magic spells that I consider to be almost cheat codes.

Plus, he's just some guy plugged into the story, fighting him carries very little of the emotional weight compared to fighting Main Story bosses.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

I bought this for $13 off amazon. I've been on a Souls bender so I wanted to give this a shot after I finish Elden Ring. I don't think I cared for the first Nioh much but I remember the combat being pretty dope. Also I can make a hot female character in this one so that's a huge upgrade.

 

[Lambach]

I bought this for $13 off amazon. I've been on a Souls bender so I wanted to give this a shot after I finish Elden Ring. I don't think I cared for the first Nioh much but I remember the combat being pretty dope. Also I can make a hot female character in this one so that's a huge upgrade.

It has the same structure as Souls games in the sense that it revolves around getting from one Shrine (Bonfire ITT) to another, but other than that, it's a very different beast. Souls games are Action-RPGs with an emphasis on the "Action" part, while the RPG elements are the more important part in Nioh. For example, if you don't "git gud" at Souls games, there are challenges (mainly bosses) that you simply won't be able to overcome no matter your character's stats, equipment etc. In Nioh, if you have a powerful build, you can generally suck at the game like I do but still fuck bitches up by brute-forcing your way through with a combination of spells, items, special abilities etc. and the way they synergize with one another.

For example, my equipment has a special effect that heals me every time I absorb Amrita (the equivalent of Souls in DS games) and I have a spell that makes enemies ooze a ton of Amrita every time they are hit. With this combo, I can just face tank all but the most powerful bosses and, using quick dual-wield weapons that hit more than once per second, heal up faster than enemies can deplete my health. There are many similar examples of what's possible here that would never work in a Souls game because Souls games prioritize player skill and Nioh prioritizes your character's stats and abilities.

 

[Silverfish]

You're right, but that's still underselling Nioh a bit. Generally, you're not going to have access to the weapon and armor skills that allow for that kind of overpowered build until NG+ and beyond. Your first run through either Nioh is firmly in the Souls vein unless you spend countless hours dicking around at the blacksmith and even that is somewhat luck reliant.

 

[Lambach]

You're right, but that's still underselling Nioh a bit. Generally, you're not going to have access to the weapon and armor skills that allow for that kind of overpowered build until NG+ and beyond. Your first run through either Nioh is firmly in the Souls vein unless you spend countless hours dicking around at the blacksmith and even that is somewhat luck reliant.

Nioh certainly feels like it was meant to be played through a couple of times, tho, much more so than Souls games. In Souls NG+, I don't remember that anything fundamentally changes other than numbers, while NG+ in Nioh gives enemies new abilities, introduces new gameplay mechanics and loot types and such. NG+ is just a nice bonus addition in Souls, while here it feels like an integral part of the experience.

Even before late-game, though, Nioh has more variety and options in terms of gameplay, enough to make it a different experience - Yokai abilities, Soul Cores, Guardian Spirits, ranged weapons that are actually useful (hell, you can base your entire build around them), melee weapons that feel and play significantly different from one another etc. It is a Souls-like at its core, but different enough to be its own thing rather than just a copy.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

So I selected new game and a cutscene started playing. The very first thing it shows is a black penis growing erect and twisting around like a tentacle. Why have none of you warned my about this?

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

 

[Puukko]

Man, now you're making me feel like doing NG+ and trying out new weapons...

 

[NJClaw]

Man, now you're making me feel like doing NG+ and trying out new weapons...

For anyone who enjoyed the combat and build porn in this game, I would advise to finish at least Dream of the Demon. The addition of graces to weapons and armors unlocks the true potential of many different builds and playstyles. I loved the game in Dream of the Samurai and got bored in Dream of the Strong due to how overpowered you are compared to the enemies, but then I tried Benzaiten's Grace in Dream of the Demon and fell in love with the game all over again.

 

[mediocrepoet]

So I selected new game and a cutscene started playing. The very first thing it shows is a black penis growing erect and twisting around like a tentacle. Why have none of you warned my about this?

No one else got aroused by it, so they didn't think it was as noteworthy as you do.

 

[Lambach]

Man, now you're making me feel like doing NG+ and trying out new weapons...

For anyone who enjoyed the combat and build porn in this game, I would advise to finish at least Dream of the Demon. The addition of graces to weapons and armors unlocks the true potential of many different builds and playstyles. I loved the game in Dream of the Samurai and got bored in Dream of the Strong due to how overpowered you are compared to the enemies, but then I tried Benzaiten's Grace in Dream of the Demon and fell in love with the game all over again.

I mostly breezed through Dream of the Strong, but now I'm dying way more than I expected during Dream of the Demon. That "Cursed" mechanic is a major bitch all on its own, but even ignoring that, enemies feel much more lethal, and it's not just because they have boosted stats.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

Oof, these graphics look like hairy man-butt after playing so much Elden Ring. Framerate seems better though. Also not having a jump button feels super weird now.

 

[Lambach]

Framerate seems better though.

I thought so too, 'till I got to NG++. All the zillion effects and sprites that are going on during tougher fights are seriously dropping the framerate.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

Does this game have i-frames like Souls? Can I roll through attacks?

I can't even beat the first big bull guy. Jfc I suck.

Lol now the games talking down to me. "You don't have to fight every enemy". Eat my shit, I'm killing this fucker.

I finally beat the cock sucker AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
I figured out how to heal which is apparently a big game changer.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

I might be too handicapped in the brain for this game. I killed a lot of brain cells over the years ya see. The combat is a bit fast for me.

 

[Lambach]

I might be too handicapped in the brain for this game. I killed a lot of brain cells over the years ya see. The combat is a bit fast for me.

If you managed to kill Gozuki on the first mission, you're already probably better at this game than me.

I took the game's advice and fucked off after getting murdered horribly 3-4 times.

 

[Suicidal]

Does this game have i-frames like Souls? Can I roll through attacks?

IFrames are much smaller here than in Souls. You can still abuse them but you have to be more precise. It's been a while since I played it and I may be misremembering, but I think it works like this:

In low and mid stance, your dodge is a quick step with a very fast animation but very few iframes, more suitable for getting out of the way quickly than phasing through damage hitboxes. I think if your gear weight goes over some threshold it turns into a roll animation. The roll is slower but has more iframes.

In high stance, the dodge is always a roll.

If you are light enough to do quicksteps, pressing dodge right after a quickstep will make you roll right after quickstepping, which greatly increases the range of your dodge + you get the bonus iframes from the roll.

Generally, the hitboxes in this game are precise enough to where if you are good at quickstepping you can move out of enemy attacks. There are exceptions, like command grabs, which do that bullshit thing where your character sometimes gets rubberbanded back into the enemy's grab animation even though you clearly dodged it.

Also, blocking in this game is very very important, much more so than in Souls. As long as you have enough stamina, you can completely block damage from physical attacks and partially block elemental attacks. Don't get stuck in the "i'm only gonna roll" mentality and start blocking more and you will be amazed how many attacks you can easily get out of unscathed.

Hope that helps.

Nioh games have a higher skill floor than Souls games, there are more mechanics and shit to learn. Don't get discouraged, usually if you take the time to learn by mid game you will be stunlocking enemies to death with 30 hit combos while perfectly weaving through theirs.

 

[Hobo Elf]

I've been slowly playing Nioh 2 over the course of a week now. I'm still slightly sad that they 'sort of' removed some Onmyo elements (wind and earth) but overall the game is an impressive improvement over the first game. Levels seem to be shorter but at least they are well designed and most of the bosses I have fought thus far (just finished the 2nd area) have been excellent. The first boss was especially impressive to me how good of an introduction it was to the game's combat system and mechanics. I'm playing a Spear character with a bit of Onmyo for water damage/debuffs and the HoT spell. Can't wait to try a Kusarigama Ninjutsu build again with all the new Ninjutsu spells or try and see how effective an Onmyo spellcaster build is in this game. Nioh simply kicks ass.

 

[Mojobeard]

We started co-oping this with a friend. He's a complete newbie, my guy is ng+++ or whatever, but scales down in a pretty intelligent manner. Still, my guy is obviously more powerful with access to all the moves, spells and passive abilities, and so I try not to rush things and let my friend explore first.
Note: I could have made a new character, as the mission progress applies to both/all players. But we elected not to, for exactly the reason that I could clown on enemies if we got stuck.
The expedition system is great, you can keep doing missions back to back as long as there's no solo missions (there was one right after the first mission which confused us). You do every mission in one shot, shrines give you a %(?) back of your stuff and enemies don't respawn. Enemies sometimes have more health, or they're more powerful versions (gaki turns into big gaki), or there's more of them. If one of you dies, you can revive them by spending the limited co-op bar, and if it runs out it's mission over. You can also revive yourself, but it's like ~40% of the bar. The bar also restores a bit at every shrine.
We didn't notice any lag or other problems.
It is extremely fun, and a pretty unique co-op experience.

 

[Silva]

Is the base game worth it?

I'm a big Souls fan but not really the kind of twitch fighting seen here. I can get it for 12 bucks which is not that much if I eventually dislike it.