Nioh: Feudal Era Dark Souls

[sullynathan]

I watched someone play the demo of the first stage, it didn't look too bad. Is the second one a drop in quality, are there just not enough secrets and hidden stashes of loot, or is it just a general "Dark Souls areas by checklist"?

well think about the level design as being just large areas of flat land, sort of like undead parish in DS3, but without all the different levels, locked doors, secrets and looping areas. Most of the secrets I've encountered has just been loot, and a lot of time, it will be much worse than what you have and isn't all that well hidden. They're usually stuck behind a destructible box or near an enemy. The game has a lot of loot, but it is generally shit like a +1 sword.

 

[Hobo Elf]

You don't have to grind anything Hobo Elf, everything is beatable with what you have by default. And it's not even that hard to beat the bosses without taking damage once you understand how to fight them, their behaviour is very consistent.

I personally like the relative scarcity of healing. Yes, it makes bossfights rather unforgivable, but it works well with the frequency of shrines/shortcuts in the stages, making attrition a real danger, but also letting you go on indefinitely if you play well enough. I just hope the real game doesn't let you store too many elixirs at once, like BB.

Theoretically you can beat the game without any healing items, but realistically speaking, how often is that going to happen? Not likely too many times on your first playthrough while you're still learning the enemies. That fuccboi Tachibana Muneshige really tossed my salad hard and I would've been happy to have some healing items for him. As Hyperion said, Team Ninja has a tendency to fuck you up the ass at a moment's whim.

I watched someone play the demo of the first stage, it didn't look too bad. Is the second one a drop in quality, are there just not enough secrets and hidden stashes of loot, or is it just a general "Dark Souls areas by checklist"?

The new level is like an S-shaped dungeon. It feels like there are curves and paths, but it's quite linear. There are some little tiny rooms that break off from the main S-route, but it's not going to be anything too exciting. The only reason to explore the levels will be to find Kodama.

 

[sullynathan]

The game releases February 9th 2017.

 

[sullynathan]

 

[Ivan]

oh look, it's Queelag, again

 

[praetor]

oh look, it's Queelag, again

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorōgumo

you're welcome

 

[Ivan]

oh look, it's Queelag, again

 

[Excidium II]

Too bad it's PS4 only.

 

[Hyperion]

That section didn't look too difficult, the guy playing either sucks at his own game, or was heavily distracted from the talking. Monster design shows promise, should have a lot to draw upon with all of the Yokai. Would like to see them go the SMT route and use other cultural monsters as influence too, but doubtful.

Area design seems lackluster, while also missing those little details Dark Souls 2 had in The Crown of the Ivory King, like being covered in snow after rolling, footsteps, visible breath, etc. Still pretty excited but I'm afraid it'll be little more than a short distraction 'till From's next game.

 

[sullynathan]

Level design looks bad, just here for the combat

 

[Latro]

That section didn't look too difficult, the guy playing either sucks at his own game, or was heavily distracted from the talking. Monster design shows promise, should have a lot to draw upon with all of the Yokai. Would like to see them go the SMT route and use other cultural monsters as influence too, but doubtful.

Area design seems lackluster, while also missing those little details Dark Souls 2 had in The Crown of the Ivory King, like being covered in snow after rolling, footsteps, visible breath, etc. Still pretty excited but I'm afraid it'll be little more than a short distraction 'till From's next game.

So what you like is pretty environs to run around over a good combat system? You should play Myst my friend.

 

[nomask7]

Respect for following the path carved by From and trying to improve on it. Hopefully the game will sell well and inspire others to imitate the Souls games as well.

 

[sullynathan]

There are far too many games already imitating Souls games, its become a sub-genre now.

 

[nomask7]

There are far too many games already imitating Souls games, its become a sub-genre now.

Can you list them? Or at least the best ones if there are too many?

 

[Excidium II]

There's:

Lords of the Fallen
Salt and Sanctuary
Necropolis (struggling here, inspiration is just the combat)

???

 

[sullynathan]

There are far too many games already imitating Souls games, its become a sub-genre now.

Can you list them? Or at least the best ones if there are too many?

I don't know the "best ones" but going from Excidium II 's list, I'll add Darkest Dungeon, The surge, Bound by Flame, Eldurim, Dark maus, Death's gambit, Eitr, Titan Souls, Ghost Song, No mans Sky's non-existing multiiplayer. Some of these are just combat inspired though, Even Witcher 3 has some souls inspiration.

 

[Excidium II]

The Surge, Eitr and Death's Gambit are the only ones that seem inspired but aren't even out, that's why I didn't list them.

 

[nomask7]

Well, let me rephrase: there aren't many games by big studios, or anyone much, that emulate the combat AND difficulty AND rpg elements. Not to mention games like this that are any good. But I'll have to check out some of those games on your list.

edit: I think we can leave out those isometric and side-scrolling indie titles when considering serious imitators. They seem more like Metroidvanias or something that just happen to be hard. So maybe the difficulty aspect was inspired by Souls games, but it's hardly enough when thinking about games that are truly similar.

 

[Excidium II]

Yeah. Also, none of those games have the multiplayer aspect of Souls games.

 

[Leechmonger]

I don't know the "best ones" but going from Excidium II 's list, I'll add Darkest Dungeon, The surge, Bound by Flame, Eldurim, Dark maus, Death's gambit, Eitr, Titan Souls, Ghost Song, No mans Sky's non-existing multiiplayer. Some of these are just combat inspired though, Even Witcher 3 has some souls inspiration.

You forgot Nidhogg, Halo, Starcraft 2, and Commander Keen.

 

[Hyperion]

So what you like is pretty environs to run around over a good combat system? You should play Myst my friend.

You're fucking kidding me, right? I've already established in this thread I'm in love with the combat. However, Souls combat is painfully simple to replicate, it's a sum of the parts that made the first run so enjoyable. It's also been echoed very loudly in this very thread that the level design is lacking. From what we've seen, we aren't traversing labyrinthine dungeons, expansive castles, a true frozen tundra (with the biggest asshole horses on the fucking planet), or ruined cities, we're just following a path with hard hitting enemies and the occasional alcove of loot. Again, it isn't a bad thing, but it isn't what made a lot of us fall in love with the series

Do we really need to compare smashing a pot that 'hides' an item on the ground to needing a longbow or iron arrows to break a bunch of the statues that block a switch off in the distance that's barely visible without binoculars that creates a path to hidden loot in the Sunken King DLC?

If all that mattered in a game was spamming combos in lifeless room after room of monsters, we'd still be playing Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, or worse, Devil May Cry 2.

 

[sullynathan]

the demo level that took place at the rooftops was the worst, it was very clear that this game needed a jump button after that.

 

[Hobo Elf]

So what you like is pretty environs to run around over a good combat system? You should play Myst my friend.

You're fucking kidding me, right? I've already established in this thread I'm in love with the combat. However, Souls combat is painfully simple to replicate, it's a sum of the parts that made the first run so enjoyable. It's also been echoed very loudly in this very thread that the level design is lacking. From what we've seen, we aren't traversing labyrinthine dungeons, expansive castles, a true frozen tundra (with the biggest asshole horses on the fucking planet), or ruined cities, we're just following a path with hard hitting enemies and the occasional alcove of loot. Again, it isn't a bad thing, but it isn't what made a lot of us fall in love with the series

Do we really need to compare smashing a pot that 'hides' an item on the ground to needing a longbow or iron arrows to break a bunch of the statues that block a switch off in the distance that's barely visible without binoculars that creates a path to hidden loot in the Sunken King DLC?

If all that mattered in a game was spamming combos in lifeless room after room of monsters, we'd still be playing Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, or worse, Devil May Cry 2.

And that's why I'm not buying NIOH. The combat system is good but that's about it. Exploration is shit and enemy design is pretty lacklustre. Hino-Enma was the only boss that was actually fun to fight. Nue and the Oni were pretty lame. Everything else was easily steamrolled if you used a Hammer/Axe or Spear.

 

[Excidium II]

Still looks better than other games coming out.

 

[Latro]

Action Adventure games set the bar pretty low, to be frank all you need is have the player gallop through pretty areas and that's enough to tide most console gamers.

see: shadow of callowsesess, dork souls, idk 3d zelda past WW