Ever since I beat Stranger of Paradise I've wanted to re-play Nioh because it's been almost 5 years since I've played it and honestly I forgot how AMAZING this game is.
Nioh (and subsequently it's sequel) is the only 3D Souls-like that can stand toe-to-toe with FromSoft's work, nothing else even comes close.
Despite being an obvious Souls-like and taking clear influence and inspiration from FromSoft, Nioh in itself is a very unique game and far from a simple clone of the Souls formula.
Nioh has it all from the fast paced, fluid and stylish Ninja Gaiden combo based/Onimusha stance changing combat.
The sheer amount of build variety you'd expect from a Souls-like, with playstyles based around strength, dexterity, magic and more.
Honestly in my opinion Nioh doesn't get enough credit for how it was the first Souls-like to tell a more concrete story beyond just lore, bonus points because it had a very interesting and unique plot centered around William Adams, a historical Irish sailor and the first ever western samurai and Edward Kelley an English renaissance occultist and alchemist and how they get dragged into the final battles of the Sengoku period during Ieyasu Tokugawa's efforts to unify Japan, all while Japanese demons from myths and legends, Yokai are emerging from the chaos of the wars. It's like Koei Tecmo's Samurai Warriors, but in a dark supernatural fantasy setting.
Also who could forget about the killer OST composed by Yugo Kanno (primarily known for composing all the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure anime OSTs) with some beautiful traditional Japanese folk instrumentation.
Really my only minor complaints have always been the same problems I had with Stranger of Paradise that being the loot system, bland side missions and mediocre level design, but coming back to the game after almost 5 years and a lot of these problems don't seem nearly as bad as I remember, probably because these flaws were unfortunately amplified in Stranger of Paradise, so playing Nioh again afterwards feels like a step up in these regards.
Nioh (and subsequently it's sequel) is the only 3D Souls-like that can stand toe-to-toe with FromSoft's work, nothing else even comes close.
Despite being an obvious Souls-like and taking clear influence and inspiration from FromSoft, Nioh in itself is a very unique game and far from a simple clone of the Souls formula.
Nioh has it all from the fast paced, fluid and stylish Ninja Gaiden combo based/Onimusha stance changing combat.
The sheer amount of build variety you'd expect from a Souls-like, with playstyles based around strength, dexterity, magic and more.
Honestly in my opinion Nioh doesn't get enough credit for how it was the first Souls-like to tell a more concrete story beyond just lore, bonus points because it had a very interesting and unique plot centered around William Adams, a historical Irish sailor and the first ever western samurai and Edward Kelley an English renaissance occultist and alchemist and how they get dragged into the final battles of the Sengoku period during Ieyasu Tokugawa's efforts to unify Japan, all while Japanese demons from myths and legends, Yokai are emerging from the chaos of the wars. It's like Koei Tecmo's Samurai Warriors, but in a dark supernatural fantasy setting.
Also who could forget about the killer OST composed by Yugo Kanno (primarily known for composing all the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure anime OSTs) with some beautiful traditional Japanese folk instrumentation.
Really my only minor complaints have always been the same problems I had with Stranger of Paradise that being the loot system, bland side missions and mediocre level design, but coming back to the game after almost 5 years and a lot of these problems don't seem nearly as bad as I remember, probably because these flaws were unfortunately amplified in Stranger of Paradise, so playing Nioh again afterwards feels like a step up in these regards.