Reviewed on 09/18/20
As someone who had just recently fallen in love with the original Nioh’s fast-paced and loot-based take on the Soulsbourne sub-genre, I wasted no time diving headfirst into its sequel. By all accounts, Nioh 2 had greatly improved upon shortcomings I found in the original and then some. The story had been overhauled, new systems were added on top of the original’s already complex list of combos and abilities, all while adding two new weapons and their abilities as well. In a sense, Team Ninja’s latest is just more of what I loved about the original’s fresh take on a sub-genre I already love so well. However, some of Nioh 2’s frustrating design choices end up making this very much a case of two steps forward and one step back.
When it comes to the moment to moment gameplay of Nioh 2, it completely outclasses nearly every one of its peers…without a doubt. There are few other games in the Souls series or otherwise that feel this good to control. Every weapon type, while feeling diverse in their abilities, handles fluidly with a variety of quick and heavy attacks that hit hard but are easy enough to cancel out of when in danger. If you’ve played the original Nioh, you’ll already know what to expect from the combat, but it’s what the sequel adds, like the burst counter and Soul Core mechanics, that truly take the experience beyond its predecessor. While the Soul Core mechanic works as a sort of ability steal on enemies which all have their own varying amount of usefulness, the burst counter is a complete game-changer. It’s honestly one of my favorite mechanics I’ve used in a video game since the reaction commands in Kingdom Hearts 2. It functions as a parry, stopping a powerful enemy attack in its tracks and delivering a large amount of ki (stamina) damage to boot. This increases the pacing of nearly every battle by giving yet another way to keep the upper-hand in battle, and allowing a turning point for the player should the tide of the fight start slipping into the enemy’s favor. Simply put, burst counters are going to make it difficult to go back to any other Soulslike, and I couldn’t be happier about that.
Where Nioh 2 ultimately falters though, is in a couple of truly baffling design choices. While I can appreciate the mission system of the series for what it is, it’s hard not to recognize what a more interconnected world would do for the overall flow of game. Though it was satisfying to finally beat a boss that I had been struggling with, the near instant removal from the game world to the map menu is never not jarring to me and makes the world feel more segmented and closed off than it should. This is especially prevalent when they reuse certain levels entirely. Nioh 2 is a long game, and it never truly earns that length. Through the nearly 65-hour runtime a few full levels are reused by setting them at a different time of day or having you run backwards through them, while others are lifted entirely from the original. I can totally understand reusing certain locales for different types of missions (the late game enemy/boss rush missions come to mind), but when two main missions reuse the same location for the same type of mission back to back, I can’t help but feel as though the developers are just padding and sacrificing what could have been a sleeker and tighter experience for unnecessary bloat. It certainly doesn’t help the matter when features that could help combat the repetition, like being able to save and switch character builds at will, are locked behind completing the game. Though I’m sure decisions like this are to encourage a second and third play-through, I found it hard to be motivated to go back through levels yet again once I had beaten a few of them twice already.
However, none of my complaints or nitpicks are enough to counter the joy and satisfaction I felt when beating a tough boss or pulling off a long combo into a well-timed burst counter. At the very core, this is a lightning-fast, tough-as-nails action game at the very top of its class. Though I’d still give my title of favorite Soulslike game to Sekiro (if we count that), it speaks volumes that even despite its short-comings, Nioh 2 can rise up as one of the best entries in my favorite sub-genre. Also, “Freed From This Mortal Coil” is one of the best and most iconic pieces of video game score, this new version is even better than the original, and those are just the facts.
Rating: 8/10
Platinum Trophy Difficulty: 6/10
Platinum #146
As someone who had just recently fallen in love with the original Nioh’s fast-paced and loot-based take on the Soulsbourne sub-genre, I wasted no time diving headfirst into its sequel. By all accounts, Nioh 2 had greatly improved upon shortcomings I found in the original and then some. The story had been overhauled, new systems were added on top of the original’s already complex list of combos and abilities, all while adding two new weapons and their abilities as well. In a sense, Team Ninja’s latest is just more of what I loved about the original’s fresh take on a sub-genre I already love so well. However, some of Nioh 2’s frustrating design choices end up making this very much a case of two steps forward and one step back.
When it comes to the moment to moment gameplay of Nioh 2, it completely outclasses nearly every one of its peers…without a doubt. There are few other games in the Souls series or otherwise that feel this good to control. Every weapon type, while feeling diverse in their abilities, handles fluidly with a variety of quick and heavy attacks that hit hard but are easy enough to cancel out of when in danger. If you’ve played the original Nioh, you’ll already know what to expect from the combat, but it’s what the sequel adds, like the burst counter and Soul Core mechanics, that truly take the experience beyond its predecessor. While the Soul Core mechanic works as a sort of ability steal on enemies which all have their own varying amount of usefulness, the burst counter is a complete game-changer. It’s honestly one of my favorite mechanics I’ve used in a video game since the reaction commands in Kingdom Hearts 2. It functions as a parry, stopping a powerful enemy attack in its tracks and delivering a large amount of ki (stamina) damage to boot. This increases the pacing of nearly every battle by giving yet another way to keep the upper-hand in battle, and allowing a turning point for the player should the tide of the fight start slipping into the enemy’s favor. Simply put, burst counters are going to make it difficult to go back to any other Soulslike, and I couldn’t be happier about that.
Where Nioh 2 ultimately falters though, is in a couple of truly baffling design choices. While I can appreciate the mission system of the series for what it is, it’s hard not to recognize what a more interconnected world would do for the overall flow of game. Though it was satisfying to finally beat a boss that I had been struggling with, the near instant removal from the game world to the map menu is never not jarring to me and makes the world feel more segmented and closed off than it should. This is especially prevalent when they reuse certain levels entirely. Nioh 2 is a long game, and it never truly earns that length. Through the nearly 65-hour runtime a few full levels are reused by setting them at a different time of day or having you run backwards through them, while others are lifted entirely from the original. I can totally understand reusing certain locales for different types of missions (the late game enemy/boss rush missions come to mind), but when two main missions reuse the same location for the same type of mission back to back, I can’t help but feel as though the developers are just padding and sacrificing what could have been a sleeker and tighter experience for unnecessary bloat. It certainly doesn’t help the matter when features that could help combat the repetition, like being able to save and switch character builds at will, are locked behind completing the game. Though I’m sure decisions like this are to encourage a second and third play-through, I found it hard to be motivated to go back through levels yet again once I had beaten a few of them twice already.
However, none of my complaints or nitpicks are enough to counter the joy and satisfaction I felt when beating a tough boss or pulling off a long combo into a well-timed burst counter. At the very core, this is a lightning-fast, tough-as-nails action game at the very top of its class. Though I’d still give my title of favorite Soulslike game to Sekiro (if we count that), it speaks volumes that even despite its short-comings, Nioh 2 can rise up as one of the best entries in my favorite sub-genre. Also, “Freed From This Mortal Coil” is one of the best and most iconic pieces of video game score, this new version is even better than the original, and those are just the facts.
Rating: 8/10
Platinum Trophy Difficulty: 6/10
Platinum #146