Nioh 2

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1157 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 873 out of 1157
  2. Mixed: 140 out of 1157
  3. Negative: 144 out of 1157
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  1. Joruto88
    Mar 13, 2023
    5
    The developers managed to increase the game's difficulty even compared to the DLC's of the first game. The recommended levels for the missions are a joke, even with 10+ level above the it bosses and basic enemies can one shot you. Many levels are reused from the first game and almost all of the side missions are just sections of main missions. The story is also worse than the first game,The developers managed to increase the game's difficulty even compared to the DLC's of the first game. The recommended levels for the missions are a joke, even with 10+ level above the it bosses and basic enemies can one shot you. Many levels are reused from the first game and almost all of the side missions are just sections of main missions. The story is also worse than the first game, other than the main 2 characters you almost never meet anyone. I regret buying the special edition because this is not an enjoyable game and based on the track record the DLC's will be even worse.… Expand
  2. Crimson9
    Dec 26, 2022
    5
    Nioh 2 improves on Nioh 1's combat, but not much else. The thing is, Nioh 1's combat was its strongest point. Its atmosphere, lore, story, polish, level design, world design, all were lacking. Nioh 2 doesnt make any improvements here.
  3. Midian00
    Jun 10, 2022
    6
    This game could've been amazing if not for 2 major things.
    1. Insane amount of copy-pasted enemies throughout entire goddamn game. You fight same mobs endlessly. And they didn't stop there. They decided that it would be great idea to cope-paste bosses gadzilion times too.
    2. Endless looting. It just gets really tiresome. In all other aspects game is pretty good made. Definitely try it    This game could've been amazing if not for 2 major things.
    1. Insane amount of copy-pasted enemies throughout entire goddamn game. You fight same mobs endlessly. And they didn't stop there. They decided that it would be great idea to cope-paste bosses gadzilion times too.
    2. Endless looting. It just gets really tiresome.

    In all other aspects game is pretty good made. Definitely try it and play it until you brain goes "wait! I killed this **** thing like 80000 times already!? wtf?!"    … Expand
  4. TheFrog
    May 18, 2022
    6
    I enjoyed the game for quite a while. I like combat against normal enemies, and the game gives you a lot of options to confront them. They hit hard but not SO hard, and elixirs are easy to find on fallen enemies. Unfortunately, weapons are VERY unbalanced. For example, with an agility/ninjutsu build, the most logical thing would be to go kusarigama, right? Wrong. Try out the tonfa, andI enjoyed the game for quite a while. I like combat against normal enemies, and the game gives you a lot of options to confront them. They hit hard but not SO hard, and elixirs are easy to find on fallen enemies. Unfortunately, weapons are VERY unbalanced. For example, with an agility/ninjutsu build, the most logical thing would be to go kusarigama, right? Wrong. Try out the tonfa, and you'll realize that most other weapons won't even come close to its effectiveness. Kusarigama is terrible at blocking and has zilch stopping power with fast attacks, so, while you CAN use it, you'll usually make your life a lot more difficult. Still, at times certain weapons prove handy against certain enemies, even if your build is not geared towards their use. The kusa is great at taking out oni, given that it's power attack takes off their horns. Also, in duels against humans, its huge range sometimes proves very beneficial. Trying every weapon out is good.
    You'll find lots of equipment items with different stats and perks. You can spend time and resources to tweak them, looking for the perfect combination... then you realize it's pointless, as they'll be obsolete in a few levels and the level of grind is insane. And mostly, you end up with negligible changes to your stats, hardly worth all the hassle. A 2% increase in damage when your health is low? Wow, this is *so* gonna change my view of the world!
    Then come the bosses. I usually hate bosses, but this game has some very strange difficulty spikes. Some bosses can be beaten with just a few attempts, you only need to memorize their attack patterns and devise a good strategy, while others are incredibly strong and have no weak points, so you just keep at it until you get lucky.
    For example, I even managed to beat one on my very first attempt - and then, the next one (Shibata Katsuie) had me ragequit after dozens of attempts. And then, the next day, I retried and somehow managed it - but still consider it a chance thing, even though my dodging DID improve.
    You can summon friendly NPCs to help you out, but that's not how I want to play the game. I feel you should have a fair chance to beat every level on your own.
    Other super annoying bosses are the bull spider and the two final encounters with the main opponent. Also, duels against human opponents are terrible. The opponent has a huge amount of HP and ten times your ki. Quite often, it's also not staggered by your hits so, even though you managed to get your attack in first, you still get hurt for 35% of your HP, versus 1% of his own. The dojo duels especially, are something I truly loathed, and ended up only completing the tonfa one; if you want to get new weapon skills, you have to do a lot of these, and they take away all your ninjutsu and magic techniques. As for the duel missions, I usually take them only after I'm 50% over their suggested level. After the opponent gets down to 50% health, they usually start using infinite special attacks that can reach you anywhere and reduce you to mincemeat.
    You have lots of special techniques you can learn, but they are rarely worth it. Parrying is unreliable, for example, and even when successful, it doesn't give you much of an advantage, whereas it can get you seriously hurt if you mistime it.
    I eventually completed the game, but was pretty fed up with it by then. I relied on grinding to increase my level and make things a bit easier, but saw many tombs of much lower level players, proving that the best out there can win even against overpowering enemies. Grinding is just one option.

    TL;DR - I enjoyed the game. I like the slow but sure progression through each level, and those thrilling moments like when I had to dispatch several strong enemies in the demon realm, are worth it. I can say that there are no really unfair fights mid-level, and you have a lot of strategies at your disposal. Bosses, on the other hand, vary from very easy to super frustrating, and they were, together with duels, the worst part of the game for me.    … Expand
  5. Fredavila
    Dec 29, 2021
    7
    Mejoro gráficamente, misma jugabilidad que nioh 1, y mucho dificultad injusta para alargar el juego
  6. Hackslashshoot
    Aug 18, 2021
    6
    The grind to become op so you can one shot enemies before they can one shot you. That’s nioh 1 and 2 in a nutshell. This will be the final Nioh game I purchase. . The grind is over
  7. SplitMind
    Jul 17, 2021
    6
    Nioh found its niche in an audience of Souls fans that were begging for more. Unfortunately I think a niche is where Nioh 1 and 2 belong, although it also seems happy to be there. My biggest gripe with Nioh 2 is probably how little has changed for the better, which may not be a popular opinion.

    The graphics in Nioh 2 aren't that special unless you play the PS5 remaster, where the 60fps    Nioh found its niche in an audience of Souls fans that were begging for more. Unfortunately I think a niche is where Nioh 1 and 2 belong, although it also seems happy to be there. My biggest gripe with Nioh 2 is probably how little has changed for the better, which may not be a popular opinion.

    The graphics in Nioh 2 aren't that special unless you play the PS5 remaster, where the 60fps makes it much more appealing. You can tell that the detail and power is there for graphics, but like a common trend in modern games, Nioh 2 lets itself down by using bland, repetitive environments, especially dark ones such as caves and tunnels. The game could really benefit from things being a bit more vibrant and colourful. Add to this the uninspired enemy design that's highly copied from the previous game and it feels a lot more like an extension of Nioh 1.

    A big aspect of Nioh 2 is the Dark Realm, however this area irritated me more than anything as it can make the screen blurry and drained of colour. It's a nice gimmick but it should be used sparingly.

    The gameplay of Nioh is why we are here. Souls and Souls-likes are not famous for being casual and accessible games, however I think Nioh 2 may be the worst of them all with this. As soon as I met my first enemy and saw how much damage I did compared to how much I received, I was flabbergasted. I had to work quite hard to persevere until after the first boss where the game opened up a bit. I doubt most people will want to persist for that long, although mass appeal doesn't seem to interest Nioh to begin with.

    This brings me to a debate I had with myself until after the third boss where I stopped playing - is Nioh too unbalanced? I still haven't drawn a conclusion, but I think the game is more effort than it's worth at least. I don't believe that the changes made have been for the better. For example, the burst counter is an unnecessary gimmick that's too unreliable to consistently pull-off.

    There are also a plethora of systems to develop your character within. Between soul cores, guardian spirits, attributes and gear you can spend far too much time playing manager as opposed to actually exploring and combating your way through the game. Again this is extremely unfriendly to newcomers however the Nioh niche will likely love this due to how immersive it can become. For me it became tedious due to how much attention these systems needed.

    When you strip down to the core mechanics of Nioh 2, I found it quite protracted and tedious, leading to me eventually giving up on it. Just like the first game, you are exploring very similar environments with very similar enemies and bosses who are actually very similar too as you just need to identify a specific strategy for each one. This is a problem all Souls games have but Dark Souls has the atmosphere and interconnected world that Nioh does not.

    The story of Nioh 2 comes across as fairly light, but then again I didn't exactly get too far into it. I rate games well when they don't bore you with a tedious story and Nioh does well here since a Souls-like game allows you to dip into the story at your leisure without affecting gameplay.

    Overall, Nioh 2 is actually a decent game in its own right, however it's not on its own - even the first game does almost everything Nioh 2 does, and when you factor in all the other Souls games, I became very weary from the repetitive styles of gameplay. Nioh 2 isn't breaking much new ground, but it brings more of the same and that will appeal to most fans of the first.    … Expand
  8. dangyosabyss
    Jun 2, 2021
    6
    Tldr : Basically pretty Dark souls for weebs with added 1-shotting. Playing this after Dark Souls, Sekiro or ghost of Tsushima shows just how limited it is.

    Good: Beautiful graphics and character designs. Weapon variety. Stance changing adds variety. Possession is an interesting mechanic. Bad: Too many instances of enemies 1-shotting you. Too many instances of light speed    Tldr : Basically pretty Dark souls for weebs with added 1-shotting. Playing this after Dark Souls, Sekiro or ghost of Tsushima shows just how limited it is.

    Good:
    Beautiful graphics and character designs.
    Weapon variety.
    Stance changing adds variety.
    Possession is an interesting mechanic.

    Bad:
    Too many instances of enemies 1-shotting you.
    Too many instances of light speed hitboxes killing you before you can react.
    Stop/Start battle dynamics.
    Poor level design.
    Looter sho...slasher mechanic is tired.    … Expand
  9. Reekum
    May 30, 2021
    6
    Game has very good mechanics but stupid maze levels keep you wasting your time.
  10. Shimmeywill
    Apr 11, 2021
    7
    Solid character creator and decent art direction. Arcadey combat is fun. Performance on base PS4 is lacklustre.
  11. montagx
    Apr 6, 2021
    7
    Loved the combat, sadly it kinda forces you to play a lot of repetitive secondary missions.
  12. eded9999
    Feb 20, 2021
    7
    Combat is good with a lot of options and mechanics
    Good difficulty.
    The Story is a weak point; messy, boring and feels like your are just a mere spectator, not the protagonist almost until the end of the game
    Also the game is almost too long for it own good.
    And the loot system is so noisy an convoluted, so many sets almost identical with random stats, it loose appeal to collect then.
  13. Cha0ticneutral
    Feb 8, 2021
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A great game but let down by very poor boss design in terms of their outright unfair difficulty. Random and aggressive attack patterns with 1 hit kill attacks that don't have enough signposting for you to learn to avoid them. They feel hard to the point of it being cheap, most combos and attacks kill you in seconds and the AI is so aggressive and unpredictable that sometimes it seems down to luck.

    There comes a point where the frustration of the experience defeats the possible elation you feel after accomplishing what feels like a very hollow victory. Perhaps the feeling of mastery and overcoming is missing in these boss fights, I never once felt good about them and I was always just glad they were over but lacking the will to keep on playing sometimes.

    I'd give this game a 9 but it just isn't fun sometimes, and when a game stops being fun it defeats the point of it's purpose. I love a challenge but this was just frustrating.    … Expand
  14. Solidwisdom
    Feb 6, 2021
    6
    This game couldev been great and enjoyable
    But its way too challenging. I don’t understand how so many rated this game high. Just its way too hard for me. I coulde not even get past the first level.
  15. lessacebola
    Dec 15, 2020
    6
    Eu não posso dizer muita coisa já que não sou fã desse estilo de jogo de Nioh 2, entretanto nem a história do game conseguiu me prender. Também não sou muito de reparar em gráficos, mas esses não são lá grandes coisas. Apesar de tudo o jogo tem bons efeitos especiais.
  16. Anivice
    Dec 14, 2020
    7
    Really a solid game. Or a large DLC of the first one. Basically this game does not have that much of a difference compared to the first one but still I enjoyed myself a lot.
  17. Inhanzt
    Sep 21, 2020
    5
    The game has too many competing systems that serve to make the game less fun. It devolves at it's lowest level to "hit r1 to clean up monster poop". Unfortunately, nothing really saves it from that.
  18. PHNTMRIDR
    Sep 12, 2020
    7
    Nioh 2 is a good game, but I found myself getting a bit bored after 10+ hrs of gameplay.
  19. Molec_man
    Aug 18, 2020
    7
    It's a solid Soulsbourne game with looter aspects that could keep you playing. It allows for many different builds, but none of them feel like they are overpowered. I like to feel rewarded by power for spending hours and hours in an RPG. I just don't get that feeling here. But its still a good RPG.
  20. 18Xq8Rtutehc
    Aug 3, 2020
    7
    As a fan of the SoulsBorne genre, what I disliked the most about this game in comparison to Nioh 2, is that the difficulty feels too artificial. Your hits do so little damage, that most bosses feel like a damage sponge. The game becomes about endurance rather than skill (unlike Souls and Borne games). Even Nioh and Lords of the Fallen did a better job.
    Still a good game to play while    As a fan of the SoulsBorne genre, what I disliked the most about this game in comparison to Nioh 2, is that the difficulty feels too artificial. Your hits do so little damage, that most bosses feel like a damage sponge. The game becomes about endurance rather than skill (unlike Souls and Borne games). Even Nioh and Lords of the Fallen did a better job.
    Still a good game to play while waiting for the Demons Souls remaster, though.    … Expand
  21. Poohead
    Jul 30, 2020
    7
    the gameplay was fun challenging for the most part is was great but started to drag near the end too many reused areas enemies and bosses could of used some more variety in the side missions
  22. rain_gs
    Jul 20, 2020
    6
    redundant system, limited improvement from Nioh 1, still worth to play if you like action game, and you could find certain points you may like it.
  23. tolkkipelto
    Jul 20, 2020
    5
    Extremadamente repetitivo. Parece un DLC del 1. Solo aporta la transformación yokai. La historia es poco memorable. Llevo 80 horas y ya no quiero continuar los jefes muy fáciles. Lo recomiendo solo si no tienes más que jugar y está en una rebaja de 20 dólares.
  24. QuoNBM
    Jul 8, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As a person who has done the previous work, it feels like he has recycled the enemies of the previous work, and the graphics and UI improvements have made him feel unfeeling, so the sequel came out. I liked the addition of the new combat system and the equivalent of the previous one, but the problem with sloppy storylines and frequent framing remained, and, crucially, the first launch price of nearly $58 was hard to understand personally. However, I liked the action, including the additional content, just like the previous one.… Expand
  25. darknightserg
    Jun 27, 2020
    6
    Nioh 1 was an incredible souls like game. The sequel looks pretty and I love how you can customize your character. The biggest issue is how unfair and frustrating the game is. Unless you cheat and watch youtube ultra build videos your character does fair damage but enemies 1-2 shot kill you in a second at many parts of the game. Not fun at all.
  26. PecosBill
    Jun 21, 2020
    6
    The game is ok and has potential, but is also marred by flaws: the AI is terrible and most of the perceived difficulty is due to poorly designed and unfair mechanics.
    Once you get past the frustration, the game is actually easy and the second playthrough is so easy it feels like a "victory lap"... which would be fine, if it wasn't for the fact that as of over three months after the    The game is ok and has potential, but is also marred by flaws: the AI is terrible and most of the perceived difficulty is due to poorly designed and unfair mechanics.
    Once you get past the frustration, the game is actually easy and the second playthrough is so easy it feels like a "victory lap"... which would be fine, if it wasn't for the fact that as of over three months after the release there's no DLCs available, multiplayer or any repeatable content worth mentioning: all you can do is farm gear in a handful of missions.
    Also, while it's clear that the devs have tried to improve and innovate after the first chapter, the game is lacking in enemy diversity and several levels have been copy & pasted from the first Nioh!
    I'm a fan of Soulsborne games and, without going too much in depth, those games have better mechanics and way more re-playability thanks to invasion mechanics and the beautiful dungeon system Bloodborne has.
    We can only wait and see what the DLCs will bring and we'll hopefully get something like dungeons/the abyss soon.

    Nioh 2 really feels like a game that "could have been", but unfortunately it isn't.    … Expand
  27. Gutsukyo
    Mar 13, 2020
    7
    Just another in a long line of Dark Souls wannabes. The game isn't even ashamed of its blatant thievery of ideas from Dark Souls. Though it's not entirely a fresh idea, it's at least fun to play.
  28. johanBjorn
    Jun 1, 2020
    5
    It feels like Nioh 1.5 more than a sequel. A lot of reused textures, music, and even some levels. I tried to get through it, but it just doesn't feel balanced and as fun as the original.
  29. superfields
    May 15, 2020
    5
    Basically they ruined it. going back to Nioh this abomination is buggy, feels weighty, i dont like you have to get help to beat bosses. some of the early creatures and design are kiddie. Hate the timing move breaker which is why i hate Sekiro. I have a rule if it ain’t broken don’t fix it. Man what a let down.
  30. uncle-scrooge
    May 13, 2020
    6
    I feel this game needs more balance between the top and bottom levels of reviews (there are plenty of both). I'm in the middle; I don't think this game is a **** but I don't think it deserves the almost universal praise it has gotten from critics at all either.

    There are good things to say about this game for sure, but judging from the number of positive reviews, you've probably heard    I feel this game needs more balance between the top and bottom levels of reviews (there are plenty of both). I'm in the middle; I don't think this game is a **** but I don't think it deserves the almost universal praise it has gotten from critics at all either.

    There are good things to say about this game for sure, but judging from the number of positive reviews, you've probably heard it; nice, varied combat style, lots of loot, enough stats to make your head spin and of course there's the difficulty level, if that's your thing.

    This is written from the perspective of a casual gamer, who's beat and NG+'ed DS 1, 3, Bloodborne and Sekiro, so that gives you a comparison. I'm by no means pro, but not a completely newbie to difficult Japanese games either.

    So, to the negative stuff, which is why you read a lower review:

    The difficulty is mainly based on three things:
    - ridiculous enemy damage (almost any puny attack will one-shot you if you don't have 100% health)
    - enemies hiding in places where they are near impossible to know about, one-shotting you by jumping down from a tree or shooting you in the back from afar
    - preposterous health bars, especially on bosses. Difficult, yes, but frankly, mostly extremely tedious and boring. Expect boss fights to drag out past 20-30 minutes of very limited move-sets, and then you die from exhaustion from a one-shot move that you know well, but missed the 398th time he threw it at you.

    The game's production feels incredibly cheap
    I get that re-use is a part of game design, but seriously... ten minutes into the game, you've met most of the monsters there are, and you'll fight the same ones again. And again. And again. And again. They evolve throughout the game simply by increasing their damage and HP more or less in perfect tandem with your own level. So there. You could have skipped leveling altogether and just played at level 1 throughout.
    Give the game a few hours, and you've seen every asset they've bothered to design, and you'll see those same assets thrown about in different ways throughout the game. Every wall, every barrel, every wooden box, every rock, every tree – it all seems familiar no matter what area you're in, because it's all the same models and textures used.
    And then there are the bosses. I finally beat one of them, learning his five moves until I could easily sidestep him without losing any hp, and still needing 35 minutes to surgically scrape single molecules of his HP meter. I go on the next quest, and whaddyaknow – it ends with the same boss! You have got to be kidding me. The exact same boss one more time, same arena, all the same moves, straight after the previous one. I mean, it's just weird. Give me a few hours to forget his five moves at least! I wasn't angry because he was difficult, but because I was ridiculously tired of him the first time around, to the point of not even feeling happy when I beat him. Then, they throw him at me again, literally less than 20 minutes later. *sigh* I lost the will to keep playing at that point. Cheap.

    Quest difficulty level is completely random
    Go on a level 30 quest with a level 12 character and eat the boss and his friends for breakfast. Then go on a level 30 quest with a level 60 character, and get one-shotted by the first pathetic skeleton soldier you meet. The quest leveling seems completely random, and I honestly have no idea why it's even there.

    My expectations for this game were probably off, and I get that a more dedicated player will enjoy this game more than I did by really digging into items, moves, smithing, etc. which, is something I simply don't have time or patience to do. Still, it's silly to give the game a perfect 10 and tell everyone else to git gud, when the game HAS obvious flaws. If I needed to sum up the negative parts of my review in one word, it would be CHEAP. Cheap difficulty, cheap production values, cheap, synthesized 60 seconds music score on repeat and constantly re-used assets. Designing a difficult game is an art that involves more than impossible-to-predict jump attacks, ludicrously high damage and health bars the length of the great wall of China.

    Does it suck? No, it doesn't, and it's not impossible you might like it more than I did. By all means, try it. But once the feeling of being thrown a hastily put together, low-cost-at-any-price game that you pay a full price for, it's harder to enjoy it. At least for me.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

14
#14 Best PS4 Game of 2020
22
#22 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 91 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 84 out of 91
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 91
  3. Negative: 0 out of 91
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jul 23, 2020
    100
    The second Nioh is more than just a continuation of the legacy. The authors have been able to learn from the mistakes of the first game, and thanks to that this is an excellent action RPG that will not let you rest and you will want to keep playing. [Issue#303]
  2. GameCritics
    Jun 23, 2020
    85
    I love a great third-person actioner, and I’m hard-pressed to think of one that nails the formula as perfectly as Nioh 2 does. The systems are pleasantly crunchy and there are a ton to dig into, the moment-to-moment fights get my blood pumping, and the artwork and theming are all spot-on. Too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing, but Nioh 2 is exactly the right amount.
    Read full review
  3. Gaming Nexus
    Jun 1, 2020
    85
    Nioh 2 does what a good sequel should. It capitalizes on the best parts of its predecessors while providing new content and mechanics to advance the franchise. While the story structure and level design are largely the same, added weapons, more build depth, and new combat mechanics all enhance what the game has to offer. It doesn't always hit the mark perfectly, but it's a solid addition to the series. And let's face it, being a samurai is awesome.
    Read full review
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