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. setuis
    Mar 24, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. cups do nothing in this game to help you pass bosses so you can get further in story. - Another game broken by **** instant kill moves from third snake boss (the second boss hand an instant kill move too). - I understand its patterns and attacks and wasted 9 cups on people who do nothing to help and are actually more of hinderence then help but the snake often clips you regardless with charge, tail whip or instant kill. Bad game for people with disabilities. Most likely forced to grind to a stupidly high level for no purpose now to beat the boss. Its a shame after 20 or more tries they don't put up tips or reduce the damage slightly of these bosses and adjust to a level where its stlll challanging but not impossible. I like games like this but really wish bosses where fairer. The snake has the following attacks (Tail sweep always clips you for damage unless dodged but its not telgraphed well when close.) , hand snake forward 3 times, hands forward together and pull in , posion circle breath attack , hand snake detachment in yonkai Snake charge forwards (can't be burst countered) snake circle around you and do instant kill attack by grabbing and stabbing.) , snake hands going into ground and hitting you from below, Snake hands going into ground while your stand in front of boss and instantly rising, snake body slam, snake mid range circle tail whip a slightly different tail whip from the longer range one. I wish status effects where easier to apply and that you could take arrows etc as a ninjitsu or something so you always got some. I wish games like this would have a level to gauge your skill at these sought of games then adjust to a fair level based on how much damage you do before getting killed by a boss. Honestly you sometimes press defense and dodge at the right time but the game itself seems to say you didn't press it in time when you did. Nioh 2 feels like its going backwards not forwards also the adorable komada voices don't sing when you are nearby now to let you know its there. I still like this more than seriko however as least here you get free bombs or items to use and you can grind up to get a little better. I really do wish weak points where weak points and actually did something rather than remove the artificial armor in games like this.… Expand
  2. sapphiron
    Apr 11, 2020
    6
    Most bosses are much easier than the minions.
    Terrible game balance and design.
  3. OKE27
    Mar 22, 2020
    10
    I have been playing it since 13/3, its 10 out of 10 for me. Although I didn't play any solo myself, I mainly play missions on multiplayer, its pretty fun and even more challenge than solo. Some people have complained that bosses are hard because they do not realise that they need to use all items, tools and magic. There are some items to let bosses weaken, slowed, powerless. There are someI have been playing it since 13/3, its 10 out of 10 for me. Although I didn't play any solo myself, I mainly play missions on multiplayer, its pretty fun and even more challenge than solo. Some people have complained that bosses are hard because they do not realise that they need to use all items, tools and magic. There are some items to let bosses weaken, slowed, powerless. There are some magic to let you power up, limit it damage, get one more chance of survival etc. I think I am gonna be occupied by this game for a while.… Expand
  4. tec
    May 16, 2020
    9
    It´s Nioh with a few QoL improvements as well deeper mechanics and more enemies.
  5. oonabe
    Apr 2, 2020
    10
    Nioh and Nioh 2 are for me the best games I have ever played and I can say I'm not the youngest here since I started playing games in the 80s. These series are kind of underrated games if you look at their popularity but I'm sure players who really look deeper at games and who don't let fool themselves by big marketing campaigns or think that the company logo makes a game already betterNioh and Nioh 2 are for me the best games I have ever played and I can say I'm not the youngest here since I started playing games in the 80s. These series are kind of underrated games if you look at their popularity but I'm sure players who really look deeper at games and who don't let fool themselves by big marketing campaigns or think that the company logo makes a game already better than the rest are going to enjoy this game a lot.

    Some people say Nioh 2 is a copy of Nioh 1, well, those people are undoubtedly judging a book by its cover, because Nioh is a game that has such a deepness and so much work you will need to play it really deeply to know how much of the game has changed and improved in this sequel (actually prequel storywise). Again, some people tend to judge this game way too quickly and that only speaks bad for them and not for the game.

    Nioh 2 does indeed have a lot of Nioh 1 inside but that's because Nioh players really liked the first part and it only serves as a foundation to release an improved game over a game that was already near perfect. And of course a lot of new things were added and some major changes took place with the inclusion of the new yokai mode, the dark realm, the possibility to play missions only with two more players, the blue revenants, two new weapons, mixing of soul cores with guardian spirits, new enemies, new bosses and of course new settings to 90% of its content.

    If you are a smart player with a minimum of intelligence and you're able to make your own opinion about things I'm sure you'll definitely enjoy this game and see further than just the book cover ;)    … Expand
  6. GhosttRonin
    Mar 25, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A must for every Samurai fan out there. Great combat. Responsive controls, beautifully designed levels and enemies.… Expand
  7. Kullinimija
    Mar 14, 2020
    6
    Nothing has really changes from the first chapter. This should have been a dlc
  8. nabeel_324
    Mar 13, 2020
    5
    i was very excited for nioh 2, since im a huge souls like fans and not just the souls fan, so i was waiting anxiously for this one. and oh boy was i in for a disappointment. The game is decent but some of my problems is the new yokai world. It is a terrible way to improve the difficulty. You are forced to play defensive with this feature and thats especially annoying in boss battles.i was very excited for nioh 2, since im a huge souls like fans and not just the souls fan, so i was waiting anxiously for this one. and oh boy was i in for a disappointment. The game is decent but some of my problems is the new yokai world. It is a terrible way to improve the difficulty. You are forced to play defensive with this feature and thats especially annoying in boss battles.

    And the problems Judas said aren't fixed either. Skills must be better balanced. The original hioh game had a better skill tree, nioh 2 is an improvment from the previous game but the skill tree in nioh 1 is so much better than nioh 2.Sure it looks cool but to me it makes discovering new skills a fair amount more difficult. There’s something to be said for simplicity when there’s that much information to take in and constantly review. I do like the changes to the way they’re handling / breaking down skills and points but the way it’s displayed is tough to get used to. Some of the new prerequisites make absolutely no sense in my opinion also add to that the fact that Can't we just go back to being a human breaking yokai horns and finishing them off that way instead of having to use a tokai form to counter. Some problems that Nioh 1 had persist in Nioh 2, namely how obviously useless a lot of skills are, and no doubt the game will devolve into spamming 1 move over and over later on.

    I also dislike how endurance and HP stats are (still) tied to weapons. Always makes me feel like a point in those stats is semi wasted because I'm not taking full advantage of its benefits if I'm not using the appropriate weapons.
    Maybe i expected too much. But ill say this , the game is a huge improvement from the first game but it could have been so much better and some obvious problems with the first game could have been solved or atleast improved.    … Expand
  9. adelzamzami
    Mar 14, 2020
    0
    outdated garbage mechanics horrible game engine team ninja should get back to ninja gaiden or quit developing games that's it.
  10. AJO112
    Mar 15, 2020
    5
    Graphics: The amount of Fog,blur,film filter and draw distance is just awful for a sequel of nioh 1 that came in february of 2017.

    Gameplay: almost identical to nioh 1, no improvements. The only good thing worth mentioning is skill tree. Not like nioh 1 with some random scroll picture on every skill. I will give it 5* only for the respect of nioh1, they should just release another DLC    Graphics: The amount of Fog,blur,film filter and draw distance is just awful for a sequel of nioh 1 that came in february of 2017.

    Gameplay: almost identical to nioh 1, no improvements.

    The only good thing worth mentioning is skill tree. Not like nioh 1 with some random scroll picture on every skill.

    I will give it 5* only for the respect of nioh1, they should just release another DLC instead of a new game.    … Expand
  11. ToddTrainer
    Mar 31, 2020
    10
    Loved the 1st Nioh, love this one so far, way more improvements. Deff worth 60 dollars
  12. aarondav
    Mar 25, 2020
    10
    The gameplay is fabulous, the variety of enemies, abilities, and the difficulty increase compared to Nioh.
  13. allsevens777
    Mar 29, 2020
    7
    Man I want to love this game. But there are problems. The customization is wonderful, forging a character to fit your style of play is always rewarding. But many of the failure of the first game are here and worse. The combat has gotten, and I don’t know how this is possible, loose. For a game that plays on split second timing and near pinpoint
  14. Barrymore45
    Mar 27, 2020
    5
    Sorry Nioh 2, I wanted to like you. But you are frustrating, tedious and grindy. The showering of loot becomes a irritant as you constantly have to tidy up after yourself and upgrades feel meaningless. This is game is a chore, and without any meaningful narrative hook, whats the point?
  15. Swclark777
    Mar 29, 2020
    7
    There are many problems with this game that were not perfected prior to launch. The addition of the new burst counter, as well as Yōkai shifts in general, ultimately is unwelcome. The original game didn’t need them, and their inclusion simply makes the combat feel less precise and more spammable. Disappointed.
  16. NonsenseUser
    Apr 30, 2020
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Nioh 2 is nothing short of amazing while it's Dark Souls-ish in terms of difficulty it is very different from FromSofts titles. It is unique where it has to be and the Japanese yokai settings is a refreshing new take. I spent 120 hours just doing the story now NG Plus and DLC will probably turn this into a 200 or 300 hour experience. Worth it… Expand
  17. Nobilis1984
    Mar 12, 2022
    1
    Far worse than part 1. The dodge here is just a joke. You're supposed to run towards an opponent and die.
    Part 1 still had a fair level of difficulty, but it was grossly overdone here. The first fight is not manageable as a beginner.
  18. madterps
    Jul 28, 2021
    3
    This game sucks major ass when it comes to control response time. You cannot change it either, especially if you mess up and cannot recover jn time to only see you die. No matter what level you get up to, you will never recover and gets punished for it. And the camera angles at boss time is horrible.
  19. Zai
    Nov 30, 2021
    2
    Gonna be totally honest... I think the only reason that this game gets passed off as "good because it's difficult" is because the devs genuinely have no idea what they're doing. The hardest boss in the game was in the first act, controls are still insanely janky, leaving much to be desired in terms of how most combos are completely useless, pigeonholing the possible builds into ratherGonna be totally honest... I think the only reason that this game gets passed off as "good because it's difficult" is because the devs genuinely have no idea what they're doing. The hardest boss in the game was in the first act, controls are still insanely janky, leaving much to be desired in terms of how most combos are completely useless, pigeonholing the possible builds into rather boring combinations of moves that only take a second or two. It lacks any meaningful mods on equipment such as ones that help you recover from being hit (I refuse to believe that I'm the only creature in the world who gets staggered for a solid 2 seconds after taking a blow from anything). The starting guardian spirits are absolute trash... overall just the same as the last game with no "new and exciting" aspect to it whatsoever.

    Spend your money on something better unless Dark Souls is the only thing you enjoy at all.    … Expand
  20. 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
  21. Vaeu
    Dec 25, 2021
    9
    Improves on every aspect of the original Nioh fantastically. Fast and fluid combat, very satisfying. The story and characters are hit or miss. Solid graphics and music. Overall a fun game.
  22. Orfeas1989
    Mar 16, 2020
    0
    After having spend endless hours at Nioh 1 and all soul games, i was expecting Nioh 2 with a lot of hype. However the result for me is bittersweet. The developers did improve some things like the mindless block abuse of the revenants at the first game, is finally fixed here, revenants do more things than just block abuse. The bosses and levels from an artistic point of view, are phenomenalAfter having spend endless hours at Nioh 1 and all soul games, i was expecting Nioh 2 with a lot of hype. However the result for me is bittersweet. The developers did improve some things like the mindless block abuse of the revenants at the first game, is finally fixed here, revenants do more things than just block abuse. The bosses and levels from an artistic point of view, are phenomenal (lot of recycled content from the first game but i can swallow that for the sake of content ). However..the game's combat system is deeply flawed and i wonder why no one talks about it. The rules that apply to you , dont apply to the world, and thats the definition of unfair, for example the revenants and the bosses at the dojo always have more reach than you and attack faster no matter what kind of weapon you/they use, they will always attack faster and outzone you. Also when you try to deplete their KI, for some reason when they reach 5% KI or something (red condition) they somehow manage to still be able to move and attack and get resistant to KI depletion (some times not always), that mechanic is not explained why it happens, plus its random and it can leado to thinking that 1 more hit will stagger them, but nope.it wont, just like that randomly and you get exposed and die and its not your fault. Also, they randomly get stagger resistant, but if you do use the very same attacks that they do, you wont get the same stagger resistance. That 'random' factor is killing the combat . Another minus are the instant grabs and the instant special attacks with literally 0 reaction time. Some of them are well developed and enable you to counter them if you are fast. Some others, you cant. The only thing you can do is get KOed or hope to survive with some hp and try to heal up after. You have 0 iframes which means you cant dodge throught an attack only side ways, maybe. You cant block pretty much every heavy boss combo ,because at 2 hits you are staggered and then your dead. Plus you are 1-2 hits and you die anyway So whats the point of HP bar? Why not just use hearts like super mario, 1-2 hearts, and what is the point of block if it leads to stagger and then death? Yes that was the same system at Nioh 1, but it was more douable, you could work around it, Here its way over its head. Still...i somehow love this game , but always with that bittersweet taste and the thought of ' how great that game would truly be, with some more testing at the core mechanics of combat'… Expand
  23. Nabeel99
    Mar 13, 2020
    1
    played the whole soulsborne series , those games are what you call actually difficult and challenging games unlike nioh 2 which is an unbalanced and unfair piece of trash.
  24. shiftyman
    Mar 14, 2020
    0
    It’s almost a complete copy and paste of the original with a few new twerks. Almost everything is the same, from menus to music, couldn’t even create new looking shrines. And once again the cancerous reviewers and YouTubers make comparisons with Dark Souls, what a sad joke. Nioh 1 had a solid story, with a likeable original protagonist, set in one of the most infamous eras in history, withIt’s almost a complete copy and paste of the original with a few new twerks. Almost everything is the same, from menus to music, couldn’t even create new looking shrines. And once again the cancerous reviewers and YouTubers make comparisons with Dark Souls, what a sad joke. Nioh 1 had a solid story, with a likeable original protagonist, set in one of the most infamous eras in history, with solid npc’s. Nioh 2 has none of that. Instead, Team Ninja opted for the cheap lazy character creation trash. To keep the 1% happy. Plus they raised the difficulty level up to add a few more hours of gameplay. It’s absolute unbalanced pure trash. I played the first 2 main missions and 2 side missions and deleted it from my system, will be getting a full refund Monday. Wait for a sale of this and maybe a few patches to balance the combat. $20 is the most this will ever be worth seeming it’s Nioh 1.5.… Expand
  25. Pch1221
    Mar 13, 2020
    1
    There is nothing enjoyable about a game that kills you over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Only to die over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

    You feel no power in your weapons, the enemies have infinite life bars that are not clear. Even the    There is nothing enjoyable about a game that kills you over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Only to die over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

    You feel no power in your weapons, the enemies have infinite life bars that are not clear. Even the supposed shifting power is underwhelming how much life vs KI they have.    … Expand
  26. lucasman85
    May 21, 2020
    4
    the fast nioh had a lot of faults but they could have all been improved upon in the sequel. Unfortunately the developers didn't try here. Cheap deaths every where. Horrible enemy placement that exists just to kill you. Lazy recycled bosses and stages. Incoherent upgrade syste that doesn't improve your armor or stats. This game is the definition of artificial difficulty. Any game is hardthe fast nioh had a lot of faults but they could have all been improved upon in the sequel. Unfortunately the developers didn't try here. Cheap deaths every where. Horrible enemy placement that exists just to kill you. Lazy recycled bosses and stages. Incoherent upgrade syste that doesn't improve your armor or stats. This game is the definition of artificial difficulty. Any game is hard when the bosses have hundreds of thousands of hp points while you only have10 percent of that and they can kill you in one or two hits. Didn't even bother finishing the game. Uninstaller and will trade in… Expand
  27. josei1985
    May 13, 2020
    9
    Una auténtica maravilla como ya lo fue el anterior. Si os gustan los retos y estilo que recuerda a los Souls, sin duda lo disfrutaréis. Con la gran novedad de poder crear nuestro personaje.

    Por decir algo negativo: poca variedad de enemigos normales, algunos muy duros que hacen más daño que muchos jefes. La dificultad de los jefazos es variada, con los humanos con pocos intentos los    Una auténtica maravilla como ya lo fue el anterior. Si os gustan los retos y estilo que recuerda a los Souls, sin duda lo disfrutaréis. Con la gran novedad de poder crear nuestro personaje.

    Por decir algo negativo: poca variedad de enemigos normales, algunos muy duros que hacen más daño que muchos jefes. La dificultad de los jefazos es variada, con los humanos con pocos intentos los ganas y otros que requieren más trabajo para aprender sus mecánicas de ataque. Pero el combate es buenísimo.    … Expand
  28. aaronjf94
    Mar 25, 2020
    1
    This game has janky animations, the mechanics are not precise which goes against what this type of game should require. It needs some fine tuning which is normal but its basically unplayable.
  29. HRR2
    May 21, 2020
    0
    I've played, and loved, a lot of tough games in this genre. Why? Because they offer a great challenge and, as frustrating as they have all been at times, you learn, you get better, you figure out a strategy and way to beat the boss.
    Unfortunately this game has taken a cheap and easy approach to ramping up difficulty by just giving many of the bosses ridiculous combos and moves that can't    I've played, and loved, a lot of tough games in this genre. Why? Because they offer a great challenge and, as frustrating as they have all been at times, you learn, you get better, you figure out a strategy and way to beat the boss.
    Unfortunately this game has taken a cheap and easy approach to ramping up difficulty by just giving many of the bosses ridiculous combos and moves that can't be blocked or avoided. Or, if you avoid the first onslaught, the boss (even with next to no stamina) can somehow chain power attacks. Meanwhile you have had all the stamina removed by blocking or dodging once and are left bent over panting and are then pancaked!
    As another reviewer pointed out, good games at least have a consistent set of mechanics applying to the player and the enemies. That is not the case here. Moves that whittle down most of the bosses stamina suddenly stop working on the last 5-10% and the boss then suddenly blocks your moves and immediately follows up by chaining three or 4 massive moves. When the player has 5-10% stamina he can hardly move and is one-hit killed by an attack with a limp lettuce leaf.
    With most bosses I felt I had them figured out pretty quickly but no matter how well i nailed he strategy (way, way) more often than not I ended up dead anyway.
    The weapon skill trees are also largely pointless - once you have a base set of moves there then just a pointless array of additional moves that rarely add any power or damage to your move set.
    The result of all this is an entirely unsatisfying game. Yes you can eventually beat each boss, but only through repeated rolling of the dice and stubborn refusal to give up. At some point though only one question remains - Why waste your time on this #$%&!
    Play Bloodborne (or Darksouls 1 or 3, or even Sekiro) instead. Hell, even if you've already played them, play them again rather than waste your energy on as badly designed and balanced game as Nioh2    … Expand
  30. OutlawTX
    Mar 8, 2021
    0
    As someone who has a platinum trophy for Nioh 1, every souls game and almost every other souls like game, I can easily say that this is the most annoying game I’ve ever played. A total and absolute waste of money. If I had the disk, I’d break it.
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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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