Nioh

In no uncertain terms, Nioh is something special. It’s one of those rare games that surpasses expectations, taking the best elements from a variety of genre-defining titles whilst sprinkling in a handful of its own ideas.

Hundreds of hours in and I was still getting excited at new aspects and discoveries within the game, finding constantly fresh and rewarding things to do and see. It’s a slick, fantastic hack and slash with a strong sense of charm and sincerity, accessible yet tough to master, and if there’s any justice, it’ll go down in history as an all-time classic.

Nioh is, quite simply, one of the finest games of this console generation.

Nioh is a triumph. It stands head and shoulders above every other title in the genre, even eclipsing its obvious inspiration. Team Ninja is not only back, but it has thrown down the gauntlet, and only time will tell who's up for the challenge.

Nioh is a better game than what From Software has achieved.

Nioh may borrow Onimusha‘s art style, Dark Souls‘ challenging combat, and Diablo‘s loot-farming, but it combine these elements in a way that makes it feel like a unique experience. Everything comes together to create a wholly engrossing action-RPG that’s hard to put down, with Nioh standing as an impressive return to form for Team Ninja after spending a decade in development hell. In short, Nioh is Team Ninja’s best game in years, and should leave fans plenty excited for the next Ninja Gaiden.

Nioh got attention for its similarities to other titles, but it deserves to be remembered as its own special game, one that sees and raises the efforts presented by its inspirations. With fast and uncompromising combat, an engrossing economy of loot, and a mesmerizing artistic style, action-RPGs have rarely been this refined or this captivating.

Nioh could well take over 100 hours if you set out to master its many side missions on top of its tough campaign, but it’s a challenge well worth taking. The way it builds on its most obvious inspirations with a highly refined combat system and an unexpectedly charming, yet gritty style all its own allows it to boldly carve out its own identity, standing as a shining example of what action RPGs can be.

Nioh is an excellent title that’s different enough from Souls. While its lore isn’t as deep or rich, and the level design isn’t nearly as breathtaking, the gameplay more than makes up for it. With over fifty hours of content, there’s plenty for action fans to enjoy, and I’m sure that Nioh will be in many Game of the Year conversations this December.

Nioh is among the finest exclusives to grace the PS4, melding samurai action with the framework of the well-renowned Dark Souls series, although its devilish difficulty may send William to an early grave.

Nioh is a culmination of some of my favorite mechanics in video games. The incredibly fast paced, twitch based reflex combat of Ninja Gaiden. The meticulous strategy and sense of discovery of Souls and the loot/equipment upgrade system of Diablo. It’s as though this was a game made specifically for me. If that wasn’t enough, Nioh manages to become more than the sum of its parts as something truly exceptional with an identity of its own – one that I simply can’t put down and it has secured a spot as the top contender in my game of the year list thus far.

Saying that Nioh is a “Souls clone” not only doesn’t do justice to a superb game, but can be quite misleading. Nioh stands on its own as a masterpiece from Team Ninja that reminds us the Ninja Gaiden glory days of the studio.

At first glance Nioh could be perceived as a Dark Souls Clone because they share basic concepts like repetition, muscle memory, perseverance and a high tolerance to frustration. But after some time playing, the differences between the two are obvious and it becomes clear that Nioh has enough strength to stand alone with pride and could even be the responsible for sparking a new wave of games with similar mechanics. Nioh is an intelligent, inspired, polished and exciting game that will keep you elated for hours on end. It takes a proven formula and improves on it in every aspect. It is that good. We might be looking at a game of the year here and it will surely be a beloved game for a niche of people who like difficult, demanding games.

What Nioh also does incredibly well is blend intense and serious tones with at times light-hearted and silly moments. This deft balance of historical authenticity and far out there fantastical elements is never not entertaining and Team Ninja should be applauded for their ability to combine it all into a believable and engaging world.

Nioh is a fantastic Samurai action-RPG with excellent Dark Souls inspired combat, multiplayer options and tons of content. Not for the faint of heart. Boss fights can be as tedious as they are challenging.

As close to perfect as it gets. Nioh is a stunning title and is easily an early contender for game of the year.

Team Ninja has overcome the inevitable comparisons with Souls' series, with a game that shines on its own right. Diverse and enjoyable combat mechanics, great setting and that characteristic difficulty of the studio's games, Nioh is a strong candidate for one of the best games of 2017.

Nioh makes one of the best action-RPGs ever made. An immense amount of features combined in a challenging game, which will take more than 40 hours of your life. No regrets so far.

Nioh is impressive in a lot of ways offering us beautiful challenging levels and a deep customizable experience. Even with the comparisions with Souls franchise, Nioh is a tremendous fun title full of personality, Team Ninja developed a memorable game with a brilliant combat system and solid gameplay mechanics.

The small, scattered levels live in the shadows of the Souls/Bloodborne worlds. Otherwise, Nioh matches - and occasionally surpasses - FromSoftware's genre giants. [Apr 2017, p.77]

This is an exclusive to be coveted. Nioh takes the best of Dark Souls, marries it to Ninja Gaiden, and delivers a surprisingly robust action-RPG. Few will be able to resist the attack of this clone. [April 2016, p80]

Great action RPG combines elements of Dark Souls, Onimusha, Ninja Gaiden and Demon's Souls. It's challenging, but a fair-play game that all lovers of medieval Japan with its mythology and bizarre monsters will enjoy fully.

A stunning take on feudal Japan awaits players with a fresh style of leveling, a unique battle system, and a challenge that will make even the most hardened players question what they're doing taking on this game.

This is a game that takes the foundations of one of the most intoxicating RPGs around and builds them into a fast, fluid, simply enormous action game as good as anything Team Ninja has ever made. [April 2017, p.112]

Mix in all the great elements from Dark Souls, Onimusha and Ninja Gaiden series, sprinkle some new and cool features and the end product is Nioh. A very satisfying action RPG experience with a huge amount of features that can easily take more than a hundred hours of your time and still offer something new. A worthy entry in your PS4 collection and easily one of the best games of this generation.

There are dozens of "Souls-like" games but Nioh is by far the most ambitious, polished and successful because it has taken Dark Souls' digital DNA and genuinely evolved it into something both recognizable and different. Nioh owes much to the spirit and mechanics of From's games but there is a lot of Diablo and Ninja Gaiden in there as well. It doesn't matter whether Nioh is derivative or wholly original, it just matters that the game is incredibly well made, challenging, complex and fun.

Nioh is an absolutely engaging game, that’s soul-crushing, yet addictive and satisfying. Nioh continued to impress to the very end, delivering an enthralling experience that's challenging, but fair in its execution.

Nioh has been a pleasant surprise. There’s a thoughtful consideration to its level design and, whilst they sometimes look uninspired, the strength of the combat maintains my attention. The difficulty might feel uneven but this is a challenge which anyone curious should undertake. It’s been a long, careful road that could’ve seen many things derailed. Thankfully, the final product is outstanding.

Nioh surprised me in several ways, all of them good. It feels like a bit of a sleeper title at launch that I think is going to catch a lot of people off guard, but if you have any interest in this niche genre or are a fan of Team Ninja’s, Nioh is definitely worth checking out.

While perhaps not reaching the heights of Ninja Gaiden during its prime, it's nonetheless a revitalization. Nioh is much, much more than a summation of its influences. The game's white-knuckle action demands a high degree of determination, but controls so well that any failure can be attributed solely to the player. Although finishing a mission in Nioh is exhausting, especially the times when you walk away with only a sliver of health, it's very much a mountain worth climbing. There are few games currently available that are so utterly rewarding.

This game feels so polished with its satisfying combat and its insanely deep loot and crafting system, along with the hundreds of hours of content it has on offer. Ultimately, Nioh is the mixture of two really awesome video game things: Souls-inspired gameplay and a rewarding loot system that lets you craft truly unique gear. If either of those two things appeal to you, you’ll enjoy this one.

Nioh shines! The fighting system is satisfying, Diablo-like loot and character development motivate you to keep playing, and gameplay mechanisms reminiscent of Dark Souls complete the image of a really good game. It combines well-known elements but in the end becomes something else entirely.

Regardless how you choose to progress, the immense variety in environments is reflected in the thoughtful pacing of what will be an 80 hour playthrough for many. Nioh doesn't escalate in intensity with every subsequent mainline mission, although the endgame is rightfully brutal. Instead, there's a rhythmic ebb and flow as you advance through the story.

You’ll go into Team Ninja’s latest project thinking it’s Dark Souls with samurais and ninjas, but come out knowing it to be its own unique experience. Nioh is an enthralling adventure, filled with great combat, characters, monsters, and locations, and only really stumbles when it tries to be a little too much like other games out there.

Nioh is easily the best action RPG I’ve played in some time. It may take some time to get into the swing of it’s melee combat, and the first level doesn’t make a good impression, but anyone looking for some engrossing hack-and-slash combat should pick this up with Nioh hesitation.

With NiOh, Team Ninja has regained its position of honor. Its fighting style is one of the most fun and perfected we have played in a long time.

A perfect accompaniment to the SoulsBorne series, with plenty of unique ideas of its own and some of the best combat of the generation.

Nioh is a surprise delight. In a world of clones, it's great to find a Dark Souls homage that manages to be its own game and stands on its own merits. It's fast-paced, fun, brutal and full of enough mechanics and gameplay features that you could play it for months. You don't need to be a Souls fan to enjoy Nioh'sexcellent gameplay. The story is a little thin, and the environments aren't always great, but if you're looking for fast-paced samurai action or seeking a challenge, Nioh is the game for you.

By taking some inspiration from others, Team Ninja do prove with a rich combat system and solid foundation that they have the ability to surprise and innovate. The vast majority of the game is a pleasure to play, despite the fact that death is around every corner. There’s a lot I’ve not even touched upon in this review, simply because it’s better experienced than told. For Koei Tecmo at least, all the effort was well worth it.

If you like the Souls games, you'll probably enjoy NioH, a title that manages to impress with strong combat, wonderful level design and intriguing lore.

While it may not be as ground-breaking as the games it draws its inspirations from, this samurai’s tale represents a return to form for the developer. With precise and purposeful combat, foes that demand your respect, and a world of fantastical folklore, Nioh is a fine action RPG worthy of anyone’s attention.

Although inspired by greatness, Nioh is a superb game in its own right. Its test of precision and timing strays from the accessibility of most modern games, reminding us all what the thrill of overcoming obstacle feels like. While not everyone will agree with its hard mode approach to design, its combat system is well-crafted enough to win everyone over. This samurai tale might not be so simple, but it's a legendary one that won't soon be forgotten.

Nioh creates its own distinct persona with ingenious game design, beautiful art direction, fascinating storytelling, aggressive combat, and enormous amount of content to enjoy.

For those looking for a challenge, NiOH is your next step forward. A special kind of hell awaits and you will enjoy destroying all evil which resides within.

Team Ninja has taken the Souls formula and refined it... Which it's not easy to begin with. Great combat and loot systems and superb art direction make Nioh one of the most important action RPGs of the year.

One thing is certain: Nioh isn’t just Dark Souls with Samurai and Yokai. It’s more than that. For those up to the challenge, it’s the first essential PlayStation 4 game of 2017.

Nioh champions the joy of combat and the fun of overcoming a challenge. It owes a debt to Dark Souls, yes, but manages to step out of its considerable shadow, too.

Nioh offers long hours of satisfying gameplay - in very specific form, interesting mostly for fans of the Souls series. Great combat system and constant challenge keeps us engaged, and the adventure is well worth the time, despite lackluster story and lore.

Team Ninja knocks it out of the park with their take on Samurai Dark Souls.

Ultimately, NiOh is a really fantastic game. It comes with some flaws, and a few elements that are a bit rough around the edges, but it hits almost all the right notes. Team Ninja’s latest labor of love is packed with charm, atmosphere, and one of the best action battle systems that you’ll find across the industry.

It’s hard not to see Nioh as a Dark Souls with Japanese mythology. But as soon as you get used to the mechanics, Nioh has several features that make it unique. Aside from some less inspired stages, and slightly outdated graphics, this is a perfect action game – and one of the best there is in the genre.

Nioh will break you down (and note this clearly, this is an uncompromising game that does not mind crushing your dreams) before it lifts you up, but you soon crave the thrill of mastering a new weapon or toppling a titanic boss. Endless optimization and customization, engaging encounters, and unparalleled combat by yourself or with a friend make Nioh an excellent choice for your next dark action/RPG.

Team Ninja took their time to ensure that Nioh was as good as it could possibly be, and that time wasn't wasted. The finished product is a fantastic action RPG that may borrow a lot from the Souls series, but nevertheless adds plenty of great twists to the formula to allow it to stand proudly on its own.

With its emphasis on challenging combat and light storytelling elements that are at times bordering on parody (in a good way), Nioh feels like a true successor to the Ninja Gaiden series and fills a nice void that Souls left behind.

A return to form for the honourable Ninja Gaiden studio, and more than a mere homage to Souls. [March 2017, p.70]

Nioh really managed to hold up to its promises and turned out into a great product. It has solid fight mechanics and a branching story. Its main and side quest variety offers a long lasting experience.

With Nioh, Team Ninja seems to hit the perfect recipe for compelling gameplay, taking the best elements from the Souls series and combining them with the legacy of Ninja Gaiden, with a pinch of Diablo in the mix. While the high difficulty might be frustrating at times, Nioh is an experience no gamer should miss.

What a ride! Even though Team Ninja takes a lot of inspiration from the Souls-Franchise, with their varied fighting mechanics and the game world deeply rooted in far east mythology they create some magic on their own.

Not the most polished game, but still the first great soulslike developed by a team which is not From Software.

It's not easy to deliver a hardcore action RPG experience with a precise identity and a strong personality the first time: from this point of view Nioh stands undoubtedly as a great success, a courageous and convincing game that traps the players in a web of emotions and brings them exactly where he wants.

Nioh may not replace the Dark Souls series in our hearts, but it definitely has built a place for itself. Technically a little rough, still without PvP, this new title from Team Ninja could have provided more diversified scenarios, but it sure offers an excellent combat system and a wide and deep offering.

Nioh has a lot to offer with its deep combat system, and it's an overall addicting action game for fans of Ninja Gaiden and Dark Souls.

Nioh is more than a Souls based game. It has a solid, deeper and versatile combat system, it's full of content and offers great final boss battles. A balanced game between action and RPG, but not a legal heir of the Ninja Gaiden formula. However, has an irregular level design.

Nioh aims to be the best action RPG of this year. Featuring a great combat system and beautifully designed maps and bosses, this game will be a challenge for all the experienced players of this genre.

Nioh nicely complements what the Souls games did before it andtakes that foundation and adds its own unique flavour to create something that is both familiar and yet excitingly fresh and original in its own right.

Nioh encourages and challenges the player through its complex combat system and also rewards the player handsomely for the efforts.

After a series of letdowns Team Ninja returns to form it displayed with Ninja Gaiden Black. Nioh is a variation on the Souls series, and although it is not as intriguing story wise, its gameplay is much more enjoyable. [04/2017, p.46]

Years of experience in slasher-making helped Team Ninja create captivating, nuanced and difficult combat system, which is good enough by itself – but then they sweetened the deal further with Diablo-style equipment hunt. As a result, it’s really, really hard to put Nioh down. [Issue#217, p.62]

Nioh is amazing, but can be very frustrating. At the same time it is so rewarding, that you keep playing and playing and playing and playing.

Beside some technical and balancing issues, Nioh is a demanding and intriguing soulslike that knows how to follow its own style while creating the base for a new series.

Much like From Software’s Souls games and Team Ninja’s previous Ninja Gaiden efforts, Nioh was clearly designed with a very specific sort of gamer in mind, namely a very patient one who doesn’t mind having to constantly learn from their mistakes. If you find enjoyment in the punishing difficulty of such games and you want to delve into a title which could easily suck up hours upon hours of your gaming time, Nioh will certainly not disappoint.

Despite its ugly visuals, NioH is quite an appealing game thanks to it's incredibly hardcore difficulty. Clearly aimed at masochists, the game will delight gamers in search of the toughest challenge, but it won't impress with its story.

Quotation forthcoming.

Nioh is a very impressive offering from Team Ninja, mostly thanks to the excellent combat and well-crafted main missions. From Software finally have some serious competition in the sub-genre they invented.

Nioh has come a long way since its inception. It's not ideal, but very impressive nonetheless. Its brutal, unforgiving combat in a fresh setting more than makes up for flawed narrative.

Nioh is such a difficult game, especially with its bosses. If you are a patient and skilled player, you will greatly enjoy this challenge.

Nioh borrows from other games, yes, but it does it in a way that feels unique and personal. If you like its concept, don't miss it.

Challenging, beautiful and unique. [Issue#105, p.82]

Nioh is a very good game of its own right. It doesn't do anything new but it does deliver one of the deepest combat mechanics inside an engaging action-adventure RPG.

For its rookie outing, Nioh shows a lot of promise and delivers on quite a bit of it. Its combat is unmatched and will carry it further than some of the more nitpicky complaints can bring it down. It's a fun game to learn, offering great incentives to explore and pore over its many intricacies. It may end up being a bit too long for its own good, but others may find this offers the replayability necessary to get that next piece of an armor set. If this is to be the foundation for a new series, which it absolutely should be, then the hard work is over and an interesting world just needs to be built around it. If it is to stand alone, then it at least does so with one of the finest combat systems ever created.

Nioh solidifies the status of roguelikes and their relevance in today’s gaming landscape. Never in my countless hours with the game did Nioh feel like the knock off Bloodborne it might look like at first glance. Instead it enhances and develops the genre in new and interesting ways, building and adding a fresh layer of varnish on a previously-established framework. Although it doesn’t carry its charm completely in its later stages, developer Team Ninja deserve a mess of credit for making a game that goes about enhancing a beloved genre without tarnishing the work it’s emulating.

Nioh may at first appear to be a clone of the Dark Souls series, but the game confidently strides away from these comparisons, bringing new aspects such as the fast-paced combat, KI Pulse system and the scarcity of ammunition to the proven formula. The fantasy elements have deep, meaningful connections to the history of Japan, and the world feels securely rooted in a fast-paced, flourishing combat system, which more than makes up for the extremely unpredictable, frustrating nature of the boss battles throughout.

The game wears its influences on its sleeve, but also puts forth a Herculean effort toward surpassing them.

Nioh may not be the instant classic many were hoping for, but it's a far better game than I was expecting and easily my favorite Team Ninja game to date.

Because of its complexity, because of it’s myriad of interlocking systems, Nioh can be hard to pin down. More than anything, it feels like a flawed but promising first draft. Team Ninja has taken some big chances here. They don’t all pay off, but the ones that do pull together for a game that justifies some of the pain required.

Though it doesn't outshine Dark Souls, Nioh's distinctly Japanese setting, thoughtful level design, and demanding difficulty lead to some supremely satisfying payoffs.

This game combines trademark Team Ninja stealth mechanics with an even tighter and more dynamic take on From Software's combat engine. The result is an intriguing experience that sports spectacular fights against tortured Shinto demons as its highlights.

Quotation forthcoming.

There’s no denying Nioh is easier than Dark Souls – as evidenced by the fact that I could not only get to bosses, but beat them – and that’s okay. As someone who is constantly frustrated by Bloodborne and Souls, Nioh is, at the very least, accessible.

Nioh can’t match the gothic grandeur of a Dark Souls and the boss battles may give you nightmares for all the wrong reasons. All the same, by merging aspects of From Software’s classics with elements of its own ninja hits, Team Ninja has crafted its finest game in years. Nioh is every bit as compulsive and challenging as its inspiration, but is smart enough to add some interesting new twists. Love Dark Souls? Love samurai, ninjas and weird oriental fantasy? Jump onboard and prepare to die, cry and experience the magic in-between.

Nioh is a must have for all Dark Souls fans.

Nioh is Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja taking a more measured approach to what they do best, and is a surprisingly feature-heavy and battle-focused heir to the Soulsborne method. But it ultimately stands on its own, and is a worthy addition to any Action RPG library.

Nioh is about as approachable as a game of this ilk can be, and while that may offend the hardcore sensibilities of some Souls fans, it's a title that will likely appeal to many players who want a gameplay challenge but are turned off by the obtuse nature of Dark Souls' storytelling and the murky explanations of its mechanics.

Team Ninja's Nioh is a solid attempt at breathing new life into a formula that gamers just can't seem to get enough of. After all is said and done, Nioh may have its flaws but it remains an ambitious and ultimately satisfying experience for gamers who love a challenge.

Nioh is a game of highs and lows. It’s a tremendous blast when the combat gets to shine, but it often gets the spotlight after hours of tedium. Instead of crafting a tight 20-hour experience like Ninja Gaiden, Team Ninja has opted to create a title that had me constantly grinding. It’s a flawed experience that really has no respect for the player’s time, but one that I’m ultimately glad to have experienced.

Nioh is a really challenging game. Sometimes, maybe even too much so. You have to be at the top of your game just to keep your head on your shoulders. So it's also the perfect example of whether a game's difficulty is just enough to announce the title as a "successful" one or not. Also, that's the reason that we can only recommend Nioh to the biggest hardcore gamers out there.

NIOH offers a strong first impression with a deep combat system, but it is plagued by repetiviteness.

Whereas the “Souls” games emphasized ambience and mystery and combat, Nioh’s strength rests solely on its fighting system.