Nioh

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2628 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,103 out of 2628
  2. Mixed: 252 out of 2628
  3. Negative: 273 out of 2628
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  1. doodlerman
    Apr 28, 2021
    7
    I love me some Soulslikes, and for the most part, I really dug this game. However, there are like 3 bosses that were so ridiculously fast and overpowered, I found myself taking multiple months-long breaks before beating it. Now, this is in large part because of my refusal to go through all of the intricacies of menus, items, and skills that you have in your arsenal. I beat the majority ofI love me some Soulslikes, and for the most part, I really dug this game. However, there are like 3 bosses that were so ridiculously fast and overpowered, I found myself taking multiple months-long breaks before beating it. Now, this is in large part because of my refusal to go through all of the intricacies of menus, items, and skills that you have in your arsenal. I beat the majority of the game solely with combat and struggled despite having strong weapons, armor, and levels. The three tough bosses (Hino-Enma, Yuki-Onna, and Shima Sakon) seemed to go against everything the game teaches the player about combat - though, later, when I actually learned about talismans, like the Sloth talismans, later game bosses that initially gave me similar levels of frustration became jokes. I guess it's on me for not taking the time to read through all the explanations and navigate the dense menu branches, but I'd rather games teach me as I play rather than stop everything to spell it out for me.… Expand
  2. godines
    Mar 23, 2017
    7
    I am a player who likes hard games, but simple games in gameplay. I am a oldschool player and not a big hardcore. I prefer better graphics, history with good gameplay. I think demons souls and dark souls are my games, i dont like diablo and ninja gaiden isnt the best gameplay for me. I pray from software wont copy nothing of this game.

    The game is a good game, but give much work. I make    I am a player who likes hard games, but simple games in gameplay. I am a oldschool player and not a big hardcore. I prefer better graphics, history with good gameplay. I think demons souls and dark souls are my games, i dont like diablo and ninja gaiden isnt the best gameplay for me. I pray from software wont copy nothing of this game.

    The game is a good game, but give much work. I make 56% of achievements, done it, because a friend that is one of the world best players was together with me. Otherwise I would have abandoned this game    … Expand
  3. bonsai
    Nov 17, 2022
    7
    It's not Dark Souls, but it's the best soulslike game on the market together with Nioh 2.
    It took me a lot of time to get hooked to it, the first 3 times I tried I left it there.
    But once I got hooked, it's very fun and rewarding.
  4. cdsmith7
    Apr 20, 2020
    7
    If you enjoyed the Dark Souls series you should enjoy this game. It has it's shortcomings but overall is worth the soulsborne fan's time.
  5. kingofkoopas
    Mar 19, 2017
    7
    I think people are praising this game too much. I think it's because they are sick of Dark Souls. Although Ashes of Ariandel was pretty lame, the Souls series is as strong as ever. Nioh is great fun, but that's all it is, great fun. This is not a deep technical game with a learning curve on combat. The learning curve is on figuring out how to work out the menus and customization of itemsI think people are praising this game too much. I think it's because they are sick of Dark Souls. Although Ashes of Ariandel was pretty lame, the Souls series is as strong as ever. Nioh is great fun, but that's all it is, great fun. This is not a deep technical game with a learning curve on combat. The learning curve is on figuring out how to work out the menus and customization of items and gear. This is no Dark Souls, and certainly no Ninja Gaiden either. It might look like it and at times play like it, but its similarities are only skin deep. I am still playing it after beating the last boss on a total of 75 hours. Did I get my moneys worth? Absolutely! Would I recommend it to everyone? Yes to that as well. I did this entire game without Playstation Plus, so no summons for help. I am not sure if you can summon NPCs like you can in Dark Souls. If there is, I never bothered to try. The retards claiming that this game is a masterpiece are players of average level, and people of limited understanding.

    This is a fine game however, it has a great loot system and a really fun magic system. The weapons and armor pieces are great too. Other nice things that can be said about Nioh is that it has great characters, real Japanese men, and not just because they were real people, but because they were red pilled men, not the emasculated weak men of today. I am still playing it at the moment. I am doing the hard missions that are unlocked once you beat the final boss. But I cannot help the feeling of disappointment that I have been getting lately.

    This game game is too easy. Unless you are an average player, you really should not think of Nioh as a challenging game. This has nothing to do with having played Dark Souls or any other game. I wish people stopped regurgitating the same crap about how playing Dark Souls is what makes Nioh seem easier to the very few who claim it is. I have a total of 700 hours on Dark Souls 1-3. When I went through the third one, I was more than familiar with the playing system, but I never found myself cheesing through mobs, or defeating bosses in first attempts with absolutely no summons at all. Nioh's main problem with difficulty comes with the mobs, aside from the Tengu enemy, everything else is a complete joke. A punching bag for you to stab or run circles around on. The mobs are small too, they really should not even be called mobs. It's extremely rare to fight more than 2 enemies at once. Once in a while you can fight 3 enemies at once. And Once in a blue moon you fight more than that. Their movements are telegraphed from a mile away too. From the first hour to the last you are going to be fighting the same damn red ogres over and over and over and over again. Will they do different attacks? Maybe one or two, but mostly they just have a bigger health pool and do more damage. You will fight lots and lots of skull samurai......They swing their blade twice and ask you to kill them after they miss their swings 99 times out of 100. I beat about 6-10 bosses on my first attempt. I am not gloating here, this is not a game to gloat over about. This game is not Ninja Gaiden hard.

    This is a really fun game that I am enjoying, but putting it on Dark Souls ground is a bald faced lie.    … Expand
  6. eldumloido
    Feb 16, 2017
    7
    Too easy as you can only co-op with people that have beaten the levels. Also you can't really co-op with a friend for this same reason. Nice game but this last minute change made the game lot worse and I hope they fix it, if so Ill raise this from 7 to 9.
  7. BURRAK
    Mar 14, 2017
    7
    If We compare NIOH with Dark soul 3 and Bloodborne then Score of NIOH is 0 and we want to play Ninja Gaiden types games then Score of NIOH is 7.Dark soul3 and bloodborne both are outstanding games
  8. GiantSwords
    Jun 12, 2017
    7
    Fun, fast-paced combat, interesting mechanics, well-designed environments, excellent cutscene direction and an imaginative blend of real history and folklore make Nioh excellent from an artistic and stylistic sense. It provides over 40 hours of playtime and supports a wide variety of playstyles. However, it suffers from a lack of enemy variety, mediocre boss design, weirdly weightlessFun, fast-paced combat, interesting mechanics, well-designed environments, excellent cutscene direction and an imaginative blend of real history and folklore make Nioh excellent from an artistic and stylistic sense. It provides over 40 hours of playtime and supports a wide variety of playstyles. However, it suffers from a lack of enemy variety, mediocre boss design, weirdly weightless animation, an unmemorable soundtrack and a somewhat poorly presented story.

    MINOR SPOILERS FOLLOW

    Nioh opens with your character (based on the real-life historical figure William Adams) being held prisoner in the Tower of London, where a spirit appears to him and tells him that "death is coming for him." This spirit is Saorise, a spirit who has been protecting him since he was a child, and is the reason William is able to sense and collect Amrita (basically souls). The two share a very deep relationship, and are inseperable. However, to the players' perspective, this spirit just kind of comes out of nowhere. There's nothing to indicate the two even know each other. Instead of giving the spirit a look of supreme relief, or commenting on the situation, or giving any hint at their history, William just stares at the camera grumpily. So when Saorise is stolen from him twenty minutes later, you don't feel anything apart from a mild "oh no, my waifu's been stolen."

    The rest of the story involves William going to Japan to reclaim the spirit, and becoming embroiled in the war in the process. That part of the story is fine, but takes another dip when at the beginning of a particular boss fight, a samurai that's appeared several times experiences tragedy... and does so without wearing the incredibly distinctive helmet I recognized him by (he didn't appear enough for his face or mannerisms to be recognizeable). So I had no idea who he was and why I should care about him.

    Speaking of distinctive helmets, Nioh sports a Diablo-style loot table. Equipment has random stats and effects. Usually, I hate this, because a cool sword or armor set you pick up gets totally outclassed an hour later, forcing you to constantly micromanage your equipment. However, the soul match mechanic, which allows you to raise the base stats of equipment, gives that cool sword a much longer lifespan.

    Design-wise, the combat is fast and fluid, but hampered by lack of enemy variety and weightless animation. Most attacks do way more damage than they feel like they ought to, just because the animations have no weight behind them. So when a skeleton with a sword hits you for half your health or a yokai takes out two-thirds of your health bar with a lazy bare-handed chop, you feel vaguely cheated. Blocking is infinitely more useful than dodging; true to most action games, dodging does carry invincibility frames with it, but the timing is so tight that they're not worth relying on. Parry mechanics also exist, but with somehow even tighter timing, rendering them essentially worthless as well. The best skill, by far (apart for a skill that allows you to regain stamina on dodges) is a dual sword skill that allows you to dodge behind a blocking opponent and deliver a blow to their back. Even if they block that, it deals massive stamina damage, putting you at a brief advantage and providing one of the game's only counters to guard-turtling. Not only that, but while it copied the good elements of the Souls series, it also copied its flaws, the most egregious of which is a complete inability to pause. I get not being able to stop time to change equipment or use items, but sometimes I need to get up to answer the phone or something. Just let me put a hold on things when real life intrudes.

    Boss design is similarly hit-and-miss. Weirdly enough, the more impressive a boss' entrance is, the more trivial the boss itself is to fight. Difficulty is all over the place, animations look and feel janky, most bosses are extremely vulnerable to being cheesed from range because they have no way to quickly close distance, and the Living Weapon mechanic basically allows you to skip the last third of their health bar. Human bosses are especially trivial: a certain spell paired with a certain guardian spirit allows you to consistently knock human bosses down, allowing you to deal critical damage, retreat and repeat.

    The guardian spirits themselves, visually, are all lavishly designed and stylized in such a way that they all look fantastic. Each one provides a myriad of different effects that support a number of playstyles and equipment sets. And at least half are so situational that they're basically worthless. There are really only two or three worth using, and the Fuse-Ushi (bull) spirit is the most consistently useful.

    For all its shortcomings, Nioh is a fun game, and definitely worth playing. If you enjoyed the Souls series or Ninja Gaiden, you'll probably enjoy Nioh.    … Expand
  9. venomlocke
    Mar 22, 2017
    7
    Nioh is a dark-souls esque game but is more fast-paced and has more depth in combat. You play as William the first western-samurai who seeks his guardian spirit in Feudal Japan. You meet historical figures like Hattori Hanzo and Muneshige. You have the gift to see the yokai and is your duty to stop Edward Kelley, your nemesis.

    Pros 1) Combat is fun and fast 2) 60fps is great 3) Ki    Nioh is a dark-souls esque game but is more fast-paced and has more depth in combat. You play as William the first western-samurai who seeks his guardian spirit in Feudal Japan. You meet historical figures like Hattori Hanzo and Muneshige. You have the gift to see the yokai and is your duty to stop Edward Kelley, your nemesis.

    Pros
    1) Combat is fun and fast
    2) 60fps is great
    3) Ki pulse mechanic allows you to go ham

    Cons
    1) Boss music is repetetive
    2) Level design is too linear
    3) Sometimes enemies can 1 shot you especially bosses.
    4) Enemies lack variations    … Expand
  10. mikepatyaev
    Mar 15, 2017
    7
    that nearly every review you see is comparing it to Dark Souls/Bloodborne, tells you something. While not quite on the same level, Nioh is an incredibly well done game with countless hours of gameplay, excellent graphics, smooth mechanics, difficulty that isn't unfair, and coop/pvp
  11. jack441
    Feb 13, 2020
    7
    It is very difficult for me to rate this game objectively. It has so many features that can be game changers for some, and deal breakers for others, so I am not surprised to see people rating it from anywhere between 4 and 10 (those who gave it 0s and 1s are definitely trolls). So I am rating it primarily on fun factor - my own fun factor, while drawing comparison to the Soulsborne gamesIt is very difficult for me to rate this game objectively. It has so many features that can be game changers for some, and deal breakers for others, so I am not surprised to see people rating it from anywhere between 4 and 10 (those who gave it 0s and 1s are definitely trolls). So I am rating it primarily on fun factor - my own fun factor, while drawing comparison to the Soulsborne games (because - lets face it - it is heavily inspired by those):

    For me this game was not very enjoyable and I struggled to finish it. Not because it had technical problems or broken features, but because I personally did not enjoy many of its core features. This was because of several reasons:

    1. Level design: I did not like the linear, mission-based levels. I guess I was expecting something more like the Soulsborne level design, instead of choosing Main missions and sub-missions from a map.
    2. Difficulty: somewhat unbalanced. Most mobs are a joke, after the first 1-2 encounters with them. At the same time some bosses are extremely cruel - often requiring you to try them 10 times until you memorize their move-set perfectly, so that you can counter everything the throw at you (and they can still 1-shot you). Some enemies just get color variations at later stages in the game, where their abilities do not change, but they just 1-shot you, if you are not significantly leveled. I like difficult games, I'm a fan of all DS and BB and I usually play any game on hard difficulty setting - but Nioh just seems unfair at times.
    3. Itemization: this games has tons of loot and variety...which is not always a good thing. At some point I stopped caring about the stats on items and just focused on Attack or Defense upgrades, because there are literally a hundred different stats you should keep track of it, and they appear semi-randomly on items. So no, you cannot hope to find a very rare sword drop that suits your style, and stick with it till the end game, because it gets obsolete rather quickly (yes you can Soulmatch/reforge it, but this is just another system that adds unneeded complexity to the game, in my opinion)
    4. Many different skills, for every weapon: Some would argue that this is good thing, leading to numerous build possibilities. Unfortunately, there are 1-2 OP builds in the game which make everything else look pathetic. So I personally would prefer more simple but effective skill system - or at least make the skills valid for all weapons, so that we are not locked to a certain choice.

    Bottom line - at some point I stopped playing because all of those things bothered me. But I understand that what I found to be CONS, might be PROS for some people. It just diminished the fun factor for me.    … Expand
  12. Pcell
    Feb 8, 2017
    7
    A masterpiece made mediocre by pandering to an audience that doesn't care about the game in the first place. The difficulty was greatly reduced from the alpha and beta tests, and all that's left to do is stroll through the game without any challenge.
    The beta test was the fun most I've had with a video game in years, but the full game is just disappointing. Many enemies removed, their    A masterpiece made mediocre by pandering to an audience that doesn't care about the game in the first place. The difficulty was greatly reduced from the alpha and beta tests, and all that's left to do is stroll through the game without any challenge.
    The beta test was the fun most I've had with a video game in years, but the full game is just disappointing. Many enemies removed, their health and damage reduced, some enemies have had their speed slowed to make their attacks easier to avoid, AI has been tweaked to make the enemies less aggressive.
    The game never had impressive graphics but the amazing combat and the challenge made up for it. Now the great combat system is wasted with the challenge gone.
    Sad to see the game go this way after being advertised as a difficult game for masochists.    … Expand
  13. timefish576
    Feb 13, 2017
    7
    I am about half way through Nioh, including all side missions so far. This is a good game but not great and not deserving of the stellar reviews imo it is getting. I plan to keep playing but it is becoming repetitive. I am a huge fan of Dark Souls / Bloodborne (which this game is very similiar so much so that I lean more toward it being a ripoff than taking inspiration from) and thisI am about half way through Nioh, including all side missions so far. This is a good game but not great and not deserving of the stellar reviews imo it is getting. I plan to keep playing but it is becoming repetitive. I am a huge fan of Dark Souls / Bloodborne (which this game is very similiar so much so that I lean more toward it being a ripoff than taking inspiration from) and this just isn't on the level of those excellent games. The world isn't nearly as interesting and the story isn't interesting enough. One of the things I love about the From Software games is that the story wasn't directly told to you. The story was told through the characters and the setting. The focus was on great game play and exploration. Part of exploration was encountering new enemies which modern games lack. Nioh falls victim to this and it is my biggest gripe. You will encounter the same enemies over and over. It is boring and I only look forward to the boss fights. Leveling up is easy. I haven't grinded yet and I am not having much trouble at my level. Upgraded to new equipment is as simple as picking the one with the best stats. Not much to think about. So far I have not utilized Ki rejuvenation (pressing R1) aftering attacking. If it actually makes a difference I imagine that it would make it much easier which Idon't want. Way too much loot to get also, Bloodborne excelled with this area

    Again still playing and I do like the game, mainly combat and bosses, but this is not a masterpiece.    … Expand
  14. JaDesJ
    Feb 23, 2017
    7
    Nioh is a very good game - and - Nioh is a monotonously average game. It scratches the surface of greatness and yet manages to fall far too short. Would I recommend it? Yes. And yet.

    The gameplay is at times fantastic. The combat is fast, furious, and strategic all in the same moment. This is indeed where Nioh shines - and it is what will keep you coming back for more, again and    Nioh is a very good game - and - Nioh is a monotonously average game. It scratches the surface of greatness and yet manages to fall far too short. Would I recommend it? Yes. And yet.

    The gameplay is at times fantastic. The combat is fast, furious, and strategic all in the same moment. This is indeed where Nioh shines - and it is what will keep you coming back for more, again and again.

    It's just... almost everywhere else where Nioh fails to live up to its possibility. The graphics are PS3+. The level designs are repetitive. The encounters are repetitive because the bestiary is repetitive. Almost every single level offers up the exact same encounters - this manages to slowly deplete the enjoyment level after a few dozen hours. The story arc is convoluted and non-affecting - it tries to tell a quasi-historical tale which ends up feeling mostly random and disconnected.

    And yet I keep coming back. Because the combat is essentially "that good". And the progression system is enjoyable, adding further dimensionality to an already multidimensional combat system.

    So essentially. Do i recommend Nioh? Yes. Because of its combat. Do i feel Nioh deserves all this potential "game of the year" praise - it could've, but, it fell short imo.    … Expand
  15. shinja
    Apr 27, 2017
    7
    Good animation,awesome combat and stunning gameplay but...
    only have a few type of Yokai, the weapon system look good but only have 5 main theme and repetitive levels design that made me fall asleep sometime, also the boss battles is not amazing as well
    Team Ninja got more thing to do with this title, cannot compare with Darksouls series right now...with me I think this game is over hyped
  16. PumpkinPieM
    Feb 23, 2018
    7
    Most boss fight design are terrible. Otherwise it's a pretty good action game.
  17. network_scroll
    Nov 25, 2018
    7
    Время игры: 49 часов.
    Примечание: приостановил прохождение, игра однообразна и сложна, пройдено 7 боссов из 23.
  18. AceMoonwalker
    Aug 2, 2019
    7
    Nioh earns a rating of 7 out of 10. It's still a good game in it's own right, albeit very frustrating to play and it's still worth keeping on the positives as the developers surely have learned a lot from this endeavor. It's still a game you ought to try for yourself BUT only after you've played all the other entries in the genre such as Dark souls, Bloodborne and Sekiro.

    It fails to    Nioh earns a rating of 7 out of 10. It's still a good game in it's own right, albeit very frustrating to play and it's still worth keeping on the positives as the developers surely have learned a lot from this endeavor. It's still a game you ought to try for yourself BUT only after you've played all the other entries in the genre such as Dark souls, Bloodborne and Sekiro.

    It fails to adapt the unique feeling that you get from a FromSoftware game. Feels a lot like a bootleg game but in it's attempt of adapting into a soulslike, it still ended up as a good game. So props to Nioh, the decent soulslike.    … Expand
  19. Kaijyuu
    Jul 17, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The only reason I'm giving this game a 7/10 and not a 8-9/10 is because it relays on 1 hit kills to make it difficult. And the end game missions are insane unless you do way of the strong (ng+) before even attempting them. That or you absolutely die 500 times t memorieze all the the combos the bosses do, since the end game missions are full of 2v1 boss fights.… Expand
  20. painava
    Oct 7, 2021
    7
    Pros: Controls, gameplay and level design. Quite challenging and online co-op is fun too.
    Cons: Very boring and uninteresting story that's overly cartoonish. Also too many recycled enemies and levels. Some very unfair 2-on-1 boss fights.
  21. direfol
    Jul 1, 2020
    7
    С технической точки зрения игра слабая.Ни физика ни уж тем более графика никого в восторг не приведет,даже фанатов серии соулс такая скупость на технологичность может отторгнуть.
    Сюжет в игре-не понятный.Он просто есть,на него не обращаешь внимание,интерес вызван здесь исключительно геймплеем.
    Из за того что графические характеристики игры на дне,то и визуал левел дизайне в игре    С технической точки зрения игра слабая.Ни физика ни уж тем более графика никого в восторг не приведет,даже фанатов серии соулс такая скупость на технологичность может отторгнуть.
    Сюжет в игре-не понятный.Он просто есть,на него не обращаешь внимание,интерес вызван здесь исключительно геймплеем.
    Из за того что графические характеристики игры на дне,то и визуал левел дизайне в игре оставляет желать лучшего.
    Боевая система и прокачка своего персонажа-вот чем игра будет завлекать.
    Длс к игре заставят вспотеть даже самых отбитых ветеранов геймдева.    … Expand
  22. mo3ec
    Jul 9, 2020
    7
    Хорошая игра, но неудачные уровни и малое их количество вызовут желание перепроходить только у фанатов.
  23. doproyee
    Dec 27, 2020
    7
    hmm not impressive that much. for one thing, some of hit boxes are ridiculous
  24. Majoody90
    Aug 4, 2021
    7
    Loved it new gameplay fast action hack and slash good story difficulty is increasing but possible to play
  25. drlowdon
    Feb 17, 2022
    6
    Nioh follows the journey William Adams as he fights his way through a fictionalised version of 17th century Japan in order to put a stop to an ongoing war.

    The similarities to Dark Souls are immediate from the outset with the player having to kill enemies to collect amrati (souls) in order to level up, dying results in restarting from the last shrine (bonfire) whereby you’ll have one    Nioh follows the journey William Adams as he fights his way through a fictionalised version of 17th century Japan in order to put a stop to an ongoing war.

    The similarities to Dark Souls are immediate from the outset with the player having to kill enemies to collect amrati (souls) in order to level up, dying results in restarting from the last shrine (bonfire) whereby you’ll have one chance to collect the amrati before it is lost. It’s also a difficult game, and death can come quickly even at the hands of standard enemies should you make a mistake.

    The combat itself is, if anything, actually an improvement on Dark Souls with various stances, weapons and attacks to choose from. What Nioh doesn’t have however is Dark Souls labyrinth like worlds that make exploration enjoyable even when you’re many hours in. Instead Nioh plays almost like a loot based dungeon crawler with players selecting from various 30-60 minutes missions that often reward you with an overwhelming number of new items on top of the amrati for levelling up. With so few enemy types, and many missions playing out in very similar fashion this does all start to become repetitive after a while, and with a run time of at least 70 hours it simply goes on way too long.    … Expand
  26. Nobilis1984
    Mar 12, 2022
    6
    Looks worse than part 2 but is fairer. As a beginner you get the hang of it faster and get over the first opponents without dying 50 times.
  27. bulger_paul
    Aug 4, 2019
    6
    It’s basically Dark Souls, but with much faster combat and without the elaborate architecture and level design. To Nioh’s credit, it actually does have a tutorial, something I wished Datk Souls did, since Dark Souls has a bunch of features and systems I still don’t understand. I found the combat in Nioh generally more fun in bite size pieces (though less satisfying overall), but withoutIt’s basically Dark Souls, but with much faster combat and without the elaborate architecture and level design. To Nioh’s credit, it actually does have a tutorial, something I wished Datk Souls did, since Dark Souls has a bunch of features and systems I still don’t understand. I found the combat in Nioh generally more fun in bite size pieces (though less satisfying overall), but without the elaborate world design and architecture, Nioh is missing pretty much half of what made me like Dark Souls.… Expand
  28. Quantization
    Feb 18, 2017
    6
    I can't recommend this game on good conscience to anyone. The game has amazing music, looks amazing, runs quite well and really comes together very well in all areas except combat. The dodge mechanic feels unresponsive and delayed and the attack physics are flawed at best. An enemy can hit you when you're a good foot or two out of his swing range and when you're trying to sell a game thatI can't recommend this game on good conscience to anyone. The game has amazing music, looks amazing, runs quite well and really comes together very well in all areas except combat. The dodge mechanic feels unresponsive and delayed and the attack physics are flawed at best. An enemy can hit you when you're a good foot or two out of his swing range and when you're trying to sell a game that is based around combat, that is just unacceptable. Usually I'd give a game a 7 out of 10 when it has done this many things right, but since the core gameplay is combat and that is what I find unplayable I have to give it a 6.

    As far as difficulty is concerned, is really isn't that hard if you stick to a greatsword and longbow and use the old "Block until they run out of stamina" tactic, but that just isn't all that fun and when you come up against some of the larger enemies that can literally one hit KO you (or one combo KO, same thing if you aren't able to move during the combo) these tactics just don't work. At that point it is all about trial and error and learning the monster's attack pattern. Dashing in for an attack then running out. This becomes very tedious very quickly. Even in the early game, spending a minute on a simple monster only for it to catch you with one attack and kill you just feels like a waste of time and progression. It doesn't have the same Dark Souls feeling where, if you die, sure you feel frustrated, but in the back of your mind you always felt like it was your fault. Nioh fails to capture that and I found myself often blaming game elements for my failures which is unlike me. Even the most frustrating Dark Souls boss inspired me to improve whereas Nioh's simplest enemies make me feel like I should just skip them.

    TL;DR: A game that is amazing in all way except where it counts.    … Expand
  29. ujinroth
    Oct 5, 2018
    6
    The only trick Nioh is doing right is ripping soul-born mechanics, but it fails at exploration with the smallest maps ever made, the bestiary is all the same in each map from the beginning to the 150h end. Balance is terrible, so they added optional fights on every corners.
    This game tries so hard top be cool, it tries to be something it is not, and it's embarrassing, so yeah I laugh a    The only trick Nioh is doing right is ripping soul-born mechanics, but it fails at exploration with the smallest maps ever made, the bestiary is all the same in each map from the beginning to the 150h end. Balance is terrible, so they added optional fights on every corners.
    This game tries so hard top be cool, it tries to be something it is not, and it's embarrassing, so yeah I laugh a lot about it when I play Bloodborne !    … Expand
  30. bkeny2idie
    Feb 7, 2017
    6
    Not sure where all the Dark Souls comparisons are coming from, been playing souls since 2009 and this feels nothing like them at all. Looks and feels more like an Onimusha game than souls. Just because its an action RPG doesn't make it souls. No character creation completely kills this for me, the dlc stuff is OP making the game even easier. The core game itself seems to be toned downNot sure where all the Dark Souls comparisons are coming from, been playing souls since 2009 and this feels nothing like them at all. Looks and feels more like an Onimusha game than souls. Just because its an action RPG doesn't make it souls. No character creation completely kills this for me, the dlc stuff is OP making the game even easier. The core game itself seems to be toned down from the beta I tried. Honestly love the atmosphere but the straight forward story kind of bothers me, coming from souls its way too direct. If you go into this game expecting a souls clone you will be disappointed but the action is fun on its own and the enemies are pretty interesting. I don't see the longevity of this game though.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

8
#8 Best PS4 Game of 2017
10
#10 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2017
8
#8 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 100 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 97 out of 100
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 100
  3. Negative: 0 out of 100
  1. games(TM)
    May 26, 2017
    80
    Challenging, beautiful and unique. [Issue#105, p.82]
  2. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Apr 11, 2017
    90
    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]
  3. CD-Action
    Apr 5, 2017
    85
    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]
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