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
  31. Leo_Manzano
    Mar 4, 2023
    6
    I haven't finished the game yet, but I'm already discouraged with it, first let's talk about expectations if you expect to find a dark souls style game you should find some elements of the series like rpg style progression through save points like bonfires.

    However I would say that Nioh has elements of the souls series but it's not a souls like, at the heart of the game we have combat    I haven't finished the game yet, but I'm already discouraged with it, first let's talk about expectations if you expect to find a dark souls style game you should find some elements of the series like rpg style progression through save points like bonfires.

    However I would say that Nioh has elements of the souls series but it's not a souls like, at the heart of the game we have combat that is very dynamic and has several mechanics reminding me more onimusha than the souls series, the enemies and level design is a bit how repetitive making the grind tiring.

    Despite my dismay, give the game a chance if possible it has several positives like a very creative boss design, a nice art direction and a decent story I see nioh as the beginning of a promising series that is worth knowing and waiting for a sequence that can improve even more    … Expand
  32. blasterto
    Mar 24, 2017
    6
    i think that this game is a rip oof dark souls in some way but i had fun playing it . but i must not lie it has some special mechanics and ideas that no one tried before and that is what i like the most
  33. PappyBakesCakes
    Jan 17, 2018
    6
    Synopsis: This game tries to combine the best of Ninja Gaiden with the Souls series and fails to excel at either. It is neither very epic or satisfying and feels like you are hitting your head against a wall. It also has equipment upgrade granulation and the subsequent inventory management issues that I find not fun at all.

    Nioh follows in the footsteps of both Ninja Gaiden and Dark    Synopsis: This game tries to combine the best of Ninja Gaiden with the Souls series and fails to excel at either. It is neither very epic or satisfying and feels like you are hitting your head against a wall. It also has equipment upgrade granulation and the subsequent inventory management issues that I find not fun at all.

    Nioh follows in the footsteps of both Ninja Gaiden and Dark Souls. It takes its combat from Dark Souls and the environment and story from Ninja Gaiden. These attributes are handled well but not in the same way either of its predecessors handled it before. Due to what I perceive as a core identity problem many areas of the game feels quite clunky and pointless and almost every area of the game suffers from this in some way.

    The combat feels rewarding at times and completely worthless and unintuitive at others. An example would be after you beat the first oni it may feel great but then after a few more beaten without taking damage it becomes too easy. So, most lower ranked enemies send lots of signals... but then you get to the boss and they send almost none at all. You have to get used to their extremely minute signals and patterns but then they can all kill you in 2 hits. They are all seemingly more random than any game I've played so far and to me this all just screams something like artificial difficulty. Maybe I'm just bad but I don't want to slam my head against the first boss for 4 hours straight or have to develop an entirely new skillset paradigm to fit myself into for this game.

    Otherwise the games story is unintrusive but moves you along well. The environments may look cool sometimes but are pretty bland and don't offer anything besides clutter to fill the gaps. Most of this is probably due to reused assets (maps and bosses) for some missions which is fine because it offers different challenges. The personal progression is interesting; there are lots of ways to customize your playthrough but I worry that it really just falls down to damage and healing like a lot of games.

    My least favorite part of the game (besides how frusterating the combat can be) is the inventory management. You constantly pick up new equips that are only minute improvements over you last stuff and this can happen many times throughout a single mission. All equips have unique bonus stats like item drop rate, healing bonus, etc. that can change so you can also check on items of the same strength that may have that 1% better stat or choice of stats and it just get so annoying because it feels like 70% of your progression is tied to your equips. You can craft/buy your own weapons but its based on limited resources so sometimes you will get to a wall that you are not sure is because you are just not good enough, because there is some gimmick you are not seeing or because you equips are just a tad sub par. Combine this with the unimpressive environments and the copypaste of enemies throughout the whole game and it gets tiring.

    Of course if you enjoy the micromanaging, trying new approaches, or just plain hard gameplay then this is the game for you.    … Expand
  34. Szmittu88
    Dec 27, 2017
    6
    Overall - not a bad game. Advertised as souls-like, however in this comparison it's bland. If you haven't played Dark Souls 1, 2 or 3, or BloodBorne - buy them first as they are much better than this game. Hell, even Demon's Souls with it's outdated graphics is better.
    If you, however, played through all of the above titles and want more of the same action packed, unforgiving gameplay -    Overall - not a bad game. Advertised as souls-like, however in this comparison it's bland. If you haven't played Dark Souls 1, 2 or 3, or BloodBorne - buy them first as they are much better than this game. Hell, even Demon's Souls with it's outdated graphics is better.
    If you, however, played through all of the above titles and want more of the same action packed, unforgiving gameplay - buy Nioh on a sale. Just don't expect it to be as good as games from FROM software.

    Graphics 3/10
    Animations are clunky, world looks like taken out of a ps3 game

    Sound 7/10
    Good soundtrack and voice acting during cutscenes - rest not so much

    Gameplay 7/10
    It has it's ups and downs but overall it's fun if you like action games. Some areas are not really thought thoroughly (inventory, picking up items, other small irritating things)

    Story meh/10
    10/10 if you are into katanas and other gay Japanese **** otherwise nothing memorable

    Fun factor 8/10
    Despite it's flaws it's still fun and can give you this "reward feeling" after beating a boss, farming and finally finding a better item, or looking how your character develops (in the "rpg way", from a weak badass to op badass).

    Would recommend to a Souls fan bored of the Souls games, or to anyone when Nioh is on a sale. It's still better than majority of Souls clones wannabes on the market.    … Expand
  35. stormundying
    Jan 7, 2018
    6
    Meh. It's okay. It hits some of the right notes from Dark Souls/Bloodborne, but has a couple of issues:

    1. It's too easy. There are definitely some decently hard PvE moments, and a challenging boss or two, but nothing truly difficult. The bosses in particular were lackluster - many of them were easily beatable on the first attempt, which is NOT what I expect from a soulsborne game.    Meh. It's okay. It hits some of the right notes from Dark Souls/Bloodborne, but has a couple of issues:

    1. It's too easy. There are definitely some decently hard PvE moments, and a challenging boss or two, but nothing truly difficult. The bosses in particular were lackluster - many of them were easily beatable on the first attempt, which is NOT what I expect from a soulsborne game.

    2. Lack of variety in the weapons. Every weapon in Dark Souls (and especially every weapon in bloodborne) has different movesets, abilities, and stats, giving the game a lot of variety and replayability. In Nioh, you pick your two weapon classes at the start of the game, and every weapon in that class plays very similarly. This gives the game a lot less variability than dark souls. Personally, I don't have a lot of desire to replay, which is the complete opposite to how I've felt about every other souls game.

    3. The game attempts to have a cogent story (unlike dark souls, which does most of it's storytelling in an unobtrusive way) and fails utterly. Characters are devoid of depth, historical figures show up in cameos that add nothing to the plot, and the villain is a standard 'cackling maniac' stereotype with inexplicable motivations. It's not a problem for a soulslike game to have a very minimal/threadbare story (see, for instance, Salt and Sanctuary) but when such a game tries and fails to create a story, it takes away from the overall quality of the game.    … Expand
  36. XxSkye07xX
    May 26, 2018
    6
    Not being a huge fan of the Darksouls/Bloodborne games I went into Nioh hoping for a more story-driven game with side quests, one which I had heard was a lot easier to follow.

    Having finished the game and being on my journey to platinum, Nioh was definitely an experience. I really enjoyed the Japanese art style and of course the characters and traveling around various Japanese maps.    Not being a huge fan of the Darksouls/Bloodborne games I went into Nioh hoping for a more story-driven game with side quests, one which I had heard was a lot easier to follow.

    Having finished the game and being on my journey to platinum, Nioh was definitely an experience.

    I really enjoyed the Japanese art style and of course the characters and traveling around various Japanese maps. I loved the guardian spirits and the design. The Yokai were very creepy and definitely expertly designed. I enjoyed going through the story and meeting the various bosses, new Yokai and new areas. The game gave a great variety of missions, side missions and maps. The voice acting was on point and the soundtrack was very good (would have liked to have seen some more tracks though, as it seemed there weren't many and they cycled through the same ones often).

    I loved the Kodama. They were super cute and gave the game a nice little mascot figure. The hot springs were also a nice addition and added to the Japanese feel and setting of the game.

    There was a nice variety of extra things you could do - co-op play, side missions, collectibles, twilight missions, glory etc

    I didn't however enjoy how bland the colours were and how similar some of the environments were. Most of the game was extremely dark (and actually quite hard to navigate due to not being able to see).

    Of course this goes without saying, and I was expecting this, but I did feel Nioh was unrealistically hard in places. The difficulty spikes sometimes spiked far too much and there was a huge jump between expectations for one mission, and expectations for the next one.

    I mentioned before, I got into Nioh due to knowing it had a story... the story however was disappointing and confusing. Both myself and my partner lost what was going on a few hours in and had no clue what the story/characters were on about. I felt the story could have been much better if it was easier to follow and was made to be more interesting. From what I saw, it was pretty boring and tedious.

    All in all, a pretty solid game with quite a bit of room for improvements. If they do a sequel to Nioh, it would be nice to see a more interesting and more enjoyable story with a range of colorful environments and range of atmospheres.

    Pros:

    Looked great and played well
    Fantastic design of Yokai and enemies
    Lovely Japanese art style and cutscenes
    A very real Japanese feel and setting
    A range of traditional Japanese weapons to use and choose from
    Voice acting was exceptional
    Platinum trophy is not too difficult, requires quite a bit of skill and perseverance for grinding

    Cons:
    Confusing/uninteresting story
    Irritating difficulty spikes
    Can get overwhelming during end game/post game having to use huge amounts of variety in weapons including the Onmyo magic
    The blacksmith menu can be quite confusing    … Expand
  37. alexslork
    Apr 15, 2020
    6
    Straight fun. Can be frustrating at times, but if you hang in there you are treated to some FINE gameplay. It can look a little janky compared to other AAA games released lately, but it's not a bad looking game by any means.
  38. michaelb1928
    Sep 30, 2019
    6
    Started off strong but got bored eventually, not a fan of the amount of loot you get, there is just way too much stuff to pick up, chests do not feel rewarding to open, filled with fluff, bosses were fun, story was a mess, fun gameplay but overall didnt enjoy it that much
  39. ZXSth
    Mar 6, 2023
    6
    As loath as I am to veer far from what I think most people have experienced with Nioh, I found that the game could not hold my attention for long enough to get me invested. While perfectly fine on a mechanical level, I found it to be a bit complex for my liking, and struggled to stay invested past my first few hours with it.

    Nioh may hold some value for those willing to push past what    As loath as I am to veer far from what I think most people have experienced with Nioh, I found that the game could not hold my attention for long enough to get me invested. While perfectly fine on a mechanical level, I found it to be a bit complex for my liking, and struggled to stay invested past my first few hours with it.

    Nioh may hold some value for those willing to push past what felt like a cumbersome introduction to me - as such, I encourage anyone reading to this to consider other reviews on this site in tandem with this one in order to get a good grasp on how much they might enjoy it.    … Expand
  40. ardil3sz
    Nov 12, 2019
    6
    It certainly got some good parts but feels so unpolished. Framerate issues on PS4 slim, no anti-aliasing and straight up unfair bosses. Oh, and why would you put rainbow flying puppies with demons at the same time anyway?
  41. Kaan457
    Jul 23, 2021
    6
    This game has many design problems. Some maps and boss are REALLY terrible and NOT fun, not satisfying.
    And other problem is this game has fun problem.
  42. Mrdeng
    May 25, 2020
    6
    Gameplay ok but losing the fun when the enemies are one hit KO with only 1 mistake and need to travel far away from the shrine to get back your amrities (points to level up) .
  43. Solidwisdom
    Feb 6, 2021
    6
    First of all this game is really well made. But its just way too challenging for me. I think for most gamers to. And absolutely think carefully before buying this game because while it may look amazing and amazing combat system its just way too frustrating to play amd i have no idea how some gamers manage to beat this game. I recommend this game just as a rental first
  44. Godudu
    Aug 17, 2022
    6
    Good game, it does enough to different itself from souls series. The only problem for me is that is way way harder then what it should be. Endgame it becomes easier as you make good builds, but the early game is a nightmare. I took 4 hours in the first main missions and only got the third boss with coop help.
  45. aaronnmp96
    Jan 31, 2023
    6
    Acceptable, the gameplay could be better, the design of the bosses is good, but a lot of recycling
  46. PaulCharles
    Feb 7, 2017
    5
    The fact 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. You can't get much more out of a $60 game. Casuals may have a difficult time, but if they have aThe fact 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. You can't get much more out of a $60 game. Casuals may have a difficult time, but if they have a little patience they too can enjoy this game.

    Highly recommended.    … Expand
  47. Steyraus
    Mar 15, 2020
    5
    Nope, just Nope..Man ive played all the hard games and Nioh is just Nope.. I stopped a Mino Enma. I have a hard time believing players that say they beat her easy, its an easy claim to make when you dont have to back it up.. She is without flaw. She has NOOOO weakness. 1-High damage 2-Small and Fast 3- Massive health 4- Nooo weak points 5-Randomised Attack patterns 6-No Telegraphing ofNope, just Nope..Man ive played all the hard games and Nioh is just Nope.. I stopped a Mino Enma. I have a hard time believing players that say they beat her easy, its an easy claim to make when you dont have to back it up.. She is without flaw. She has NOOOO weakness. 1-High damage 2-Small and Fast 3- Massive health 4- Nooo weak points 5-Randomised Attack patterns 6-No Telegraphing of next attack ,,like AT ALL 6- One hit Kills 7- High Damages Long Short and mid range attacks/randomised 8- Far and close AOE paralyzing attacks..
    I could go on ,, but WTF. I know hard games been playing them for decades, and this game is wank..A hard boss will usually have 2 or 3 of the dangers I listed that Mino has and is usually offset with a weakness. This one boss fight is an analogy for the whole game. In Nioh Team Ninja has lost the fun vs difficulty batlle . Its just not fun , just punishing .    … Expand
  48. Realisti
    Nov 9, 2022
    5
    I'd give it 7/10 if the boss designs wouldn't be so cheesy so I give it 5/10. People call it challenging and I agree this title gives a good challenge. However, the most challenging in the game how long can you endure the cheesy boss fights. Those who have played this through know what I'm talking about. If you have any display lag prepare to die a lot. Most boss fights are basicallyI'd give it 7/10 if the boss designs wouldn't be so cheesy so I give it 5/10. People call it challenging and I agree this title gives a good challenge. However, the most challenging in the game how long can you endure the cheesy boss fights. Those who have played this through know what I'm talking about. If you have any display lag prepare to die a lot. Most boss fights are basically doable in a few tries at least if you have levels and gear set right but some are just utterly stupid. You can many of them easier by using magic and ninjutsu skills but seriously, games that have so small dodge/block/parry windows that display lag can f up your experience are just not good for me. And character development is just putting points in obvious places and gathering obvious gear to mach.
    BUT this and nioh 2 has its own audience so I'd encourage you to try and see for yourself if it's for you. If you like Bloodborne, Darksouls and such you might like this also. I just refuse to give good review to what's mediocre stuff to me.    … Expand
  49. HayvenMoses
    Jun 19, 2019
    5
    I wish I could give this a better score but I cant even get past the first 30 minutes. I dont understand why the people that made this game wouldnt want it to be playable by everyone.This game is beyond Hard. Youd think developers would want as many people to enjoy their game as possible,but sadly in my opinion games like this are not at all enjoyable,dying after taking 2 hits and dyingI wish I could give this a better score but I cant even get past the first 30 minutes. I dont understand why the people that made this game wouldnt want it to be playable by everyone.This game is beyond Hard. Youd think developers would want as many people to enjoy their game as possible,but sadly in my opinion games like this are not at all enjoyable,dying after taking 2 hits and dying constantly is not enjoyable to me and Im sure Im not alone. Id love to play this game,it looks amazing but its just too hard.… Expand
  50. ZombiCoon
    Apr 28, 2020
    5
    A very mediocre game. Combat is good, but everything else is not. Level design goes from average to bad (most levels are dark to the point that it can give you eye strain if you play for more than one hour), the amount of useless loot (and loot in general) is baffling. Enemy and location variety is poor, some of the levels are recycled 3 or 4 times! Most bosses are too easy due to the factA very mediocre game. Combat is good, but everything else is not. Level design goes from average to bad (most levels are dark to the point that it can give you eye strain if you play for more than one hour), the amount of useless loot (and loot in general) is baffling. Enemy and location variety is poor, some of the levels are recycled 3 or 4 times! Most bosses are too easy due to the fact that they don't have phases, just one or two new moves at certain point. Story is laughable and characters are forgettable and there are too many of them to even care who they are. Also they are not properly introduced and explained (those cutscenes/intros are terrible!). Some bosses look nice though. I wish they cut some of the useless mechanics like the loot system, onmyo and ninjutsu stuff, blacksmith, and some story bits, and just polished and improved more important parts of the game, like level design, enemy variety and bosses.… Expand
  51. Sap-ete-10
    Mar 6, 2017
    5
    Don't get me wrong: Nioh is a pretty decent game with its own twist. The combat system is fluid and versatile. However there are some aspects, which pull it down to mediocrity compared to such pieces of art like Bloodborne and Dark Souls games (in particular first and third installments).

    1. No character customization - you play Geralt eh William for the whole time. For instance Dark    Don't get me wrong: Nioh is a pretty decent game with its own twist. The combat system is fluid and versatile. However there are some aspects, which pull it down to mediocrity compared to such pieces of art like Bloodborne and Dark Souls games (in particular first and third installments).

    1. No character customization - you play Geralt eh William for the whole time. For instance Dark Souls and Bloodborne offer more flexibility at this point.

    2. Level design. Well, I admit with the feudal Japan setting it's kinda impossible to create such an epic environment like it From Software does, but seriously: must 80% of levels look almost the same?

    3. Enemies. In each mission you fight literally the same enemy types over and over again. Only few things distinguish them from each other: HP amount and color/armor. And this after 10 years of development. Are you serious, Team Ninja?

    4. Bosses. They are strong and they are many, but they are nothing special compared to the creatures created by Miyazaki and Co. There is no emotions (like BB fight against German or DS3 fight against the Twin Princes) in this hack and slash frenzy, which are Nioh bossfights basically are. Above all they are also bugged as hell.

    5. The story. Nioh's story is flat like a wiener schnitzel without any lore.

    6. The weapons. The weapon variety is pretty poor: all you get are katanas, double katanas, axes, hammers, kusarigamas und three fire weapons, which have neither a unique design nor a unique moveset. Another point for Bloodborne and DS. Okay okay, you can unlock many additional weapon skills and Switch between the stances - but honestly how often do you switch between the stances and how do you manage to use every skill you unlock?

    7. Atmosphere. Not nearly as dense as in the Souls games.

    8. Grinding. As weapon scaling is almost absent you have to grind to level up and collect stronger weapons/armor to progress. Actually not a flaw but gets pretty boring as time goes by.

    9. Loot. To much of it and paired with sucky inventory system almost annoying.

    10. Multiplayer. It just plain sucks. I mean if you try to summon a cooperator you have to wait forever and ever and ever. Even in Bloodborne it worked much better. Also the way you can play with friends is nothing but embarassing and makes no sense. And I also miss the invaders.

    Disclaimer: My review is actually an answer to the fanboys putting Nioh above everything FromSoftware has ever created.    … Expand
  52. Furiousmike
    Feb 11, 2017
    5
    If you are going to read one review, read this. I'm gonna lay down some facts.

    The game has a 9.0 score at the moment. Reason to that is a crap ton of fanboys reviewing the game. I haven't played any other games like Nioh so I can't compare it to anything else. After 30+ hours in to the game, I couldn't care less about the story. It's boring as hell. But then again I need something    If you are going to read one review, read this. I'm gonna lay down some facts.

    The game has a 9.0 score at the moment. Reason to that is a crap ton of fanboys reviewing the game.

    I haven't played any other games like Nioh so I can't compare it to anything else. After 30+ hours in to the game, I couldn't care less about the story. It's boring as hell. But then again I need something totally epic in order to get exited. Somebody else might actually like Nioh story. The games setting and atmosphere are somewhat different than any other games I've played. It's pressing yet serene at the same time. I have to say I like it. Being able to choose between good frame rate or graphics is great.

    The gameplay. For the love of... How is it possible that nobody else is talking or has even noticed this! Lag!! Lag in inputs. It's from team ninja so it has to be good, right!? No, wrong! Dodging has a huge lag between button press and execution. I'm a fighting game veteran so I rely mostly on my reaction time and I noticed this immediately. It's a core game play mechanic for Nioh so to me, the lag completely ruins the game. I wrote something about fanboys earlier... nobody in their right mind could overlook this issue and give this game 10/10 score. Although in a completely different genre, if Street Fighter would have this much input lag, the game would be unplayable. This is the reason why Nioh is so hard.

    In conclusion:
    Story 5/10
    Graphics 8/10
    Gameplay 2/10    … Expand
  53. bozayed
    Feb 21, 2017
    5
    i start loving this game everything in it was perfect , but, unfortunately there is one thing that's gonna make all players hate it so much !!
    if they killed U , you'll start playing the game from the beginning !!, because there is no check point !!
    that's why i gave it (5) .
  54. eyecanseeyou
    Feb 19, 2017
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Don't get me wrong: Nioh is a pretty decent game with its own twist. The combat system is fluid and versatile. However there are some aspects, which pull it down to mediocrity compared to such pieces of art like Bloodborne and Dark Souls games (in particular first and third installments).

    1. No character customization - you play Geralt eh William for the whole time. For instance Dark Souls and Bloodborne offer more flexibility at this point.

    2. Level design. Well, I admit with the feudal Japan setting it's kinda impossible to create such an epic environment like it From Software does, but seriously: must 80% of levels look almost the same?

    3. Enemies. In each mission you fight literally the same enemy types over and over again. Only few things distinguish them from each other: HP amount and color/armor. And this after 10 years of development. Are you serious, Team Ninja?

    4. Bosses. They are strong and they are many, but they are nothing special compared to the creatures created by Miyazaki and Co. There is no emotions (like BB fight against German or DS3 fight against the Twin Princes) in this hack and slash frenzy, which are Nioh bossfights basically are. Above all they are also bugged as hell.

    5. The story. Nioh's story is flat like a wiener schnitzel without any lore.

    6. The weapons. The weapon variety is pretty poor: all you get are katanas, double katanas, axes, hammers, kusarigamas und three fire weapons, which have neither a unique design nor a unique moveset. Another point for Bloodborne and DS. Okay okay, you can unlock many additional weapon skills and Switch between the stances - but honestly how often do you switch between the stances and how do you manage to use every skill you unlock?

    7. Atmosphere. Not nearly as dense as in the Souls games.

    8. Grinding. As weapon scaling is almost absent you have to grind to level up and collect stronger weapons/armor to progress. Actually not a flaw but gets pretty boring as time goes by.

    9. Loot. To much of it and paired with sucky inventory system almost annoying.

    10. Multiplayer. It just plain sucks. I mean if you try to summon a cooperator you have to wait forever and ever and ever. Even in Bloodborne it worked much better. Also the way you can play with friends is nothing but embarassing and makes no sense. And I also miss the invaders.

    Disclaimer: My review is actually an answer to the fanboys putting Nioh above everything FromSoftware has ever created.    … Expand
  55. Kaseyn
    Mar 3, 2017
    5
    I downloaded this game at full price because I just couldn't wait to play--that's something I never do, and this game has reminded me why. Based off of all the raving reviews, it's hard to believe that the critics and I were playing the same game. As for the user reviews, I think many people only played it for an hour or two before leaving a review--it does make a great first impression.I downloaded this game at full price because I just couldn't wait to play--that's something I never do, and this game has reminded me why. Based off of all the raving reviews, it's hard to believe that the critics and I were playing the same game. As for the user reviews, I think many people only played it for an hour or two before leaving a review--it does make a great first impression. The problem is, the magic wears off quickly.

    At first, the combat is a lot of fun and seems much deeper than it actually is. People are making a big deal about the stance system, but you'll quickly realize that it doesn't really add that much to the game, and you'll probably find yourself using only one, maybe two, stances most of the time.

    The biggest problem is that the game uses the same handful of enemies over and over....and over and over. It might switch out their weapon, or give them a special ability here and there, but that doesn't cure the tedium. Whatever challenge the game initially poses fades away pretty quickly--when you've already fought each enemy type 30-100 times when you've only reached the second region of the game, there just isn't a whole lot of incentive to keep playing. To make it worse, the environments are extremely dull and the level design is boring. Have fun with the side missions, by the way--they're mostly just recycled portions of the main mission levels, or recycled levels from prior side missions.

    Another reason the game gets dull is because there are only 6 (I might be forgetting one) different weapons to use. Sure, they come with endless variations of stat modifiers, but those don't affect the way the weapon is actually used. Compare that with the Souls games, where you'll have way more weapons than you can even try out, many of which have unique movesets--Nioh is definitely lacking in comparison.

    When I realized how bored I was about 10 hours into the game, I quit playing, went out and repurchased Dark Souls 3. I haven't been able to put it down since, despite having done multiple playthroughs before. If you're a Dark Souls fan expecting to get more of that type of experience with Nioh, well, lower your expectations..or better yet, just don't waste your money.    … Expand
  56. MarsCorialanus
    Nov 11, 2017
    5
    This game is Souls style game, but is no where near as tight or interesting as Souls or Bloodborne. The aesthetic is a little dull, and gets old fairly quickly. I played for a few days before ultimately losing interest. I got pretty far, but over all the game-play was dull, the story completely uninteresting, and over all the progression system just felt skin deep. I disliked the mainThis game is Souls style game, but is no where near as tight or interesting as Souls or Bloodborne. The aesthetic is a little dull, and gets old fairly quickly. I played for a few days before ultimately losing interest. I got pretty far, but over all the game-play was dull, the story completely uninteresting, and over all the progression system just felt skin deep. I disliked the main character. Ultimately I regret dropping some dollars on this thing. I was really excited for it, but just did not deliver. That being said, its not bad per se. Its not like big rigs bad, just uninteresting and it copies from Souls without creating anything interesting.… Expand
  57. sufflaminandus
    Jan 25, 2019
    5
    Finally, the solid contender for “almost Dark Souls” title. Yet some sources forget to empathize one crucial note: it’s a Diablo game as much as it is a Souls game. But about everything in order.

    William, blue-eyed fair-haired Irishman, embarks on a series of mission set in 1600, Japan, with the objective to capture an evil alchemist who snatched William’s guarding spirit. Japan is a    Finally, the solid contender for “almost Dark Souls” title. Yet some sources forget to empathize one crucial note: it’s a Diablo game as much as it is a Souls game. But about everything in order.

    William, blue-eyed fair-haired Irishman, embarks on a series of mission set in 1600, Japan, with the objective to capture an evil alchemist who snatched William’s guarding spirit. Japan is a state of semi chaos as multiple clans warring for power. Banditry thrives. Foreign forces use this opportunity to extract as much amrita as possible (by hideous means). Amrita, a yellow spirited stone, is what brings ‘magic’ into the game. In particular, it can turn humans into monsters. Other monster are yokai, Japanese folklore themed creatures.

    So the plot *exist*, which is already more than any Souls can offer us, but that’s it. The story and it’s narration cannot boast with anything else. My advice: read summary of historical events of Sengoku period. Wikipedia article will offer you much more insight on what’s goin’ on rather than numerous cutscenes in between the missions. Missions… the next downside.

    Nioh is a mission based game. So forget about seamless lore-filled world. Plus, the level design itself is mediocre. The images of painted villages, mountains, castles, temples probably won’t last long in your memory. Gameplay-wise, levels are Souls’ copy: shrines (bonfires), interesting enemy position, secret, shortcuts. And yet when you realize you’re playing Diablo, there won’t be left much reasons for exploring (I still did it though).

    Graphic is disappointing too. Shadow of Mordor, 2014 year game, looks much comely than 2017 Nioh. The only objects drawn with detail are people.

    But we reached bright side: gameplay. Nioh is a hybrid of Souls and Diablo. I will criticize Diablo aspect later, now let’s focus on Souls part. If you clueless about the series: Souls means solitarily exploring neatly design levels filled with hand-placed enemies, each of which alone is already challenge, two of which together is a trouble, and three is a death. Souls means monster respawn and experience loss on (second) death. Souls means health bar, stamina bar, dodges, accent on realistic impactful attacks where single well placed strike means defeat (for either you or enemy). Souls means RPG system that allows you to build different characters: quick light slasher, strong heavy hitter, kiting mage. And, of course, Souls is big scary bosses. Well, *all* of the listed applies to Nioh. So, what makes Nioh special?

    Nioh’s combat is *fast*. It’s is fast and fluid. There are three stances for each weapon type (low, middle, high), each compromising different moveset and, theoretically, having cons and pros to adapt to different situations. But forget about them. Simply pick weapon you like and enjoy the flow. Enjoy the animation. Enjoy uniqueness of your weapon. Master it and you will relish in how beautifully you slay adversaries. Objectively speaking, Souls combat might be more realistic and meaningful but fabulous pace of Nioh can (only barely) be matched by Bloodborne.

    Regarding Diablo. You see, Souls are *exploration games*. Why? Because everything is *finite* and NOT random. In Souls, every detail, every item is chosen and placed by human. And there is a limit on progression: at one point (easily achievable in one playthrough) you will have everything, there would be nothing more to do. And what is Diablo? Diablo is grinding hell. Add Nioh is Diablo in that aspect: each item is random, power progression is almost endless (‘thanks’ DLCs). No comments here.

    But there are few more shining beacons. Firstly, Nioh has INCREDIBLY comfortable interface. It allows you to do anything with ease and some of its possibilities just blow your mind when you see them (like busy or AFK icons above other players). Secondly, Nioh’s multiplayer wrecks hell. (One ‘but’: if you are PvP player, then no, it’s not wrecks hell, as there are no in-game encounters). But in PvE you are finally able to just press the button, find and player and help him get through the mission. And it’s the funny fact: mission system actually comes in handy here. Search is, at last, not restricted by gameplay position so finding companions to help/get help is fast from the very first mission till the very last (and on higher difficulties too).

    Looking back at my review, I see that I wrote ‘Souls’ more times than ‘Nioh’. Well, excuse me, it *is* a Souls clone. But one extremely well-made and addictive.

    5/10    … Expand
  58. Ruzaky
    Aug 6, 2020
    5
    Dark souls + Diablo + ? = Profit ?
    For me this game is very boring, tons of loot but everything is pretty much the same
    combat system is nothing special
  59. NazgulzLegacy
    Jan 25, 2020
    5
    Seemed like a good game, but has way too much grinding for me to be able to make any progress.
  60. KingVilla1n
    May 3, 2019
    5
    Что-то невыносимое, архаичное и аркадное, после ювелирной отзывчивости Dark Souls. Ни одного запоминающегося босса (кроме Нобунаги с морозной девкой, потому что они вынесли все нервы). Скучнейший псевдоисторический сюжет. Мувсеты привязаны к типу оружия, которых здесь всего 4, т.е никаких уникальных видов оружия со своими уникальными движениями. Отвратительный визуальный дизайн иЧто-то невыносимое, архаичное и аркадное, после ювелирной отзывчивости Dark Souls. Ни одного запоминающегося босса (кроме Нобунаги с морозной девкой, потому что они вынесли все нервы). Скучнейший псевдоисторический сюжет. Мувсеты привязаны к типу оружия, которых здесь всего 4, т.е никаких уникальных видов оружия со своими уникальными движениями. Отвратительный визуальный дизайн и спецэффекты.
    Из плюсов можно выделить только большое количество шмоток и оружейных моделек. Являясь поклонником Ninja Gaiden и Ninja Gaiden 2 от тех же разработчиков, признать хоть какую-то ценность Nioh просто не могу.    … Expand
  61. Elite_Soldier
    Nov 14, 2020
    5
    Nioh was fun but got boring 20+ hours into it. The game feels too long, would be more fun if you could play with your friends without completing the mission first.
  62. EnderDragon
    Apr 5, 2017
    4
    Average, at best. It fails at being a good "Souls" clone by removing any sign of thought from combat. It is a hack and slash like all of the other Team Ninja games. It feels like they decided "What if we make Ninja Gaiden with a white guy, and trick players in to thinking this will not be another boring and mindless kill fests that our others games are?" Not worth the 60$, wait until it isAverage, at best. It fails at being a good "Souls" clone by removing any sign of thought from combat. It is a hack and slash like all of the other Team Ninja games. It feels like they decided "What if we make Ninja Gaiden with a white guy, and trick players in to thinking this will not be another boring and mindless kill fests that our others games are?" Not worth the 60$, wait until it is at least 20$ before even considering this game.… Expand
  63. KayVen17
    Mar 1, 2020
    4
    -- Deutsche/German Review - - Nach 50 Stunden habe ich dieses Spiel endlich abgeschlssen und bin leider enttäuscht. Mir fehlte einfach die Abwechslung.. Der Antrieb. Ich verstehe, dass es einige mögen, aber irgendwie fühlt sich das Spiel nicht gut an. Ich zwang mich ab der zweiten Hälfte nur noch durch das Spiel. Als ich dann gegen Ende merkte, dass ich Grinden muss hatte ich keine Luste-- Deutsche/German Review - - Nach 50 Stunden habe ich dieses Spiel endlich abgeschlssen und bin leider enttäuscht. Mir fehlte einfach die Abwechslung.. Der Antrieb. Ich verstehe, dass es einige mögen, aber irgendwie fühlt sich das Spiel nicht gut an. Ich zwang mich ab der zweiten Hälfte nur noch durch das Spiel. Als ich dann gegen Ende merkte, dass ich Grinden muss hatte ich keine Luste mehr. Nicht mein Fall. Nioh 2 hat zumindest jetzt kein Interesse mehr auf mich.… Expand
  64. TatsMcGee
    Sep 8, 2018
    4
    I have never played a Dark Souls game before so this seemed like a good chance to not only play a Dark Souls clone but a very well made Dark Souls clone. Except this one is based a little more in reality because the setting is Shogun Japan rather than Emo Edgelord.

    I also learned that I don’t like this Genre because it’s just not for me. There is a steep learning curve that I just    I have never played a Dark Souls game before so this seemed like a good chance to not only play a Dark Souls clone but a very well made Dark Souls clone. Except this one is based a little more in reality because the setting is Shogun Japan rather than Emo Edgelord.

    I also learned that I don’t like this Genre because it’s just not for me. There is a steep learning curve that I just wasn’t willing to put the time in. For two major reasons, one I don’t like Stamina meters. It’s not really where I want to mash buttons but I prefer to block and be patient but the game punishes you for blocking or dashing or attacking by lowering your stamina for everything. To me, the game felt less like playing a game for fun and more meter management.

    From what it seems, its a very well received game but its just not for me. I’m glad that I’m trying all of these games and learning what I like and don’t like. This is an RPG but its a very specific RPG that just doesn’t fit the way that I play games.    … Expand
  65. Reed618
    May 20, 2018
    4
    I finished this yesterday. It was a good game overall but ultimately quite disappointing. I'm a long time fan of both ninja gaiden and the souls series. I'll start with the cons

    -Cons 1. Lack of variety in level design. The levels are dull and visually unimpressive. I can't recall a single moment I was impressed by this. It's not terrible but quite repetitive. 2. Story. By the end I    I finished this yesterday. It was a good game overall but ultimately quite disappointing. I'm a long time fan of both ninja gaiden and the souls series. I'll start with the cons

    -Cons

    1. Lack of variety in level design. The levels are dull and visually unimpressive. I can't recall a single moment I was impressed by this. It's not terrible but quite repetitive.
    2. Story. By the end I didn't feel connected to any of the characters or events. There is little character development and little reason to care about events.
    3. Difficulty. This may be a plus for some but in this game I really dislike it. It's not tough but fair, it's mostly just tough. The main reason being that although I have a small armory of weapons at my disposal none of them seem to do much damage, particularly against bosses. This makes fights feel long and drawn out. Getting to the end felt like too much of a slog.
    4. Weapons & Armor. There's way too much of this. I can't sort through all of this crap. It takes forever to figure out what's good. Also the weapons and armor lack any interesting qualities or backstory. I don't have the sense that 'this is the weapon for me'. I just feel like the attack rating is slightly higher.
    5. Too much rpg, not enough action. Unlike souls the focus isn't on your skill, it's often on your level and attributes. It's important to take time to train and level up. Unfortunately leveling up is a slow process, i was supposed to reach level 145 to tackle the final boss... instead I just farmed for high level gear... the lack of open world design means that in order to level up I'm stuck small levels killing the same enemies over and over again before running to a shrine. It's dull and if I die in the process it's very frustrating, mostly because i'll have to repeat this process over again.
    6. Lack of open world. I understand this was a design choice but it prohibits the development of a connection with the game and removes any desire to explore.
    7. Bosses. The bosses lack any real character. They're annoying to fight but ultimately forgettable because the art design is uninspired and there's no real buildup to most of these encounters.
    8. Enemies. The same enemies are reused throughout the entire game, they just have more hp in later levels. There are a few variations introduced later on but not nearly enough for such a long game.

    Pros+

    1. Revenant system. Fighting the computer controlled versions of dead players is a fun idea.
    2. The combat system. There is a lot of depth when you factor in ki powers, weapon stances and weapon types.

    Overall this game just isn't that much fun and I couldn't recommend it. It's simply too repetitive and lacking in memorable moments. Pick up dark souls 2 or 3 or bloodborne on ps4 instead. They are better in every conceivable way.    … Expand
  66. Jim_Coronell
    Feb 7, 2017
    4
    Too many PR-activity for the most common game ever. As a result - overhype.

    Good Japanese setting with grey and boring locations.
    DS-like combat system with awful Ki Pulse mechanics.
    Nice stylistics with bad graphics.

    And all other elements of this game also contains their negative side. It's not a bad game but too far away from 9/10 of journals, sites and critics.
  67. Kickass2552
    Apr 15, 2017
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As a long time fan demon/darksouls/bloodborne, I was very interested in this game, and I was having fun at the start. Unfortunately the lack of polish, terrible inventory/loot management, and random difficulty lead to a lot of frustration. Looking forward to Nioh 2, if they can iron out all the faults from the first game. *Spoilers: For a game with multiple tutorial levels over the first 2 hours (weirdly repeated), you wouldn't expect bosses as unbalanced as the Bat Lady from level 3 (fast high damage attacks, un-dodgeable instant kill, stunning ranged attack, drains stamina, immune to hit-stun)… Expand
  68. Cyrus666
    Nov 28, 2019
    4
    Total playtime: 130 hours
    Number of playthroughs: 2
    With Nioh 2 soon to be released, I thought it would be a good idea if I write down my thoughts regarding the experience I had with the first game. I will go into detail in the sections below but for those who don’t want to read a long review here is a short summary: Nioh is a game in Souls/Borne genre. It tries its best to copy them    Total playtime: 130 hours
    Number of playthroughs: 2
    With Nioh 2 soon to be released, I thought it would be a good idea if I write down my thoughts regarding the experience I had with the first game. I will go into detail in the sections below but for those who don’t want to read a long review here is a short summary:
    Nioh is a game in Souls/Borne genre. It tries its best to copy them but in my opinion it fails in every way.
    The level design is horrible, full of similar locations, bland set pieces. The enemy design is horrible as well forcing you to fight the same types of enemies till the end of game. Finally, the boss design, which not only is bad but the game keeps forcing you to fight the same bosses over and over and over again.
    To me personally Nioh lacks a lot of creativity. For some reason they didn’t bother creating new types of enemies, locations, bosses. So by the end of the game you will be killing the same enemies in basically the same locations a thousand times.
    Before I begin, I must address an issue. A few people think that Nioh is not in the Souls/Borne genre and is not trying to copy them in any way. These people are wrong. Souls/borne genre has a few characteristics which Nioh has as well, these characteristics being:
    1- Dropping your level up material (Amrita) on the ground the first time you die and losing them all together if you die before picking them up
    2- Having set points (Shrines) along the way to reset your items and enemies
    3- General difficulty of the game
    4- Bosses
    Souls/Borne genre has more characteristics but these are the ones that Nioh copies. So yes, Nioh is trying to be like Dark Souls.

    And now the detailed review:
    Good aspects of the game:
    1- The game can sometimes be enjoyable but that enjoyment for me was 5 percent of my entire play time
    2- The game has a feature with which you can change the look of your weapons and clothes which means if you get a good item but like the appearance of another you can change it.
    3- The stances
    And now the bad aspects of the game:
    1- Level design: The level design of the game is horrible. The areas all look alike. They differ in small ways but these differences aren’t enough to change the overall look. You spend most of your time in Japanese villages and that’s about it. I know that some people might argue that this level design was done in order to be historically accurate. But this logic is flawed since I don’t think The Japanese ever fought zombies and demons and multi headed elemental snakes. I think the reason for creating such environments is the easiness. It is much easier to create similar looking locations rather than creating different ones. When I look back at the game I don’t remember any location being my favorite and standing out from the rest. Bloodborne starts out in in the city. Every part of it is varied and different. After that we go to a cathedral area with graveyards and towering enemies. After that we fight our way through a forest. All different, every part unique. But Nioh? Same villages over and over and over again.
    2- Enemy design: This is one of the worst problems of Nioh. This game is very lacking in its enemy design. I think I encountered more enemy variety in the first major part of Bloodborne (Yharnam) than the entirety of Nioh. The more varied the enemy types are the more interesting and challenging it becomes. But no, Nioh just throws the same enemies at you over and over again. This enemy design is even lazier than the game’s level design since at the very least levels have some minor differences in them but enemies, nope. Exactly the same.
    3- Bosses: This has got to be the worst aspect of Nioh for me. Remember the laziness I described earlier during the design of Levels and enemies? It’s also present here. One of the most important characteristics of Souls/Borne genre is the bosses and if you manage to screw this one….
    One of the key aspects of From Sofware games is their Sountrack. Every boss has its own song. But Nioh doesn’t care at all about that. You are forced to listen to the same **** soundtracks over and over again.
    The bosses in this game can be categorized in 2 groups: Human and Monsters
    Human Bosses: There is just nothing to say here. You fight a lot of humans as bosses throughout the game. They have similar movesets and only differ in their general looks and weapons. Lazy as hell.
    Bloodborne has human bosses as well but each one is different in their movesets, locations, soundtracks. Father Gascoigne is different from Maria etc etc. To be fair Nioh’s human bosses have a few tricks here and there but nothing to make them stand out.
    Monster bosses: You’d think that creating monsters for a game should be an easy task and developers could fill the game with 20-30 of them easily. You would be wrong. Not only is the boss design bland and uninteresting but a lot of times you are forced to fight the same bosses again and again.    … Expand
  69. Darkself13
    Dec 30, 2019
    4
    Acabo de completar el juego y no lo recomiendo.
    No sé porqué lo califican con buena nota, pienso que sólo han jugado a nioh en este tipo de genero. Lo mas flojo del juego es su historia, empieza algo interesante en las primeras 5 misiones, a partir de ahí es súper aburrida, hacer favores a personajes que vas conociendo, vuelve a ser un poco interesante mucho después de la mitad del juego,    Acabo de completar el juego y no lo recomiendo.
    No sé porqué lo califican con buena nota, pienso que sólo han jugado a nioh en este tipo de genero. Lo mas flojo del juego es su historia, empieza algo interesante en las primeras 5 misiones, a partir de ahí es súper aburrida, hacer favores a personajes que vas conociendo, vuelve a ser un poco interesante mucho después de la mitad del juego, la historia es pasajera, sin inmersión, poco interés, aunque está basada en hechos reales, con personajes reales, los monstruos están basados en historias y leyendas japonesas, en conclusión una historia muy mal contada. Las misiones secundarías son un desastre, es un reciclaje de escenarios impresionante, además de aburridas, tediosas, sin sentido, solo están ahí para subir de nivel porque es casi obligatorio para llegar con mejor nivel a las siguients misiones principales, también están hechas para recolectar armaduras y poder venderlas despues, otro truco bajo para alargar la duración del juego.
    Los jefes finales son "difíciles" mientras aprendes los movientos de este, luego puedes vencerlos fácil, es más si tienes paciencia puedes vencerlo fácil al primer o segundo intento, bajándole vida de a poco, tardas un tiempo pero al final es fácil. Los jefes finales de cada misión principal son demasiado repetitivos algunos se repiten hasta 4 veces durante el juego, lo vuelve tedioso, y muy aburrido, otro truco para alargar la duración del juego.
    La dificultad era lo que mas me interesaba del juego era un punto a favor, pero la verdad lo que hacen es maquillar la "dificultad" y lo vuelven tedioso con trampitas y mecánicas desagradables y trucos muy bajos, como esconder enemigos detrás de paredes lanzar bolas gigantes por pendientes mientras subes a toda velocidad, esconder personajes en tejados, lagos, cuevas, pisos que se rompen en el momento menos esperado, la dificultad también se basa en la cantidad de enemigos que hay en el escenario algo muy de la década de los 90, todas estas mecánicas están para alargar la duración del juego, lo que lo hace frustrante, pero la dificultad es básica, en si los enemigos son fáciles de vencer además que son repetitivos, con mismos sistemas de ataques, nada especial.
    Los gráficos no me parecieron tan malos como otros mencionan, el apartado artístico me gusta pero tampoco impresiona. Hay que mencionar que en varias ocasiones tuve una caída de fps que incómoda bastante
    El modo de combate solo es atacar y esquivar, muy básico una vez conoces los movimientos del enemigo es súper fácil vencerlo Las recompensas luego de pasar un nivel son paupérrimas.
    No se cuantas horas pasé en el inventario, comparando armas, amuletos, sellos y demás, es canson y tedioso sólo hay como 5 tipos de armas pero infinadad de colores y niveles al igual que de armaduras. Los escenarios están diseñados en forma de laberintos para que recorras en círculos durante algo de tiempo, te pierdas, te enrredes, mecánicas pobres y bajezas que solo están para alargar la duración del juego    … Expand
  70. ViperXT
    Mar 28, 2020
    4
    Another one of those Dark Souls copies, this time not well done. Game controls were simple, with frustrating elements of camera work to make it more difficult than it needed to be. Story was not interesting. The graphics were sub par and the color was mostly dark and grey.
  71. Visitbr
    Aug 21, 2023
    4
    é um dos piores souls like que já joguei, a premissa é muito interessante mas a pratica é horrorosa é um jogo muito sem graça
  72. Crimson9
    Dec 26, 2022
    4
    The popularity of Dark Souls spawned a ton of 'souls-likes' and nioh is considered one of the best. Unfortunately, Dark Souls has become associated with two things - difficulty, and lots of combat.

    The thing is, Dark Souls is more than just that. It has great lore. It has great atmosphere. It has amazing level design. Its somewhat philosophical. Nioh is none of these things. You    The popularity of Dark Souls spawned a ton of 'souls-likes' and nioh is considered one of the best. Unfortunately, Dark Souls has become associated with two things - difficulty, and lots of combat.

    The thing is, Dark Souls is more than just that. It has great lore. It has great atmosphere. It has amazing level design. Its somewhat philosophical.

    Nioh is none of these things. You could say its close to the later Soulsborne games, but even these have higher polish, better lore, better level design.    … Expand
  73. DrZomboid
    Jan 21, 2019
    3
    I didn't like level design and art style. Character models and movements are outdated. So I gave up after few hours. I should play DS Remaster and not this.
  74. 420dank
    Feb 26, 2017
    3
    Bosses are decent for the most part. Fighting the same 6 enemies in very level sucks. Replaying the same levels 4 simes as side missions sucks. only five weapons to chose from. Over all i just got bored playing and quit on the 4th act.
  75. Empyrea
    Feb 6, 2022
    3
    I only played for less than an hour. Not my kind of game at all. I would have thought in continuing playing this game if you would reappear in the same place you die but it's not the case and I'm not that patient anymore.
  76. chinpi
    Feb 8, 2017
    3
    This game is too much like DARK SOULS. I don't like this type of game. I couldn't bear the boredom of playing this game. Making Ninja Gaiden 4 please, Team Ninja.
  77. SoulsborneLover
    Jun 18, 2017
    3
    What an absolute disappointment. I was very excited to play this game, as a huge fan of the Soulsborne series and the Ninja Gaiden series, I was stoked to play this game.

    After playing for a while, I became gradually more and more let down by the game. It lacked elements that I found necessary in both the previously listed series; skill, variety, and most importantly, fun. Dont get me    What an absolute disappointment. I was very excited to play this game, as a huge fan of the Soulsborne series and the Ninja Gaiden series, I was stoked to play this game.

    After playing for a while, I became gradually more and more let down by the game. It lacked elements that I found necessary in both the previously listed series; skill, variety, and most importantly, fun. Dont get me wrong, the game requires skill and it can be fun... but I found these moments few and far between. My favourite part of Bloodborne or Dark Souls was how you dont need levels or items to kick ass if you have the skill and knowledge of the world. Likewise in the Ninja Gaiden series, skill was the largest factor for being able to withstand the unbelievable odds stacked against you. Every time Ive had difficulty with something in Nioh, it seems less like my skill is lacking and more that the enemy is too strong for me. This feeling was exaggerated when I went back to fight the same things I had trouble with, just now at a higher level, and I would wipe the floor with them, no problem. I didnt feel like my skill was any higher, just that my character was at a more equal power level.

    I didnt pick up this game to grind.

    I also want to note, since so many people commended the combat system, it is way worse than I was expecting. Someone even went on to say it was superior to Bloodborne! They can have their opinion but dont get your hopes up. The fun thing to me about Bloodbornes combat was the perfection of control and the variety in weapons. Nioh feels unreactive and unpolished (by comparison) and there are only a few weapons you can use (with hundreds of variations on the same weapon).

    I wont lie, this game did so much right; soundtrack, art style, customization, loot collection, and more. But when it came to combat and gameplay, the most important part to me, it does not compete, it barely participates.    … Expand
  78. Stanimal
    Feb 1, 2018
    3
    Never played such a dull, pointless game. Deleted it after about 10 missions... Wish I could get a refund.

    After repeating bosses a few hundred times and eventually passing them, you start to get bored with the repetitive nature of the game, and wonder why there are tons of different weapons, when you only are ever going to use dual or single swords... Can only recommend this to    Never played such a dull, pointless game. Deleted it after about 10 missions... Wish I could get a refund.

    After repeating bosses a few hundred times and eventually passing them, you start to get bored with the repetitive nature of the game, and wonder why there are tons of different weapons, when you only are ever going to use dual or single swords...

    Can only recommend this to someone who is bored and really wants to grind out a few hundred repetitive hours of their lives with no real feel of story line progression in a hurry.    … Expand
  79. DMJReviews
    Aug 1, 2020
    3
    In the end I'm conflicted about my score. My scale goes from 1 - 10,

    1 unplayable 2 terrible 3 bad 4 below average 5 average 6 above average 7 good 8 great 9 excellent 10 exceptional The first 30% of the game gets a 6/10 from me. And the rest which is from 30-60% gets a 1/10. I quit the game little over the halfway point. The game is fun in the beginning despite the ass    In the end I'm conflicted about my score. My scale goes from 1 - 10,

    1 unplayable
    2 terrible
    3 bad
    4 below average
    5 average
    6 above average
    7 good
    8 great
    9 excellent
    10 exceptional

    The first 30% of the game gets a 6/10 from me.
    And the rest which is from 30-60% gets a 1/10.
    I quit the game little over the halfway point.

    The game is fun in the beginning despite the ass kicking you are gonna get. But the longer you play the less enjoyable the experience become.

    The game feels cheap with it's incredible burst damage. Depending on your setup you will die in 1 to 3 hits. It feels like you are fighting Samurai wielding swords while you wield a wet noodle. Game is repetitive in its level design and reuses enemies and areas for side content. When I quit I was 30 levels behind the main scenario difficulty level making the game incredibly grindy as well.

    It's overwhelming to figure out what is good and what is bad in this game. And it feels hopeless to keep your gear up to speed.    … Expand
  80. IceCraigg
    Apr 1, 2019
    3
    very terrible game.. boring, easy, map design is terrible, bosses are boring ,blows are not felt ,you'll beat the enemy with balls, but not with a sword, especially it can be seen on the bosses
  81. Walt17
    Jan 30, 2020
    3
    Noioso, ambientazione anonima a tratti, boss mediocri, senso di progressione assente
  82. Soleil83
    Nov 5, 2020
    3
    Good combat system for the most part, but a bit convoluted. Boss battles are tedious wars of attrition where you attempt to hit them 12,000 times while they kill you in 1-2 hits. It’s repetitive and frustrating. Not overly difficult, it’s just that the deaths feel cheap. The game is overly long and repetitive and feels like something you endure rather than enjoy. It copies element fromGood combat system for the most part, but a bit convoluted. Boss battles are tedious wars of attrition where you attempt to hit them 12,000 times while they kill you in 1-2 hits. It’s repetitive and frustrating. Not overly difficult, it’s just that the deaths feel cheap. The game is overly long and repetitive and feels like something you endure rather than enjoy. It copies element from better games without realizing what makes those games great.… Expand
  83. MulQuahDiiv
    Nov 21, 2020
    3
    I feel that this game was a bit overhyped. Generally it's good and many people may find it enjoyable but for me it was boring. I didn't like it's level design and linearity. At the beginning it didn't bother me that much, but finally made me abandon the game. I also feel that difficulty level is unbalanced and there's no atmosphere at all. Uncommon opinion, but it's not that great.
  84. F1_is_WWE
    Apr 13, 2022
    3
    First of all, this is a Dark Souls rip-off. It takes the core mechanics, but adds a new combat system.

    That's the good. The bad is that the game is super repettitve. 99% of enemies you fight are either: soldiers (with 1 of 10 weapons), zombies (1 type), demons (8 types). That's it. Some levels have dogs, some have spiders, and 2 have weird jelly blobs, but 99% of the game is fighting    First of all, this is a Dark Souls rip-off. It takes the core mechanics, but adds a new combat system.

    That's the good. The bad is that the game is super repettitve. 99% of enemies you fight are either: soldiers (with 1 of 10 weapons), zombies (1 type), demons (8 types). That's it. Some levels have dogs, some have spiders, and 2 have weird jelly blobs, but 99% of the game is fighting the same 3 enemies. This could be fine if the game were 10 hours long, but it is 80 hours with 28 main missions and almost a hunderd side missions. All are linear.

    And if you try skipping the side missions, you'll end up like me - 100 levels down by the end (from recommended level 250). It's a grind fest and not worth is unless you really love playing Dark Souls.    … Expand
  85. LuxxLapis
    Jun 19, 2022
    3
    the leveling is **** terrible and this is the first game to have ever make me scream until I can't **** speak anymore. don't waste your time.
  86. doug_quaid
    Apr 23, 2017
    2
    Well, coming off of Bloodborne and hoping for something in that ballpark, I *really* didn't like this game. As nearly every review mentioned, it starts with a pretty basic Dark Souls or Bloodborne clone and then proceeds to remove all of the fine-tuning, tweaking and polish From Software is known for.

    Combat in the Dark Souls games feels tight, responsive and polished almost down to the    Well, coming off of Bloodborne and hoping for something in that ballpark, I *really* didn't like this game. As nearly every review mentioned, it starts with a pretty basic Dark Souls or Bloodborne clone and then proceeds to remove all of the fine-tuning, tweaking and polish From Software is known for.

    Combat in the Dark Souls games feels tight, responsive and polished almost down to the frame. Combat in Nioh feels sloppy, sluggish and awkward. The camera refuses to readjust itself to a useful angle, so expect to constantly have to reposition it. Animation feels 'off', just sort of clunky and sloppy. Characters have extremely subtle 'tells' on attacks, preventing you from properly repositioning or counterattacking. I spent a dozen initial deaths trying to turn up the brightness, tweak the controls (which give you no fine per-button tuning options) to something useable to no avail. Nearly all the UI/UX suffers from minor polish issues, meaning even simple actions like picking up an item or opening a door require holding down a button instead of pressing, slowing you down and adding extra button presses where none were needed... seriously if you're ripping off From Software, just copy the parts that are working well. Don't change basic mechanics or button presses to something inferior just so you feel like you're copying them less.

    Level design in Nioh is bland, repetitive and uninspired where From games are utterly covered with interesting details, interconnected passages.

    Anyway, you get the idea. A Dark Souls clone with none of the story, level design, tight combat, polish or... well anything really. I got about 3-4 hours of increasing irritation for my $60 before uninstalling it. :/    … Expand
  87. Thetruegamer
    Feb 18, 2017
    2
    The worst purchase this year, boring hack and slash gameplay, uninspired story and terrible frame rate and resolution, its like they threw the game together last minute
  88. GamesXpert
    Mar 18, 2022
    2
    Souls-like game. Nice combat, nice music. Mediocre story. The game forces you to build your character all around cause essential upgrades like potion max number or backstab belong to different categories of skill trees. That means your character will struggle killing even minor enemies after mid game. The stages are repetitive with minor changes. The recommended stage level is a joke, youSouls-like game. Nice combat, nice music. Mediocre story. The game forces you to build your character all around cause essential upgrades like potion max number or backstab belong to different categories of skill trees. That means your character will struggle killing even minor enemies after mid game. The stages are repetitive with minor changes. The recommended stage level is a joke, you get destroyed even in stages where you are 10 levels above. The items and equipment are obtained by drops, which means luck is essential for collecting sets. Bad and overrated game, I regret purchasing it 100%… Expand
  89. JP_Wilde
    Mar 22, 2020
    2
    I don't like this type of game with extremely high difficulty, I tried to enjoy the game, but it gets more and more repetitive over time with several equal enemies and gameplay that I don't like very much.
  90. streetkrc
    Aug 4, 2021
    2
    I didn't like this game. Bad fight systems, terrible save system, when praying, all the rivals appear again, this is the most worse idea that you could think of. Unsuccessful locations of some battles. I do not recommend the game.
  91. Aquelfoly
    Feb 18, 2020
    2
    Do you fine it's good fun to loose every thing when you die ???? I can't understand the concepte :( I like whene it's hard but i don't like to losse every thing it's juste so frustrating and not fun. We play for fun why to much dev forget that ?????
  92. w0rp
    Jul 4, 2020
    2
    This game isn't fun at all. It's very well presented, but it just doesn't have the same appeal Dark Souls did. All of the enemies take more hits than you and do more damage than you. Every time you attack an enemy, you have to wait 4-5 seconds for your stamina to regenerate to hit the next one. I tried the second section of the game after you leave the prison 20 times before I just gave upThis game isn't fun at all. It's very well presented, but it just doesn't have the same appeal Dark Souls did. All of the enemies take more hits than you and do more damage than you. Every time you attack an enemy, you have to wait 4-5 seconds for your stamina to regenerate to hit the next one. I tried the second section of the game after you leave the prison 20 times before I just gave up and deleted the game. I'm not gonna slog through hours more of combat where my character feels incredibly weak like that.… Expand
  93. Ghiraldelo
    Jul 19, 2020
    2
    História bastante forçada, personagens zero cativantes, jogabilidade podre, inimigos repetitivos, alguns chefes são tão bugados que é justamente isso que deixa o jogo complicado. A sensação que fica quando se morre é a de que o jogo é bugado e a jogabilidade pessima, ao contrario de jogos da saga Souls onde o jogador sabe o erro que cometeu em alguma ação.
    Espero que o Nioh 2 tenha pelo    História bastante forçada, personagens zero cativantes, jogabilidade podre, inimigos repetitivos, alguns chefes são tão bugados que é justamente isso que deixa o jogo complicado. A sensação que fica quando se morre é a de que o jogo é bugado e a jogabilidade pessima, ao contrario de jogos da saga Souls onde o jogador sabe o erro que cometeu em alguma ação.
    Espero que o Nioh 2 tenha pelo menos a jogabilidade melhor :P    … Expand
  94. Goo4you
    Apr 3, 2017
    1
    This is Dark Souls/Bloodborne with nothing but monotonous level design, terrible "world" enemies, flimsy story elements (why even bother?); all centered around the only thing Team Ninja worried about....bosses.

    This....is a hard boss simulator that is poorly wrapped around a game. If this is your cup of tea, you'll love it. If you expect your games to actually be more than game    This is Dark Souls/Bloodborne with nothing but monotonous level design, terrible "world" enemies, flimsy story elements (why even bother?); all centered around the only thing Team Ninja worried about....bosses.

    This....is a hard boss simulator that is poorly wrapped around a game. If this is your cup of tea, you'll love it. If you expect your games to actually be more than game mechanics wound tightly around one single element...steer way clear out of here.

    I made it through 3 bosses in the game. The whole thing I hear from people that love these games is:

    "The sense of accomplishment for beating a hard boss is what keeps me coming back."

    Well, no. I loathed the boss fights, dreaded fighting them and didn't look forward to ANY in the future. When did this type of game become a thing? How did the industry get away with marketing undertuned game mechanics/controllers as a layer of intense gameplay? This hopefully will just be another niche trope on the pile of failed attempts of "innovating" within the video game industry.    … Expand
  95. captainkane
    May 15, 2018
    1
    Nioh is trash. Developer Team Ninja has put out some decent games, but it’s also behind the maligned Ninja Gaiden series. Gaiden is infamous for its ridiculously inhumane difficulty and plentiful QTE’s that gamers still mock. Team Ninja also single-handedly killed the Metroid franchise with Metroid: Other M. Ninja’s portrayal of Samus Aran rightfully offended fans who refused toNioh is trash. Developer Team Ninja has put out some decent games, but it’s also behind the maligned Ninja Gaiden series. Gaiden is infamous for its ridiculously inhumane difficulty and plentiful QTE’s that gamers still mock. Team Ninja also single-handedly killed the Metroid franchise with Metroid: Other M. Ninja’s portrayal of Samus Aran rightfully offended fans who refused to reinterpret a traditionally badass heroine as a bratty misfit with PTSD and daddy issues. Aran’s unfathomable demise still lingers over Nintendo. With Nioh, Team Ninja blatantly copies the Dark Souls franchise. Instead of offering a fresh reimagining, Nioh combines the worst of Dark Souls with the worst of Ninja Gaiden. It proves that Team Ninja hasn’t learned squat.

    Graphically, Nioh is passable. It offers several visual modes, but choosing anything over performance is a mistake. For minor visual gains, the framerate is cut in half in movie mode. In comparison to God of War and Monster Hunter World, Nioh looks terrible.

    The story is bad as well. Silly and forgettable. White guy becomes samurai overnight and must save the Japanese or something. Sound familiar?

    Nioh happens in feudal Japan, but set pieces are uninteresting and small. Players cannot freely roam. They choose one mission at a time and can’t progress until the current mission is over. Once they complete missions, players choose the another from a world map. No seamless exploration. Players can complete side missions as well, but those recycle areas from previously completed missions. There’s an utter lack of imagination in Nioh’s world design. Once a mission goal is completed, that’s it. Enemies will either disappear or bow in defeat, and summonable enemies vanish. It’s one of many missteps.

    Except for a few tweaks, the leveling and stat system was blatantly ripped from Souls. Same goes with magic and ability slots. Combat mimics Souls as well, except players can upgrade abilities and combos. However, trash enemy design and ruthless, unforgiving bosses negate any positive changes to combat. Player levels don’t matter for most of the game because ALL bosses kill in 1-2 hits. Whereas Souls punishes players for making consistent mistakes, Nioh punishes gamers merely for playing. Single mistakes result in death. Just like Ninja Gaiden, boss fights emphasis superhuman reflexes and exact timing that leave absolutely no room for error. You missed a single dodge? Death. You turned a hair too far left on a block? Death. You swung with a mid-stance attack instead of a light? Death.

    All bosses have massive health pools and spam infinite combos. Even if players learn attack patterns, they aren’t rewarded for their patience. Players can spend 10+ minutes cautiously whittling down a boss’ health. Oops, they didn’t time a dodge just right…DEATH! Nioh is difficult for difficulty’s sake. It’s not fair. It’s not fun. The boss fights alone are enough not to recommend Nioh. It’s the worst of Ninja Gaiden. It wasn’t fun then, and it’s not fun now.

    Unlike Dark Souls, it’s nearly impossible to learn boss attack patterns in Nioh since all mistakes are fatal. According to nearly every forum I’ve read, players should use the safest and least aggressive playstyle in every confrontation. That’s a serious design flaw. Progression means nothing since mistakes are so brutally punished.

    Missions have recommended levels which represent nothing because they aren’t indicative of actual difficulty. So a level 10 area may be nearly impassable compared to a level 20 and so forth. And a level 20 boss will still one shot a level 70 player. Oddly, most areas are moderately easy to navigate. It’s the bosses that ruin the flow. Rules constantly change as well. Some levels don’t have healing shrines. Others levels simply dish out waves of enemies on small maps. Players don’t know what kind of hogwash missions will throw at them. For anyone who’s played Gaiden, this is all too familiar. Once again, there can’t be “optimal builds”. Players must respec several times since virtually no build is capable of carrying anyone to end game. A progression system that doesn’t reward progress? Rubbish.

    Technical issues further mar gameplay. Inventory management is cumbersome. Unpredictable hitboxes, janky iframes, and occasional input lag make things all the more frustrating. I’ve lost plenty of fights because my sword landed squarely on an enemy but no damaged registered. The enemy immediately executes a 5 hit combo which deals 9,740K damage against my 1,500K health bar. DEATH!

    Nioh is an unrewarding pile of garbage. Self-respecting gamers should avoid it like the plague. There’s a reason Dark Souls is king of the hill. Despite technical flaws, Soul is the best in a genre it practically invented. Other than booting up, Nioh does almost nothing right. It's a culmination of design flaws. Once again, Team Ninja just doesn’t get it.    … Expand
  96. Focs
    Apr 30, 2017
    1
    Horrible forgery. Not only that, there is an open world. So also forced several times to pass the same card. 4-5 times to kill the same bosses. Repetitive bosses. Ubivaut obsalyutno same. Little enemies. Roughly 2 type. People (thieves, samurai, ninja, mages) and youkai (skeletons, wheel of fire, a demon, one-eyed Ogre, umbrella, and a dead man with a pick). And with all of them you willHorrible forgery. Not only that, there is an open world. So also forced several times to pass the same card. 4-5 times to kill the same bosses. Repetitive bosses. Ubivaut obsalyutno same. Little enemies. Roughly 2 type. People (thieves, samurai, ninja, mages) and youkai (skeletons, wheel of fire, a demon, one-eyed Ogre, umbrella, and a dead man with a pick). And with all of them you will meet during the first 4 hours of the game. Online is not like this. Well, you can call for help or to come. It's like it's not even funny.… Expand
  97. rocknmandan
    Nov 23, 2019
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It isn't actually good at all, the controls suck a little, the geplay is alright. But it left me with a feeling of unfunctionality. Ouch. Sorry.… Expand
  98. lordofshadows
    Jun 21, 2019
    1
    Crap crap crap crap rubbish rubbish rubbish rubbish. Worst game i have ever played since i’m 5 years old. A truly definition of **** Don’t play this game trust me.
  99. PiePieper
    Feb 22, 2017
    1
    More like hi, No i will not recommend this. Just a bland mashup of Dark Souls and other hack and slash games. Story is meh, graphics are meh, VO is less than stellar. Just stick with the Souls games.
  100. Greghead
    Nov 14, 2019
    1
    The awkwardness of combat early on in Nioh renders it almost unplayable. I usually like this type of game and can often forgive any shortcomings !! But after spending a couple of hours on it, I'll never play it again. Overrated garbage with broken gameplay mechanics !!
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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

All reviews »
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]
See all critic reviews »