Today I present a review with a heart full of passion, for a triumphant return to the beloved development Team Ninja, which has always excelled in representing the Japanese historical atmosphere and mastering kinetic games that are difficult for newborns, Team Ninja takes us back to Japan’s feudalism, similar to Samurai Warriors 4, and fiefdom period Team Ninja challenges From Software and presents its wonderful Nioh 2 exclusively on PlayStation 4 and here we are reviewing it.
I have to admit at the outset that I was always a big fan of Team Ninja, this studio that took great credit for cinematic games when it developed Ninja Gaiden on the first Xbox to present a high-class kinetic epic. With an unprecedented level of difficulty and challenge In the three dimensions just as the series was in the two dimensions I do not deny that I felt sad when he left the famous studio designed “Tomonobo Itagaki” and the failure of the third part of Ninja Gaiden to reach the level of the previous two parts, but the studio managed to prove their great capabilities again when they found a new combination that fits their games and their strengths in focusing on the kinetic gameplay with the level of the challenge.
Unique Fighting Style
Although Nioh is essentially a game that replicates the combination of soles games a lot and sometimes up to the stage of unpleasant imitation, it may be the best game that has succeeded in quoting that combination, and even if I want to be honest, I think I tend to play and fight in Nioh 2 and prefer it a bit from From Software’s games This is due to the studio’s brilliant touch in presenting combat positions, which are three different positions for each weapon: low, medium, high.
A low stance, for example, provides fast attacks that deal limited damage to a single hit, while a high stance provides very strong but slow hits, and average is a mix of the two, the player can switch between these stances at a glance without stopping playing, and the game also provides an expanded skill tree to develop each weapon within these modes.
Game Abilities
The combat system Nioh 2 is really cool and is deeper than the Dark Souls games, it has the aforementioned combat stances, magic and Ningutsu abilities, and the ability to impart elements such as poison or fire against weapons, as well as the new addition to the game which is the Yukai abilities.
Thanks to these abilities, the player can repel a supernatural attack from enemies when the enemy glows red in preparation for this attack, carrying out the so-called Burst Counter by pressing R2 and a circle at the right time, the player can switch to Yukai in full for a limited period of time during which it is impervious , and the player can also use a large number of lives per yukai Including the ability of the monkey warrior Enki, for example, to jump and throw a spear, these abilities consume a separate violet counter, and have contributed to giving us victory over many opponents.
Souls fans may not like these ideas very much with a preference for professional play without any additional abilities, but we really loved Team Ninja adding a stylish kinetic touch that makes the player feel strong and equal to the strong Yukai creatures.
Weapons
One of the aspects that I really liked in Nioh 2 is the loot system, and in fact I really like RPGs that master this aspect a lot, players compare Nioh to Diablo in this regard, and there is another Japanese game that is very creative in providing loot that can benefit from it is Xenoblade Chronic It can range from usable tools (consumables) such as treatments, tonics, weapons and shields, and when fighting and overcoming the same enemy more often, the enemy starts to drop more rare weapons, shields, tools or even his soul core (Soul Core) which allows the player to use a new special ability adapted from the way this enemy is attacked.
Gameplay
Nioh 2 is a very long game with a large number of basic narrative tasks and a large number of other side or sub tasks, a game that uses its resources wisely to increase the age and value, makes the player return to some stages in side quests and travel through them in a different order.
Enemies
With a different distribution of enemies and even a change in the appearance of the scenario to renew and eliminate boredom or a sense of repetition. Of course, the game would not have shined in this way had it not been for the tightly designed combat and the ideal distribution of enemies in the stages as well as the large number of these enemies that will test all of your combat abilities, this was one of the points that players complained about in the first part (limited enemies), but we assure you that this is not the case at all in the second part.
And of course there are also the dark yukai regions where the yukai spirit world mixes with the human world, in these areas the ki filling slowly becomes limited, as Yukai’s power increases significantly, these areas that are black and white will cause panic in the hearts of players, as they really pose the challenge, and any confrontation with Yukai is a hectic confrontation that is difficult to escape without mastering the Ki Pulse system that relies on the Return to Combat mode after carrying out the attack.
At the mention of Yukai, we believe that we must pay tribute to the magnificence of representing the historical aspect of this game and imagine Japan in the period of warring fiefdoms – that bloody period in which wars between feudal masters – increased with incomparable ingenuity.
Historical theme
With the appearance of a number of historical figures who left their mark on that time, such as Nobunaga Oda, who wanted to unite Japanese lands (and if the character with whom we play is completely fictional, the player himself does with a powerful modification engine full of options), plus the beautiful representation of Japanese villages and palaces and ancient castles with their unique architectural style, forests, mountainous areas and Shinto temples, etc.
This game thrives with the fragrance of history and will make you forget your real world to live in ancient Japan with its myths, legends, weapons and ancient temples. The famous weapons of Japanese history are present in the game, such as the long-haired Odachi sword, and the Kusarigama is a scythe tied with a Metallic chain.
Creatures
As for the yukai creatures, the game excelled in embodying it with creatures such as the Darkness Monster and the Smoke Enenra, the annoying Gaki ghosts, the fighting bird Karasu-tengu, the acrobatic snake Nure-onna and many others. Even several clothes and shields come from the Japanese heritage as Hakama and are traditional samurai clothing. If Dark Souls quotes weapons, shields and designs from ancient European history, Nioh is a game of pure Japanese suns.
Nioh 2 is not the best looking game on PlayStation 4, although it manages to embody the magic of the samurai and its ancient beauty, the game offers a choice to focus on the accuracy of the show and keep it while playing at 30 frames per second, or play at a higher and more stable tire speed, although we chose the second option, however, the tire rate dropped several times during exploration. Fortunately, the fighting remained consistent and solid, and this drop was not affected.
Sounds
The music in the game is average and we really wished some tracks were used more than they were, and it can be said overall that the presentation elements are not a strength of the game despite the presence of some beautiful cinemas, but it’s not a weakness either.
Nioh 2: A really decent game to play
Nioh 2 is the best Souls game that doesn’t bear the Dark Souls name, and it’s one of the best PlayStation 4 exclusive games and one of this generation’s masterpieces as well. It cites the combination and produces a product that has its own mark on this type of game.
Nioh 2 is a triumphant return to the consummate team, Team Ninja, which returns to the top to offer an addictive combat system with a complex and saturated adventure that smells the beautiful Japanese history of its heritage, creatures, myths and bloody fights, Nioh 2 brings down the edge of the eternal Ninja action.
Pros
- Long adventure and huge and varied content
- Large amount of enemies and leaders
- Many Yukai abilities that add more diversity to the deep fighting system
- Solid and tight design
- Numerous mapping options
- A wonderful loot system
Cons
- Some drop in tire rates
