Reviews from

in the past


Yuki Onna made me quit, gonna come back when I have more mental resilience đź‘Ť

the base combat is awesome, but everything around it is genuinely awful, i.e. loot, how repetitive the game gets quickly and most importantly the horrid level design

no seriously this is even worse levels of "i just wanna make you suffer" than dark souls 2

the PC optimisation is..... questionable as well, but at least it's not as bad as Stranger of Paradise (that is to say, it's playable)

As good as I remembered. I like everything on it, the loot system, the gameplay, the builds, the char design, the level design, the boss. Wouldn't change much in a sequel. The Odachi and Tonfa are great additions. And the Abyss although hard can be really fun.

I LOVED this game. I remember when this game first came out I forced myself to play it and thus didn't enjoy it at all. But I sat on this game and many years later I actually had interest in giving this game a real try and this time around I fell in love with Nioh. The core gameplay is just so much fun and there is so much to do with the combat it might be some of my favorite combat in souls game period. Sadly didn't really go into the DLCs as the game pretty much makes you replay through the main campaign again due to a huge difficulty spike just to get ready to even attempt the DLC and that is really a deal breaker for me. But that is 100% okay with as beating the main campaign was very fulfilling so I don't feel left out by not playing the DLC.

Highly recommend.

I came into Nioh expecting it to be a kind of decent dark souls game with not much worth noting, considering I've been recommended to skip this title and head towards the supposedly better sequel. Much to my surprise though, it turned out to be an excellent action game with a lot to differentiate itself from dark souls, so much so that I don't see the comparison when this game launched initially.

For being an action game, it has an incredible amount of depth in its gameplay. At first I imagined that the stance switching mechanic wasn't going to be all that impactful. All it did was switch your moveset, so why not just se the high stance so I can get the most damage output? After getting my shit stomped in the first area by common enemies, I learned that different stances have different dodges, which I couldn't see how impactful that was; I'd just stay in mid stance all the time since it seemed to have the most iframe-distance-endlag ratio. After dying to the first boss multiple times, I'd found myself switching my stances all the time to avoid certain attack patterns. That stayed true for the entirety off the bosses later in the game and even when they started introducing tougher enemies. I could talk about my discoveries using all the mechanics this game gives you, but the review would go on forever, so just know: This game does give you more depth that what you will ever need.

The level designs in this game are nothing to write home about. I don't dread going into a level, in fact its kind of easy to navigate, but they do nothing interesting in the levels that they all blend in together. They're not quite hallway-to-hallway linear though, so there is some exploration to be done. But to be honest, I'd probably prefer hallway levels over what the game have.

There's a lot of loot in this game, but my god is there not a good inventory system. You have to painstakingly sort your equipment while deciding which weapons you want to keep and discard while also comparing it to your own equipment and other similar equipment to keep track of the skills. That would be fine, I don't mind spending ten minutes of my time managing my inventory every so often. After finding 100-200 pieces of loot per level, it becomes a major flaw in this game, especially without an auto-discard option.

Finally, the last point I'd like to touch on: As you get towards the end of the game, its becomes a button masher rather than playing it carefully aggressive. It becomes a matter of "how good your equipment is" than "how good your skills are". In the last 1/3rd of the game, I've probably died twice to bosses. I'd go in there, use my guardian spirit and wipe out 1/2 or sometimes 2/3rds of their HP and usually beat them on my first try. Not saying I completely shut my brain off when fighting bosses, but they've become quite significantly easier.

Though in this review I've mainly talked about the negatives about this game, it goes to show how good the actual gameplay is. It hard carries the mediocre level designs, the lackluster music, and the frankly boring story.


A good combat system, ruined by trash map design and some souls-like shit.

Wow I hate this Game.
To be honest I don't really think that Nioh is a Bad Game, but it is frustrating as hell.
Nioh does what DS don't. It is unfair at times - a thing DS never was.
You get pushed into death by an enemy that was not visible (happened maybe twice in DS but it is standard in Nioh), there are small bridges where you can fall to death easily and Nioh put's large enemies (3x your size) in front of you. They have to hit you once and you're dead but you have to hit them 6-8 Times. All while being Shot by enemies from distance.
Then there are the side Missions which are basically 80% the same levels you already finished but in reverse. I think that's lazy.
Then there is the fact that you can only learn certain skills If you visit the dojo and complete the tutorials... I think that's kinda annoying, too.
Than there is the fact that I'm not into the monster design...

Nioh has it's good ideas, sure.
But after 20 hours I decided that I will not waste my time any longer in a game that TO ME had more negative aspects than positive ones.

A Good Game with a lot of very rough edges is the simplest way to put this game. The weapon and build varity are top notch making combat really enjoyable, but everything else is lack laster, story is hard to follow and the characters aren't that interesting (with the exception of Sanada Yukimura).
the level design is very uninspired and the level balancing in the DLCs is really Bad. Bosses are a bit hit or miss but overall i really enjoyed this game.

Man I was REALLY enjoying this game until the second region. I thought combat was really cool and it was awesome. The loot system eventually just wore down my brain, like this is way too much shit and *I* really just can't ignore it (brain goblins). The level in region 2 with the big water yokai boss is what basically sealed the deal though. That level kind of just sucks i think, and I hate that boss, I am so sick of "Wait for big enemy to attack with arms, then attack arms" (It also has a 1 shot fucking laser, woo!). Also some normal enemies are fucking annoying as shit.

Thought the combat was fucking cool, but the rest of the gameplay loop really fucking drags it down for me

its not that good,just go play sekiro is probably better

When I played this on PS4, I ended up stopping after the first DLC mission. And now, I'm in the same position because nothing is more annoying in a game like this than DLC that buys into its own self-hype about difficulty.

Speaking of difficulty, this time I had basically zero difficulty because poison bombs and blinding bombs are stupid strong and even very strong enemies can't deal with them.

I've never agreed with the common complaints about bad level design (bad? No, at worst serviceable) or the enemy reuse (if your baddy roster is strong enough you don't need hundreds of unique guys).

I will say the final level is pretty bad having just replayed. The first 2/3rds are swarming with high-tier monsters, balanced by having two companions. But then your companions have the intelligence of a seal with brain trauma and will trap you on ladders or push you off thin walkways because they're too goddamn stupid to walk forward.

It is, however, still immensely funny how the first final boss, whose return has been described as the worst possible outcome...just says "nah I'm done with you nerds" and peaces out because actually he doesn't give a shit

Combat is really flashy and addicting but there is some insane level creep, especially with the DLCs.

el combate está bastante bueno, pero el diseño de nivel es algo soso, por lo que no termina de superar (por ejemplo) a dark souls, y los jefes no son tan memorables por lo mismo de que no representan el final de un nivel inteligentemente elaborado.

This game is fun for a while but after so many levels of fighting the same 5 monsters over and over it gets too boring to want to endure the difficulty. The loot system is a nightmare as well.

My first proper 3D Souls-like game.

The combat is extremely fun and fast-paced, with a lot of variety in builds.
However, that's where my compliment ends as Nioh suffers from a lack of enemy variety and reuses certain bosses as reoccurring enemies, which makes them a chore to fight. Some of the side-missions felt extremely repetitive with bosses that are just regular enemies but beefed up. As for the boss fights, they are not very memorable and the final three bosses were straight up just disappointing. For a souls-like this felt a bit too easy, I expected to pull my hair out playing this.

Despite my gripes, it is still a fun game and I would still recommend giving this a go.

Gameplay is generally poorly designed and frustrating to play. Just another mess of a game that so desperately wants to be Dark Souls without any understanding of what makes those games so incredible and enjoyable. PC port is a complete fucking mess as well, so that's just insult to injury. I've heard the sequel resolves many of the major issues I have with the original, so I may pick that up on sale eventually. Until then, I would strongly advise you avoid this game.

Despite being a "souls-like" Nioh does a lot to distinguish itself from others of its genre - when it's not being stupidly frustrating.

I liked how unique each weapon class was, the complexity of the combat, the Living Weapon system, some of the bosses, the overall aesthetic, and the loot system (especially during the DLCs).

I disliked most "bullshit" mechanics: getting stunlocked and dying in one inescapable string, projectiles that are annoying to dodge, almost every gank boss, and on occassion just straight-up getting one-shot. Some non-gank bosses also felt unfair.

I also think that the game goes on for too long - especially since the side missions often reuse maps, the game starts to become repetitive. However, I found the DLCs to be a lot better-paced.

I recommend this game if you crave a souls-like with loads of content to sink your teeth into, or maybe if you just want to play as a ninja with guns.

brutally beautiful action RPG with insanely difficult and at times incredibly frustrating difficulty spikes. Lots of enemy variety and fulfilling boss fights, but the deeper mechanics came off as overly convoluted and unnecessary for the most part.

Isso até que é bom, gosto de um bom souls like, e como outros do gênero, esse me fez passar raiva, até mais que Dark Souls 3, malditos sejam os criadores.

Um Souls Like muito bem feito pelos desenvolvedores de Ninja Gaiden, com ótimos chefes, level design labirintico e muitas opções de armas e de builds, o jogo não irá agradar a todos pois sua dificuldade chega a ser injusta, independente da sua build ou do inimigo, seu personagem morrerá em 2-3 hits, em chefes então nem se fala, porém, a movimentação é bem rápida, portanto se você se dedicar e aprender as mecânicas, você vai encontrar um ótimo jogo e vai conseguir se entreter por pelo menos 50 hrs.

Com um amigo também é super divertido!

Not bad, but not great either.
I do not dislike a difficult game, but I think that between player and developer there should always be a sense of fairness, to use a tabletop rpg metaphor the master should play with the pcs, not against them.
And sometimes, what happenes in this game is the latter. I've dropped the dlcs because getting killed in a couple blows by normal soldier was getting a tad too frustrating. But I guess the main game doesn't have too many moments like that, and the player can also "play dirty", for example with the sloth talisman which completely breaks bossfights.
Narratively, it's really unimpressive. A blank slate of a main characters, to the point that in some scenes he becomes kind of funny, just as the main villain...

Not sure why but every time I ever tried playing this game something bad would happen in my life. After my wife left me I said screw it, instead of getting money to pay for child support, I'll finally muster up the courage to beat this cursed game. I did it and my wife came back to me a week later. (true story)

One of the best combat systems in gaming.

Has the worst enemy pool I've ever experienced, you stop seeing new enemies after just 10-15 hours, the bosses are re-used a ton of times and they are all basically damage sponges with one shot potential. Armors don't matter for shit, looting system tries to be intricate and complex but it's just bad. The story is mediocre, you have no idea what the fuck is going on in the beginning and whenever something happens you dont really care cuz you havent gotten to know the characters... they're just there. Extremely disappointed 4/10

Edit: Came back to remove half a start after going through the last side missions cuz that shit was terrible, the devs just gave up and threw a bunch of dual boss fights. Won't play the DLCs cuz I know they will be shit.

Putting soulslike levels into a monster hunter structure works very well! That said, the game gets a bit stale in the latter half. Also holy shit this game's tough!

Combats zzzzzzzz (pourtant le système est cool avec les postures, le ki... mais c'est mou quoi)


detesto este juego con toda mi alma, peeero es probablemente el mejor soulslike no hecho por fromsoftware que hay

A Soul game with No Soul. I regret wasting my precious time on this bs. The game's not worth my time. The story's boring as hell. I barely give shit about the characters. Though the combat may be fun but its really frusterating. Never ever gonna touch this shit again.

This game's combat is so fun that I can forgive the lack of enemy variety and poor level design.

Ninja Dark Souls, before the REAL Ninja Dark Souls.