Apparently the game I've spent most time on this year of 100+ played games is Nioh 2. I'm just shy of 200 hours played in it so far. Logging hours on Backloggd isn't something I normally care much about and rarely log. So why am I mentioning it? Because despite that time played I'm not close to finished with it and nor am I bored with it either.

The beauty of this game compared with other Soulslike titles to me is the variety of builds and the quality of life features allowing you to do this. In many ways it reminds me a lot of Monster Hunter World in that though the basic principal is fighting monsters, but how you do it is what makes the game so fun. Simply picking up a different weapon and aiming towards different skills and combat ideas drastically changes the game completely. As an example just in the last few weeks I've had poison damage builds, life gaining builds, tank builds, pure ninjitsu builds, a mixture of all of the above. My friend I'm playing with has gone into a magic warrior build focusing on lightning damage and I've started using fists for fast martial attacks. There are a ton of weapons to try, skills to chain, as well as spells and synergy to mix them all together.

None of this would work if the combat was poorly implemented however, but Nioh 2 is made by Team Ninja who know a thing or two about combat systems. Though it's a Soulslike the use of a ki pulse (button timing to regain stamina during attacks) the smooth animations and performance just make it an absolute blast to play. They also introduced a burst counter where you can stop enemies dead in their tracks with the right timing when they do a special attack, though if you miss time it the consequences can be pretty devastating. This is also entirely to Nioh 2's credit that no matter how much I min max my build it feels balanced in a way the first game never quite managed. Yes I can destroy enemies fairly easily but they will hit back hard if you make a mistake.

I mentioned some quality of life features above about how easy it is to reset stats and skills for experimentation above but there are other aspects I like about Nioh 2. Being able to summon AI teammates of other players at the time of placing allowing you to solo the game with a little help. Being able to fight AI of players where they died and get their equipment without the constant threat of being invaded at the wrong time. (An enemy even uses those against you in a really cool way). It just all flows really nicely.

Edit: Originally I had written this mentioning my disappointment with the multiplayer. Turns out my friend and I had played the entire game wrong not realizing expedition mode allows you to play more traditional co-op with a hub rather than summoning like is standard in a lot of souls games. Having tried that it's a real game changer, I can see my character in colour, interact with the environment, and not have to constantly reconnect between levels. Thanks ProudLittleSeal for pointing this out to me! Apparently after 200 hours in the game I still don't know it as well as I thought -_-;

In the end I love pretty much everything about Nioh 2. The character creator, presentation, music, and gameplay just make it extremely addictive to me. I'm most of the way through the second DLC at the moment before moving onto New Game +. There are quite a few hours still to come.

Also, I want a pet Scampuss.