Nioh 2 Embraces Its Dark Side While Enhancing The Souls-Like Action
Nioh 2 Embraces Its Dark Side While Enhancing The Souls-Like Action
Team Ninja’s Nioh 2 is very much a continuation of the methodical Souls-style samurai-influenced combat from the original game. As a prequel set several decades earlier in the Sengoku-era, before the arrival of the foreigner William, you play as a nameless Samurai who can defy death and unleash newfound abilities due to their latent demonic lineage. As a being of both the human and demon worlds, your character will rub shoulders with historical figures of the era as they take on daring missions that have them confront the dark forces running afoul in the land.
Just like the original, Nioh 2 is firmly rooted in the Souls-style dynamic of facing nerve-wracking challenges and overcoming powerful foes that can easily wipe the floor with you if you’re not careful. However, the sequel lets you channel your dark side with the use of Yokai powers. In addition to using conventional weapons like katanas, spears, and the new transformable switch-glaive, you also have a suite of Yokai powers that let you turn the tables on once-challenging enemies.
“When we worked on Nioh 1, we initially struggled with the concept and the world, but we ended up having a good foundation,” said Yasuda. “So after it was finished, it was just a matter of evolving it to the next level. So with Nioh 2, we added more variety in the levels and the character’s story; everything is expanded. Because it’s an action game, it tends to be, especially in the first one, repetitive due to the lack of enemy variety as well. So based on the player feedback, we made sure to have more variety in enemies and interesting gameplay and story in the second one.”
