I`ve seen this criticism being levied at Nioh before and I really dont get it, in Nioh unlike the souls games you actually have skill based techniques and they do make a hell of a difference in combat, when it comes to stamina managment alone a more skilled player will be able to keep the offensive way more then a unskilled player, here the gap between these 2 players is way bigger then in any souls games, and we didnt even get into combos or managing your oponents stamina, moves like the kick completelly change how you can engage in combat, changing stances is key to keeping up the flow of combat,etc etc.KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑March 13th, 2018, 5:55 pm The combat is really good, but the importance given to raw stats over skill-based techniques means it doesn't always feel as rewarding as it could. The game is a bit too forgiving and it encourages grinding to the point where the Souls-esque type of tension it goes for often falls flat.
Im putting all of this here because I really dont feel the game has big reliance on stats, certainly not more then any souls game and you`ll see that by watching any Lvl 1 runs on Nioh that rely solely on player skill.
While it`s true that the game ecourages grinding in the sense that it has alot of missions for you to do and it offers loot as rewards it`s all entirely optional, you dont have to do any side missions and even I who did every single side mission in the game still arrived at the final mission 20 lvls bellow the recommended and was able to beat it no problem.
I do agree that the game doesnt have the tension dark souls does but the game isnt by any strech too forgiving in fact if you compare this to any souls game you can die much faster in Nioh then any souls game, the yokai never become pushovers your ability in fighting them increases sure but they can still easily kill you at any point in the game, but as your skill with the game increases and you unlock new techniques and tools it gets easier sure in that sense yeah the game loses it`s tension but, and you may want to say Im just being an apoligist with this, but I feel the game is sorta designed that way, in the beginning you`re barely surviving and is learning the game and by the end the game expects you to master it`s systems and do it perfectly much like a Platinum character action game which is why the game has so many backed in achivements for killing a boss 5 times or doing it in a time limit or without taking any hits.
I have no experience with Ninja Gaiden so I cant speak to that but me only knowing souls and looking at Nioh as a game in the same genre I think its remarkable and it really brings the genre foward by bringing a combat system that leaves everything else in the dust(I mean the spear moveset in Nioh is hands down the best spear moveset out of any game I played, not that hard considering that video games seem to hate spears but I digress) it takes the souls template and expands on it with a far more complex and deep combat system, while preserving it`s signiature aspects of progression, intricate level design and high difficulty.KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑March 13th, 2018, 5:55 pm As a huge fan of both Ninja Gaiden and Dark Souls, it feels to me like this game tries to tick all the superficial boxes without understanding the specific structures that make those games tick.
Yeah this is the point I agree with the most and I think they could have kept the loot drive but maybe do something like monster hunter where you can craft the weapon type by collecting itens in the world I think that would make the weapon you have feel more meaningfull but there are alot of people that are into that Diablo system and it`s entirelly optional you can completelly ignore the loot system if you dont like and it`s not like you`ll be punished for not finding the blacksteel katana or whatever because all you need is a basic katana and you can do everything with it, Im also really glad they just give you all weapon types in the beginning and allow you to pick the one you like right away unlike say BloodBorne where I have to beat the entiry game before I can get the weapon that I fucking like, and while in dark souls the gear you get is more meaningfull because of stats and their visual appearence their moveset is identic to other of the same class and much simpler, only Bloodborne has more significant changes from weapon to weapon but it also has the least amount of then out of every souls game and it`s moveset is still simpler.KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑March 13th, 2018, 5:55 pm I think the overcomplicated weapons / loot system is by far the biggest issue. NG2 has 8 different melee weapons, each with their own unique movesets, abilities, pros and cons. Every one of those is memorable and easily available. Nioh has 7 different melee weapon types, including DLC, each with dozens of minor variations who only differ in terms of stats and random modifiers. I don't feel connected to any specific piece of equipment when I regularly have to sell hundreds of useless junk after very mission. It means absolutely nothing to be gifted a sword said to be a valuable treasure as reward for completing a mission when you end up finding 5 more of the exact same type as random enemy drops in the next mission. The entire system is tedious and lack any meaningful choices.
To so extent I understand your criticism but I think Nioh achieves exactly what it wants to, and I for one love that despite of being a mixture of Ninja gaiden and Dark souls it`s neither of those