Nioh: Revisited

Release: 2016
Platform: PC
Developer: Ninja Theory
Publisher: Koei Tecmo, Sony
Genre: Third person, Action, RPG
Gameplay Stats: 71 hours played, 44/79 achievements, Finished the main game and 1/3 DLC

This game had been stuck in my mind. I felt like I failed in my attempt at playing it before because I didn't finish the game. My brother in law kept talking it up, so I decided to give it another try, this time on PC! So I didn't have any temptation to load up my old save file and because it included DLCs. If I liked it, it makes sense to get them for cheaper, right?

Visuals: This game is pretty! I think the environments, enemy and NPC designs are really nice. I like the way the story is handled and the map is a pretty cool way to select missions. They did a good job with all of the styling here, it's very consistent. The issue here is the variation. There is very little throughout the whole game. You are fighting many of the same enemies in the first mission that you are in the final mission. The same areas are reused for several of the missions, with some revisits even on the critical path. It's insane the amount of things that are reused over and over and over and over again. What's here is nice when you first see it, but exhausting by the end of the game.

Audio: Everything here is fine! The voicing is good, better than many of the games. It's a bit melodramatic, but that feels very deliberate in this game. I didn't recognize any of the actors, but the majority of the game is in Japanese by default, so that makes sense I suppose. The music is really nice! I don't know that I will revisit it, but everything in this game sounds nice when it happens. The audioscape is very descriptive of what's going on around you in the game and is only rarely overbearing (looking at you battlegrounds levels). The sound effects are spot on as well.

Plot: I think the plot of this game is kind of garbage? It's about a man chasing down his guardian spirit, which is set up in the opening level. There are some people that pop in and out of the story at different points, but by in large the rest of the story felt like filler to me. This game felt a bit like an anime in that the main plot is set up at the start and then there's a whole lot of forgettable nonsense that happens in the middle until there is the final resolution. The payoff isn't even very good. The characters were unique enough, but it seems like the main character doesn't have a personality and doesn't really undergo any meaningful change.

Gameplay: The combat here is what really shines. I think that it's the bread and butter of this game. The combat in a Dark Souls game is fun, but Nioh brings it to a whole new, more engaging level. There are 6 weapon classes, with 3 stances each, and several learned skills that can change up any combos for any of the weapons. The combat is quick and decisive. This is paired with a Diablo-like loot system with differing rarities and a myriad of modifiers that are applied to all of the varying equipment pieces. On top of that is a fairly rich RPG leveling mechanic with 10 different stats to level each time you have enough amrita (read: souls). To me, the combination of all these elements felt like the game design was confused. The combat is best when it's done quickly and boldly and that is a stark contrast to all of the time you spend pouring through various menus to make sure you have the best equipment considering all of the relevant set bonuses and each individual piece.

I really wanted to like this game my second time through. I really, really did. I finished the game, so I feel like I can actually levy some criticism this time around instead of feeling like I was whining before. I think this game does a lot right and a lot wrong. The combat in this game is beautiful. Its fun, and pretty strategic, more than any souls game at least. All of the options here are done well, but I feel like this game is really held back by all of the repetition and clunky menus. There is so much meaningless fluff added into this game to keep you from the meat. I think I would have enjoyed this game substantially more with less loot and less focus on trolling through menus to make sure that you have the boosts you need for the next boss. It would be possible to skip all of that, but it helps so immensely that I think this is how the designers wanted the game to be played. The design pulling you in two different directions paired with how much of this game is reused left me feeling underwhelmed when I completed my time with this game. Ninja Theory is a big game developer, this isn't their first game. It's the first of their games I've played and it makes me want to not play the rest of their catalog. [6/10]