Summary:
- 🎮 Name of the game: Nioh 2 Remastered
- 📅 Launch date: February 5, 2021 (version
Remastered for PS5 and PC) - 🏢 Developer: Team Ninja
- 📌 Publisher: Koei Tecmo
- 🖥️
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC (Steam) - ⚔️
Genre: Souls-like - 🌍 Context: Direct prequel to the first Nioh,
also set in the Japan of the Sengoku period. Includes a new story
with supernatural elements from Japanese folklore and the possibility of creating your own
own half-human, half-yokai character.
History and narrative
The
Nioh 2's story is more complete and detailed than its previous game,
however, it is still a little difficult to understand in the sense of
understand the characters and who they are. The plot is simple to follow and is
practically the same as Nioh, it is better developed and has more depth,
more at the end it is about chasing an ancient yokai named Otakemaru that
threat to the world. In Nioh we were chasing an alchemist, here it's a yokai, but
there are some changes in the story that make it not the same development.
In Nioh 2
we create a customizable character that will later be called Hide. At
We are a no name at first, but then we become important in the world and we become
we call Hide, who is a half-yokai and half-human being, which makes him more
attractive and gives you more combat skills, as well as being more powerful.
Contact us at
historical figures such as Tokichiro, whose goal is to find the most important
spiritual stones and see them as a collection with the power of the Amrita, that
is basically the source of power and what helps us level up. The idea
of the game at the beginning proposes more to support Tokichiro with his objectives, without
However, it then shifts to a yokai chase throughout Japan.
The game
is a prequel up to 40 years before the story of Nioh with William, by
We see notable characters such as Nobunaga, who was a chief that
appears near the end of Nioh and was very powerful. I consider the
characters, dialogue and world building are much better developed.
than in his previous game; it was more interesting and understandable to me, since the
game takes its time through cinematics to explain what is going on and, if it
you pay attention to the dialogues and learn the names of each one of them which
can be confusing, it really entertains on a narrative level. Of course, it's not your
main point and its focus.
Although, if
If you have played both games, you will understand a bit about the feudal era of Japan.
Neither to the point of being an expert, but it serves as an introduction to the subject.
Our character Hide cannot speak, which would have been more interesting.
to give more life to the character and not to be the typical protagonist.
that is only born to fulfill a single objective, but to go beyond that.
Tokichiro becomes an interesting character at first, then somewhat annoying.
Omyo was the best and most interesting companion for
Hide, giving it a clearer purpose in this world.
At
overall, I think the story improves a lot and the character development
also, however, is still not a major highlight of the game and is not its
main focus, as far as can be understood. Although I think that, being a
game that combines real historical events with some fantasy, it would be nice to
to expand these events further so that the player feels more connected to
which is mostly due to the length of the game, as it can take you a long time to play the game.
hours to get to see a cinematic of the story.
Gameplay
The point
and the focus of the game. Nioh 2 expands and improves on the first game.
Nioh, although its improvement is more linked to new mechanics and combat options.
than to something really very innovative, i.e., yes, it's practically the same as the
previous game. The three postures are maintained: low, medium and high. In my case,
I only used the stocking and the high, and with that I was able to
enough. Each enemy is weaker against one posture than another, only that by
In the end, regardless of which one you use, you can defeat the enemy without any problems.
Management
of Ki is now more fundamental, use it and take advantage of the ability of pulse
of Ki. I say this because they incorporated a new mechanic in the combats. The
yokai, which are the strongest enemies, usually leave a circle on the floor that
reduces the load on your stamina, slows it down, and we know that in these
games if you run out of stamina you are dead. Well, what they incorporated now
is that there are dark worlds, where the yokai can get you into a zone
not only in that small circle I mentioned, but now there is also the
large areas with this effect. It doesn't sound bad in practice, on the map and
fighting against small enemies or intermediate yokai, but the problem with this
new mechanics is in the fight against bosses, which here I considered unfair.
That's why in Nioh you must know how to use everything the game offers you, without shame
to use less-than-honorable mechanics; forget that because the game is unfair when it
you want. Bosses that pull you into that dark world and your Ki bar gets too high.
slow... to me, this is a cheap way to complicate a combat vs.
enemies, because if it weren't for this, the game's bosses would be a lot more
easy.
In addition,
the bosses feel like they have a lot more life. Each combat can last about 4
minutes on average, but not so much because it's so complicated, but because it's actually
each has a huge life bar. These details make the
gameplay feels a little more heavy than fun. And don't get me wrong,
this does not mean that the combats are bad, only that they are cheap resources.
developers not to go to the trouble of designing a more complicated combat
strategic and skillful.
This
This is also the case with normal enemies. It is exaggerated the amount of life that
has only one enemy, and I start with the jellyfish, which were the ones I hated the most:
up to 10 blows to defeat an enemy that repeats itself every 2 minutes that
you advance. The time it takes to defeat an enemy, even if you are already ahead of him
of the mission level, it's absurd. It is very badly balanced and worse if you are attacked.
several at the same time. The Gaki, annoying, who seem to be only looking for
merge and even then they can't beat you.
The game
introduces more yokai, but it does recycle the ones from the previous game and tries to
balance them more in the development. It is an issue to be improved that, at least in this
time, they did a little better by not overloading so much with the same enemies.
over and over again. It does happen, but not as much as in the first game, as now.
there is more variety. Of course, now they overcharge you a little bit more with the new ones.
yokai, mainly with the Gaki, who come out at every corner.
The fight
is essentially the same as the previous one. The most innovative, period.
yokai powers: briefly transforming and absorbing souls from
enemies. Soul Cores“ are introduced for acquiring skills of
yokai. Now we have a purple bar which is called anima and allows us to use
powerful yokai attacks, which are very useful and fun, facilitate more
the combat. In my case I stuck with the core bosses of Ryomen and Gyuki.
for the damage and effect they caused. This was the most innovative aspect of the game and a
total success in my point.
Now, if
the menu and all objects and descriptions were heavy in the previous game,
get ready with this one, because now we have the soul cores and a tree of
skills for each weapon, ninjutsu, magic, samurai and yokai. Now you get
skill points, there are so many of them that knowing which ones to unlock is of
sit and read for a while. I feel like the menus were already loaded and now they are.
more, also adding bartering with the kodamas for temporary objects that, in
the missions in the first region, they are useful, but in the rest of the game, they are
seemed useless. Let's see, Nioh 2 offers so many things that it becomes
too much for one player and you don't end up taking advantage of everything. Not because you don't want to
or you can't, but because what you have works and the rest you don't need,
although this is a plus in terms of the variety of elements offered.
for each style and each player. As an important recommendation, find all
the kodamas in each zone, you will have a better experience with this.
Weapons
are still varied: odachi, spear, sword, double-handed sword, katana, and
others. In the end they all have their advantages and disadvantages. I only used odachi and
spear, and the spear is the best. The bad thing about combat with weapons I think would be that
is identical to the first game, of course, you now have more combos thanks to the
skills, but there are so many of them that in the end I only used basic attacks to pass the
game. The same thing I tell you: it has so many elements that in the end you don't know how to play it.
used.
The system
to forge weapons made it more complicated in an unnecessary way. Navigating through
I found everything about the blacksmith's shop more burdensome, to the point that it didn't call me back to
nothing the attention to forge weapons or armor. First for its requirements and the other
is that it feels tiring to have to go through all the searching and searching for
simply forge something. In this game I felt less relevant to the blacksmith, and
by far.
Is it more
difficult to learn? Yes, this is your first Nioh will be a learning curve.
very high, more complex than the first game. However, the initial tutorial is
and I recommend you very straightforwardly: pay too much attention to the
tutorial so that your first mission is not a torture, because this is the mistake.
biggest mistake players make, they don't learn from the tutorial.
The second
mistake that happens more to veterans, especially to players from other countries.
soulslike, is that they think that Nioh is played or should be played the same as others
souls, and it's not. If you think this is going to be the same as Dark Souls, you're going to
fail. You must learn to adapt to what the game demands of you, and you will see that you do not
This applies not only in games, but in life.
At
overall, it's still a solid gameplay with new mechanics, but in the
practice feels identical to the first game
List
complete set of bosses from the base game of Nioh 2 and my opinion of difficulty:
- Mezuki: A boss who at first
intimidating, but misses too many attacks, so it is not difficult to
dodge. I hadn't even played Nioh for years and I was able to beat it a la
first. I think it's more of a tutorial boss than anything else, I give it a 3 out of 3.
10 difficulty. - Enenra: This guy was too much
annoying for me, it took me 8 tries and it always defeated me when it was left
little life. I feel that it has too much life for an initial boss and, when it
enters the dark world, it becomes complicated by the stamina recharge. See
can use the pillars, which, when broken, will pour water on them (their weakness).
His design is very good and his combat was more complicated than I thought it would be. Le
I give a 5 out of 10. - Yatsu no Kami: I think this was the boss who
made me wonder if the game was going to live up to the first one, because it
I found it to be the second worst of the base game. Its design is horrible, its
combat is too boring and has too much life, a little bit wrong
balanced. I beat it on the fourth attempt, but each attempt took me 10
minutes because of the times it attacked from a distance and the mini-snakes that
sent. I have always insisted that when a boss uses minions
small is not a good boss. Fortunately I went around the map and destroyed the
statues that cause the poison pits, but if not, I would even think that the
arena is poorly designed. A bad boss and complicated by design. I give it
a 5 out of 10. - Imagawa Yoshimoto: A human boss, I think one
of the easiest, with simple and repetitive patterns. I beat it to the
secondly, by just putting a lightning Omamori on me and that's it, the combat becomes
a gift. I give it a 2 out of 10. - Kamaitachi: The sand is good and
interesting. The boss is annoying because he doesn't stand still and you have to be
When it attacks you quickly, it tries to get away from you and it is complicated
when climbing trees. Its design is simple and does not have much
ability beyond having to chase after him every time he runs away and
wait for it to come down. I give it a 4 out of 10 difficulty. - Azai Nagamasa: A boss who honestly doesn't
memorable, I beat it the first time. It causes more damage and has a spawn
infinite of the same attack over and over again, which can be annoying. Your
design is not a big deal and neither are his attacks, he seems to me to be a little bit of a boss.
eye-catching. I give it a 3 out of 10 for difficulty. - Tatarimokke: I beat it on my fifth attempt,
an annoying owl even all over the map until it reached him. His
combat, the only thing I didn't like was when he enters the dark world: he
becomes somewhat unfair, with slow stamina recharging, less vision of the
stage and some spheres shooting attacks at you. It seemed to me to be a
unnecessary to complicate the combat. The boss itself is fine, the problem
is its dark world. For me a 6 out of 10. - Magara Naotaka: A very good boss, one of the
best parts of the game that I enjoyed and felt it was well balanced. Most of all
fire attacks and that's it, with a sloth talisman you can finish him off easily. Your
I found the combat and art design to be among the best. I give it a 5 out of
10. - Saika Magoichi: A disappointment. This boss is a
copy and paste from the previous game, but now in an arena without fire.
unfair. Nothing really stands out from the combat and I find it unacceptable that
a game repeats a boss of a previous title and does not make a change
really attractive. I give it a 3 out of 10. - Gyuki: It took me 2 attempts. Fail
many attacks and it is sometimes difficult for him to place you well. One hit and you
puts him in a tight spot. I think he is one of the bosses with the most distinctive arena.
than others, sometimes repeating the same scenario. It does not have much to highlight: a
large yokai that does not represent a major challenge. I give it a 3 out of 10. - Kasha: Considered one of the most
I beat it the first time. At first the mission
was full of fire all over the place, so I assumed the boss would be
immune to fire, therefore, water was going to be his weakness, and just as he was
so it was. Using talismans and water ninjutsus in a short time he was breaking
his stamina bar and caused him a lot of damage. Still, he is a boss that
even with henchmen, I was not challenged, it was very predictable and
doesn't do that much damage. I did like its design and the combat as well. I give it a
4 of 10. - Ryomen Sukuna: I loved this boss, even
I used his soul core until the end of the game. I found it to be the best
the game's boss by its design, its path to him, the plot twist, the
and their combined attacks, where, depending on the face, they change the
attacks, which I found incredible. It has a balanced difficulty, since
you must know how to use a variety of water and fire attacks depending on the face
of the enemy. It took me 3 tries, but each one was very satisfying. Le
I give a 4 out of 10. - Shibata Katsuie: I had read and seen in videos
from tops that this boss was one of the most difficult ones, however, he was
I won on the second try. The combat arena I don't feel it went well
adapted for the type of combat against this yokai because of its size and
attacks. The fight is very good and has a background that gives it meaning.
to the battle, once defeated you will know it. Maybe I was already on the level
recommended. Despite having beaten it in 2 attempts, I consider it a 6.
out of 10. - Tokichiro: After having seen what
I had an incredible desire to beat him, and I was already getting
heavy the guy, so I took it more personal. I beat him the second time. Lo
important is the protection against lightning attacks, as it slows you down,
so if you avoid that the combat becomes easier. There is a simple method with
However, I don't see the need for it; he is not as much of a boss as I think he is.
difficult enough to force you to use methods like this. I give it a 5 out of 10. - Daidara Bocchi: The easiest fight, in my opinion
opinion, of all yokai. Moreover, a combat puzzle and of
button mashing than strategy. It is a big yokai only: it destroys
your crystals and victory is yours. I give it a 1 out of 10. - Hachisuka Koroku: An ally in previous missions
corrupt who decides to attack us, a character that I liked the times we
came out. His combat is easy, like almost all human combat. It does not change
much with respect to the others, more than a couple of attacks. With attacks of
magic makes for a quick match. I give it a 3 out of 10. - Shuten Doji: Reaching it is the most important
difficult, the place is confusing. This yokai is summoned and painted as a
powerful ancient yokai, it didn't seem so. I defeated him the first time, his
design is very good and so is the arena. It is the typical slow boss but with
brutal damage, misses a lot of attacks so dodging it is also not
complicated. I give it a 3 out of 10. - Lady Osakabe: Welcome to the worst boss in
the whole game. I can't say anything more than this is a copy of the boss.
end of Nioh, Yamata no Orochi. Unoriginal, combat design
horrible, super annoying and boring boss. This is one of those I say
that whoever has been in charge of designing it should be fired, because
this boss was garbage. It took me like 7 tries until I knew I could
use the cannon and shoot the main eye. I give it a 5 out of 10. - Maeda Keiji: I admit that I underestimated him in my
first attempt. I feel it's a mini-boss, a common enemy with more life.
and damage. Nothing special and nothing remarkable. I give it a 2 out of 10. - Tokichiro Yokai: Incredibly, it became more
easy this version than the human version. I managed to corner him in one corner of the
map and made it easy for me to attack him. It combines a lot of the previous combat plus
some additional details. Since we were looking for revenge, we were even more eager to
I had to defeat him. I didn't have to come up with a strategy like last time.
I give it a 5 out of 10. - Kashin Koji: Finally, the guy we have
who has been persecuting, who does not stop possessing others, now he does show his face.
This guy lives by just owning people. His combat is good and is 2
phases with 2 health bars, which is not very common in Nioh 2.
third attempt and I think that the most complicated thing is its dark world when
summons his clones. If you manage to overcome the clones, the rest of the combat
is simple. What makes it difficult are its clones, at that stage it does get
complicated. In the second phase, I used my guardian spirit and in a few minutes I had
attacks I lowered a lot of life just to finish it off. I give it a 6 out of 10. - William: Yes, that's right: we fight
against the protagonist of the first game, and the truth is that I didn't even want to do it,
maybe because of the affection I had for the character at the time, but whatever.
It's a straightforward bout, more of a nostalgic fight than a challenge. Here
William feels more like a mini-boss than a real one; there's even no
to lower him all his life, since at a certain point he jumps a cinematic. Le
I give a 2 out of 10. - Otakemaru: Undoubtedly the most difficult of the
base game. Considered one of the 3 most powerful yokai in history,
I must say they were not kidding. I liked their combat and it puts you to the test.
It uses different elemental attacks, the worst one being lightning because of its
effect. Its design is brutal and so is the combat area. I would have
I would have liked a more in-depth cinematic with this villain and not just a fight and
ready. Unlike the previous game, this one is a good final boss.
done and justly challenging. I don't remember how many attempts I had, but
I feel that in the end each one was a learning experience. I give it a 7 out of 10.
Graphics and visual design
For the
type of game that it is, its graphic quality is very good. It has 4K, 60 fps and
much more defined textures. The game is neither open world nor interconnected.
like the other Souls, but each mission is a different map; some of them
are better than others and in general are very linear, which does not represent a
challenge to get lost, except for a couple that are confusing as a maze. If I
questions, I got lost several times on the Shuten Doji map. On an artistic level
the maps do feel of the period, but they do not stand out, they are not very appealing
visually and throughout my entire experience there was no landscape or area worthy
to be admired, which makes the maps lifeless and only a resource
to reach a goal. I think they improved the shortcuts and in general you understand.
what needs to be done to move forward in certain parts. His style is known as
dark and mythological realism, focused on Japan, with designs inspired by Japanese art.
traditional.
This is where
the enemy and character design part: the humans do not stand out much and the
The protagonist is left to the player's choice, neither are the human bosses. The
I liked the guardian spirits and found them appealing. Who wouldn't go
to love the yokai pussies that accompany us with their adorable design? The
designs of the new yokai that are incorporated are fine, although perhaps a couple of
The bosses and the jellyfish (which is a deadly enemy) could have been better. Weapons
I have found them much more attractive and I have had a few that
I continued to use only by design, even if they caused less damage. The armor
I found them more attractive.
At
compared to other games of its genre, it competes very well; however, it does remain
below other studios that visually have more to offer across the board.
sense: zones, enemies, bosses, weapons and so on.
Sound and music
The band
The soundtrack is well adapted to the game and to the battle environment, combining some
epicity with traditional music of the time. The themes of the bosses are very
well achieved. I do consider that it is again well adapted, but its music is
not very memorable: maybe if you listen to it through another medium you will remember it, though,
is one of those pieces that, if you don't hear it on video or audio, you won't hear it.
to be able to reproduce in your head. Perhaps the most memorable is the one on the screen of the
loads every time you die, although it's not very pretty in my opinion.
The
sound effects have been improved, they play their role well, although they are very
similar to the first game, with some improvements in quality and not so much in variety.
The voice acting is very good, now that Nioh 2 has more cinematics this one.
The quality of the voices in this section is more powerful and, as always, stands out.
Japanese, which help you to have a better ambiance and are more in line with
the personality of each of the characters. There are also the voices in
English, but I sincerely recommend the original language much more for the most
immersion.
Difficulty and accessibility
We know
that this game is demanding, like all Souls-like games, but more balanced than Nioh.
1 without a doubt. In my case it was easier than the previous one, and I say this for two reasons
Reasons: Nioh 2 is practically the same as the previous game in almost all aspects, no
there are many changes beyond more mechanics and combat aids, and those new
mechanics make the game much easier if you learn them. The other reason
is that I had already suffered with Nioh 1, so I only had to remember my
strategies from the first game and use them in this one; that's why I say that the game
is almost the same thing, because it didn't force me to play differently or think differently about
combat. If you played game 1, this one will feel easier as long as you
learn the new mechanics.
In addition,
there are many ways to become OP. I personally used the same build and
strategy of the first game: heavy armor, lance for medium attacks
distance, bows and rifles, and omyo magic. This combo is upgraded to the maximum and
That's it, you pass the game. Of course, some areas can feel unfair because of the
number of simultaneous enemies, so you'd better separate the enemies one by one.
to one and your experience will be slower, but you will die much less.
As soon as
accessibility, it is very limited. It is not a game suitable for many people
neither in mechanics nor in difficulty, in addition to the fact that its menus are full of
information, which can be overwhelming or even intimidating, because it can make you
You may ask, “Do I really have to learn all this?”. And the answer is more
a yes than a no.
Additional content
The
duration of the campaign is 35-50 hours in the base game. It can reach 100+
with side missions, NG+ and DLCs perfectly. The game has 24 missions
divided into 6 regions. You can really get through it quickly because
avoiding enemies is very easy, but it's worth your time to explore, more
than anything else at the beginning. So exploring a mission and completing it can take you from
1 to 2 hours.
Nioh 2
The replayability is high, as the character can be fully upgraded by
you will have to invest hundreds of hours of farming or new games, in addition to the fact that
offers several missions. One of the problems with the game, as with the
previous one, are its secondary missions, which again feel like a
and unoriginal, except for a few. Many consist of beating a
secondary bosses (some of them even repeated from the previous game, which I found
(terrible) or find some object on the map that is normally found almost
at the end. There are good missions, but others are not and fall in the same
repetitiveness of the previous game. I don't think the side quests were
improved, but followed the same line.
The
Dojo missions are maintained, but as in Nioh you are required to use
all the armaments for hours to unlock these missions, which is the only way to
which is a heavy and tedious task. They offer good rewards, but in return
of a high number of hours.
The
twilight missions retain their essence, which may have been different in
this game, but it wasn't like that. They are the same as a mission you already completed,
but more difficult. The worst thing is that the game decides which one you can play and which one you can't play.
That is to say, per real day you can only play 2 of these missions chosen by the game
randomly, and if by chance you have already played one and it appears again,
you must wait another day for others that you have not played to appear. It is
a nefarious, tedious and unnecessary system that obliges the player to be
pending on which mission is going out today, which one tomorrow and so on. This is already
It was tiring because you had to wait for days for a new one to come out.
mission you hadn't played, and Nioh 2 falls into the same problem.
I played for
more than 60 hours and, multiplayer-wise, it wasn't bad. It still offers
hidden tea elements, which is so to speak joining a clan and earning points
clan. Personally, I have not found it appealing and I focus more on the
single player experience. I tried summoning someone and yes, you have to have
patience to get a stranger to help you on a mission. He
it took up to 20 minutes for me to find a helper, but it's quicker
if you help someone.
The game
has 3 DLCs: The Tengu's Disciple, Darkness in the Capital and The First
Samurai. If you buy the full version, you get all of them; otherwise you play
to buy them separately. As far as I have seen, they are well accepted by the community.
In my case I haven't bought them, but if you've played a lot of Nioh 2 then it's worth it.
worth giving them a chance.
Technical Aspects
As soon as
performance, I found it excellent. I have played it on PS5 and it runs smoothly, and
I've seen the same on PC even with many enemies on screen. Maybe on
Sometimes my PS5 would make certain noises that I noticed in certain parts of the
menu, in the part of changing weapon cores: every time I changed the video of the
guide made a different noise. However, it's nothing unbearable, it's just the
notes if your environment is very quiet.
I saw very
few bugs, it is a game that in my experience was very good, with good times.
and that it improves considerably on the graphics level in
compared to the original PS4 version. One point to improve is that several
sometimes I was disconnected from the servers and went to offline mode when
actually my connection was fine. It is possible to improve the connection of the games;
However, in combat I had no lag or other problems.
Value for money
The price
The launch price was $60, which is good considering what it offers.
It does not seem to me a bad starting price; however, analyzing all the points, it is.
is a bargain game. In my case I got it thanks to the PS subscription.
Plus, but I was thinking of buying it at about $30. The campaign is worth it and it does
takes a long time, but its problem is still the secondary content, which is
I don't feel it is worth it because of its repetitiveness and little relevance. Sometimes it
teams: some of them are in charge of the main missions and others are in charge of
others from the secondary schools.
I understand
smaller studios to resort to this; however, I was expecting a
significant improvement in the additional content of the campaign and saw the same
trend of Nioh 1. So, $60 is fine if you go for the 100%; if you go for the 100%, $60 is fine; if you go for the 100%, $60 is fine.
If you only go for the campaign, I don't recommend paying more than 30 dollars for the game.
Trophies / Achievements
- Platinum obtained: No
- Percentage of trophies: 62% excluding DLC.
- Estimated time: 80-120 hours
- Platinum difficulty: 5 out of 10.
platinum easier than Nioh, for many reasons: You do not have to complete all of the
the twilight missions, after an update they lowered the amount of
points required to master each weapon, which greatly simplifies the
trophies, the game has more mechanics, I feel it is easier and there are more trophies.
several missions where you are accompanied, in addition to being able to summon people from
outside with ochoko cups and summoning npcs makes it easier. I think that
the platinum is more about spending several hours on it than actually doing some
ability.
Conclusion
Nioh 2
Remastered takes
all the good things of the first game and improves in some aspects. It maintains a high level
difficulty, intense combat, good ambience and a story that is more than
and better explained. Although it does not improve in other aspects of its version
as side quests, soundtrack, some designs and incorporates little of the previous
in gameplay, it makes it feel very identical to the first one even while feeling in
I do consider Nioh 2 to be a DLC of Nioh 1.
initial proposal of Nioh 1, although I also consider that if you are a lover of this
genre is still a must-have game.
My
Final rating for Nioh 2 Remastered is:
3.9/5
