Nioh

[Hendo]

I've got one last mission in area 4 to do then I presume it's the last area.

Done all the dojo missions available so far. Had to get my magic and dex up, which was a pain as it's very costly to level up.

[DisturbedSwan]

You've got a bit longer to go @Hendo but you're in the last 1/4 of the game for sure.

 

Not touched any of the Ninja dojo missions above Novice, and did the Omgyo Adept one just so I could get the sloth talisman, think I've unlocked the Warrior Veteran one too but not bothered with that really, hopefully get round to it sometime.

 

Went back to this today anyway, another 4 hours, 51.5 total. Level 100.

 

Made a decision to mainline it today, not really sure why but I guess the pull of finishing it has just become too much now I'm so close to the end so I decided to finish it and then go back and do all the side missions etc. afterwards if I get time, I'm levelled up enough now to kick most missions arses anyway.

 

Still got a metric butt-ton of Ochoko cups so put them to use by getting a lot of summons in to help, even at the start of levels, just to make them go a bit quicker. Makes most of the missions an absolute joke I'm not gonna lie, some of the really high-level dudes I came across were battering high-level enemies in one-shot and we were just galloping around the map incredibly quickly.

 

Started out still in Region 5, mission 2

Spoiler

which takes place in this incredibly cool battlefield filled with fog and warring Samurai factions on all sides taking each other apart, fantastic sense of place and easily one of my favourite levels in the game. Breezed through the first boss with help from a summon, then lost them after getting to the next Shrine so had to fight the second boss solo, managed it pretty easily with no real problems.

Straight to the last mission in Region 5,

Spoiler

 

basically the same Battlefield map as the previous mission but this time it was much more dangerous with Yokoi roaming all over the place and some seriously high-end enemies all over the shop, had some good summons though and easily figured out what I had to do. Got to the boss and this one was an absolute joke, not sure what the Sun Bro did but he managed to get the boss to topple over then we both wailed on him with our Living Weapons and his health bar went down in about 5 seconds, fucking crazy, mission complete, couldn't believe it

 

 

 

 

So onto what I assume is the final region, first mission here was set in the Holy Mountain level where all the Journo's put up their preview streams/coverage in so I recognised it instantly and knew where to go, enemy placements etc. A few good summons here too and I soon got to the boss after collecting all the Kodama's (rare for me) and unlocking some Shrines. Faced the boss here solo about 3 times, getting my arse handed to me so got in another sun bro to help, battered him first time.

 

Was going to call it a day here as I'd already made steady progress but I thought I might as well attempt the second mission in the region, set in another dilapidated Japanese Castle,

Spoiler

this one infested with Yokoi and Spiders. Summoned straight away and he/she guided me through the level seemingly one-shotting everything in our path, went up this spiral staircase and was wondering why he/she wasn't attacking the enemies on the stairs, so I attacked them and as I did a huge boulder came down and wiped me out  so had to make my way back here again solo (not repeating the same mistake) and then faced the boss, was expecting to get annihilated but surprisingly I did very well solo and managed to take him down on my first attempt.

 

Wish I'd recorded some of the fights as there's so damn cool (and funny) moments I had with them today but just completely forgot and window to share the clip was gone, think I've got 1 or 2 missions tomorrow and then I'm done.  

[Hendo]

I've just finished everything in the fourth region, I should have it finished this week.

[DisturbedSwan]

Finished it today, 53.5 total, Level 106.

 

Just had the last mission to do today and then I was done. 

 

This mission is incredibly full-on and feels like a boss-rush high-end Yokai gauntlet the entire time, you start off, go up a hill and fight a few skeleton warriors and then you go through patches of Yokai mist and they just keep respawning for a while, Tenchu's, the Tongue Yokai, Ninja Yokai, firewheels, all sorts, the game just throws all its got at you. Fortunately you've got Okatsu and Hanzo as AI buddies (for the first half) so it's not as hard as it sounds, but can still be a daunting prospect, you get an absolutely ridiculous amount of Amrita too.

After half-way through a path collapses (predictably) leaving you to fend for yourself, this is when the boss rush begins. You fight Hino-Enma, Juro-Gumo, Oryoki and Nue in 4 different boss rooms scattered around this platform before you're allowed to progress. Had huge problems with Hino-Enma, kept spamming me with the paralysis attack (despite having a paralysis charm on) so eventually I got in a summon to help and we duly made the 4 bosses mincemeat.

You go up a lift and the bosses just keep on coming, first up is Oda Nobunaga, who is one tough cookie. Tried to beat him solo a few times but got in a summon, then right on the next floor up you finally face Kelley and then immediately after this you face a massive multi-headed Hydra Yamata-No-Orochi.

Kelley was a piece of piss, went down like a sack of spuds but had a bit of trouble with the Hydra, you've got so many projectiles coming at you from all angles you don't quite know where to turn and what to do, incredibly bewildering and overwhelming the first few times, I just followed what my summon was doing really, slashing at their necks when they came close enough to the platform. Took about 3 or 4 tries before I thought I defeated it, only for it resurrect into one head with a full health bar once again, so I had to defeat it once again with help, slashing at his neck every now and then, have to admit my helper did most of the work, extremely chaotic up there.

After this you get some cutscenes, reunite with Saorise and kill Kelley on a beach.

 

 

Really enjoyed it overall, the enemy variety can be lacking about half-way through but then new Yokai are introduced in every region which keeps things feeling fresh enough, still could of done with some more varied attack patterns to keep you on your toes, once you've learnt what a Yokai is going to do you repeat it every time after throughout the game, would've been nice to get some massively migrated variants to make you shit your pants every once in a while.

 

Level design was mostly excellent, around Region 3 there were a little too many Shrines/Temple locations for my liking and I was starting to get a little bored of some levels, some lack polish and detail too, particularly the boring grey cave environs, but for the most part the levels were memorable enough without reaching the heights of something like Dark Souls. Also thought that they needlessly put too many Shrines in some levels, the Ice level was the worst offender of this, you seemingly go round a corner and you're like 'another Shrine already, really?', luckily this doesn't happen often and the maze-like maps with myriad number of floors, shortcuts and pitfalls are some of my favourites in the game.

 

Can't talk highly enough about the combat, it is just incredible. An absolutely absurd amount of depth, fighting-game style combo's and options in regards to moves lists and weapon stance that you can switch between in combat if you're good enough, punctuated by a Skill-based levelling system that lets you invest in new moves along the way in addition to your standard stats.

 

Can't recommend it enough really, particularly if you're into games like Bloodborne and Dark Souls, I actually think it's better than Bloodborne but doesn't quite hit the heights of Dark Souls 2 & 3 for me. Nioh is different enough in its own right from that series though, loved the co-op aspect and being able to go back and help anyone through any previous mission in the game. The level-select as opposed to one huge interconnected open world lends itself to loot hunting and co-op fun much more than Bloodborne or Dark Souls too in my view.

[Hendo]

I got to a point where I got stuck last night, for the first time in ages in the game.

Without spoiling too much, there appears to be a full-on war going on and the level is relatively (compared to normal) swamped with enemies. I got killed and then killed again on my way to get my xp back so I turned it off for the night.

 

I might teleport out of there and level up a bit. Maybe go back with a buddy to help.

[Hendo]

Finally all done, bar a couple of side missions that are rock solid.

Found all the kodamas and unlocked a couple of cool extras at the end, one being a new difficulty mode (which it seems you can swap back and forth at will) and a new feature I won't spoil to do with the guardian spirit.

 

Apart from dragging on a bit (although that was partially self inflicted by grinding and doing a load of co-op), I thought it was an excellent game. Improves a lot of the Souls games, both technically and mechanically.

 

Roll on the season pass content.

[DisturbedSwan]

Some serious dedication there finding all the Kodama's, I always tried my best to find them on each mission where they were available but ended up getting 7/8 or something on most missions, didn't really feel like going back and finding them all but I guess it would've been fun in co-op.

 

Interested to see what they do with the Season Pass, think PvP is coming soon as well.

[Hendo]

For the majority of the game I had kodama sense on one of my bits of gear. That helped. When I missed a couple I'd replay the mission using a video guide, see which ones in the video I hadn't got and grab them and then use the item to leave the mission and go back to the main menu. Otherwise you have to fight the boss all over again.

 

Lots of great ideas in the game. Like the new game + not being a final choice that you can't change. At any point you can change the difficulty back and grind the easier levels or help others with co-op.

I'm not sure, but it looks like there isn't a level cap for helping other people - I had at least two helpers early on that must've finished the game due to how powerful they were and what character they had transformed into.

[HandsomeDead]

So I guess it's that time of year where I try (again) to play one of these damn games.

 

I made it through to first proper area and felt pretty good about things.  I felt like I was clicking with the combat and having a good time.  But then I made my way to a ship where I came across my first proper boss and got killed what felt like a dozen times.  I think the best I did was taking away half of its health.  I recognise this feeling (again).

 

I went back fought a load of revenants for xp and fun so I could level up and just brute force it.

[HandsomeDead]

I still don't get the bosses.  "I've" beat three of them.  But the first two I called for help and some very high level people game in and did a couple of combos and just killed it for me.

It's I feel too underpowered for them.  I just feel like there's too little room to learn the bosses.  I could be too much of a slow learner because once I'm out of the fight and back to the shrine, and make way back to the boss I'm totally out of the zone.

 

But the third boss I did manage but that's because he was just a tough dude, not some demon.  It meant I could just use the stuff I've been doing against regular dudes but for an extended fight.  It felt really good.  It took me three attempts because he could still slay you with a few hits but I felt I had options.  The other bosses just armoured through everything so the only option was to poke, run, poke, run.  I hated it.

 

But I must stress I do love going through the areas.  I just don't get the bosses still.

[DisturbedSwan]

I think the early boss that gave me the most trouble was the Vampire woman in the cave (can't remember her name). I remember hitting my head against a wall with that for hours even with summons before I managed to take her down. 

 

Some of the late game bosses are pretty mad as well, never would've got through them without help.

[HandsomeDead]

Yeah, she's the second boss.  She has the most untelegraphed spin attack I've ever seen and I could not stagger her at all.

 

I think with the first boss I didn't know there was a different tiers of stamina reduction, so I was wearing the sturdiest armour but it was heavy as fuck so I was forever running out of stamina.  I know the Souls games have that fat boy roll when you're in really heavy gear but there isn't that visual feedback here so I didn't realise.

 

Once I got stuck into the gear screen I saw what was going on.  If I knew that when I was fighting the first boss I may have stood a chance because stamina was a sizable issue.  

 

So from the third level I've had that sorted and can move around a lot more easily.

[HandsomeDead]

I'm just here to say I beat a demon centipede boss on my own like a big boy!

 

It was a fight that takes place in an actual level with design and verticality instead of a basic arena and wasn't so poke and run.  It was good.  More of this, please.

[radiofloyd]

Put a couple of hours into this. Played the prologue, the tutorial mission and a bit of the main game. Seems like a good game so far. It’s interesting that this is a similar setting to what From used for Sekiro (samurai and monsters) although Sekiro was a different beast altogether. Nioh feels like a Souls game but nippier (that also might just be the 60fps frame rate). The graphics don’t quite seem to be on a par with Souls but it’s also been very dark. Anyway, seems fun so far.