Plenty of games have tried
to copy Dark Souls, but only
samurai slasher Nioh has come
close to understanding what
makes that series tick.
Set in warring Japanese
states where there’s a fine line
between bloodthirsty warlords
and menacing folklore demons,
its twist on brutal combat is
tied to a devilish ‘ki’ stamina
system that can easily leave
you out of breath and open to
a deadly blow.
Its sequel doesn’t change the
successful formula too much,
though this time you can createyour own bad-ass samurai
thanks to a pretty robust
character-creator offering
diverse options from hairstyles
to skin tones to gender. And
co-op can have up to three
samurai banding together,
either with other players or
AI-controlled avatars.
You’ll need all the help you can
get when even the most basic
foes can cut you down if you’re
not careful. By the time you’ve
reached the bosses, ranging
from slippery weasels to huge
snakeheads, the challenge can
get overwhelming – thanks totheir ability to drag you into
a nasty new dark realm that
slows your ki recovery to a crawl.
Not that you have to take this
lying down: charge up your own
meter and you can transform into
a full-on demon with the power
to make a divine comeback.
There are also new weapon
types to discover, as well as
‘blessed’ and ‘corrupted’ ones
that have new effects to help
enhance your playstyle. Throw
in new skill trees and loot drops,
and we’re confident that Nioh 2
will make real samurais out of us
in no time.FIRST PLAY NIOH 2 PS4
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