PlayStation Magazine - 05.2020

079

REVIEW

BelowMumyo

is a fellow yokai

hunter, but your

half-yokai nature

makes her wary.

Can you become

allies despite it?

we’re grabbed by a cold, dripping dread. What if
we really can’t get through the very first level of
the game? It’s a very real fear.

BIGGER AND BETTER
We get through thanks to preparation, and by
finally paying attention to the game teaching
us about this sequel’s new features, which are
more than simple additions. As enemies attack
they often use powerful strikes that glow a
bright red. By pressing i and e together at
the moment of impact you perform a burst
counter, temporarily transforming your half-yokai
custom protagonist into their demonic form,
and stunning the enemy, dealing a hefty amount
of damage to their ki meter and leaving them
vulnerable to strikes. Get used to recognising
these moments, as you’ll be needing to counter
enemy moves a lot.
You see, this time around you aren’t simply
protected by your guardian
spirit, you are able to fuse
with them to unleash your
own powers. Once the spirit is
charged, you can hit both w
and e to transform, giving
you access to a powerful suite
of devastating moves. It really
feels like this time around
you can unleash just as much
fury as your enemies. Being pulled into the yokai
realm affects your ki’s recharge rate, sure, but it
also increases the power of your yokai attacks.
Two can play at that game, and knowing when to
strike back is important.

HEART TO HEART
Felled, Mezuki vanishes, a beating heart left
in his place. This is his yokai soul core, and
there’s a chance that any of the demon enemies
in the game, from bosses to the powerful
regular enemies that lurk around each stage’s
corners, will drop theirs after you’ve defeated
them. Once purified at your bonfire-like shrine
checkpoints, two soul cores can be attuned to
your guardian spirit at a time, giving you access
to two powerful special moves by pressing i
and either w or r. Essentially they let you use
the attacks of previous enemies, and have their
own separate Anima meter (which is also used
for burst counters). These powers differ vastly
from one another – for example, one turns
you into a monkey that jumps into the air to
throw a spear; another sees you diving under
the ground like a worm and then rising for
an area attack. Anima flows plentifully from
attacks, so you’ll be able to use these skills
frequently to deal significant physical and ki
damage, and as ki recharges while you’re
using them, for a brief reprieve from
the pressures of battle.
You can stun
human enemies by
hitting their blocks
to deplete their ki
before they can regain
it, after which you can
use each weapon’s unique
finishing move to devastate
them. (You can unlock extra
finishing moves.) Yokai enemies,
on the other hand, have more ki, but it won’t

recharge unless they create

a circle of the yokai realm

around themselves, though by

attacking them enough and

using yokai abilities you can

deplete their maximum ki as

well. Smart management of

what they’re up to can mean

you dance as elegantly around

a hulked-out yokai with a

massive axe as you would your

common soldier.

Even though Nioh 2

allows you to wield such

strong power, you don’t feel

overpowered. Every enemy in

the game can bring you to the

lowest of the lows just as easily

as they can give you the highs

of victory. Even little Ganki,

corpse

parasites you

encounter

from the

beginning of

the game, can

grab you and

chip away

at half or

more of your

health if you’re just not quite

careful enough. Late into the

game you still have to beware

smaller enemies breaking

through your defence or

joining in with a larger battle.

Spatial awareness can help, as

ambushes are frequent, from

everything from the monkey-

like Enki hanging on overhead

trees to (Team Ninja had to

do it to us) fleshy eggs filled

with tiny spiders.

KI BLADE

The key to success isn’t being

overly cautious (more often

than not if you are you’ll have

a tougher time, as while you

recuperate you allow your

enemies to recover too), it’s

managing your own ki meter.

After every weapon combo

you can hit u to restore a

large chunk of your ki, giving

yourself the stamina to keep

fighting. White orbs surround

your character (and a white bar

fills up on top of your meter

in the UI), and perfect timing

will substantially increase

the amount of time you can

stay on the offensive, or the

energy you have for a last-

second dodge to roll out of

the way of a string of nasty

swipes. Performing a pulse

will also purify a circle of the

yokai realm, making pulses ki

(geddit?) to taking yokai on.

Once you get used to

wielding your yokai-slaying

weapon of choice, timing

your ki pulses will become

instinctive as your combos

and special moves grow

familiar. And there’s a lot to

dig through. Across the nine

weapon types, every weapon

has quick attack and strong

attack combos across three

stances: low, medium, and

high. On top of that, every

weapon has its own skill tree

of additional moves, grown

with points you earn simply by

using the weapon. These moves

include things like a throw

attack for the double-bladed

hatchets, or the ability to poke

your scythe-like switchglaive

out from a guard and use it to

flip over your enemy.

Bolt on two different schools

of extra weapons in the forms

of ninjutsu and onmyo, which

can be equipped to your

inventory (the former allows

you to craft tricks and tools,

the latter to do things like

shoot lighting or create areas

of healing), and it can start to

sound overwhelming. Except in

practice, it’s not. You increase

your proficiency in these by

using them, branching out a

little at a time, and learning

a bit at a time too. Really, all

these options give you a range

of utilities. High-stance attacks

are more powerful but slower,

for instance, and low-stance

always quicker, allowing you

to get those final slivers of

health on an enemy down. No

combos are hard to remember,

and all the inputs are basic, so

it’s more about deciding what

to do than failing to be able to

do it (except, of course, when

you panic). When you die, you

can usually see why, and figure

out what you should have done

differently. Combat is as hard

as yokai-cursed nails, but it

teeters delicately on that edge,

a triumphant balancing act.

SENGO(KU) FOR IT

The story follows your custom

character, a yokai hunter who

is half-yokai themself, as they

team up with Tokichiro, a

cunning merchant who deals

in spirit stones – magical

items that can enhance yokai

powers. Together they hunt

the magic stones down,

eventually entering the service

of Oda Nobunaga, an iconic

and charismatic figure from

Japanese history. (This isn’t

the first time he’s been turned

into a videogame character; you

“LATE IN THE GAME YOU

STILL HAVE TO BEWARE

SMALLER ENEMIES.”