Ended up getting a refund for Castlevania so I could get some stuff in that brief Anime sale Steam had. Specifically, some Shantae games and Toukiden Kiwami, the latter of which I will defiantly
write about when I've pumped in the hours a game of it's type needs.
I'm also playing the Overwatch open beta, and Far Cry Primal, and Arkham City, so for now, have a short-ish impression of the alpha for souls-like Nioh.
Nioh isn't shy about what it takes from Souls. The menus are near-identical, as is it's penchant for leaving you in the dark to figure everything out for yourself. So for a Souls fan like myself, that's brilliant, less so for a newcomer. If you're a newcomer, I can safely tell you to stay clear of Nioh, as it's even more mechanically complex on every level. To begin with, each weapon now has a skill tree of different moves to perform, unlocked with points gained as you level up your standard Souls stats the way you always have(albeit with different names at times). Some of these attacks can be quite tricky to perform, requiring the sorts of motions and timings expected from a fighting game like Street Fighter. They can range from hopping over the enemy to their back, to parries and trillion-stabs-like special moves, and those are just examples for spears. And they're split across 3 different stances, essentially giving each weapon 3 different movesets for you to remember. At most, weapons in the Souls series would have 2, one-handed and 2-handed or the two forms of a trick weapon, so Nioh's standard combat offers a lot more choice to you than you might expected from a game of it's ilk.
Add to that some minor changes like becoming stunned if you run out of stamina and slightly less lenient dodge mechanics, and I got to relive the experience of playing Dark Souls for the first time, as I fumbled about with mechanics until I finally beat the first enemy of the game, then made slow progress through the various areas ahead until I'd finally got a good enough bead on the mechanics to not die too much, and then started on the long road of mastery that is a Souls-styled game.
I'd compare the level design to that of Dark Souls 3 more than any of the other games. Rather than a single open world with interwinding paths taking you back to places from ages ago, the Alpha presents 2 "levels", each of which creates a small but perfectly formed microcosm of the genre's hallmarks. Both levels are excellently designed, offering many side paths to follow, and interesting challenges, albeit often ones a Souls vet like myself have seen done before, and fascinating and varied enemies to fight.
While Nioh definitely leans heavily on it's spiritual predecessors, it definitely has it's own legs to stand on too. The traditional Japanese setting with Oni and bandits in place of hollows and demons feels like a good fresh coat of paint on the genre, and the weapons and armour system is loot-based, with enemies dropping items with unique stats to compare against your old gear, and a weapon degradation system that encourages regularly swapping out for new clothes and weapons. There's also hints at a more character-focused story, as the Geralt of Rivia looking middle-aged man you play as is referred to as Thomas on the level select screen. There's a lot of unique things for Nioh to build upon to create something that can easily exist alongside the Souls series, without simply copying it and hoping for the same success.
I'm looking forward to Nioh. Dark Souls 3 is looking to be the last in the series and From is looking into new ventures, so Nioh could well be something fresh to satisfy the itch when I eventually grow tired of 3 after, I would guess, 1000 hours or so.
So yeah, it's good. if you're reading this, the demo is gone, but take my word for it, it's worth looking out for.
Next week, could be Batman Arkham Knight, Far Cry Primal, Overwatch, anything. You never know.
write about when I've pumped in the hours a game of it's type needs.
I'm also playing the Overwatch open beta, and Far Cry Primal, and Arkham City, so for now, have a short-ish impression of the alpha for souls-like Nioh.
Nioh isn't shy about what it takes from Souls. The menus are near-identical, as is it's penchant for leaving you in the dark to figure everything out for yourself. So for a Souls fan like myself, that's brilliant, less so for a newcomer. If you're a newcomer, I can safely tell you to stay clear of Nioh, as it's even more mechanically complex on every level. To begin with, each weapon now has a skill tree of different moves to perform, unlocked with points gained as you level up your standard Souls stats the way you always have(albeit with different names at times). Some of these attacks can be quite tricky to perform, requiring the sorts of motions and timings expected from a fighting game like Street Fighter. They can range from hopping over the enemy to their back, to parries and trillion-stabs-like special moves, and those are just examples for spears. And they're split across 3 different stances, essentially giving each weapon 3 different movesets for you to remember. At most, weapons in the Souls series would have 2, one-handed and 2-handed or the two forms of a trick weapon, so Nioh's standard combat offers a lot more choice to you than you might expected from a game of it's ilk.
Add to that some minor changes like becoming stunned if you run out of stamina and slightly less lenient dodge mechanics, and I got to relive the experience of playing Dark Souls for the first time, as I fumbled about with mechanics until I finally beat the first enemy of the game, then made slow progress through the various areas ahead until I'd finally got a good enough bead on the mechanics to not die too much, and then started on the long road of mastery that is a Souls-styled game.
I'd compare the level design to that of Dark Souls 3 more than any of the other games. Rather than a single open world with interwinding paths taking you back to places from ages ago, the Alpha presents 2 "levels", each of which creates a small but perfectly formed microcosm of the genre's hallmarks. Both levels are excellently designed, offering many side paths to follow, and interesting challenges, albeit often ones a Souls vet like myself have seen done before, and fascinating and varied enemies to fight.
While Nioh definitely leans heavily on it's spiritual predecessors, it definitely has it's own legs to stand on too. The traditional Japanese setting with Oni and bandits in place of hollows and demons feels like a good fresh coat of paint on the genre, and the weapons and armour system is loot-based, with enemies dropping items with unique stats to compare against your old gear, and a weapon degradation system that encourages regularly swapping out for new clothes and weapons. There's also hints at a more character-focused story, as the Geralt of Rivia looking middle-aged man you play as is referred to as Thomas on the level select screen. There's a lot of unique things for Nioh to build upon to create something that can easily exist alongside the Souls series, without simply copying it and hoping for the same success.
I'm looking forward to Nioh. Dark Souls 3 is looking to be the last in the series and From is looking into new ventures, so Nioh could well be something fresh to satisfy the itch when I eventually grow tired of 3 after, I would guess, 1000 hours or so.
So yeah, it's good. if you're reading this, the demo is gone, but take my word for it, it's worth looking out for.
Next week, could be Batman Arkham Knight, Far Cry Primal, Overwatch, anything. You never know.
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