Console Corner: Review of Nioh

I am of the Nintendo generation. Three lives, and game over. Die at the final boss with your last life? Too bad. Game over. Start again. It's nothing like today's generation of games. The Uncharted series, for example, is positively soft compared to games like Super Mario Bros., let alone Ninja Gaiden, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, or Battletoads, which, in the context of today's games are more akin to Guitar Hero (i.e. the precise sequencing of buttons for an extended period of time) rather than loose “action adventure”, as is the case with so many more modern games—Uncharted, God of War, Assassin's Creed, Horizon Zero Dawn, etc. And then there is Nioh (2016), a fantastic PS4 game in which I relearned what “difficult” video game means.

In some ways, Nioh is the natural evolution of Ninja Gaiden. The player takes on the role of a samurai in feudal Japan and must battle all manner of humans and monsters toward uncovering a plot to takeover the island nation. Extremely nuanced, the game offers a true rpg level of character customization. From weapons to ninjutsu, armor to intangibles, elemental effects to spirit guides, the game offers a phenomenal amount of character customization for such a simple concept of fighting baddies.

Nioh consists of eighteen main missions and multiple side missions. In the course of killing baddies, players collect amrita (points, for lack of a better term). These points can be converted into character upgrade points once you safely reach a shrine. If you die in the course of reaching the next shrine, your spirit animal lays down where they died and waits to be picked up. Players have one chance to reach their spirit guide and reclaim their lost amrita. Die on the way, and its lost forever. You must start collecting amrita, again. Amrita collected also builds a spirit meter. Max it out and special, powerful attack comes available in which players become invincible for a short period and deal massive damage—ideal for bosses and other large enemies. Scattered throughout levels are loot boxes and each killed enemy drops loot—potions, elixirs, charms, armor, weapons, and everything else one might expect of such a game. All of these, combined with the upgrade points earned from amrita, allow the player to customize their character along multiple lines. I will not go into every angle here; not enough space. But I can say it is multi-multi-layered, allowing players to be everything from an armored, axe-wielding tank, a precise ninja warrior striking with shurikens from the shadows, and everything between.

Something must be said of the style/art of Nioh. Personal, I know, but it's fucking amazing. Besides Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game (and maybe Sekiro?), there is no other medium—film, book, game, etc.—which captures fantasy Japan as well. The game's levels are comprised of an extremely varied number of settings (temples, countryside, rice paddies, tombs, palaces, villages, etc.) and conditions (night, snow, rain, etc.) that look and feel amazing. Hiding in the nooks and crannies are enemies of many varieties, all of which tie into Japanese legend and myth in some fashion. Legend and myth come to life, it's easy to get lost in the game's art if it weren't constantly trying to kill you.

Nioh is an extremely, tightly designed game. It's clear extensive testing occurred at every level. Complaints are therefore very few. A minor gripe regards the intersection of amrita collection and boss encounters. There are some levels in which players stumble upon the boss. There are minor clues that Boss Lurks Behind This Door, but there is no guarantee. The result is there are situations in which the player has almost collected enough amrita to level up. They are just a couple thousands points away, and they open a boss door. It's extremely normal to die on first boss attempt, meaning your spirit guide is left behind in a place where it can be collected, but cannot be exited to collect just that few more points to tackle the boss with one upgrade point more. Inevitably players lose the hard-earned amrita. There are Summoner's Candles to recover lost amrita, but these are not always available. Again, a minor gripe.

Looking online, there is a fair amount of commentary on whether Nioh is more or less difficult than the Soulsborne games. In my humble opinion, it is more difficult. Simply put, there is less room for error, and the difficulty curve, particularly the first couple of levels, never seems to relent. And all the difficulty centers around bosses. More than half I literally attempted dozens upon dozens of times, and the others multiple times. Only one I beat first attempt. There were whole gaming sessions devoted to certain bosses, some of which went unsuccessful. It's precisely here I go back to this review's intro: difficulty in Nintendo games. Nioh is old school difficult. It means defeat, again and again, before success.

The other challenge with Nioh, and one certainly not unique to Nioh, is the scaling of enemy difficulty. As I have harped on it about other games, I'll keep this rant succinct. I hate it when enemy difficulty ramps with player progression. It doesn't give the proper feel of power. Good games design enemies such that players feel the power of their latest character build (a God among sprites) and challenge them at dynamic intervals to keep things interesting. Nioh is by far not the worst culprit of having enemy hit points ramp up with player power, but it does happen, and in turn often provides only the illusion of power. You've been warned.

The third complaint, and biggest complaint, is narrative. It's unnecessarily complex. Players of such games are not in it for the story. It's gameplay and mechanics as first, second, and third priority. Look at Ninja Gaiden; defeat the level and on to the next, just a couple lines of text joining the levels. Nioh, by attempting to inject story between levels, overburdens itself. Players are so exhausted to have just defeated the boss after thirty-seven attempts that they have little memory what happened in the story.

In the end, Nioh may be the high point of the modern action rpgs. It provides an incredible degree of challenge and nuance in character builds. Players are able to direct their samurai/ninja dream in the manner they see fit with the games extremely deep progression system, then pit themselves against an amazingly difficult set of encounters and bosses to see how the build works. It's old school and new school in all the best ways. And the art, <chef's kiss>. The narrative is spurious and enemy power does often ramp with player power, but beyond this, the game DELIVERS. If you do not like difficult games, skip it. If you're up for a challenge, however, give it a try. Like every situation, the greater the challenge, the greater the satisfaction overcoming it... months later.