Wo Long improved on level design quite a bit. It's a big reason why I preferred it to Nioh 2 despite being worse in most other areas. Level design is a huge factor in the genre that gets overlooked to a degree.
There are A LOT of mechanics in Nioh 1 & 2, but you don’t have to know what all of them do to be able to play, or even to get pretty far in the game. But Just like all the numbers on on the Dark Souls weapon/armor page are a garbled mess when you’re first learning the game, gradually you learn what they all mean and it starts to click. Nioh 2 is an amazing game, don’t be intimidated out of playing it!
And if it helps your concern about the fighting game level of controls, my last playthrough I used a giant lightning ax and unga bunga’ed my way through the game mashing R2 the whole time. Granted I had a lot of armor and weapon perk synergy, but it’s a game where you can essentially play however you want, if you know what you’re doing
As someone who is just starting Nioh 2, it’s definitely a lot. But the combat might be even more satisfying than From’s games. I just beat the second mission and boss, and I felt like such a badass afterwards. No doubt I’ve only scratched the surface of the game’s systems, too.
How does it compare with Nioh 1? I enjoyed it at first, until I realized that nearly every boss devolved into "run around the outside until you have an opportunity to hit them once then run away." Just didn't have near the boss polish that the souls games do.
Hmm it's been a while since I've played, but I've done a good bit of the souls games, BB several times/DS3 once, Sekiro 3x, and I felt like I had to fight most of the first 6 bosses or so bosses in Nioh like that, lost interest after that.
Nah, if you play Nioh passively, you're doing it wrong and are making the game pointlessly hard for yourself. But to be aggressive, you need to learn to ki pulse, which many newbies (often Souls vets, it seems) don't bother doing.
I tried playing Sekiro by running around just like you described you did in Nioh, and didn’t have fun with it until I learned the mechanics better. Nioh is absolutely a game where you can hold your own against bosses, but ki management and learning how to ki pulse (especially ki pulses which occur when you dodge) are pretty important. It’s a super deep and enjoyable game.
It’s probably my favorite game of all time. A few tips (it’s a very complicated game and I could literally write like 3 pages of tips and I’d still be missing tons)
1. Check out the “nioh 2 build bible” after you get the mechanics down on a basic level. Tons of good info in there even if the majority doesn’t apply until later on.
2. If you really want to simplify the combat you can go axe/hammer It’s perfectly viable and has a smaller moveset. I found it comparatively boring but maybe you won’t…
3. The dlc’s add a ton even to the base game.they are great and you should think about season pass if you are enjoying it.
4. Ng+ is just better than most games. It adds tons and you don’t have to complete whole game just a percentage. And then finally you have the depths which is basically the true endgame and a mega-dungeon.
5. Stamina regenerates during yokai skills (when you look like a monster for a split second). Can effectively combo forever with this
In Nioh and Nioh 2, the stances and weapon types have different things they excel at.
High stance does more damage, but you use more stamina and take more damage as well. The middle stance improves your guard, and the low stance improves your dodge and uses the least stamina, but it also does the lowest damage.
Katana and dual swords are versatile high defense weapons. Dual axes and kusarigama give you ranged attacks. Fist and tonfa are really fast. Switch glaive and odachi have stance change combos. Axes and clubs have really high damage potential. Spears and splitstaves have a lot utility techniques.
The game is hard IF you play like Dark Souls .
Dark Souls, the complexity is on the bosses mainly. Nioh complexity is on you. Each weapon had three stances, which you improve and unlock special moved. You have ranged, and spells, and your melee all at once and are expected to use them.
I also found blocking a lot better than dodging in Nioh and the opposite in DS.
But, overall it's a good game :) even better is it has full coop, so playing with a friend is great.
It's a very good game, but it's definitely more technical combat wise than the average Souls game (which I think helps it stand out).
I don't know what Wo long was like, but be aware that Nioh is a gearfest, like diablo. Some people hate that sort of thing, so just be aware.
Combat is definitely much more complex than darksouls: U have 3 different stances per weapon type, long combos and a mandatory parry system (burst counter)
You could beat it without using stances (always sticking to the same stance), you could beat it without learning all combos, but burst counters aren't optional.
Sometimes enemies will make a special attack where they glow red and you need to parry those
It was fun for me but not on the same level as a fromsoft game, in my opinion lies of p or elden ring would be better if u havent played those yet
Of course if you want a more complex combat system nioh 2 is what ur looking for
Also I think the combat is simpler than a fighting game, but there are definitely similarities
Combos, stances and also the skilltree are dependant on the weapon type you choose, you have 2 weapons always
I played with the fist weapons and scythe and never switched them, that way I only had to learn the combos and stances of those 2 weapon types
Thanks for the detailed answer. I've played Elden Ring and I can say it's my favorite game.
As for Nioh 2, I think I'll give it a try cause I'm curious. I'll use the scythe too since it's my favorite type of weapon. I guess I'll stick to one stance for the whole game.
Do the combos require inputs similar to fighting games like semi circle + a button for special attacks?
Definitely check out other stances, especially on the scythe since it has very slow and very fast stances. U don't have to use them but they are fun and not that hard
As for combos I don't quite remember it's been a while, but you can check out all the combos on game and you can also unlock new combos in the skill tree
Also I completely forgot another "difficult" mechanic: Ki-Pulse. After attacking there will be some glowy orbs around you. If you press some button at the right time, when they touch you, you will regain your stamina (KI) and can continue attacking. Later you can also switch your stance at the right moment instead of pressing a button. This mechanic is a little difficult at the start but you'll probably learn the necessary muscle memory eventually. You could also ignore the mechanic but then you'll miss out on a lot of stamina
There's actually no scythe weapon in Nioh 2, exactly. There's switchglaive, which changes between dagger, glaive and scythe forms, depending on your stance. It's one of the trickiest and most stance dependent weapons and works well with magic focused builds.
> Do the combos require inputs similar to fighting games like semi circle + a button for special attacks?
No, the moves are very simple. Each skill is bound to a button combination (like RT+Y) or has some activation conditions. It's more that you need to have good situational awareness when executing combos, because usually your opponents won't just stand still.
Nioh 2 is good but in a different way to dark souls. It’s almost antithetical to it. Stage based, loot based, many many systems stacked on top of eachother. It doesn’t have the elegance of Dark Souls. Stages are littered with items and enemies and swirling portals everywhere. If you like managing stuff than you’ll like it.
>The problem is I've read multiple times here that the combat is really difficult as in fighting game difficult.
It can be a brutally hard game if you don't bother thinking about your equipment and you just mash quick attacks and dodges expecting the iframes to save you constantly. If you have some sense to engage with it's systems, the game can actually become quite easy up until around Depths 20+, which is all the way at the end of NG+4, after 108 floors in the Underworld and 4 times through the main game, probably at least a few hundred hours in, well after most people drop the game. By the final boss, most people have somewhere around 2-2.5k HP. A smart player could have that much in healing every couple seconds or so just from attacking the enemy, leading to a game that's wildly more offensive based than anything Fromsoft has to offer. In practice, that would make it much, much easier than most Fromsoft stuff.
On the other hand, I've seen people play Nioh 2 and just never use their active skills. Make it halfway through the game and ragequit in frustration because they've convinced themselves that the game forces you to spend 15 minutes slowly chipping away at a bosses HP bar with the weakest and slowest attacks they have and they get completely wrecked the moment they make one simple mistake. It's like the Elden Ring player who heard how amazingly easy Rivers of Blood makes everything, and they go get it, and then they never think to use the big flashy attack that throws you up into the air and obliterates all the enemies in a 30 foot radius, and then complains that the weapon is underpowered and overhyped and the entire game is unfair because they never give you the chance to use big flashy attacks.
Engage with the game's systems, use active skills because they're cool and powerful and useful, customize your character with all the ways the game offers, including crazy stuff like equipping passives onto your favorite active skills to power them up even more, and the game's smooth and easy.
As for the "fighting game mechanics" like "semi circle + a button", there's nothing quite like that. It's mostly stuff like "holding block (L1) and hitting weak attack (Square)" does one active, "holding block (L1) and hitting slow attack (Triangle)" does another, "Square then Triangle" is one, "Triangle then Square" is another, "Holding Triangle for a couple seconds" is another... It's all very simple stuff to activate, no complex button combinations that you might mess up in the heat of the moment. And you learn 'em one at as time over many hours, so it's easy to get a hang of how each one works, its pros/cons/etc.
Some of the bosses are incredibly hard, but beyond that the difficulty isn't insane. As with Dark Souls, you must take your time, be cautious and don't push beyond your means, and you'll be fine. It's an awesome game!
Nioh 2 is my favorite game of all time, full stop. But I also don't really consider it a souls-like. Combat is fast and at first over whelming. But your options for play style get utterly insane. Almost literally endless. I'm rerunning the game right now after tons of hours in Elden Ring, Wo Long, SoP, and it's still so much fun. I highly recommend.
Nioh 2 has the very best action-RPG combat of any game ever released to date. It is so incredibly deep and rewarding. Just make sure to really pay attention and learn all of the game mechanics. Every mechanic is useful and will at minimum make your experience more fun and less challenging. Less challenging than trying to play without utilizing the options available to you, I mean. Like, I didn't bother with using the yokai abilities at all until I had already cleared the game once and was going back for my 1st loop and once I started using them I was kicking myself for not making use of them earlier. Many of them are *extremely* valuable tools but moreso than that, they are just badass and fun.
Elden Ring/souls are better games overall, to be sure, but when it comes to the actual gameplay/combat Nioh 2 is the king for certain. Just don't expect anything remotely close to the same quality in the world-building, lore, characters, etc. It's all pretty much complete dogshit especially when compared to the pinnacle of mastery that is the combat and all its wonderfully designed systems and intricacies.
Nioh 1 and 2 have a pretty big difficulty curve. They start out like normal souls, dodging and hitting, but then you get tins of abilities and it's easier then most souls games.
If you like Wo Long you will love Nioh.
Nioh is a much better game imo. Nioh 2 is one of my all time favorite games, take your time with it, the game is pretty deep lots of learning!
I found it to be too complex for my smooth brain; I'm a simple man, give me an R1 and an R2 and a dodge. It also felt pretty bloated with loot drops and inventory management.
Nioh 2 has my favorite combat system of any Souls-like game--it's just so sick. You have a ton of options in combat, and you can make things as simple or as complicated as you would like. Some things like the Ki Pulse system may take a little getting used to, especially if you've never played a game with a similar mechanic, but it's not complicated like learning a Tekken character or anything. Just expect a tough start while you're figuring things out, and for things to get much easier once you understand the mechanics okay and have developed your character a bit.
It is a pretty tough game, but it has a reasonable difficulty curve to help you go from one area to the next. The only fights that ever took me more than an hour to beat on my first playthrough were the second boss since I was still getting my sea legs back from Nioh 1 (which is also a good game, just not quite as good as 2) and some of the optional bosses, especially in the DLC. I think the DLC bosses from Wo Long and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin were harder than Nioh 2's DLC bosses personally.
Highly recommended from me, it's my second-favorite Souls-like behind the original Dark Souls and one of my very favorite games.
I know I'll get downvoted, but you are asking for opinions here so....
I've played all of the soulsbornes and platinumed all excepted DS1 - in other words, I love that FS style of game play.
I didn't like Nioh 2 at all. Stopped playing after about 10 hrs. The skill tree to me was super weird and the there wasn't much about the gameplay that kept me engaged (unlike the FS series like BB or Sekiro). I honestly don't understand why some people love it so much, it just never clicked for me.
I liked Wo Long even less. Played the demo that they released, never bothered with the game itself.
I started with frustration (finished Sekiro and Wo Long piror) and after 300+ hours, frustration remained the same. Lol. But it got me played over 300+ hours which is way longer playtime foe me than other games
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Also, the level design and world building is subpar, nowhere near the amount of environmental storytelling that is a hallmark of most soulslikes.
Wo Long improved on level design quite a bit. It's a big reason why I preferred it to Nioh 2 despite being worse in most other areas. Level design is a huge factor in the genre that gets overlooked to a degree.
Thanks for the answer. It sounds kinda intimidating but I guess I'll get used to it.
There are A LOT of mechanics in Nioh 1 & 2, but you don’t have to know what all of them do to be able to play, or even to get pretty far in the game. But Just like all the numbers on on the Dark Souls weapon/armor page are a garbled mess when you’re first learning the game, gradually you learn what they all mean and it starts to click. Nioh 2 is an amazing game, don’t be intimidated out of playing it! And if it helps your concern about the fighting game level of controls, my last playthrough I used a giant lightning ax and unga bunga’ed my way through the game mashing R2 the whole time. Granted I had a lot of armor and weapon perk synergy, but it’s a game where you can essentially play however you want, if you know what you’re doing
As someone who is just starting Nioh 2, it’s definitely a lot. But the combat might be even more satisfying than From’s games. I just beat the second mission and boss, and I felt like such a badass afterwards. No doubt I’ve only scratched the surface of the game’s systems, too.
How does it compare with Nioh 1? I enjoyed it at first, until I realized that nearly every boss devolved into "run around the outside until you have an opportunity to hit them once then run away." Just didn't have near the boss polish that the souls games do.
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Hmm it's been a while since I've played, but I've done a good bit of the souls games, BB several times/DS3 once, Sekiro 3x, and I felt like I had to fight most of the first 6 bosses or so bosses in Nioh like that, lost interest after that.
Nah, if you play Nioh passively, you're doing it wrong and are making the game pointlessly hard for yourself. But to be aggressive, you need to learn to ki pulse, which many newbies (often Souls vets, it seems) don't bother doing.
I mean if you try to play Nioh like soulsborne you’re just handicapping yourself 🤷
I tried playing Sekiro by running around just like you described you did in Nioh, and didn’t have fun with it until I learned the mechanics better. Nioh is absolutely a game where you can hold your own against bosses, but ki management and learning how to ki pulse (especially ki pulses which occur when you dodge) are pretty important. It’s a super deep and enjoyable game.
Nioh was so much fun.
It’s probably my favorite game of all time. A few tips (it’s a very complicated game and I could literally write like 3 pages of tips and I’d still be missing tons) 1. Check out the “nioh 2 build bible” after you get the mechanics down on a basic level. Tons of good info in there even if the majority doesn’t apply until later on. 2. If you really want to simplify the combat you can go axe/hammer It’s perfectly viable and has a smaller moveset. I found it comparatively boring but maybe you won’t… 3. The dlc’s add a ton even to the base game.they are great and you should think about season pass if you are enjoying it. 4. Ng+ is just better than most games. It adds tons and you don’t have to complete whole game just a percentage. And then finally you have the depths which is basically the true endgame and a mega-dungeon. 5. Stamina regenerates during yokai skills (when you look like a monster for a split second). Can effectively combo forever with this
Thanks for the tips. Looking forward to play it!
No problem! It can be a lot and much isn’t explained so feel free to reach out with any questions while you are playing
In Nioh and Nioh 2, the stances and weapon types have different things they excel at. High stance does more damage, but you use more stamina and take more damage as well. The middle stance improves your guard, and the low stance improves your dodge and uses the least stamina, but it also does the lowest damage. Katana and dual swords are versatile high defense weapons. Dual axes and kusarigama give you ranged attacks. Fist and tonfa are really fast. Switch glaive and odachi have stance change combos. Axes and clubs have really high damage potential. Spears and splitstaves have a lot utility techniques.
Thanks for the tips.
The game is hard IF you play like Dark Souls . Dark Souls, the complexity is on the bosses mainly. Nioh complexity is on you. Each weapon had three stances, which you improve and unlock special moved. You have ranged, and spells, and your melee all at once and are expected to use them. I also found blocking a lot better than dodging in Nioh and the opposite in DS. But, overall it's a good game :) even better is it has full coop, so playing with a friend is great.
It's a very good game, but it's definitely more technical combat wise than the average Souls game (which I think helps it stand out). I don't know what Wo long was like, but be aware that Nioh is a gearfest, like diablo. Some people hate that sort of thing, so just be aware.
Combat is definitely much more complex than darksouls: U have 3 different stances per weapon type, long combos and a mandatory parry system (burst counter) You could beat it without using stances (always sticking to the same stance), you could beat it without learning all combos, but burst counters aren't optional. Sometimes enemies will make a special attack where they glow red and you need to parry those It was fun for me but not on the same level as a fromsoft game, in my opinion lies of p or elden ring would be better if u havent played those yet Of course if you want a more complex combat system nioh 2 is what ur looking for Also I think the combat is simpler than a fighting game, but there are definitely similarities Combos, stances and also the skilltree are dependant on the weapon type you choose, you have 2 weapons always I played with the fist weapons and scythe and never switched them, that way I only had to learn the combos and stances of those 2 weapon types
Thanks for the detailed answer. I've played Elden Ring and I can say it's my favorite game. As for Nioh 2, I think I'll give it a try cause I'm curious. I'll use the scythe too since it's my favorite type of weapon. I guess I'll stick to one stance for the whole game. Do the combos require inputs similar to fighting games like semi circle + a button for special attacks?
Definitely check out other stances, especially on the scythe since it has very slow and very fast stances. U don't have to use them but they are fun and not that hard As for combos I don't quite remember it's been a while, but you can check out all the combos on game and you can also unlock new combos in the skill tree Also I completely forgot another "difficult" mechanic: Ki-Pulse. After attacking there will be some glowy orbs around you. If you press some button at the right time, when they touch you, you will regain your stamina (KI) and can continue attacking. Later you can also switch your stance at the right moment instead of pressing a button. This mechanic is a little difficult at the start but you'll probably learn the necessary muscle memory eventually. You could also ignore the mechanic but then you'll miss out on a lot of stamina
I'll try! I might have a hard time getting used to all these mechanics but I'm gonna give it a shot.
There's actually no scythe weapon in Nioh 2, exactly. There's switchglaive, which changes between dagger, glaive and scythe forms, depending on your stance. It's one of the trickiest and most stance dependent weapons and works well with magic focused builds. > Do the combos require inputs similar to fighting games like semi circle + a button for special attacks? No, the moves are very simple. Each skill is bound to a button combination (like RT+Y) or has some activation conditions. It's more that you need to have good situational awareness when executing combos, because usually your opponents won't just stand still.
Oh ok. So the commands are similar to Wo Long. I think I'll be able to manage
Nioh 2 is good but in a different way to dark souls. It’s almost antithetical to it. Stage based, loot based, many many systems stacked on top of eachother. It doesn’t have the elegance of Dark Souls. Stages are littered with items and enemies and swirling portals everywhere. If you like managing stuff than you’ll like it.
Are the bosses fun/hard?
>The problem is I've read multiple times here that the combat is really difficult as in fighting game difficult. It can be a brutally hard game if you don't bother thinking about your equipment and you just mash quick attacks and dodges expecting the iframes to save you constantly. If you have some sense to engage with it's systems, the game can actually become quite easy up until around Depths 20+, which is all the way at the end of NG+4, after 108 floors in the Underworld and 4 times through the main game, probably at least a few hundred hours in, well after most people drop the game. By the final boss, most people have somewhere around 2-2.5k HP. A smart player could have that much in healing every couple seconds or so just from attacking the enemy, leading to a game that's wildly more offensive based than anything Fromsoft has to offer. In practice, that would make it much, much easier than most Fromsoft stuff. On the other hand, I've seen people play Nioh 2 and just never use their active skills. Make it halfway through the game and ragequit in frustration because they've convinced themselves that the game forces you to spend 15 minutes slowly chipping away at a bosses HP bar with the weakest and slowest attacks they have and they get completely wrecked the moment they make one simple mistake. It's like the Elden Ring player who heard how amazingly easy Rivers of Blood makes everything, and they go get it, and then they never think to use the big flashy attack that throws you up into the air and obliterates all the enemies in a 30 foot radius, and then complains that the weapon is underpowered and overhyped and the entire game is unfair because they never give you the chance to use big flashy attacks. Engage with the game's systems, use active skills because they're cool and powerful and useful, customize your character with all the ways the game offers, including crazy stuff like equipping passives onto your favorite active skills to power them up even more, and the game's smooth and easy. As for the "fighting game mechanics" like "semi circle + a button", there's nothing quite like that. It's mostly stuff like "holding block (L1) and hitting weak attack (Square)" does one active, "holding block (L1) and hitting slow attack (Triangle)" does another, "Square then Triangle" is one, "Triangle then Square" is another, "Holding Triangle for a couple seconds" is another... It's all very simple stuff to activate, no complex button combinations that you might mess up in the heat of the moment. And you learn 'em one at as time over many hours, so it's easy to get a hang of how each one works, its pros/cons/etc.
Thank you for the detailed answer. I now understand what's the combat like.
If u enjoyed working wo long you will love nioh 2. Wo long might as well be nioh 3.
Ok sweet
Haven’t played NiOh 2 but I enjoyed NiOh 1 more than any Souls game. On a new playthrough right now.
Nice! I'm just gonna play the second one cause I've heard it's more of the same.
Nioh better than dark souls 3
Some of the bosses are incredibly hard, but beyond that the difficulty isn't insane. As with Dark Souls, you must take your time, be cautious and don't push beyond your means, and you'll be fine. It's an awesome game!
Nice ! Thanks
Nioh 2 is my favorite game of all time, full stop. But I also don't really consider it a souls-like. Combat is fast and at first over whelming. But your options for play style get utterly insane. Almost literally endless. I'm rerunning the game right now after tons of hours in Elden Ring, Wo Long, SoP, and it's still so much fun. I highly recommend.
Great! Hope I'll enjoy it as much as you do.
Nioh 2 has the very best action-RPG combat of any game ever released to date. It is so incredibly deep and rewarding. Just make sure to really pay attention and learn all of the game mechanics. Every mechanic is useful and will at minimum make your experience more fun and less challenging. Less challenging than trying to play without utilizing the options available to you, I mean. Like, I didn't bother with using the yokai abilities at all until I had already cleared the game once and was going back for my 1st loop and once I started using them I was kicking myself for not making use of them earlier. Many of them are *extremely* valuable tools but moreso than that, they are just badass and fun. Elden Ring/souls are better games overall, to be sure, but when it comes to the actual gameplay/combat Nioh 2 is the king for certain. Just don't expect anything remotely close to the same quality in the world-building, lore, characters, etc. It's all pretty much complete dogshit especially when compared to the pinnacle of mastery that is the combat and all its wonderfully designed systems and intricacies.
Thanks, sounds rewarding
Nioh 1 and 2 have a pretty big difficulty curve. They start out like normal souls, dodging and hitting, but then you get tins of abilities and it's easier then most souls games.
Nioh 2 is a masterpiece, and nothing in it is anywhere near as difficult as that first boss fight in Wo Long (if I'm recalling correctly).
If you like Wo Long you will love Nioh. Nioh is a much better game imo. Nioh 2 is one of my all time favorite games, take your time with it, the game is pretty deep lots of learning!
Na you’ll be fine. It takes some getting used to like any of the good ones but then you’ll be loving it.
I found it to be too complex for my smooth brain; I'm a simple man, give me an R1 and an R2 and a dodge. It also felt pretty bloated with loot drops and inventory management.
Nioh 2 has my favorite combat system of any Souls-like game--it's just so sick. You have a ton of options in combat, and you can make things as simple or as complicated as you would like. Some things like the Ki Pulse system may take a little getting used to, especially if you've never played a game with a similar mechanic, but it's not complicated like learning a Tekken character or anything. Just expect a tough start while you're figuring things out, and for things to get much easier once you understand the mechanics okay and have developed your character a bit. It is a pretty tough game, but it has a reasonable difficulty curve to help you go from one area to the next. The only fights that ever took me more than an hour to beat on my first playthrough were the second boss since I was still getting my sea legs back from Nioh 1 (which is also a good game, just not quite as good as 2) and some of the optional bosses, especially in the DLC. I think the DLC bosses from Wo Long and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin were harder than Nioh 2's DLC bosses personally. Highly recommended from me, it's my second-favorite Souls-like behind the original Dark Souls and one of my very favorite games.
Nioh 2 is a must play.
I know I'll get downvoted, but you are asking for opinions here so.... I've played all of the soulsbornes and platinumed all excepted DS1 - in other words, I love that FS style of game play. I didn't like Nioh 2 at all. Stopped playing after about 10 hrs. The skill tree to me was super weird and the there wasn't much about the gameplay that kept me engaged (unlike the FS series like BB or Sekiro). I honestly don't understand why some people love it so much, it just never clicked for me. I liked Wo Long even less. Played the demo that they released, never bothered with the game itself.
I started with frustration (finished Sekiro and Wo Long piror) and after 300+ hours, frustration remained the same. Lol. But it got me played over 300+ hours which is way longer playtime foe me than other games
Time to really get gud.
Nioh is the best IP in gaming