Nioh Review

 

Nioh is an immensely layered experience. Through its Dark Souls-inspired combat, you're taught the virtues of patience and the value of defense. With each death, you learn a bit more about yourself and your enemy. This Team Ninja production, set during a time of great social upheaval in Japan, demonstrates the studio's penchant for demanding action-driven gameplay that rewards tactics and high dexterity. And despite all the inevitable dying, Nioh is surprisingly rich with solutions to overcome its many hurdles.

oei Tecmo's fondness for Japan's tumultuous Sengoku period is on full display in Nioh. The unusual foreign point of view of protagonist William Adams adds freshness to this familiar setting. Adams' real life notoriety as the first Western samurai is the kernel that allows the game to glorify him as a knowledgeable user of Japanese melee weaponry. His path to combat proficiency is partly motivated by his pursuit of antagonist and occultist Edward Kelley, also an English historical figure. Both are searching for Amrita, a type of magical stone abundant in Japan that is thought to have the power to turn the tide in Queen Elizabeth I's favor in her war against Spain.

Death is featured heavily, not just in the frequency of player failures but also in the war torn lands Adams explores. Many of Nioh's levels feel like you've walked into an imaginary epilogue of an Akira Kurosawa film. The extensiveness of ruin and the littering of corpses are complemented by a recurring musical theme that effectively captures the solemnness of what remains.

These devastated landscapes is also a breeding ground for hostile yokai, demons and creatures heavily inspired by Japanese folklore. Like the Onimusha and Toukiden series, Team Ninja puts their own spin on these fantastic beasts. There's great imagination on display as Adams confronts unusually agile ogres and homicidal ravens decorated like Buddhist monks. There's much to marvel at in the otherworldliness of the yokai's designs when you're not too busy dodging their deadly attacks.

oei Tecmo's fondness for Japan's tumultuous Sengoku period is on full display in Nioh. The unusual foreign point of view of protagonist William Adams adds freshness to this familiar setting. Adams' real life notoriety as the first Western samurai is the kernel that allows the game to glorify him as a knowledgeable user of Japanese melee weaponry. His path to combat proficiency is partly motivated by his pursuit of antagonist and occultist Edward Kelley, also an English historical figure. Both are searching for Amrita, a type of magical stone abundant in Japan that is thought to have the power to turn the tide in Queen Elizabeth I's favor in her war against Spain.

Death is featured heavily, not just in the frequency of player failures but also in the war torn lands Adams explores. Many of Nioh's levels feel like you've walked into an imaginary epilogue of an Akira Kurosawa film. The extensiveness of ruin and the littering of corpses are complemented by a recurring musical theme that effectively captures the solemnness of what remains.

These devastated landscapes is also a breeding ground for hostile yokai, demons and creatures heavily inspired by Japanese folklore. Like the Onimusha and Toukiden series, Team Ninja puts their own spin on these fantastic beasts. There's great imagination on display as Adams confronts unusually agile ogres and homicidal ravens decorated like Buddhist monks. There's much to marvel at in the otherworldliness of the yokai's designs when you're not too busy dodging their deadly attacks.