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I'll just outright say it, Nioh is a fucking slog of a game

M

Marty-esque

Member
The gameplay is excellent though, so I can overlook some of the issues.

And an A agility build is not folly. It's how I played the entire game. I think it would actually have been more difficult going with better armor but lower agility.
 
Tomeru

Tomeru

Member
OP, the way you worded your op tells me that you never really expected to like this game. Too many fucks all over it. Then you find it mind-blowingly bizzare that this game gets a fucking pass from people?

Outside of repetetiveness I don't agree with anything you said. Bosses were always fair, you just had to up your game with some of them - and that was well within the games' system. Nothing hard about them. Farming ger like in diablo? Please, its so much easier to farm the gear you want in Nioh. The only thing "hard" about it is the upgrading.

You just could'nt find it within yourself to gitgud. Thats fine. But this game is a fucking great game. It's fast. It's sharp. And it's fucking great.

Don't like a game? Thats fine. Don't act like it should be impossible to like it.
 
semiconscious

semiconscious

Member
AgentOtaku said:
?

I did enjoy the plot... until it sort of just.. went away, only to show back up every now and then.
I put as much time as I did into it because I kept hoping something would be waiting over the hill... and that ultimately didn't happen. I really tried.
Click to expand...

yep, i can relate (currently watching the second season of true detective, doing the exact same thing :) )...

i loved nioh, until i no longer did, as well. it's a very well-made game that just, unfortunately, goes on a little too long for its own good. the limited types of enemies, combined with the ever-more-oppressive level designs, eventually wore me down before i made it to the finish line. really enjoyed it all, tho, up till that point...
 
A

AgentOtaku

Member
Tomeru said:
OP, the way you worded your op tells me that you never really expected to like this game. Too many fucks all over it. Then you find it mind-blowingly bizzare that this game gets a fucking pass from people?

Outside of repetetiveness I don't agree with anything you said. Bosses were always fair, you just had to up your game with some of them - and that was well within the games' system. Nothing hard about them. Farming ger like in diablo? Please, its so much easier to farm the gear you want in Nioh. The only thing "hard" about it is the upgrading.

You just could'nt find it within yourself to gitgud. Thats fine. But this game is a fucking great game. It's fast. It's sharp. And it's fucking great.

Don't like a game? Thats fine. Don't act like it should be impossible to like it.
Click to expand...

K
 
V

Van Bur3n

Member
I have to agree. Despite how much I really enjoy the combat of this game, the game doesn't offer enough to justify how long it is. Especially in its lack of enemies that you will end up fighting over and over again to the point you will already know how best to deal with them quick and it takes away from the combat. Towards the end of the game with every mission I kept thinking "this one has to be the last mission" and then it just keeps on fucking going. I was getting tired of the game and I just wanted it done at that point.

I came back later to tackle the endgame side missions that take place after the story and my god, if people think Dark Souls goes far with the "PREPARE TO DIE" feel, these boss fights the game comes up with go overboard with it. Really not fun.

Besides its absurd length, everything else in its desire to be like a Souls game is an okay attempt. Not the best level design, not the best bosses, buts it's fine. But, like every developer that tries to copy Souls, they're far from what From Software delivers.
 
A

Aztechnology

Member
Yea I agree. What keeps souls games or Bloodborne so respectively fresh is the fetishization of exploration and discovery. Nioh doesn't have that, so quickly became rather stale. I'm just not someone that can overlooking those weaknesses because of the combat. Which I did find satisfying.
 
HarryKS

HarryKS

Member
It fills up a space that is its own. Not an active D.Souls competitor, rather, a complement.

Some odd criticism.
 
R

Rua

Member
I bought the season pass for it after wanting more past the main game but got burnt out and couldn't even finish the first DLC. I loved how the game plays (more so than the Dark Souls games and Bloodborne), the aesthetics, the setting, etc.

Can't stand the loot system though which goes hand in hand with the repetitiveness.
 
S

Shredderi

Member
Tomeru said:
You just could'nt find it within yourself to gitgud.
Click to expand...

GIF--laughing-funny-LOL-haha-hehe-hilarious-fun-happy-laugh-David-Tennant-GIF.gif
 
G

GifGafIsTheBestGaf

Member
i get what you are saying and for a first attempt to something different i thought they did very good, if there is a Nioh 2 i expect they'll correct the issues the first game had but at the very least they nailed the gameplay and combat aspects of it.

imo, it can only get better from here on out. you can obviously see they had just a finite amount of money and time and where they decided to focus most of it, you cant deny the armor porn of the game and the weapons looked nice as well
 
A

Aztechnology

Member
HarryKS said:
It fills up a space that is its own. Not an active D.Souls competitor, rather, a complement.

Some odd criticism.
Click to expand...

My point was that is why I did not mind the repetitive nature of Souls games because they were broken up by that sense of exploration and discovery. Nioh didn't have that for me. I never had that wow moment from the design of a level, or suprise at what was coming. I hate when people say they can't be compared and contrasted because they absolutely can and should be. Just because it takes a different approach doesn't mean we can't look at it and see where one succeeds greatly and the other fails and Visa versa. It's a cop out to say it occupies it's own space. That's like me saying Arms is not comparable to other fighting games.
 
F

Frost Walrus

Member
The only part I found to be a slog was grinding revenants for that blacksmithing trophy. I guess years of playing character action games got me used to small enemy pools. (EDIT: oh, and playing the same levels over and over again)

The game itself is pretty easy due to the amount of cheese available to the player. I breezed through the immediate post-game missions by abusing hyper-armor. Hino-enma seemed to always give me trouble though, yeah.
 
P

Plum

Member
I'm finding it hard to go back to the game and I'm only at the first poison area. The level itself and boss are a bit crap but the main culprit is the survival horror-esque healing system. Why do elixirs drop so rarely and why do I have to find tons hidden collectibles just to up it? Going into a boss with 3 elixirs that don't even heal me to full is not fun for me.

EDIT: Though what I had played before that level was fun as fuck and even if I didn't play the game again it'd have a spot in my GOTY list.
 
A

Aztechnology

Member
Plum said:
I'm finding it hard to go back to the game and I'm only at the first poison area. The level itself and boss are a bit crap but the main culprit is the survival horror-esque healing system. Why do elixirs drop so rarely and why do I have to find tons hidden collectibles just to up it? Going into a boss with 3 elixirs that don't even heal me to full is not fun for me.
Click to expand...

Just use the Kodama blessing that gives you extra elixirs. You're rolling in them.
 
HF2014

HF2014

Member
Never bought this game, never will. The idea of having a Diablo like drop system got me curious at first, but after watching some youtube, when u always get something new and change items every freakin 10 seconds, i found this annoying. This game will go in the category of "Nice try" like Lord of the Fallen. From games are just superior.
 
M

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
KiNolin said:
It's actually okay to be some dozen levels behind the "suggestion"...
Click to expand...
Yeah. I laughed when OP said they needed to "grind levels" to be on the same level as the recommended story mission level. No, you don't need to grind whatsoever.

I am in NG+ right now and I am not bothering with the vast majority of non-story missions and I am falling severely behind in "recommended levels", but I can still manage. Gear is more important than levels, always.

Plus, if you manage to survive just long enough in a level that's much higher than yours, you'll get loot drops that are quite high and will make a big difference, so you'll be fine. I did the Twilight version of a mission way earlier than I should have, I remember getting rekt by mobs but still pushed on, and eventually got so much good gear that the main game was easy for a few missions. lol

Philippo said:
For me, yes.
Click to expand...
Same.

shounenka said:
100 hours in; bout to fight the final boss. Cleared all side missions on the way.

Definitely an example of a game that overstays its welcome. Some of the content is just straight-up superfluous.

There is a game-breaking spell that makes literally every encounter (including bosses) beatable in one try.
Click to expand...
Like what? Sloth got nerfed and barely lasts long enough to make such a big difference.

MontyBrown said:
Was gonna get this game but this thread has convinced me otherwise.
Click to expand...
sigh...
 
T

Theslammer

Member
Persona7 said:
Pointless Chalice dungeon filler says otherwise.
Click to expand...

I played through all of them each time I replay the game, right through the final mandatory dungeon, and then even the root ones.

Love them. At one point, all I was doing was helping people to beat Chalice Dungeon bosses.

*Not a slight against Nioh, either. I have not bought it but fully intend to do so when it drops in price. I really enjoyed the gameplay when I tried it months before its release date.
 
X

xuchu

Member
Tomeru said:
OP, the way you worded your op tells me that you never really expected to like this game. Too many fucks all over it. Then you find it mind-blowingly bizzare that this game gets a fucking pass from people?

Outside of repetetiveness I don't agree with anything you said. Bosses were always fair, you just had to up your game with some of them - and that was well within the games' system. Nothing hard about them. Farming ger like in diablo? Please, its so much easier to farm the gear you want in Nioh. The only thing "hard" about it is the upgrading.

You just could'nt find it within yourself to gitgud. Thats fine. But this game is a fucking great game. It's fast. It's sharp. And it's fucking great.

Don't like a game? Thats fine. Don't act like it should be impossible to like it.
Click to expand...

To be fair OP did like the game, just thinks it's a bit too long which I can sympathise with. I think even people who adore the game can understand the enemy variety complaint.

Even with me, I like the diablo loot, but I think it's needlessly complicated (mostly from translation issues I think) as they refer to the same thing with different names and vice versa. Often the description of weapon special effects and skill effects in the skill tree are outright wrong and if people who dig deep into the systems are confused how are players who don't engage with it going understand it.

They really need cut back on the amount of useless special effects and reduce the RNG needed when reforging too. And again I like these aspects.
 
G

Gator86

Member
Totally agree with the OP. The end is a slog. The enemies stagnate hard, the level design turns to shit, etc. All of the diversity and creativity of the early levels and areas turns into dark, unmemorable hallways. It's still a great game, but it definitely extends itself too far.
 
T

TatteredHat

Member
HF2014 said:
Never bought this game, never will. The idea of having a Diablo like drop system got me curious at first, but after watching some youtube, when u always get something new and change items every freakin 10 seconds, i found this annoying. This game will go in the category of "Nice try" like Lord of the Fallen. From games are just superior.
Click to expand...

This is not reality.
 
I

IdreamofHIME

Member
I often wonder if reviewers actually finished the game. The glowing praise it got at launch really only fits about the 1st half of the game, it quickly runs out of ideas and repeats the same tricks over and over. Locations, enemy types and even bosses get recycled...and the loot? 99% garbage where you spend hours shifting through confusing unhelpful menus to free up space in case you get something marginally more cool.


It's a 7/10 game with grade A gameplay and graphics, a springboard for something special in the sequel that is missing on the 1st try.
 
K

KiNolin

Member
IdreamofHIME said:
I often wonder if reviewers actually finished the game. The glowing praise it got at launch really only fits about the 1st half of the game, it quickly runs out of ideas and repeats the same tricks over and over. Locations, enemy types and even bosses get recycled...and the loot? 99% garbage where you spend hours shifting through confusing unhelpful menus to free up space in case you get something marginally more cool.
Click to expand...

But the second half of the game is the better half.
 
J

Jimrpg

Member
IdreamofHIME said:
I often wonder if reviewers actually finished the game. The glowing praise it got at launch really only fits about the 1st half of the game, it quickly runs out of ideas and repeats the same tricks over and over. Locations, enemy types and even bosses get recycled...and the loot? 99% garbage where you spend hours shifting through confusing unhelpful menus to free up space in case you get something marginally more cool.


It's a 7/10 game with grade A gameplay and graphics, a springboard for something special in the sequel that is missing on the 1st try.
Click to expand...

The second half of the game is actually really good. The game is flat out more fun when your character has way more combat options. The first half relies on shitty gimmicks like poison fields and shallow water deaths which is super annoying.

But I have to agree, are these reviewers all supermen and clear the game under 30-40 hours for review? Or do they just all find a friend to coop it and have them hand hold to get to the next level? This is a long game and most reviewers seem to beat it pretty comfortably.
 
F

Fhtagn

Member
Endless item grind, even when trying to ignore it but can't because the inventory fills up so fast, really drags the entire game down for me.

Really enjoyed my time with it tho, I'll finish it eventually.
 
S

Spira

Banned
The game clicked with me a second time when I got to the later levels. I remember feeling the exact same way 50 hours in though.
 
E

emag

Member
IdreamofHIME said:
and the loot? 99% garbage where you spend hours shifting through confusing unhelpful menus to free up space
Click to expand...

Left (to select the all items category), R2 (selects all), X (sell) takes care of all your loot in a flash.

It doesn't take much longer to see if you got a better sword or armor piece and equip it after the end of the mission.
 
A

Aselith

Member
Fhtagn said:
Endless item grind, even when trying to ignore it but can't because the inventory fills up so fast, really drags the entire game down for me.

Really enjoyed my time with it tho, I'll finish it eventually.
Click to expand...

Just go to all items then push the thumbpad and choose the all items one and it will disassemble everything. Anything you might want to keep just hit square to lock it do it doesn't get disassembled.
 
H

HeeHo

Member
I thought I got pretty far before I stopped for Breath of the Wild. I had like 50ish hours? I was one of those people who welcomed the reused levels because I was enjoying it so much. I didn't mind if even just a few things were mixed up. I'm sure maybe I'll notice it further down the line.

Really dig the Souls-like combat and the loot system combo.
 
Comandr

Comandr

Member
I loved the game. Never found to be too long (unlocked ng+ but only got back up to Umi-bozu before I was like lol no) and didn't even notice the map reusage outside of the side missions. And then it didn't bother me because it made sense? Hey you know that area you just went through? Well there's more shit going down there. Okay. I'll go back. /shrug. Never bothered me personally.

Having the right weapon for a given situation definitely was a game changer though. I'd say if you were die hard sticking to say Swords, yeah I can see a lot of situations being overly difficult unless you are extremely good. The kusarigama on the other hand was such an extremely versatile and powerful weapon that you could blast through most of the game with it. Paired with the ultimate skills that you got from the optional missions like increased damage, and then if you were lucky enough to get a lifesteal weapon? Yeah. Easy peasy.

And as far as levels go, I was way way way underleveled for the stages. I think I was pretty much far lower level than the stage for most of the game. If you were supposed to be that level, or it was recommended you were that level, well I never bothered. And I'm sorry if you spent tons of time grinding because you thought you had to be there.

Easily one of my favorite games this generation.
 
F

flozuki

Member
AHA-Lambda said:
I admit I've not played Nioh yet, but it seems that this sentiment has been appearing more and more of late, I've seen quite a number on gaf now who have given up on it some time in to it.
Click to expand...

Just have to agree. Almost nothing nice to look at doesn't help. I was really happy to be finished in the end.
 
F

Fhtagn

Member
Aselith said:
Just go to all items then push the thumbpad and choose the all items one and it will disassemble everything. Anything you might want to keep just hit square to lock it do it doesn't get disassembled.
Click to expand...

Yes, even doing that, it's a hassle, imho. I just don't care about item grinding, it's not what I want out of the game.

Love the combat and stances and don't even mind the lack of enemy variety all that much. The micromanaging of equipment felt like a chore.
 
T

The Goat

Member
Bought Nioh during the PSN sale, thinking I might enjoy it enough for the price it was at. I didn't particularly care for the original demo, but I remember the challenge that it possessed, which intrigued me. Plus gaf seemed to love it. Win-win, right?

Nope. Game never clicked with me and I dropped it a few hours in.
 
J

Jimrpg

Member
Comandr said:
And as far as levels go, I was way way way underleveled for the stages. I think I was pretty much far lower level than the stage for most of the game. If you were supposed to be that level, or it was recommended you were that level, well I never bothered. And I'm sorry if you spent tons of time grinding because you thought you had to be there.

Easily one of my favorite games this generation.
Click to expand...

The mission level is mainly to do with the loot level not your character level.
 
R

Revan

Member
I've dropped 200 hours into the game, played (and paid for the season pass when it was on sale a few months back) the DLC, opened up Way of the Demon and I kind of agree with OP to a point - the game shouldn't have been as long as it is. The amount of loot is utterly ridiculous, the levels are tedious, the enemies are repetitive, and the game becomes one hell of a grind later on. I totally get what Team Ninja was going for - long sprawling epic set in a very disruptive time period in Japan. The enemy design is cool, the way the missions are structure in some levels is good, and the game does leave you with a satisfying feeling after finally beating a boss that has infuriated you....but it's way too long and has a lot of filler.

That being said - the gameplay is fucking amazing. Team Ninja managed to recapture somewhat that feeling of OG Ninja Gaiden (especially with an Agility build) with the combat (I really would love to see an RPG progression system in the next Ninja Gaiden game). I'm not a fan of Diablo style grind games but I dropped 200 hours into this because the gameplay excels and almost makes up for it's shortcomings. The first DLC was a blast to play through and I hope that the next two are like that again - but I've hit that point where I'm only from here on out going to play on Way of the Samurai with the next 2 DLC's because I can't handle the grind for "better gear" anymore.

I do like that Team Ninja relaxed the requirements for opening WotD - slogging through the majority of the game on Way of the Strong is where I lost interest in the game and started to see the flaws in the Diablo Style loot based approach - I hope that Nioh 2 corrects a lot of these mishaps.

TL;DR: My first run through of Way of the Samurai was awesome - it really brought me back to that OG NG feeling from Team Ninja - after that it became more of a chore to play then anything else because of the Diablo style loot grind.
 
A

Aselith

Member
Fhtagn said:
Yes, even doing that, it's a hassle, imho. I just don't care about item grinding, it's not what I want out of the game.

Love the combat and stances and don't even mind the lack of enemy variety all that much. The micromanaging of equipment felt like a chore.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can understand that but the micromanagy downside does come with a big upside of being able to really customize a lot about your character imo. I think it's more like the Witcher than DS in that way that a lot of prep can really make things a breeze.
 
F

Frost Walrus

Member
A good way to deal with too much loot is to adjust the settings and make it so that only Blue and higher equipment have their text show up. That way you ignore the junk.
 
N

Nocturnowl

Member
Great title that should've been half the length and handle its loot better (which seems like a holdover from the initial "everything breaks" idea).
But hey that's what sequels are for, I hope!
 
C

Clarkus Darkus

Member
Yeah as much as i loved playing it, Which i did. It's a chore to play through again after you have done the missions once. The enviroments aren't worth going back too for the awe, Loot is good but i reached a point when i got purple Skill A+ scaling on my dual sword hatchets and nothing i picked up from then was worth it.

Great game, But for 1 playthrough only.
 
W

wild_fire987

Member
Totally agree with OP. The first 15-20 hours of that game are amazing! But I tapped out around the 50 hour mark because it was just unexciting fighting the same half dozen enemies over and over.
 
Z

Zaventem

Member
The reuse in levels on come from side missions, i don't see it as a big problem. My biggest problem with nioh is the standard enemy variety, i pretty sure you'll see everything before midpoint and all enemies after that are reskins of the same thing which is a huge letdown. With that said i think the game was great for what it was.
 
G

Greddleok

Member
What Nioh lacks in enemy variety and exploration and plot and level design, it makes up for in mechanical depth.

It's got its problems, but the combat is sublime, it really puts the souls games to shame in that respect.
 
I

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
I can tell you having spent 500 hours on Nioh that the combat itself outshines pretty much everything else once you have mastered it.

I think its a good first try for a souls like game by Team Ninja and a good springboard to improve on

Yeah it has flaws, but that's not really an issue IMO
 
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