13th of March 2020

I'm beyong excited for this, the original Nioh is my favourite game of the modern generated and from all reports this is a more polished effort from Team Ninja.

It's going to be more of it's own thing. The last Nioh really was one of those games that took ideas from other titles and just made a mish mash game. I really enjoyed it, but there was certainly room for improvement and from the looks of it, Team Ninja have introduced a couple of new concepts that make it stand out.

Namely there's Yokai abilities where your character will transform and perform an attack from a beast you just defeated. They're similar to assists from Capcom Fighting games and they allow for all sorts of crazy strategies.

As a huge fan of the Soulsborne genre, Nioh, while lacking in world and enemy design of the From games, vastly makes up for it and becomes by favorite of the bunch with the amazing combat system. Just so much depth there to be found (and they added things for the second). Most games I end up liking one or two weapons and largely ignoring the rest, with Nioh, I always had the best version of each weapon type on me, as I found different weapons favored confrontations with different enemies. Like there's those big owly looking sons of bitches that were giving me trouble because they moved at an odd pacing, but I later discovered I could easily handle them with spears, keeping them at a distance, and with some elemental damage and the multistab could tear right through them.

You figure several weapons, each with 3 stances for different combos, onma, jutsu, and you soul guardian enchancements...you could approach combat from so many different directions.

Can't wait for this, top of my Gamefly Q.

Watched ManvsGame play this tonight. It looks freaking amazing. Combat is super in depth and can be taken in many directions for sure. He is playing ki swords now but wants to start playing with weapon swapping in combos.

Got a few missions down, so far the glaive is my main, that shit's beastly. I mainly side with the double hatchets, still trying to maximize familiarity with one of every though, helps that your second equipped weapon gains familiarity even when you're using the other, so I can work things while sticking to my glaive or hatchets. Just you have to actually use them to get skill points. So far I'm a bit disappointed with the skill trees, hopefully seems more worthwhile as the game goes on, other than the backstab, most things seem like incremental buffers. Well, and a couple base moves to extend combos for the weapons.

One addition I love, in main boss rooms (not mini bosses like sub missions), if you die...you reclaim your guardian simply by re-enterting the boss room. So none of that "Oh come on I'm standing right over it, I'm pushing the button aaand FUCK! I'm dead, it didn't pick the damn thing up." of other Soulslikes. The most annoying part of Soulsborne bosses, other than difficulty, is the need to mad dash back to your XP every single fucking time if you have anything worthwhile.

Also, if you haven't started or are just starting MASTER BURST COUNTER, it's practically required for level bosses, at least so I'm gathering from the second boss, who's super attack was a giant homing fire tornado dash that is incredibly difficult to avoid due to the small area. As soon as I got the timing of his burst counter, I walked through first try (after about 10 prior tries). Burst counter against major enemies is as important as parrying in Sekiro (just not as integral for lesser demons).

Don't believe the Viper and the Butterfly when it recommends level 37...but I went in well above and the level boss took something like a dozen finishers, all the moves it took to get it to set up each, another dozen yokai spears, and an entire yokai form with yokai finishers...and only got that bitch down to half life, and any single combo kills me. I guess if you put all 37 levels into one single stat, maybe you're strong enough with that weapon. Holy hell.

Though he wouldn't be so bad it if was just him, but you need to beat 2 other waves of enemies (each with a prick of an enemy), AND then a powerful enemy spawns just before him, if you don't have him beat by the time the boss spawns...you're fucked. That's like 5 seconds.


I haven't slept in more than a day, I'll try again with some rest. It's the last thing I needed in area 2, and is definitely the single hardest thing so far, full on story bosses aren't giving me this pain.

Mar 17, 2020 5:48:21 GMT RagnarokMike said:

Don't believe the Viper and the Butterfly when it recommends level 37...but I went in well above and the level boss took something like a dozen finishers, all the moves it took to get it to set up each, another dozen yokai spears, and an entire yokai form with yokai finishers...and only got that bitch down to half life, and any single combo kills me. I guess if you put all 37 levels into one single stat, maybe you're strong enough with that weapon. Holy hell.

Though he wouldn't be so bad it if was just him, but you need to beat 2 other waves of enemies (each with a prick of an enemy), AND then a powerful enemy spawns just before him, if you don't have him beat by the time the boss spawns...you're fucked. That's like 5 seconds.


I haven't slept in more than a day, I'll try again with some rest. It's the last thing I needed in area 2, and is definitely the single hardest thing so far, full on story bosses aren't giving me this pain.

You're not kidding, it was the hardest challenge of the game up to that point.

What I ended up doing was going through the first two waves easily, entering a combo right away and Yokai shifting to take care of the bigger Gaki and then maintaining a healthy distance between me and the revenant, casting Sloth to counter-punch and just looping him over and over until he was gone. Flux in this situation is great because you just go from mid to high to low and really put the boots to him.

Jesus christ, I just finished the 1st mission of Area 2! :lol:

Love this game, only thing that is frustrating are those gauntlet of enemies in a side mission that if you try and solo, you have to do these 2 on 1 fights. It's like fight me 1v1, have the balls to do it! Every boss besides Enenra has been finished in 1-2 fights, been pretty good with boss fights, nothing has been too difficult. Just that one side mission that you have to fight like 4 waves of Yokai followed up by the one dude really pissed me off. The Tengu are still obnoxious as ever as trying to bait their burst counter isn't easy since they have such range with their attacks

How many hours do you guys game a day?

Mar 17, 2020 18:39:58 GMT Emperor said:

How many hours do you guys game a day?

On a work day maybe 2, 3 at tops at night. Weekend maybe 4 on Saturday, 4 on Sunday. Don't play everyday, some days I sleep in earlier or watch sports. Usually have wrestling or sports pre virus on background while playing a game.

Mar 17, 2020 18:39:58 GMT Emperor said:

How many hours do you guys game a day?

I'm similar to Blindy, I'd say on average 2 hours a day and 3 hours on weekends. With certain games, like Persona 5 I'd have the odd marathon session where I'd play for 12 hours which really does a number on you mentally.

Civ V is still the scariest for me. I had one session which I thought was 3 hours, turned out to be 7 hours.

With Nioh 2, I've ramped it up so I'm playing 4 hours during weekdays and 6 hours on weekends. I'm up to the forth area, but I did spend my first few hours just playing through the main missions and skipped a lot of the side content.

Just beat Area 2's 2nd main mission, 1st try on the panther thingie and once again like in the Beta......I play as cowardly and non aggressive as humanly possible on it and hid behind the solid trees and circled around it to conserve ki while picking my 1-2 hits in. Added a bit of lightning on my odachi and got my few hits in and said fuck it living weapon it to end it all. It took me a good hour or so on the Beta so I said let's stick to my strategy and low and behold Blindy's trials and tribulations on that thing helped big time!

Got my annual twilight mission out of the way for the trophy and have done all side content thus far, collected all Kodama buddies(Not sure about the hot springs, more interested in KODAMANIA!) Keeping it up so far, #TeamElixir.

Encountered two hilarious glitches in this area, screenshot one and videoed one. Need to find a way to upload them. Basically the part that the giant worm monster that you need to kill to destroy the Yokai Realm got stuck on the wall and while you can target it, you could not harm it. It somehow off screen wiggled off as I was going to progress to the next part of the level :lol: 

And the NPC Jason Mamoa blocked a human enemy who was running in place while the NPC fainted, took about a good 3 minutes for the enemy to wiggle off and come after me(Or maybe the NPC woke up, not sure). Either way hilarious. 

I'd say I play 4-6 hours a day, but on the day I didn't sleep at all...I think I did 14.

Either way, I beat that bitch in the Viper and Butterfly, wish I could say it was the sleep deprivation and I beat him first try...but the son of a bitch got down to one hit and then suddenly I could never get any stamina between healing and making distance, so it probably took me another 10 because mostly he killed me before I could get rid of the big motherfucker, and the 3-4 times I did, I'd wear him down then it'd decide I couldn't dodge (with Ki in my bar...even burst dodge said no) and he'd fuck me right up the ass with one combo.

I only did one or two story missions from section 3 today, then all the sub plots that were available. Toughest was probably a one on one duel, but that only took me until figuring out this rush move that kept fucking me up, nothing at all came close to the Viper and the butterfly still.

So on a normal day you guys come home from work and play 2-6 hours of video games in the evening, every day?

Mar 18, 2020 12:42:21 GMT Emperor said:

So on a normal day you guys come home from work and play 2-6 hours of video games in the evening, every day?

I get disability, I'm basically held together with twist ties and paper mache, nothing but free time. 

Just beat Viper and Butterfly and after seeing the name pop up here I was very much worried but I got it on the 2nd try. The Revenant does indeed hit pretty hard but much like my first encounter with him, I kept distance with my Odachi and got him 2nd try. I agree that if you don't get the giant Gaki right away this becomes a big trouble which is what did me in the first time but boy I came to a realization that Lightning Talisman are absolutely OP in this game. They stun meter enemies right away which completely zaps opponents of their stamina so what I did on this guy is get 2-3 shots in while ki puling to not dwindle my ki, cause enough damage that the Revenant is stunned and then do Triangle while enemy is staggered and repeat. I popped another one as he ended his 3 combo Switchgraive schick that I caught on quickly and he got pumped, he could never get his stamina back fully. I didn't let him, the lightning talisman is amazing, I am going to go all in with this. It also does good work on the Naga Snake Ladies too, absolutely amazing.

I was level 58 for this fight and the recc. level is 58 though I think this game got patched late last night. About to head into Area 3!

Mar 18, 2020 12:42:21 GMT Emperor said:

So on a normal day you guys come home from work and play 2-6 hours of video games in the evening, every day?

It sounds like a lot, but two hours goes like that. Especially if you're multi-tasking with a television show on in the background - it's why I tend to play JRPGs because it's easier to pay attention to the television.

It's one of those things where if I can't fit it in no dramas, but if there's nothing going on, I'm switching on some music/podcasts and playing some Nioh 2.

The overall impression I get from Nioh 2 is that Team Ninja is incredibly proud of their engine and want to show it off at every turn. The introduction of yokai abilities and burst counters allows the players to be proactive in combat. In return, the enemies are certainly beefier and you can't chop through them like you could in the original Nioh with a well timed Sloth Talisman. You have to chip away and usually bait them into performing a burst counter attack.

I've yet to watch through every cut-scene but it certainly feels more story-driven than the original Nioh. A lot of characters pop up through each mission and will interact with you and the bosses felt more significant as a result.

Anyone who found the original Nioh repetitive is going to feel the burn later in the game. As far as I know, they only introduced one new enemy since they released the betas and you've basically encountered every new enemy by the third area in the game. The few enemies that pop up towards the end were in the original Nioh as DLC enemies so experienced players will feel like they're going through the motions.

I definitely think it's intended to be a more co-op game which is why they introduced graves that can give you an AI partner. I never used them when I was clearing a new area but they make the game more enjoyable so if you're really struggling in an area or just want something to break the gameplay up give them a summon. Conversley you can always summon a real person.

I made a point in my playthrough to experiment with all the new features so I went Switchglaive/Hatchets which appears to be the most popular choice according to the trophies. I also made sure to invite every cat along, I donated to every not-kodama critter, collected tea-sets, remoddled my hut and I made my guy look like Goemon from the classic Japanese art-works. One thing I wasn't using enough was my yokai abilities as I kept saving my anima for burst counters. They're usually great combo enders as a way to reduce the enemies stamina and really plug away at them. In the end I used Kamaitachi a ton. I also found the game became incredibly easy once I reached the teahouse and got the buff that gave me life drain for every anima recovered. I'd just hit the enemy with an extraction talisman and a life talisman and I never had to worry about healing again.

I did have a few bosses that stumped me. I was disappointed with myself and Yatsu-no-Kami, after struggling in the betas I thought I could end it easily but it's burst counter was pretty difficult to trigger. I had to treat it like a Punch Out match, avoid all it's attacks, counter-punch when I had the best opportunity to lay in multiple hits, especially during the Yokai Realm. When I had it down to it's final third, go into Yokai Shift and just wail away, avoid any attacks and just cut it down until it was one or two hits. It's grab and tail whip was the bane of my existence.

Azai Nagamasa forced me to take advantage of my mage build more and ready some more projectiles to take him down. I had been blasting through the game until then, but that level in particular made me step up.

Gyuki I had to do a medicine run because it would always get me right at the death with four. I don't think I even needed four when I realised you could roll into it's attacks and wail away on the side of his body.

Shibata Katsui required another re-think. My spells were too slow and I was just trading too much damage and since medicine was in low supply again and I didn't feel like farming I had to focus more on buffs. This is where I got extraction talismans, plaides talismans, lifedrain talismans etc. and just played more aggressive. It was by this point I was starting to use Flux and Yokai Attacks a lot more which made the game much easier.

The toughest mission was another level towards the end of the game that's like the Viper and the Butterfly but with all the end-game Yokais and hand cannons at every turn. I must have died atleast half a dozen times, usually while I was way on top but I'd get blasted with a hand cannon from behind and then cop and attack.

I went back and played a second save of my original Nioh just to compare. The original Nioh was slightly easier but I think the level design was more varied and distinct. Team Ninja seemed to base each level off a core mechanic and flesh it out. With Nioh 2 a lot of levels feel very similar where you clear out all the normal enemies, enter a yokai realm defeat the target, shrine and rinse repeat until the boss. There's a couple of variations where you need to find switches or something to change the environment but I don't think it introduced too many new ideas from the original.

One thig that did surprise me was how long some levels were in the second and third realm, before really settling down in later levels. Some of the later levels certainly matched the length, but I was under the impression that the game was really going to elongate each mission. I'm glad they settled down because the level with the elevator and the watch towers and messos were real slogs.

Right now I'm in the middle of completing all the trophies. I'm just going back with my Kodama sensor hunting down all the hidden critters. I'm a sucker for these easter egg type mechanics, especially now that my character is so OP I don't have to worry about any cheap deaths.

Have hit all Kodamas thus far but won't lie I am using a kodama strategy guide, not to show me where every single thing is but to know if I need to advance in the level or not since I don't want to re go into a level just for the kodama. Love the little guys.

Just finished up 1st area of Area 4 and I am finding myself to have an easier time with the game as opposed to NiOh 1. Not to brag but some major bosses I finished on my 1st try(The final 2 Area 3 bosses) albeit it took all 8 elxirs and I had to play super conservative with no health left. The Armor and Ki buffs along with the lightning weapon talisman are so key, I don't ever use buffs in previous souls game(I cheesed with Sloth in the first game) but the stun meter building up is awesome since it dwindles the ki of the bosses to get some big hits going. Gyoki by far gave me the hardest time since like with Big Pete I didn't pick up that you need to play it ala Amygdala from Bloodborne and stay on his sides while watching out for the body/foot stomps. Completely neutralizes him, went in getting shots in mid stance but FINALLY utilized low stance after he hit yokai realm since ki preservation was massive. Could barely see what I was hitting since the cameras caught the inside polygon of the creature but I got the trophy somehow since it hit the dam in the midst of the confusion so I was pretty happy there.

I feel pretty good about my comfort with the burst counter, took me real resistance to do this in the Last Trial Beta last month but this I am free with it. The two yokai attack I don't use at all, just have not felt the need in doing so.

Pretty good game but I agree with Pete that there is certainly fatigue with this game, I dubbed this game NiOh 2: The Gauntlet because literary half the missions are gauntlet runs, seems kinda lazy that they could not be a little more creative. The story is so over the place but that's sadly to be expected, there is too many characters to know and unless your a pure Japanese history buff, your not going to put the names together with the models. Makes me sound stupid in a way but when they speak about guys, I have no idea if they are good or not :rofl: I recognize them by looks and the attire they are wearing to know if they are good or bad in the war. Certain characters are younger or pre yokai in this game since it's a prequel so it's kinda cool to yell out loud "I REMEMBER YOU!", particularly with the gun assassin fight since he was a badass in the first game and he looks younger here.

So far, I think only the level with the demon Tokichiro fight near the end had kodamas that you had to restart the level for if you missed...then again, I got a kodama sensor early on, and got most of them toot sweet.

Finished up, still Viper and the Butterfly was one of the steepest challenges for me. Though Gozuki and Mezuki in the Golden Castle was the single time in the game I gave up and called in a blue revenant, tough but fair I can do, that one was insanely imbalanced...it could have been made fair by simply having friendly fire, but letting them clip through each other at will and take up the entire screen in an all too small area was a bit much. Try to attack one, the other gets you, try to get distance, screen spanning attacks...almost felt broken to me.

Final boss was a decent challenge, mostly because his attacks had such crazy range and speed, once I went in with lightning and firestop talismans, became more managable. Same with demon Tokichiro, was struggling until I brought the stop talismans in, since it's damn near impossible to avoid them all. Raiden looking motherfucker was pretty easy, just irritating when he'd spawn the clones, which could fuck you over in a single hit.

I'm not 100%'ing the game, more games to play, so did everything that unlocked at a normal pace, a bunch of missions walled off behind circumstance, not getting to those. Did get all the guardians though.

Next up, since I'm a masochist, Remnant: From the Ashes.

Just finished up the 2nd fight with Shibata in Area 6, good fucking god this piece of shit was already obnoxious the 1st time but this has a shit gauntlet to even get to him with tons of 2vs1's and then having to slug back and go through the two annoying enemies was beyond me. I gave in and summoned a blue revenant only for the revenant to die in the first 5 seconds vs Shibata so I basically willed it again alone on this guy. Enough, no more. This boss is ridiculous. What the fuck were they thinking with this mission? Trying to do as many side missions as I can, practically at end game. I was about 5 or so levels below the required level but still this mission was by far THE worst in the game thus far. 

Finished the game late last night. All Kodama, all side missions, mastered Dual Swords and my baby Odachi, came close to mastering both Ninjitsu and Magic, and didn't finish 2 dark realms and was missing a couple of hot springs. Think I finished with a 64 or 67% completion of trophies, awesome game.

Agree with the consensus thought that if you at all liked NiOh 1, this is essentially more of the same. Really enjoyed the last 4 major fights between

SPOILER: Click to show

Hochi, Raiden knockoff, William & Raiden inside you

. All were very intense, particularly the final boss which was a homage to all of the beginning Yokai but steroided up with all sorts of crazy. Took all my elixirs, popped my living weapon and just got him 2nd try on a smudge of health.

By far the 3 toughest bosses in the game purely off of deaths would be:

1) Shibata
2) Gyuki
3) Enenra(He was a pushover in the gauntlet run once I got used to burst counters, I one shot all of the repeat guys in that Golden Castle and 1 shot the NiOh 1 final boss knockoff of that area)

Shibata was in a league of his own though, fuck that guy Lone boss that took me a good 30-45 minutes to conquer, he abuses the fire warthog yokai too much, can tank shots like no tomorrow and had such a quick unblockable grab startup that when you try to get aggressive he would catch you and basically one shot you fire damage ended any little health you have. 

I used lightning talisman until World 5, switched to Poison weapon Ninjitsu but always used both Ki recovery & Defense up recovery talismans. Once or twice did the revival ninjitsu helped me but never needed it. Really proud of how I played, one or two shots so many bosses including the end game ones. I 1 or 2 shot bosses much more than I didn't. 

In NiOh 1, I abused Sloth talisman. This I barely used that, I focused on buff magic and rock and rolled with 9 elixirs and played my ass off. Burst counter when needed, hardly if at all used yokai abilities. Odachi was supreme, just rocked that and under 70% weight armor. Was never overleveled at any part besides maybe the final boss who I was 8 levels above recc. level guide(I finished game at Level 123 after the boss)