4.5/5 ★ – Smashton's review of Nioh 2.

Playtime: 41 hours As far as sequels go, Nioh 2 doesn't revolutionize, significantly change, or thrust the franchise into any new direction from the previous entry. The core gameplay is similar, feels similar, the gameplay loop is the same, even graphically it looks only marginally better. However, what Nioh 2 does which makes it so stellar is that it take all of the aspects of the first which made that game fantastic, and improves upon it while adding in new mechanics that make this game the de-facto definitive Nioh game and one which is going to be hard to beat if there ever comes a Nioh 3. Nioh 2 is set as a sort of prequel to the first game though not in the traditional sense. Instead of exploring the backstory of William, the main character from the first game, you explore an entirely new set of characters by creating your own protagonist. The character creator during this process is solid, includes plenty of great options to make your character truly stand out. The story of Nioh 2 itself, for most of the game, is just alright. It doesn't do anything crazy, it doesn't grip you strongly, nor does it do an effective job making you feel deeply invested in any characters or story outside of one or two side characters. Majority of Nioh 2's story is serviceable and unfortunately continues a trend that I personally disliked from the first, in which several character's backstories are explained through short comic-like animations with voice overs occurring either after you have defeated them or they have accepted your character as an ally. The story does pick up near the end of the game, though I don't wish to spoil it. Fans of the first game will find it a blast, and as one of those fans myself I found that it increased my thoughts of the story. The end portions of the game really are the greatest parts in terms of story. I'll add that the music throughout the game is also stellar with some truly memorable and amazing tracks that I could see myself listening to outside of the game. To get to the true meat of this game though, gameplay is the reason why I've rated this game so high. The original Nioh was already a game that I felt had the best, most in-depth combat system and RPG mechanics of any video game I've ever played. I'm happy to say that this title now belongs to Nioh 2. All of the mechanics and systems which made the first game so in-depth and stellar are present here but amplified alongside new mechanics as well creating a combat and RPG system which truly allows you to make almost any kind of build you can think of. Want to play as a classic min-maxed mage, heavy attacker, or dexterous tool-using ninja? You can do all of that of course. But, do you want to play as a heavy armored mage who fights with their bare-fists? How about a light-armored Samurai who gracefully dances around the battlefield with lots of stamina only to throw out smoke bombs and come in swinging with a giant scythe? Or would you rather forego any magic or tools and simply play through the game with twin blades that you can combo into a new weapon, creating a string of rapid hits potentially applying status effects and debuffs to enemies along the way? All of this and so much more is possible in Nioh 2. The way this works starts with the way weapons and armor work. Just as in the original, weapons and armor each have various stats to keep track of from what stats their damage scales with, how much defense they have, and various special abilities inherent in each piece of equipment. There is an endless amount of abilities that each armor piece or weapon can give your character as passive buffs from pure damage increases, to percentage increases based on what kind of attack you use, to increases in how much health or stamina (ki) you have, how much money you get, increases to how much damage you do to specific enemies, how easy it is for you to inflict statuses on enemies if your weapon has that ability, and so many more that you could write an entire law book just on the various combinations which can be mixed and matched. Secondly, the game features an expanded RPG skill tree. As you use certain weapons, magic, or ninja tools, you can gain skill points to spend here. It's essentially a giant web of options, each tree giving you the start of 4 different playstyles to begin with, then allowing you to mix and match, or invest all-in on a specific tree, whenever you wish. Some skills are even locked, only becoming unlocked if you gain skills in a different section of the tree linking to it, encouraging you to expand and experiment with your gameplay style. There are tons of these trees, one of each weapon type, one for your generic samurai skills, one for magic, one for ninja skills, and one for your yokai shift abilities; a new mechanic that takes this game to a new level. Guardian Spirits were a mechanic in the previous game in which you would charge up the ability to use essentially a massive ultimate buff, imbuing yourself and your weapon with enhanced powers, abilities, and even status buffs based on the spirit you had equipped. In Nioh 2, the Guardian Spirits now turn you into a Yokai in which you can perform special moves and deal massive damage to enemies during your short period of time in the form (of which, through the previously mentioned skill trees, you can extend). Even within the Yokai shift mechanic itself there is deep depth. There are three different types of Yokai shift, each which plays different when transformed and each that has a different kind of parry timing. Additionally, your Guardian Spirit allows you to place initially two (eventually three) soul cores into them which allow you to use special moves based on yokai you have killed in the game. Sometimes this means you turn into that yokai and execute a familiar attack they had, or it means you summon the yokai to perform an attack themselves. To add on to this even further (because clearly it wasn't deep and complex enough already), each yokai soul core has it's own stats which make your Guardian Spirit more powerful or defensive and which give you passive buffs just like weapons and armor do. I haven't even went into the combat itself which carries over the ki recovery system from the first game and which continue the trend of allowing you to perform a multitude of different combos, attacks, and special moves which can keep your character as aggressive or defensive as you wish. This game's combat is very complex and has an extremely high skill ceiling, making it a bit hard to learn at first, but allowing crazy highlight moments in any combat situation if you have the skill for it. I could go on, as the game features just so many combinations of items, abilities, skills, weapons, armor, and other systems which create the deepest and most rich RPG experience I've ever had. I didn't even mention all of the non-combat systems which can enhance your experience through consumable items, the hidden teahouse allowing you to fall even further into this game's complex mechanics, and the Kodamas which, like in the first game, grant you special buffs while in a level. The best part of this entire game and all it's complex systems? It's fully cooperative. If you want to run through this journey as a demonic samurai with a samurai buddy, you can which is exactly what I did. It's makes the game a bit easier just by virtue of team work, and while I do find this game was significantly easier than the first game, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The first game was also very grindy either for levels or for elixirs, your main healing item. This game has none of that and is a smooth experience from mission one to the final mission. Nioh 2 is a truly underrated and special experience that unfortunately seems not to get the attention it deserves. It can seem on the surface like a souls-clone, and while it does obviously share elements with From Software's titles, it is much deeper than any of those games setting itself apart. It may lack the brilliant game design, perfect atmosphere, or interesting yet cryptic story telling of From Software titles, but what it does better, and what makes Nioh and Nioh 2 truly special and amazing experiences for any fan of the action RPG genre, is it's massively deep, complex, and varied mechanics and systems which eclipse most of the game's faults. I'm unsure how the developers will top this game's systems in the next, all I know is that regardless, the experience I've had with Nioh and Nioh 2 are gameplay and combat experiences that will be remembered for a long time to come and should go down in history as one of the greatest combat systems of all time.