That’s to be expected, but if the first’s content is good, it might be worth my time.
Only the first game is on giveaway.
I’d say that it is. 2 improves in various ways that would make it hard to go backwards, but 1 is still well worth experiencing. I would say to save the NG+ endgame stuff for the sequel, but at least do a single playthrough to get the discovery process with all of the levels and bosses before you move on.
Downloaded Nioh from EPIC and gave it a quick try. I’m using KB + Mouse, should I just give in straight away or is there actually a way to make this playable without a controller?
I’ve never tried. It’s clearly designed for gamepad, and it seems like it would be an uphill battle to make it work on keyboard and mouse. You’d have an easier time with sniping headshots from stealth, but probably a harder time with precise movement and with the actions that use multiple buttons together.
I have mixed feelings on the Nioh 1 giveaway. Nioh 2 is just such a dramatic upgrade. I’ve already warned a few friends who got on board with the Epic giveaway that they really ought to just start with 2.
Tell your friends they might get pretty frustrated by the first few boss fights!
I guess if they like the game but don’t feel there’s enough to it in terms of mechanics and variety, then Nioh 2 is the answer.
I’m on the third mission after stalling on the first one for a LONG time. Things are starting to click, but I’m having trouble with Ki management. Between blocking/dodging and attacking, I feel like I am always Ki-starved, but I’m pulsing perfectly after almost all my combos. It’s manageable in normal gameplay, but when I get into those Yokai areas with the slowed Ki regeneration, it’s enough to make me want to throw my controller out the window.
Is there anything that helps with that, or is it a fundamental-enough skill that I just need to git guder?
Drink the… sacred water, I think it’s called. It will help negate the slower ki then in the dark areas.
Those are challenging areas. I bet a good chunk of my deaths were in the dark realm. You can try kiting enemies out of it, though I believe you do more ki damage to enemies in it, so there’s a “benefit” to staying in there.
They disappear when you beat them, so use those consumables.
Yeah, you really have to adjust to a less aggressive fighting style in those realms. It helps to be patient and super careful.
I finally gave this a little go, and boy is it overwhelming. Compared to the from games I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this one has so darn much to wrap my head around. Three different stances, manage my Ki, and also choose two weapons out of 10(?) that all have wildly different move sets - also you can turn into three different demons!
On top of that dodge is on the X button and consider me overwhelmed :o
Any tips for an easy weapon/stance to go for, or how I should think about the game coming from the from catalogue?
Just stick to medium stance (or stance of your choice) while coming to grips with the game. Add in another stance once that one has become comfortable enough that it’s mostly muscle memory and you don’t have to think about what buttons to press. You’ll definitely want to be utilizing multiple stances in the game but just focusing on one will see you through the first part of the game.
I’d recommend approaching the rest of the mechanics in the same way. Don’t try to swallow the entire elephant all at once. Break things down into individual mechanics you mention and focus on one at a time. After you’ve got a stance or two down, work on getting comfortable with ki pulse. After that, maybe try experimenting with yokai abilities or magic. That sort of thing.
To free up mental bandwidth early on, don’t worry about gear. Just equip whatever is highest level and make sure you’re not encumbered / fat-rolling. Different weapons are good at different things but they’re all great. Pick whatever one seems fun and just roll with it. I found the kusarigama to be harder to pick up than sword, spear, odachi, etc. but you can use whatever you find fun.
Also, blocking is very effective in this game even though you don’t have a shield unlike Dark Souls. Get in the habit of holding the block button as you dodge. If you miss your dodge, you will still block! If you’re getting hit, similarly don’t try to roll out of it which was my habit from Dark Souls. Block then roll.
EDIT: In terms of yokai counters (where you counter the red attacks), I found Brute to be the easiest to pull off since you typically just hit it as soon as they glow red. Phantom is a block which is nice, but you have to time it almost like a parry. For some reason the name of the third is escaping me (Feral?) but that was the hardest for me to get good with. I’d recommend a brute or phantom guardian spirit to start. I went with Phantom.
Agreed, just pick a weapon that looks fun. I recommend learning how to ki pulse decently before worrying about other stances. It’s almost a prerequisite. (Later on there’s a skill that will return you extra stamina when you ki pulse into a stance switch at the same time, so you can start to see how you’ll be able to keep up your offense almost constantly – but that’s for much later.)
I almost missed your last sentence. The gameplay is different than the Souls games so you’ll have to build new skills and habits. Kevin touched on the important ones: blocking and ki pulsing, etc. Also some skills in the skill tree (like the Sword’s Kick attack) will do extra ki damage to your enemies. For some enemies it’s best to concentrate on reducing that bar to zero. Then you can do a special attack or simply attack them freely without consequence because they’ll be in a defenseless state.
There’s nothing on the skill tree to indicate which attacks tend to do more ki damage than the others, so you’ll have to play around. If you’re totally stumped, grab a sword and use that Kick attack over and over. (Press square then triangle.) You’ll see how it works.
Or you can try it my way and don’t use block until around 40 hours into the game. I dodged my ass off until I couldn’t get away with it any longer.
Coming from, uh, From games I tried to just not block and only dodge and I repeatedly got my ass handed to me. I don’t know how you made it work, because a lot of enemies have very quick, basically zero windup attacks that I don’t see how you could dodge unless you’re some kind of superhuman.
Maybe my first forty hours were the same levels and boss fights as your first ten hours. :D
(I think I was relying on my hatchet ranged attack an awful lot.)
This game could potentially take up a lot more time than Sekiro, right? So if I plan on playing both, it might be best to play Sekiro first.
How Long to Beat puts a run of Sekiro about 30 hours (believe I took 40 or 45) and Nioh 2 at 44.5. However, you will find, I think, a lot more people with hundreds of hours in Nioh 2 than you will find with anywhere close to that many in Sekiro, I think.
I guess I should triple any How Long to Beat estimates… Steam tells me I spent 101 hours beating Sekiro while Nioh 2 took me 112 hours.