This guy doesn't look very friendly

Shuhei Yoshida's in a pretty privileged position where he gets to play practically every first-party PlayStation 4 game in an early state, but while he'll have enjoyed hands-on time with titles like Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Horizon: Zero Dawn, it's actually another title that's caught his eye: Koei Tecmo's re-revealed Nioh, which is due out on the PlayStation 4 next year.

Speaking with a Chinese website, the executive stated that the release caught his eye when he found out that it shares some similarities with Bloodborne and Dark Souls. For those out of the loop, the game will see you take control of a character named William, who can wield multiple different types of weapon – from swords through to spears.

The From Software comparisons come into play courtesy of the Chinokata Dzuka system, which translates roughly to Bloody Sword Mound. Essentially, when you play online you'll happen upon the graves of fallen players. Touching these will resurrect the 'spirit' of that character, and you'll be able to fight them in order to unlock important items.

Another element that's been inspired by Dark Souls are the Guardian Spirits, which will help you in battle by healing you and unleashing powerful attacks. Should you die at any point, your Guardian Spirit will remain at the location that you perished, so you'll need to work your way safely back to the place of your death in order to recover it.

Of course, Nioh isn't the only game that Yoshida's interested in, as he also cited excitement for Dragon Quest Builders and Vanillaware's gorgeous 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. In truth, there's an absolute wealth of exciting content on the way for the PS4 next year – and a frightening chunk of it is exclusive. Yoshida must be feeling like he's on top of the world.

[source vgtime.com, via neogaf.com, gematsu.com]