We're not ones to boast, but we sort of have to be pretty good at video games in order to do our jobs properly. We've managed to beat every Dark Souls entry there is, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice -- you name it and we've probably clocked it. However, Nioh 2's open beta just kicked our arse. Playable for the next 10 days, Koei Tecmo's follow-up to the 2017 samurai spin on the Souls formula could be the hardest one yet.
Of course, we're probably a little rusty having not played the original for quite some time, but muscle memory should have kicked in fairly quickly. The open beta appears to take place at the very beginning of the game, with a quick dabble in the character creation suite enough to differentiate your avatar from anyone else on the ancient Japanese battlefield. You're tasked with making your way to a castle way off in the distance, and there's a whole host of human and supernatural enemies in your path to slay. That is if you're up to the task.
We, on the other hand, clearly aren't. Deaths were aplenty as we tried and tried our best to make any real progress through the initial level, but we came up short. Struggling to manage our stamina meter effectively and getting caught up in one too many hit animations from enemies that chewed off the majority of our health, we could only manage to get so far. This game is hard, like really, really hard. A companion is even introduced partway through to offer a helping hand but it didn't improve matters much despite the fact we thought we had a friend to fall back on. Silly, silly us.
Gameplay-wise, this is absolutely more Nioh. More of the same isn't so bad, however, because the first title was a great twist on the Souls formula. Once again you'll be kitted out in ancient weaponry with a variety of stances to pick between, and it's these that dictate the type of attacks you'll perform. The adorable Kodamas make their return, hidden throughout the environments, while a cute but mysterious cat started following us around at one point. We've not quite figured out the point of them just yet.
Besides that, it's a lot of slashing, dodging, and blocking. You'll work your way through the somewhat linear location, taking on foes when you feel ready, and picking up any items they drop. Thus improving your character with enhancements to armour and skill points that better your moves. It's the typical Souls route of inching your character closer to progress while making sure to take on enemies strategically and falling back if the going gets tough. You know the drill by now.
It's not something that's going to reinvent the wheel, but Nioh 2 does appear to be a solid sequel to the original. It retains everything that made that 2017 outing so memorable, and if it manages to introduce enough new systems and mechanics to the experience come March 2020, we reckon the experience will be looked back on fondly. Even if that goes give it another opportunity to beat us into submission.
Have you played Nioh 2's open beta? Did you fare any better than us, or was it just as difficult for you? Change your stance in the comments below.
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Looking forward to sinking my teeth into Nioh on PS Plus. Just beat DS3 for the first time, all bosses and DLC ofc and took advantage of the £3 DS Remastered deal on Steam to replay that gem. Favourite Souls game is DS1 and hardest is definitely The Old Hunters, not base BB.
To be honest, when a game is so hard that it’s frustrating it makes me not want to play it. I play games as a means of relieving stress and just escaping the trappings of my everyday life. Getting into a game that’s more frustrating than dealing with some of my a-hole, idiotic clients doesn’t seem like a smart idea. I dunno...
@AhmadSumadi
Games like these are about the journey and the experience you make. So that when you go back and replay it you get to see just how much you've grown as a player.
They're very unique experiences, but they're not for everyone.
Git gud staff scrubs
Kidding aside, I haven't got around to this yet but I played a lot of the alpha and it was a pushover. Much easier than the original game so I'm happy to hear they upped the challenge in this build.
I only just got to the forest part of the 1st mission but I'm in love with nioh again lol. I don't think it's all that hard as long as you know to recover your ki. But the slug-like monster is ridiculously annoying having so many attacks that can hit you hard.
I've completed pretty much every soul like game you could care to mention 100% / platinum. Hell, I'm currently starting Nioh on Way of the Wise... I have the platinum, but I have to say the Nioh 2 Beta is stupidly hard. I regularly beat levels in Nioh 2 when hundreds of levels too low, but this Beta is way too difficult. The two boss fights are a bit tough, beat the first one first time, but I'm pretty sure I got super lucky. The second boss can go take a long walk off a short pier. This Beta has put me off getting the sequel, and I loved the first game. Also the online co-op doesn't work.
@AhmadSumadi I really don't understand the whole thing where the game has to be as hard as possible, it really dosn't make the game enjoyable personally but like dark souls games are a popular thing right now.
@huyi it's a sense of achievement thing, I've finally got round to playing Spider Man on the PS4 recently, but it's not a challenge at all, so hasn't kept my attention. The original Nioh was one of the best souls like games out there, but this just seems like it's trying too hard for the git gud crowd, which I actually consider myself to be part of. As someone who has played the first one to death I'm not sure that's what Sony or Koei Tecmo want to hear from their fans.
@Shigurui the Alpha may have been easier for those of us who played the first game, and yeah, maybe too easy, but this Beta will quite frankly put many off. I've not made it past level 300 of the Abyss yet or anything, but I'm no slouch when it comes to the first game, and quite frankly I found the difficulty spike cheap and just not enjoyable. The first boss I think I fluked, but he was way too rapid to be honest, the second boss is just stupid. Maybe I'm missing some new mechanic or something, but right now I'm filing this under turning up the difficulty to cheap as hell levels.
@BridgeToClarity good thing it isn’t always all about the money then eh?
I got my platinum in the original game, but sweet jesus is this one hard.
Sounds awful. Think ill skip this for sure lol. Not a game for an adult with an adult life
I haven’t played the first Nioh yet but people were saying that the beta for the first game was really hard but then for the actual game they toned it down and it was quite a bit easier. I don’t know if that will happen here with the second game or not.
Hell yes. Bring it on.
@Gmork___ passive aggressive much?
@Th3solution The beta for the first game was the first and second levels and to be honest they were quite easy.
This one however is twice or three-times as hard. Must be due to the Yokai system (you can turn into a demon and can use varied demon attacks while in your human form), they throw large demons at you and probably expect you to use the Yokai form, while I mostly just go at it in my human form.
@Gmork___
It's not for people that give up at the first signs of adversity that's for sure.
@Athrum
I also have a platinum in the first Nioh, and yes. Holy heck this game is ridiculously hard.
The Yokai enemies make the game really tedious unless you use those Yokai moves.
Although... It is waaaaaay easier to flux now.
@SirAngry - As you most likely know already Team Ninja are really good when it comes to taking feedback, balancing etc through the survey. They probably heard views on the alpha being easy so dialed the beta up to 13. I'm sure more builds will be balanced and released before the game launches.
@Athrum Ah, I must have been mistaken.
Is it possible to dodge the boss when it spins through the air to hit you? I was very close to beating him but that attack really throws me off. I've been blocking that spin but it reduces me to 0 ki and leaves me open. I'm sure with better timing, I'll eventually beat it but I feel like if I could dodge it, it'd be an easier time.
I beat the boss of the first mission after a ton of tries. Like the first game you have to use stances to match your situation. Speed for speed. It definitely FEELS harder, but I also remember the first Nioh being extremely difficult until you unlock some of the better skills and abilities. I feel like this will be the same.
This is not saying that they didn't make it harder though. They scatter minibosses around the missions in their own Yokai realms which slow down your stamina regen. The realms don't go away unless you beat the miniboss Yokai, who are tough as nails. And generally "normal" Yokai are a bit tougher now. You really have to utilize the Yokai abilities. I'm still not used to doing the Yokai counter (R2+O) and that gets me slapped pretty hard more than once. I still don't know/understand the timing for the Yokai Counter on the bird guardian spirit.
Still though, the character creation is pretty great and it's basically Nioh, but MORE. Which is great. It also seems like they kept in some of the cheesier aspects (like the Sloth Talismans from the Onmyo skill tree), so I'm definitely looking forward to experimenting with new builds.
@Judal27 You can dodge the spin but the timing is pretty tight. I stuck with low stance and very light equipment for that entire fight, but still had to block those spins every now and then.
@Arnna Geez yeah lol i take it back, it just boils down to me feeling i dont have time to keep at it when it inevitably kicks my butt over and over. Total respect for those who persevere.
@Etherwinter I see, guess I'm gonna have to practice it a bit. I got a decent kusarigama that heals a bit when hitting in low stance. And it's good to know kusarigama is still pretty strong in low stance like in the 1st game as well so, I've been plowing through with that lol.
I hope they do away with the convoluted loot system this time round and implement something closer to the Souls series.
@shyhh Unique equipment is something I would've liked but they're sticking with the one from the first Nioh. I don't hate it but it can get tedious to deal with.
idk about ridiculously hard but so far it does feel a bit cheap, especially with enemy placements, the burst attack/counter system can go bugger itself, and the somewhat convoluted controls don't exactly work for me
@nessisonett Old Hunters...... It still brings shame to my door. Yep, despite Bloodbourne being my game of the generation and playing it through to NG++ I did not (no, i could not) finish Old Hunters. I bought it late and had lost the edge that enabled me to just about scrape through the main game. I cried, I smashed things, I screamed and shouted but in the end I put down my controller, bowed my head and new I could never again talk of how I, TooBarFoo, had defeated Bloodborne again. There! I've said it and feel better now. Judge me as you will internet..... Judge me as you will
After the first boss the game gets a lot easier. Switchglaive is so good once you learn and it chews through Yokai.
I'd say the difficulty is really daunting at first unless you give it a couple hours, and then it's a lot more fair.
@Shigurui I hope they listen, because the timings seem too tight for some things, and the using of the Yokai abilities while cool isn't what I play Nioh for, I play it for weapon combat, I always felt the living weapon thing in the first game with the Spirit Guardian kinda rubbed me the wrong way too, but I accepted it as part of the games charm, but if I literally need to farm Yokai abilities and upgrade them as well then the game will have way too much padding for my liking. These games are best when you can build the character you want and take the fight to the enemies the way you like, rather than forcing you into specific skills / play styles. That's still my gripe with Sekiro, it forces you to approach it in a very specific way.
Finally beat the 1st boss and it only took like 100 tries lol. I love transforming to a yokai but I feel at least in this beta, that it runs out far too quickly even with some of the upgrades that reduces how much gets taken away from the meter.
And the new soul core mechanic that lets you get the yokais ability is awesome in concept but I find myself rarely using it. And when I do use it, I die cause apparently you can still take damage during an animation of an attack. For example, I have the one that has multiple heads shoot lasers. I used it against the monkey yokai, but he kept damaging me during the lasers and it was enough to kill me. Kinda made me not want to use it, unless I was just playing around with lowly mobs.
The cat is there to boost your yokai abilities. When it's around you, you're power meter builds up faster and you can use spells more often.
@AhmadSumadi exactly what i feel about these types of games. i have had enough of frustrating games where i die a lot back in the 80s and 90s. the many horrible hard nintendo games still gives me nightmares to this day.
@Gmork___ it’s worth it if you have the time. The end game content is seriously huge.
@TooBarFoo that dlc is hard af
I have played and beaten all dark souls, bloodborne, sekiro and nioh and got platinum on all of them and I can honestly say that nioh 2 beta is on of the hardest one I have played so far. Don't get me wrong, all of the games had a steep learning curve and presented its own difficulty but sh.... tis game is hard and I can't wait to get my hands on the full game
Gna have to disagree with the article on this one. This beta was way too easy compared to the first Nioh at any point (Nioh and Bloodborne Plat here). Aside from the very first wooded area (when you have garbage for equipment and are being drip fed new mechanics that you need to know) the rest was a breeze for this type of game. Didn't die once with the NPC at my side. Died once in the level after he left because I fell in water. Didn't transform once because I somehow missed the tutorial on how to so I did all the Yokai realm fights in normal form. I managed to kill the first boss on the 2nd try without transforming by just spamming Yokai attacks when available, (they are cheap) and using a Yokai tonfa weapon (they are super OP) and never switched from mid stance.
Everything is faster, which isn't all good. It is to the point I wouldn't bother with a heavy build at all. The hyper fast enemies, regardless of size, lose a sense of dread and pacing. Weren't really any level hazards aside from its drown water and a few cliffs. Elixers were in excess and nothing really felt cheap (trademark of these games) except the rage attacks but once you find out you can counter them it isn't really an issue. Skill screen seems overly designed.
The Yokai cat is adorable. The better graphics and character creation are welcome as is the fast load times. The Yokai attacks and obtaining them are pretty cool. Liked the Yokai weapons but didn't really see any downside to using them. The bow seems more responsive this time around. The cut scenes were entertaining but seemed to focus on comedy compared to horror.
I still really liked it, nitpicking of course. But seems like they are moving away from souls territory into more general fast action with souls inspired checkpoints and leveling system. Which is FINE.
I'm loving the Open Beta. The difficulty feels just right and the new enemies, weapons and mechanics are awesome. I just didn't like having a hard time to start the Jutsu trees. For me they only started when I used the locks of hair items. Until then I was just assuming that I had to reach a certain Shrine, like in the first game. After using the first locks, pace of the jutsu progression is very good, though. I hope the same pace is kept on the full game, otherwise the "use this to upgrade it" Skyrim logic would likely coax players to farm in silly ways, like being hit on purpose to spam healing to upgrade magic. Currently this is something you could do, but don't need to, because the natural pace of the progression is fast enough.
For the folks who are used to the genre and are finding the Open Beta too hard or cheap, I'm curious: are you using Light Armor? I'm using mostly heavy and I think that despite the higher difficulty in managing Ki, it makes things much easier, because you can block a lot of stuff, instead of feeling like you have to precisely dodge everything. At least until you're familiar with the enemies' attacks, I feel like Light Armor is like picking Hard Mode.
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