There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to Nioh 2. Developed by Koei Tecmo Games Co. LTD, this eastern-fantasy, Dark Souls-like JRPG has all the things you’d expect from an action RPG. You’ll have all the options you could ever want when you build your character, and from the combat system to the beautiful cinematics and storyline, there’s much to adore about this game.

The development of the story is an interesting line to follow. At the start of the game we are introduced to a beautiful woman dying at the hands of a yokai, the main enemy and setting of the game, and then wishes us to grow up. We then cut to the character creation menu, which took me almost 30 minutes to decide upon a character due to the different parts I could adjust. After completing my character, I entered the tutorial and promptly went insane trying to learn the controls.

It doesn’t teach you the controls for keyboard and mouse, instead, it assumes you’ll be using a controller which frustratingly lost every piece of my sanity trying to learn, and I had to recruit my friend who was obsessed with Dark Souls just so I could learn the fundamentals. Thankfully this game doesn’t expect you to remember the skills, characters, or yokai types off the top of your head as you have a recap section that allows you to look over anything previously mentioned within the game.

The price of the game may seem a little off-putting at first, but with all three DLC to extend the already pretty long base game, it’s well worth the investment. In the base game, you receive 4 different sets of armour, two of which are limited edition and granted to you if you managed to play on Steam’s release date. On top of the different sets, you’re given each different type of weapon to swap out at any time. The DLC gameplay however allows you to explore long and distant times within Nioh, all revolving around different themes. The Tengu’s Disciple takes you through the beginning of Nioh 2, where two clans are fighting ruthlessly to annihilate one another.

Darkness in the Capital takes you through a warring state between yokai and humans. In the DLC it will take time to go through each area, connecting the rich background lore to understand the current mysteries, which in my opinion, the lore and attention to detail Nioh 2 takes to allow players to understand and read through is immense. Huge props to the game designers for allowing people to learn more about yokai rather than just killing and smashing them, and learning the weaknesses.

The final DLC has you battling against your Archnemesis; one of whom I have yet to fight or discover. As stated before, the main base game is incredibly long, and with as much time I have spent grinding alone, it’s been a long perilous task. However, it’s stated to be the climatic 3rd expansion of the Nioh 2 saga which I am impatiently waiting to experience.

After the complicated tutorial that involved me pressing escape every 5 minutes to compare the controls, I finally made it out into the world and got slaughtered by the lowest level yokai there is. I struggled to learn the combat as I ran away screaming while a giant horse chased after me. After dying several more times, I finally learned how to dodge, attack, and dash. Once I finally mastered the combat system, the addiction set in and I found it to be super entertaining.

I adored the various weapons I could choose from but focused mainly on the switch glaive. I continued further into the world, fighting the world’s bosses by sending in my poor cannon fodder NPCs, spending my time admiring every second with the graphics being aesthetically pleasing for whoever appreciates eastern themes.

Koei Tecmo Games Co. LTD has aced it with the design of the game. The character designs and the world are beautiful, on top of the traditional based eastern music that intensifies around boss areas or enemies, giving you a subtle warning if you are paying attention. The cinematics is masterfully done and I enjoy watching them a lot, though the cutscene for the first boss was quite horrible to watch as he cut up and disposed of his victims. Fortunately, if you find a cinematic too gruesome, or you just want to get back into the action, you can skip them at any point.

Nioh 2 is super addictive. It’s the type of game you’ll constantly have a love-hate relationship with due to its fun combat and enemy system, but also due to the constant deaths. It slowly frustrates you more and more, but it is a strongly recommended game for anyone who wants to try out Dark Souls but wants slightly slower and beautiful eastern-based themes. The only cautionary tale I’d give to anyone reading this review is to try to have some prior experience with the genre.

While the tutorial is capable of teaching you the fundamentals, I found it had a couple of rage moments learning the game. It’s also designed to be played with a controller, so if you play with a keyboard and mouse you’ll have to learn it all by spamming the keyboard. This is too complicated for a game that is being sold on Steam, but once I got past that, I quickly racked up 20 hours.

Written by: Caitlin