Board 8 > Wow. Nioh 2...

(+) Yeah! (+)

Is it just a terribly designed game or did I somehow get bad at the genre all of a sudden? (A die-hard soulsborne fan who also loved Nioh 1)

I mean Nioh 1 had some BS early game but I'm on the 9th mission in the game and never have I ever encountered such cheap bullshit enemy placement where it makes Dark Souls II feel like a paragon of level design and enemy placement.

I'm almost halfway done with the game and besides the boss fights I am not enjoying the game at all.

Fucking small corridors with 3-4 enemies that can kill you in 2-3 hits is the worst offender and I really don't remember the first game being like this unless my memory of it is just foggy.

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Fucking small corridors with 3-4 enemies that can kill you in 2-3 hits

I'm playing Nioh 1 right now and it definitely has this, though it's exceedingly rare that you ever need to engage more than 2 enemies at a time. Also enjoying it a ton and I've generally heard Nioh 2 only improves on it! Will be interested to hear more impressions when/if you get further along.

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Yeah it does have improvements like
Xiahou Shake posted...

Also enjoying it a ton and I've generally heard Nioh 2 only improves on it!

This is exactly what I can't get over.

Nioh 1 has its BS moments and flaws like enemy variety and samey atmosphere but overall it was an absolute blast to play. I don't ever remember thinking the game had too many cheap BS areas at least in the main story.

Nioh 2 has improvements like more enemy variety and more varied atmosphere in comparison to the original but in turn it has terrible enemy placement and tons of maze-like areas where background looks the same and the feeling of familiarity (like Dark Souls) is absent.

Also a lot of the OP magic has been nerfed compared to the original whereas Enemies have more in the arsenal to make your life a living hell. Like there is literally an archer or gunner placed really high above in almost every single level since the 3rd or 4th mission to make it very difficult to fight the already unfair hordes of enemies that the game throws at you.

I'm finding the game exhausting to play. The only thing that keeps me going is that the boss battle have been fun so far.

its designed like that to reward exploration / smart playing

all those situations with people shooting from above generally have alternate paths that lead you to a spot where you can safely pick them off before engaging the "main" enemy. (or you can just shoot them youself with ranged weapons before engaging)

they dont want you to be able to rush into encounters and succeed (though you can, anyways. its just much harder)

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

tons of maze-like areas where background looks the same and the feeling of familiarity (like Dark Souls) is absent.

This is like half of Nioh 1's levels for me lol

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https://youtube.com/watch?v=d97XsNAvKAo

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Well. I think Ive hit my first true wall in the game. I literally spent over an hour fighting and dying against Shibata Katsuie last night.

Also I realized using a bow and arrow makes life so much easier when dealing with the hordes and hordes of enemies the game throws at you.

I personally am finding this game harder than even Sekiro but for all the wrong reasons. I dont know if it is my build but Im doing chip damage whereas even the weak ass enemies are two-three shotting me left and right. Not to mention so many cheap deaths that you possibly cannot see coming without extensive trial and error.

I dont ever remember struggling with Nioh 1 past the first few areas.

Well fun battle took me only about a 100 or so deaths to finally get the timing on his yokai form and finally beat this bugger.

Nioh 2 beated!

My thoughts on the game as a whole

+ Most boss battles are very fun and dare I say on a whole the fights are better designed than the original
+ Good boss design (although I'd say the original bosses are far more iconic) and enemies are more varied but still not Dark Souls level by any means
+ More varied atmosphere but still a lot of reused assets and backgrounds from the original.
+ Burst counter adds a good spin to the combat but Yokai Shift is nerfed to the point where they are almost useless except for their Yokai form attacks
+ The final boss is a lot better this time

- Terrible level design and enemy placement in a lot of areas. They really went the Dark Souls II route here for cheap deaths and questionable structure for most areas and really comparing this to Dark Souls II is maybe an insult to that game in this regard.
- A lot of literal copy-paste material from the original not just for the player interface and menu but the missions themselves feel like deja-vus. Like everything that you did in Nioh 1 you are gonna do it here again with not even that much of a spin. Just felt like a very lazy tacked on effort.
- The game really feels more like a super long full-priced DLC than a sequel. To be fair, this game is a bit longer than the original (or maybe it's cause I died more here) but that really does not justify the 3 years they took to make a game that is almost exactly similar to the first with only a few QOL improvements but worse design in general
- If you thought the story presentation in Nioh 1 was bad, then guess what it is exactly the same here.

Overall I'd say it is maybe worth it just for the bosses alone but this is without a doubt the weakest Soulsborne game I've played. I don't know whether I'm supposed to play this some other way than my usual strictly melee build but I don't play Souls games any other way nor do I have to.