Board 8 > Nioh is kicking my ass

(+) Yeah! (+)

Kinda.

Have never played a Souls game before (I played Dark Souls 1 at a friend's house for about 20-30 minutes one time and that's about it) so I expected difficulty but maybe not this kind of difficulty.

I'm in the 2nd region and I've definitely got the hang of combat, changing between stances, ki pulsing, and specifically how to use the two weapons I specialize in. But that still doesn't make it a whole lot easier!

Just got done doing the level with the big black blob as the boss. Who the hell designed that level? Pitfalls everywhere?! I died so many times not even because enemies were tough but because I would accidentally roll into the water and die. Also the black blob guy had a couple of OHKOs and those were annoying.

Wish the characters were a little more unique bc it gets hard to tell them apart sometimes. You don't really get a whole lot of time with most of them and a lot of them get introduced in quick succession so I'm kinda like "what is this guy important for again?"

Cool game though. It's fun when you finally start to get into a rhythm with your attacks and you go a long time without getting hit, and then terrifying when you get hit once or twice and suddenly you're almost dead and the last shrine was a decent ways back.
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@digiiiiiiiii
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Combat in these games is more about knowing your surroundings and being patient, waiting for the right opportunities rather than going in balls to the wall like most action games. Dodge and block a lot, get a few hits in when you can, then back off again and wait for your next moment.

You probably figured this out already though.
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The flying raven lady made me angrier than anything in a game has ever made me. I beat her after about fifteen hours, closed the game, and never touched it again

Ive beaten every Souls game and play IWBTG fangames in my spare time. That bitch broke me.
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Learn Sloth, Weakness and Carnage spells if you are having a difficult time. Sloth in particular completely trivializes the difficulty because it slows every enemy (including bosses) to a crawl so I had to stop using it after a while. Also Stance matters... a lot. So make sure you practice each one since all three are very useful against particular enemies.

The game is awesome. Boss fights were definitely the highlight for me. It even has the hardest optional boss (or a certain duo rather) in a Souls style game.

AquaArcane posted...

Combat in these games is more about knowing your surroundings and being patient, waiting for the right opportunities rather than going in balls to the wall like most action games. Dodge and block a lot, get a few hits in when you can, then back off again and wait for your next moment.

You probably figured this out already though.

Indeed I have

You really can't do it any other way against the enemies that don't flinch when you hit them. All the fat yokai sword/axe guys just do not move when you hit them, and then even when you get them at no ki, they relatively quickly create another yokai realm portal.

I've had a couple moments where there'd just be too many bastards so I'd shoot at one from a distance and lure him away to kill him, then rinse and repeat.
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Damn, you got the hang of ki pulsing that quickly? It took me ages to do it properly, but you also get a skill that allows you to no pulse by dodging, which made it so much easier.

The game is actually easier than most of the Souls games imo. The enemy AI can be pretty wonky at times, so don't feel bad about cheesing it for tougher enemies. Sloth is also great for tricky situations, but I found it to be a little bit much, so I only used it on fights I didn't enjoy.

Try experimenting with different stances too. I spent 80% of the game in mid, but low is great for getting hits on quick enemies.

That's my Nioh tips. All that's left is to learn patterns of every boss and not give up, since reacting to attacks with a dodge or block is pretty much the most important thing to do.
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tazzyboyishere posted...

Damn, you got the hang of ki pulsing that quickly? It took me ages to do it properly, but you also get a skill that allows you to no pulse by dodging, which made it so much easier.

Ki pulsing is something I haven't even bothered trying to master, I'm too used to dodging quickly after attacking and adding another button to that playstyle is nearly impossible for me. So that skill you mentioned sounds like something that would help.

I need to get back into this game eventually.
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Also is recommend keeping your equip load as low as you can. Taking high damage all the time can suck, but rarely ever running out of ki is a blessing.
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tazzyboyishere posted...

Damn, you got the hang of ki pulsing that quickly? It took me ages to do it properly, but you also get a skill that allows you to no pulse by dodging, which made it so much easier.

The game is actually easier than most of the Souls games imo. The enemy AI can be pretty wonky at times, so don't feel bad about cheesing it for tougher enemies. Sloth is also great for tricky situations, but I found it to be a little bit much, so I only used it on fights I didn't enjoy.

Try experimenting with different stances too. I spent 80% of the game in mid, but low is great for getting hits on quick enemies.

That's my Nioh tips. All that's left is to learn patterns of every boss and not give up, since reacting to attacks with a dodge or block is pretty much the most important thing to do.

I have also spent most of my time with Dual Swords mid. The quick attack is just such a good fast poke and then you can dodge out to ki pulse.

However, I kinda like the Kusarigama high stance. If you need a long-range attack, it's got the weight toss as a strong, and then on normal human enemies you can pull them in for a massive damage combo on the quick attack. If any big enemy is at no ki, then you can just use the quick attack to wreck their shit cause they'll flinch. And the quick attack is really good at tracking the revenants that try to dodge out of the way because it just follows them and deals damage anyways.

My main issue is I need to learn how to use the techniques for the dual swords/kusarigama that you get with the samurai skill points.
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Ah, well I can't help you out that much with those playstyles. I did axes and spears on my only playthrough.
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Axes probably do tons of damage but they're too slow for my tastes

I've heard the spear is by far the best weapon in the game and I don't want to take the easy weapon. It seemed like it was easily the best to use during the first bit in London.
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I just went basic with sword and dual swords

In my defense I really like swords
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New least favorite enemies:

Eagle bastard with long staff
Ghost girl that can inflict sloth
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i enjoyed this game quite a bit. it just kept going and going to the point that i only felt relief when i finally beat it for real.

got the season pass for it too thinking i was gonna love it because i adore the soulsborne games. played the first couple of missions of the first dlc and found them to be brutally tough, too tough for my already dwindling patience for the game. didn't continue with the dlc and haven't touched the game since.

there's something special about the combat for sure. it's enough of a solid foundation that i'm still interested in a sequel. it just has to have either a more compact campaign or more enemy variety and more interesting levels to justify a 70-80 hour story.

i used the odachi, a dlc weapon, as my main, with the kusarigama as my second, for most of the game. dabbled with the axe and sword as well. don't sleep on the option to deplete enemies' stamina!
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UltimaterializerX posted...

Souls games kill you with enemy positioning, a bad camera system, and the environment

That honestly sounds way worse than Nioh, except I've also died to the environment way too many times on certain levels in Nioh.

Bad camera systems causing you to die is the kind of difficulty that makes 0 sense, and it has no place in any game I play.

TVontheRadio posted...

don't sleep on the option to deplete enemies' stamina!

I do it all the time! It's key to taking down some people, especially some of those revenants. They don't stop blocking so you just keep hitting their guard until either they get low or you get low. And then you get them at no ki and grapple/final blow.
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Solo keep in mind Ulti with the Souls series is a now long running gag, similar to Hearthstone
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Souls games don't have a bad camera system, Ulti is just bad at parts of them and refuses to admit that so he blames the camera.

See any of his Hearthstone or Warcraft III posts for similar examples of this behavior!
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Solioxrz362 posted...

Bad camera systems causing you to die is the kind of difficulty that makes 0 sense, and it has no place in any game I play.

You should play Dark Souls then
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UltimaterializerX posted...

Murphiroth posted...

Souls games don't have a bad camera system, Ulti is just bad at parts of them and refuses to admit that so he blames the camera.

See any of his Hearthstone or Warcraft III posts for similar examples of this behavior!

Lmao, I think I rated every game in that series a 9 or above? Maybe an 8 for Demons Souls. Its one of gamings best series, but extreme camera zoom near walls and big enemies prevents it from being THE best series. Hearthstone and WC3 are trash. Souls is great despite the idiotic camera zoom.

Board 8 can troll all it wants, Souls games having a bad camera is a widespread belief.

Thanks for another great example!
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Please don't quote Ulti. I thought I'd finally freed myself.
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UltimaterializerX posted...

I think I rated every game in that series a 9 or above? Maybe an 8 for Demons Souls.

Sounds almost 100% right; you gave DS3 a 7. Incredible series overall though, no matter how much it kicks my ass
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Camera in souls is trash? Absolutely not, control and perception of whats going on in souls save for when they actually want to ambush you is one of the games biggest strengths, but its good to know Ulti is also bad at these games. Any excuse necessary to avoid ever admitting a mistake I guess.

heck yeah animated manga with zero interaction are my jam
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Solioxrz362 posted...

Bad camera systems causing you to die is the kind of difficulty that makes 0 sense, and it has no place in any game I play.

There probably is some truth to what Ulti says, but don't let it turn you off from Dark Souls. They are fantastic games and you should definitely play them. The camera is not that much of an issue.

Personally I don't recall any problems with the camera myself. Maybe every once in a while, but it's negligible.
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And it's fine that you think that, I was just worried you inadvertently turned someone against Dark Souls. Hopefully that mess is cleared up now.

Since Dark Souls Remastered is out soon so it'll be the perfect time to get into that series.
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I was probably going to play the games eventually anyways but no guarantee that I'll think they're fantastic. If the fabled difficulty of Dark Souls is even more difficult than Nioh, it may be a little too much difficulty for its own good, but we'll see when we get there.
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Well difficulty is incredibly suggestive in this case. Tons of people think Nioh is harder, actually. I think Bloodborne is harder than them all by a wide margin, but I think a lot of people rank that among the easiest.
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I find Nioh to be more difficult than Dark Souls or Bloodborne... but that's just because I've played endless amounts of those games. Nioh is just different enough to throw me off.

At least the strategic "running past all the enemies" tactic works just as well.
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I haven't played Nioh yet but Bloodborne was actually the easiest in the Souls games to me because the playstyle is what I basically use for Souls games anyway. But it's funny because I still prefer using it in the Souls games' rather than Bloodborne.
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I just ran through a main mission only dying twice through the bulk of the mission (once was because I wasn't using my normal guardian spirit that recovers health on gaining amrita and so I forgot I had to use an elixir to recover and then I got punched), and then the boss gave me some trouble but that's par for the course at this point.

There was even one point where I had 2 fat yokai sword guys, 1 big cyclops, and another little cyclops all after me at the same time and I managed to take all of them down with not too much trouble.

I definitely feel like I have the hang of this now. It's not kicking my ass so much anymore as it is just being a tough game.
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Which mission?
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I am a dual sword/kusarigama user too!

I like low stance for dual and high for kusarigama. I'm an avid fan of the spirits, so I have points primarily in skill and spirit.

I find myself liking it less than Dark Souls and their other ilk, but overall still very good.
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tazzyboyishere posted...

Which mission?

Falling Snow

(which btw is definitely the best level so far)

Also I just fought Nue again and goddamn I forgot how much of a pain he was
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Yuki-Onna was my ultimate arch enemy for a time. Would be satisfied to never see her again.
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Iga Escape (Ninja House/Giant Toad mission) is now my least favorite

Fuck that level, that shit had me so mad at almost every turn.
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Bump?
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Did not get to play yesterday bc I was busy for most of the day. Also I went out to a smash tournament last night and got 2nd so that's cool

Am about to keep playing, I think I'm at the end of the 5th region
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Okay, I'm tired of fighting the same bosses over and over again. And treading through a few of the same levels 3 or 4 times.
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Seriously (not really spoilers but it mentions some of the bosses) why do I have to fight Nue 3 times, Hino-Enma twice, Saika twice, and Onryoki more than 5 times. This is ridiculous.
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Solioxrz362 posted...

Iga Escape (Ninja House/Giant Toad mission) is now my least favorite

Fuck that level, that shit had me so mad at almost every turn.

dude what that's probably the most memorable one! it's gimmicky as hell and i love it haha.
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