Ni-Oh (PS4)

bigphil2 · 27-04-2016 10:59am #1

If you like Dark Souls,Ninja Gaiden and Onimusha.. Might be worth checking this out..
http://www.dualshockers.com/2016/04/25/ps4-exclusive-niohs-demo-already-available-on-european-playstation-store-3-9-gb-dowload/

Xenji · 27-04-2016 3:40pm

Some observations after a few hours playing today, it starts like a Souls game and then morphs into a Ninja Gaiden game as you go along and the graphics are very good for an alpha build, some drops in the more graphically intensive fights.

The difficulty can be brutal at times, but this is a Team Ninja game, its is harder than the Souls series, but the difficulty of those games is overblown if you do not run around mashing buttons and have a proper build, the combat is fun, especially when you learn how to manually recover stamina.

Not a fan of the durability system so far and some mechanics like the lock-on system needs tweaking, archers blocking and firing bows at the same time and some animation just look plain odd.

Will more than likely be picking this up at launch, it is not gonna be perfect, but it looks like it will be a special game.

bigphil2 · 27-04-2016 3:51pm

Havent had a chance to play yet due to work,but for an Alpha its sounds solid enough..Looking forward to trying it out later..

Apparantly its a times demo,so im thinking its online only for a specific length of time or you can only playing it for a set amount of time?

Xenji · 27-04-2016 3:53pm

bigphil2 wrote: »

Havent had a chance to play yet due to work,but for an Alpha its sounds solid enough..Looking forward to trying it out later..

Apparantly its a times demo,so im thinking its online only for a specific length of time or you can only playing it for a set amount of time?

It was only available till the 5th of May, if you finish it you get the The Mark of the Conqueror reward for the full game.

bigphil2 · 27-04-2016 4:02pm

Xenji wrote: »

It was only available till the 5th of May, if you finish it you get the The Mark of the Conqueror reward for the full game.

Aha! ok,well i guess i can pause DS3 for a few hours to play through..

Links234 · 27-04-2016 6:11pm

I am desperately hoping this gets released on PC.

Xenji · 27-04-2016 6:17pm

Links234 wrote: »

I am desperately hoping this gets released on PC.

It would be a first, no Team Ninja game has received a PC release in their 20 year existence.

Links234 · 27-04-2016 6:27pm

Xenji wrote: »

It would be a first, no Team Ninja game has received a PC release in their 20 year existence.

Dunno about that. Also, Koei Tecmo have seriously been upping their game on PC, and are actually putting out decent ports, after the disasterous reputation they had.

But yeah, if this comes out on PC, I'll be all like STFU AND TAKE MY MONEY!

Xenji · 27-04-2016 6:30pm

Links234 wrote: »

Dunno about that. Also, Koei Tecmo have seriously been upping their game on PC, and are actually putting out decent ports, after the disasterous reputation they had.

But yeah, if this comes out on PC, I'll be all like STFU AND TAKE MY MONEY!

Oh did not know about DOA getting PC release, and Yaiba well nobody should buy that no matter what the platform, strange they gave it a PC port, it was terrible.

27-04-2016 6:48pm

YAIBA was developed by Spark Unlimited, not Team Ninja, a studio with a painfully mediocre output which eventually shut last year.

Xenji wrote: »

Some observations after a few hours playing today, it starts like a Souls game and then morphs into a Ninja Gaiden game as you go along and the graphics are very good for an alpha build, some drops in the more graphically intensive fights.

'Sakes, you couldn't have sold it any better.

Digital Solitude · 27-04-2016 7:23pm

The game is hard as hell, either I'm playing wrong or its super difficult.

Enjoying the combat so far, fairly in depth.

Not at all a fan of the durability system, after like an hour I found no way to repair aside from consumables, which is ****ty enough, some enemies taking off 90% of my health seemed a bit unfair. A lot of traps where you're surrounded by enemies within seconds, spears are the only way I could survive them.

Overall seems solid, will go back to it tonight and see if I can do any better.

Its very punishing if you lose all your Ki, or stamina, you're left huffing until it reaches about 66-75% which is a long time in game, if you do that against more than one enemy you're dead basically.

So I think the difficulty will get a little refined, it is a Souls clone isn't it? All the Souls games are much easier than this

johnny_ultimate · 27-04-2016 8:11pm

Jesus if I say 'this took inspiration from the Souls series' I'm understating it a whole lot! Laughed the first time I entered the level up menu, although the most amusing bit was the 'kicking down a ladder' shortcut.

I warmed to it more as the demo went on (only played as far as the settlement shrine), even if I wished it had a few more original ideas. Also felt it bombarded you with loot to the point of silliness - just a constant flow of weapons and items, which is hopefully just demo RNG being generous. Felt the art style was too murky as well, making it hard enough to discern features. And yeah, those weapons wear down super fast.

The combat seems solid though, even if the flow doesn't change a whole lot from encounter to encounter. Got destroyed at first but became much easier after around ten minutes and figuring out what the hell I was meant to do, although agree the enemies hit too hard. Kinda hate the stagger feature :pac: Curious to see how it turns out, but if you're jealous of missing it, don't be, especially if you haven't treated yourself to Dark Souls 3 yet

Temptamperu · 27-04-2016 8:16pm

This sounds cool, cant wait for it to download.

Digital Solitude · 27-04-2016 8:19pm

I meant was it a full blown Souls clone a la Lords of the Fallen or a spiritual successor to another Team Ninja game that's gotten more publicity due to Soulsborne games.

johnny_ultimate · 27-04-2016 8:24pm

Wasn't referring to anyone in particular, was just taken aback at how much it 'borrowed' from From!

Forgot to mention Generic McBlondface - the least memorable, most familiar main character design imaginable

Digital Solitude · 27-04-2016 8:27pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Wasn't referring to anyone in particular, was just taken aback at how much it 'borrowed' from From!

Forgot to mention Generic McBlondface - the least memorable, most familiar main character design imaginable

Ah sorry I thought you were laughing at me

He looks like Geralt of Rivia. Though I've been playing a lot of The Witcher 3 so that may just be me

Surely they'll make him look at bit more interesting, or at least Japanese.

Also strange for an RPG to force a gendered main character isn't it?

johnny_ultimate · 27-04-2016 8:31pm

Geralt absolutely sprung to mind too, albeit with some Souls esque armour on the title graphic.

I would hope the full game, if they're sticking with the main character, acknowledges narratively the presence of the Westerner in Japan aspect (loosely based on a historical individual, it seems), could be interesting if so - or incredibly badly done either :pac:

bigphil2 · 28-04-2016 10:34am

Hard as hell alright.. But then again so were the Ninja Gaiden games...

Evade · 29-04-2016 3:02pm

Any tips for the boss in the

ship

?

Sieghardt · 30-04-2016 9:08am

For all its similarities to souls it also has many similarities to Onimusha and also many to Way of the Samurai

it also reminds me of that old PS1 game Ronin Blade (aka Soul of the Samurai)

Combat is only superficially similar to Dark Souls, once you start learning skills it becomes vastly different

I disagree that it doesnt vary from encounter to encounter, in my experience you need very different tactics for dueling humans, fighting Yokai and fighting bosses.

When duealling a strong human enemy one on one it can be very tactical, baiting attacks and using a counter, or getting the space for an Iai strike, or running down their stamina for a finishing blow.

When approaching a group of people you can stealth around and try to pick some off or lure them out with a stone throw ar use arrows to take some out before they come for you

Yokai are quite different because they dont seem to have the same self preservation style as humans. they'll rush you and grab you

Bosses require real management of Ki pulse and ki damage to keep your stamina up and wear theirs down. You pretty much have to dodge their attacks or stay out of range because there's no way of blocking them, which is pretty different from most souls bosses

tok9 · 03-05-2016 1:26pm

I completely see the comparison with the souls series. It has a similar structure.. Shrines, shortcuts, end boss. I think the that's where it ends though. People say the souls series is difficult but I have to say you really need to master the combat in Ni-oh to progress because it is absolutely punishing.

I reckon I spent close to 8-10 hours just playing the demo. I got my ass handed to me several times by the weakest of enemies but I eventually got a better understanding of the combat (still need to nail recovering stamina after an attack).

Anyway I really loved the demo, I'm definitely going to buy this when it comes out. It's also really great to see an option to go to 60fps at the expense of graphics. I went straight to that and it's a noticeable difference!

Only 2 or so days left so check it out before it's over. Genuinely the best demo I've played since MGS2 possibly.

johnny_ultimate · 03-05-2016 1:55pm

I definitely warned to it more in the second area. I still think a few of the Souls-esque design decisions make it seem more unfortunately derivative than it actually is, but the combat system becomes unique enough on its own terms to make it more forgiveable - along with plenty of smaller little design choices that lend it its own identity.

As an Alpha, there's definitely a few unwelcome quirks. I find the crawling enemies a genuine chore to fight, and the combat feels less engaging in more confined spaces. As welcome as the 'stabilise frame rate' option is, I still found it too jumpy. And I'd love to see them completely reevaluate the loot system and armour degradation rate - they turn the game into tedious inventory management a little too often. But it's a demo, and hopefully Team Ninja will be able to overcome the rough edges and create their first worthwhile game in a long time.

tok9 · 03-05-2016 9:59pm

I agree with those points. Degradation in general is a waste of time in games. I can't remember a good example of it being implemented and being enjoyable.

Those enemies are there for you to change your attacks though right. Whenever I saw an enemy like that I went straight to a high stance where it's a lot easier to hit them and damage them more.

My biggest issue would be with the camera which I found a bit fidgety at times and would even go through the environment.

Links234 · 19-07-2016 5:09pm

Another demo will be available in August:

https://twitter.com/PlayStation/status/755409957130899458

I'm still hoping for a PC release at some stage

Links234 · 17-08-2016 3:14pm

Still no word on a PC release, but there's this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJdJ4Y0iohs

Evade · 23-08-2016 8:24pm

The beta is out on the PS store today. It looks like you get you weapon HP restored a little bit every time you die now.

FlyingIrishMan · 27-08-2016 2:16pm

Been playing this a good bit the past few days, it's improved a lot since the last beta. It's getting a lot of comparisons to Dark Souls, which is fair enough, but it holds its own as well.

I think the combat is a lot better in this than DS, it's a lot more satisfying. The map design can be slightly annoying at times, but it's not terrible.

Definitely worth a buy from me.

Evade · 27-08-2016 2:20pm

It turns out weapon degradation is gone altogether. I was looking at the familiarity gauge.

I think I found the game a little easier this time around especially the minotaur things that spawn from that shadowy mist.

FlyingIrishMan · 27-08-2016 2:22pm

Evade wrote: »

It turns out weapon degradation is gone altogether. I was looking at the familiarity gauge.

I think I found the game a little easier this time around especially the minotaur things that spawn from that shadowy mist.

Yeah, the familiarity system is much better, not a fan is degradation in games like this.

I also found it a good bit easier, last beta I didn't have much time to play, but I remember not making it past that first Yokai minotaur. This time around I'm almost finished the third mission, and defeated two bosses.

I'm also finding a light agile build with katanas to be a lot of fun. In Dark Souls I usually play a heavy character and tank everything, but that wasn't working for with this so I went light and it's much better.

YouSavedMyLife · 27-08-2016 11:24pm

Downloaded it on a whim and i have to say im quite impressed. The combat lacks the weighty feeling of the Dark Souls series but it works. Obviously alot of similarities to SoulsBorne but is nuanced enough to feel like a different game rather than a straight copy of Dark Souls. Day 1 buy might be on the cards for this one

Links234 · 27-08-2016 11:35pm

YouSavedMyLife wrote: »

Day 1 buy might be on the cards for this one

It'd be a day 1 buy for me, if it was on PC...

Yeah, I'm hoping they announce a PC release at the upcoming Tokyo Games Show, throw a lowly PC gaming peasant a bone here

Ni-Oh (PS4)

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