Dark Souls was the big hit from From Software that helped found the soulslike genre. If you are currently looking for a fun alternative, you can find it on Steam for a great price, where MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes has spent over 100 hours.
Which game are we talking about? On February 7, 2017, the soulslike Nioh was released in an already packed year. The game comes from Team Ninja, who were previously known mainly for the Ninja Gaiden series.
Nioh is inspired by games like Dark Souls, but mixes it with other aspects:
- faster gameplay that you know from action games
- addictive loop of looting and leveling
- mission structure
- Japanese mythology
Especially the mission structure and the looting and leveling might sound off-putting for souls fans, but that is exactly what led me to invest over 100 hours in the game.
The perfect mix between Dark Souls and Diablo
What makes Nioh so good? Nioh does not have a perfectly structured open world and hidden lore. It is a mission-based soulslike that primarily focuses on loot and builds. And that is exactly what makes it so good. The missions are quick, offer small open areas, and thus provide a good flow for looting and leveling.
The variety of different weapons and pieces of equipment is reminiscent of Diablo. There are set bonuses, scaling stats, and of course level-ups, with which you can invest points into desired stats.
A major unique feature in combat is the various spirits you can equip. They have different bonuses and are a great aspect to improve your built builds.
In combat, you can switch between 3 stances with the different weapon types. This can pay off depending on the enemy. If you want to quickly inflict status effects like Burn
, a quick stance makes sense. This also adds variety within the types of weapons.
The game is still quite difficult, and you have to learn the gameplay. However, with the items and equipment sets, you can build very strong builds with which you can easily cut through medium-level scenarios.
Absurd story with Japanese mythology
Fans of Japanese mythology will feel at home. The story is quite absurd: You play as William Edwards, who lands in 16th century Japan during a war at the start of the Edo period to save his guardian spirit. There, he must confront countless Yōkai, Japanese spirits and demons.
The story is not really in the foreground, but the designs of the Japanese Yōkai are definitely fun. Friends of the absurd will feel at home. However, one should not take all of this too seriously.
The satisfying gameplay loop and the setting made it so that I couldn’t put the game down. With all the side missions, farming, DLCs, and building builds, I spent over 100 hours. On howlongtobeat.com, the main story of the Complete Edition averages around 42 hours. If you really want to do everything, you’ll probably average around 143 hours.
On Steam, Nioh in the Complete Edition is currently available for €11.49 instead of €49.99. That is approximately the price of many McDonald’s meals (via https://fastfoodpreise-info.de/).
If you want more fights in the same style after Nioh, you can also grab Nioh 2 or Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty on sale. However, Wo Long did not receive a good reception from all players at release: Nioh’s successor is a bestseller on Steam, but only 37% like the game.
