NiOh

NiOh is an action game created by famous Japanese studio Team Ninja, known from titles like Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series or Metroid: Other M. Studio belongs to Koei Tecmo company, which took care of publishing matters. Interestingly, one of the game’s producers is Kou Shibusawa, one of founders of Koei, which combined with Tecmo in 2009, creating current corporation. NiOh has been officially announced in 2005 and was supposed to be one of the starting titles for PlayStation 3 console. In the mean time, however, developing didn’t go as expected and we did not hear of NiOh for a while. It has resurfaced again at September 2015 during Tokyo Game Show event, during which the game has been announced once more, this time as a title for PlayStation 4.

Plot

The story of NioH for PC and PS4 takes place in alternate version of Sengoku era (15th to 16th century). Japanese provinces are in the midst of civil war, and a new great danger appeared in form of dangerous demons called yokai. Meanwhile, a blond warrior from the West named William arrives in Japan in his pursuit of Edward Kelly. The hero quickly joins forces with Ieyasu Tokugawa and his servant Hanzo Hattori. Together they will go after the enemy and hunt down yokai.

Game mechanics

In NiOh for PC and PS4, we play as a samurai fighting against various enemies, both human and not. To prevail in battles against monstrous enemies, hero must use not only his skills, but also a power enchanted in his sword. Gameplay resembles a mix between Onimusha and Dark Souls series, forcing player to act cautiously, dodging and blocking, as well as dealing fast and deadly blows.

Fighting system bases on three main stances: High, Mid and Low. The first one focuses on performing powerful, high-damaging attacks, but doesn’t offer much in dodges and blocks. The second is best suited for defense, though with rather weak attacks. Finally, Low Stance let players enjoy easier dodging.

Game modes

Like Dark Souls series, NiOh includes a very unusual multiplayer. While we can traverse the world by ourselves, it is possible to summon others in special shrines. This is helpful during some tasks, especially with not the easiest difficulty of Team Ninja’s game. There are also skirmishes to enjoy – though we don’t actually fight with other player, but special NPC that appears in place that someone died.

Technical aspects

NiOh has been optimized for PlayStation 4 Pro console and offers a few modes. Movie Mode lets us play 1920:1080 resolution, with anti-aliasing on and 30 frames per second, while Action Mode supports 1920:1080 and 60 fps, but at the cost of worse visuals. There is also option for 4K TVs – Movie Mode (3830:2160 and 30 frames).

Last updated on 18 November 2020