Nioh Slash-All!

Sweet. I'll make time for that in the next couple of weeks. Loved the first demo.

Played a few hours of the beta last night (missed the alpha) and holy wow, I like this game. It feels a lot like Bloodborne to me, though with enough tweaks to keep it fresh. I also feel the influence of the Dynasty/Samurai/Warriors/Orochi series.
Loving the setting, hoping to love the story and lore as well. It looks like they did a lot of research for this game, got a lot of things right. And it turns out the protagonist is an actual, historical figure:

The protagonist is based on a real-life historical figure named William Adams who was basically a pirate from England who arrived in Japan in the early 1600s and eventually trained as a Samurai, which is a very very rare occurrence throughout history. So we were just really fascinated by his story and thought he was a real badass, and that is why we wanted to use his story as our main character’s

He actually ended up setting up Japan's first western style fleet and served as advisor to Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa (who's rise to the Shogunate started the Edo period).

All in all, the couple off hours I spent with it last night (not enough to get out of the starting village, damage really is unforgiving) and am very happy with it. I'll keep playing the beta, really want to get through it, and might even pre-order the game, or see if they come out with a collector's edition.

Read James Clavell's "Shogun" inspired by the same historical figure.

I forgot this was a thing and failed in my gamerly duty to download this bad boy last night. I quite enjoyed the alpha back in...March? In the feedback survey I was quite explicit in my concerns about the stingy Ki drain when going on the offensive. I hope they struck a finer balance. The game is looking quite stunning based on the recent trailers.

I never had a chance to play this before, so I tried it yesterday for the first time. I really liked the experience, fighting feels good, different weapons and stances feel different.

I haven't had time to try any of the magic/ninja stuff, are they worth the investment?

My only concern is that the game looks kind of weird graphics-wise, it's too dark and kinda busy, I was having issues seeing things and the graphics didn't wow me at all. Also there seems to be too much loot. As much as I love loot, all that salt and bombs and amulets and whatnot was a bit too much, so I just started ignoring it.

Overall though, I loved it and can't wait to play the demo some more. Do we know when the game is supposed to release?

Thanks,

I have points in both Onmyo and Ninja, and I find them very useful, Onmyo moreso than Ninja.
At it's basic level, Onmyo gives you weapon buff items (talismans) to give your weapons elemental damage, which are replendished automatically at Shrines. I have the first two fire talismans for 4 uses, and it makes a world of difference, especially against the heavy armored guys. Later skills give you passive buffs against Yokai, or increase the amount of Amrita you aquire, things like that.

Ninja is more about gadgets, at it's basic level, it gives you shurikens (throwing knives) of regular, poison, or fire. They don't do a lot of damage, but are useful for pulling people. They also craft bombs and caltrops (slow enemies). Again, these replendish automatically at shrines.

So yes, I'd say that it's worthwhile putting points into one or both.

Hedinn wrote:

I haven't had time to try any of the magic/ninja stuff, are they worth the investment?

Dot damage was utterly broken against elite enemies and bosses in the alpha demo. Fire shurikens and poison bombs both made short work of tough enemies. I'm not sure if this has been changed in the beta demo.

I've killed more than one enemy by setting them on fire and standing back, yes. Mostly it was to take out the last of their health, I don't know if you could kill someone from full health with just DOTs.

When is the game supposed to come out? Seems like an endless chain of alpha and beta tests
As a Souls addict it looks very interesting though.

How does this compare to the alpha (which I thought was awful)?

Dipped into this very briefly last night. Maybe that tutorial was more helpful than I expected because it taught me to not be afraid of using the light stance more. That's what I did as I went into the demo campaign and consequently the Ki drain didn't feel quite as bad. Can't say for sure if they really tuned your attacks to use less Ki.

I didn't play very far before shutting off but I definitely felt more survivable

I was hoping they'd dump you into a different vertical slice this time around but no. The weekend will tell if I have the motivation to try to get farther than I did last time around. Aside from the Ki management I can't point to any other particulars. It overalls just feels better and a touch less difficult. Again, it could be just maturation effect since I put a few hours into the alpha already.

Woot!
I got through the first boss tonight!
That really felt like classic Dark Souls. No summoning (not sure how it works, or if it's turned on), so it was just me against a big oni in a small room.
Took me maybe a dozen tries, each time learning the boss' attack patterns just a little bit more, until finally, victory!
I might have shouted out loud for joy when I beat it

J.C. wrote:

How does this compare to the alpha (which I thought was awful)?

A lot better. I thought the Alpha was ok but lacking 'weight.' They've really tightened and polished the game. It feels a lot more purposeful. Much more like Dark Souls (which is a good thing of course .) It's really worth trying to experience the subtle improvements.

Higgledy wrote:
J.C. wrote:

How does this compare to the alpha (which I thought was awful)?

A lot better. I thought the Alpha was ok but lacking 'weight.' They've really tightened and polished the game. It feels a lot more purposeful. Much more like Dark Souls (which is a good thing of course .) It's really worth trying to experience the subtle improvements.

I'm hoping to give this a go this weekend. I really didn't click with the alpha due to the way stamina and lock on worked. It sounds like these elements have really been improved.

Damn, I have no problems with regular enemies, very fun to fight them but for some reason those horned demon things give me lots of grief. I actually realize they are not THAT hard to be honest but they really punish you for mistakes and, since they have so much HP, sooner or later I make a mistake and die.

I don't know, maybe I was just tired yesterday but those 2 demons in a row sucked out all the fun and demolished my desire to play this game for now.

Most of the Yokkai/Oni demons can be skipped, there's a way around all but one of them. The only one you have to fight is:

Spoiler:

In the hut at the top of the hill, it's guarding the key you need to get into the next area.

Tried it again last night. Maybe because I had a long day I was losing patience with it. The enemy lock on is waaay better. As somebody mentioned before it's more a proper lock on than a camera lock on.

Sadly the Ki management feels about the same. The thing that irks me is how getting hit drains the Ki quickly as well and you are still rooted to the spot when you gas. I do not doubt that there are enough Souls devotees in the audience who welcome these mechanics. For me it is a blood pressure raiser!

I guess it's all about mastering that Ki Pulse to recover stamina between attack strings. Because right now combat feels less "flowy" (as you're made to expect with unlocking combo attacks) and more halting and death spirally once you get hit.

Cue cries for me to git gud etc, etc.

Higgledy wrote:
J.C. wrote:

How does this compare to the alpha (which I thought was awful)?

A lot better. I thought the Alpha was ok but lacking 'weight.' They've really tightened and polished the game. It feels a lot more purposeful. Much more like Dark Souls (which is a good thing of course .) It's really worth trying to experience the subtle improvements.

Ooh, this makes me far more likely to give it a shot. I'll have to download it tonight before we move as I don't know when our internet is being hooked up at the new place.

Taharka wrote:

Most of the Yokkai/Oni demons can be skipped, there's a way around all but one of them. The only one you have to fight is:

Spoiler:

In the hut at the top of the hill, it's guarding the key you need to get into the next area.

Yeah, the two I am talking about are in that next area. The first one is definitely avoidable, I am not sure why I spent so much time on him, I was being stubborn, I guess. It didn't even drop anything of value.

The second one is not far away, on the rooftop. I don't think he is avoidable but I am not sure, will double check tonight.

Maclintok wrote:

I guess it's all about mastering that Ki Pulse to recover stamina between attack strings. Because right now combat feels less "flowy" (as you're made to expect with unlocking combo attacks) and more halting and death spirally once you get hit.

Yeah, I feel like the Ki system is too complicated for its own good. I prefer Dark Souls' straightforward handling of stamina as it's more predictable. In Nioh, I sometimes find myself with no stamina for no apparent reason.

Same for dodging - it behaves differently depending on a situation and it drives me mad. If you dodge back right after hitting, you get this whitish animation and you dodge far back. If you wait a bit after the hit (doing Ki Pulse, for example) and dodge back, you get a slow dodge that doesn't move you as far back.

Same for the general combat flow. Most of the time it just flows but sometimes I get this weird pause where my character just stands there for a split second, unable to move or do anything. The combat seems to be more fast paced too, so these weird interruptions are maddening.

It's funny how no one can make combat as fluid and intuitive as Dark Souls in all these years.

Hedinn wrote:
Taharka wrote:

Most of the Yokkai/Oni demons can be skipped, there's a way around all but one of them. The only one you have to fight is:

Spoiler:

In the hut at the top of the hill, it's guarding the key you need to get into the next area.

Yeah, the two I am talking about are in that next area. The first one is definitely avoidable, I am not sure why I spent so much time on him, I was being stubborn, I guess. It didn't even drop anything of value.

The second one is not far away, on the rooftop. I don't think he is avoidable but I am not sure, will double check tonight.

If it's the one I think you're talking about:

Spoiler:

The one on top of a roof, after you knock down a ladder, which you need to get across to cross the fence.

Then you can definitely avoid him:

Spoiler:

Just sprint through the fire on the ground. Full or mostly full health and you won't die.

Just beware of:

Spoiler:

Two revenants in the building to your left. They will be triggered by you sprinting through. Make sure you unlock the shortcut back to the shrine before you die.

Got through the second boss tonight, took me fewer tries than the first, I think. Still nailbiting finish, though!
After that, I ran back through the first mission to find all the Kodama I missed. Amazing how much simpler the first level was with the higher level equipment, skills, etc.
So I've got both the free DLCs and am very interested in this game when it releases fully.

I feel kind of bad playing so much of the beta. I don't want to ruin the full game. I've got a few weapons I really wish I'd be able to hold onto for the future.

I think I've reached the second boss. I've heard there are four in the beta? I've seen three missions, one of which was shorter and had no boss.

At what level did people beat the first boss? I'm getting destroyed.
Kinda want to unlock the rewards (anyone know what they are?) but If I have to grind I'd prefer to do it in an actually released game

Not a fan of the whole Ki Pulse system. Otherwise it felt good. Not exactly Dark Souls, but maybe less can do it.

Shadout wrote:

At what level did people beat the first boss? I'm getting destroyed.
Kinda want to unlock the rewards (anyone know what they are?) but If I have to grind I'd prefer to do it in an actually released game

Not a fan of the whole Ki Pulse system. Otherwise it felt good. Not exactly Dark Souls, but maybe less can do it.

I wasn't that high a level, maybe somewhere around 8 - 10 or 12? I know that's a large range, but I don't remember what level I was.

My strategy:

Spoiler:

In phase one, get behind him. His attacks have a long build up, so dodge around his side, hit him from behind no more than twice (depending on how fast your weapon is), then dodge straight backwards to avoid his spin. One dodge back should put you out of range but two will for certain. When you're out of range of his spin, he'll turn around and walk towards you. Go up to meet him face to face (don't try to dodge until he starts his attack), repeat.
Phase two is trickier. I went with low stance when I did it, to give me maximum dodge ability. Beating him is going to require some mastery of the Ki pulse to deal with those Yokkai pools he puts down, but in general, there's two times where you can go nuts on him: 1) When he does his three attack where, at the end, he falls down (the attacks happen linearly, he can't really turn, so you can either dodge backwards or to the sides). Just attack him when he falls. The other is a little rare, but sometimes he will go for one of the balls, even if it's on the far side of you. When he is going for a ball, he ignores everything else, so wail on him, leaving enough to dodge the ball.
His other attacks also leave room for one or two attacks at the end, once you get used to seeing them. His main weakness is that he take a second or two between the end of one attack and the beginning of the next. As long as you're restrained, you can attack, then dodge out of the way.

Ok, thanks, I'm lvl 10, so that should be fine. Reason I asked is that I googled the boss, and found some lvl 24 char doing like 4x my dmg...

Also not a fan of farmable health potions, just like in Bloodborne (well, technically somewhat in between). Prefer Dark Souls system any day of the week. Most of my tries were done with 3-4 potions and quite often they felt like the limiting factor, since the boss is slow enough to heal up most times.

As you say, it's somewhere in between. I think the # of elixirs you restart with is tied to how many of those shrine guys you find. Either that, or your level, not sure which, but I was up to 5 per restart by the end of the second story mission, which felt comfortable to take on the boss with, rather than farming.
But I definitely farmed elixirs for the first boss.

Taharka wrote:

If it's the one I think you're talking about:
...
Then you can definitely avoid him:

Thank you!!

That was a nice "out of the box" tip and it worked great.

Although I got curious and went to see just how far is the aggro range for that demon. Turns out pretty far. So I had to fight him anyway. Well, more like run away like chicken but my running away made him run through fire, doing damage to him, so a few arrow shots later he was dead.

I am still not sure if I am going to buy this game though. Not sure if it's me or the game but, to me, the game feels a bit, I don't know, junky. It's obviously not finished yet, hence the beta, but its lack of polish bothers this Souls fan too much. Similar to Lord of the Fallen (or whatever that game was called), Nioh is kinda entertaining but, while playing it, I was thinking that I should go back and re-play DS3 and Bloodborne.

I'm enjoying the beta. I've tried to play Souls games and aren't any good at them. This has given me a taste for that type of gameplay though, so I'll probably try Lords of the Fallen. I've read it's easier and that's appealing.

FWIW, I thought LotF was alright, kind of ridiculously hard in some parts, easier in others. Dark Souls II is your best bet for difficulty imo. Also it's kind of the jankiest, though.