Nioh - The Bear and Badger

Wariospeedwagon

Seem to be about a third of the way through and really enjoying it. Generally struggling with the bosses while the actual levels leading up to them aren't too bad. Have barely scratched the surface with usable items and special abilities. Just playing as a tough Axe Man.

Only thing that's giving me the shits is having to do a 30 second sprint from checkpoint to boss fight after you die! I really wish they'd ditched that from the dark souls formula.

Wariospeedwagon

Finished this game yesterday but don’t really have much new to add To the last couple of pages of comments. Really great game! Will definitely play it again at some point; have found myself thinking about different builds to play as this morning, but want to take a break. Before the very strong finish I did find myself going through the motions a little bit. It never felt like a bad or even average game but maybe there was a little too much of it! That goes for the side quests as well. They were fine for grinding a level but I’d rather not be doing that at all.

I never did end up using many items (outside of healing etc) and it wasn’t until the end I really levelled up my magic (excluding Sloth!) or ninja skills as I was just playing a fairly straightforward brawler character. As such my character was a fair bit less effective than he could have been! Will play with a guide next time.

Other than the boss check pointing the only bit I didn’t really care for was all the loot! So much of it, and a lot of it not seeming to make much difference. Felt a bit overwhelming looking through all your gear between missions, making sure there’s nothing amazing hidden away in there.

Oh and god I loved the graphics in this! Especially the demons and the incredibly cool samurai. I especially loved the samurai who had a full head of hear, but had shaved it down to a Hulk Hogan style balding look, and the guy with red armour!

stonechalice

If ever a game suffered from feature bloat then Nioh is it. It's just crammed with systems to the point of silliness. Some depth and customisation is welcome, but there's so much in this game that it's to its detriment. Sifting through pages of loot after each mission should not be a thing. It puts me off returning tbh. That and the somewhat limited enemy variety and dull level design.

The combat is sublime though. They really nailed it. I almost wish for a Nioh lite without all the bollocks.

JonB

Yep, totally agree with all that.

Speedhaak

stonechalice wrote:

I almost wish for a Nioh lite without all the bollocks.

Ninja Gaiden!

stonechalice

Yes. A new one of them please.

Dinostar77

Note to self. Don't save the game just before an encounter with the birdman mini boss then leave the game unplayed for 3 months.

Just gone back to it and the birdman is a bastard especially when I've forgotten the button combos.

Dinostar77

Birdman down, onto ogress boss. She'll fall if I can stop making stupid mistakes. Being impatient. Forgot what an awesome game this is.

Dinostar77

Forgotten what a blinding game this is. I think a break of a few months has helped. Though it's depth is crazy at times.

digi

I couldn't get past the burning village area so iv restarted.
Its still hard and i dont understand any of it.

Dinostar77

Digi, it's not too bad. Any questions feel free bud. Happy to help. Personally I found using dual swords and a long reach weapon as 2nd choice a good balance for me.

digi

How do i get more stamina and why does it take so long to recover?
Why do i suck at this game so much?
Also i think i pressed x and circle together once but it might have been triangle and circle....whats it do?

Dinostar77

As you level up, you can increase your stamina bar. Depending on your stance, low-mid-high affects how much stamina it utilises for an attack. Low is lower power attacks but uses less stamina for example.

The round circle in top left is your guardian spirit when it glows that means you can use your guardian by pressing triangle and circle. You are invulnerable for the duration it's activated and it does alot of damage. You fill the guardian spirit circle by killing regular enemies.

It does get easier when you've levelled up a few times. If you've played any souls games, it should make sense.

digi

Iv played them all to completion, even demons wich i originally played thru in Japanese.
(kilted moose gave it me after he got north American version).

It just doesn't tell you anything, and its very obtuse with its systems and menus.
I dont even know how to level up!

Dinostar77

Pray at a shrine to level up. BTW, when you pray it's like sitting down at a bonfire, the level resets all the enemies.

There are bits I still don't understand, I.e. Blacksmith stuff so I've ignored it and been OK.

If you have that much souls experience you will be fine. It's very souls like and very very good. Stick with it.

digi

Thanks pal, il try to play it a bit more when i have more quiet time.
Cheers for the help and advice.

JonB

The ki pulse is also essential. After you attack you should see little blue particles around you for a second. Hit R1 at this point to recharge your ki/stamina quickly. Got to get into a rhythm of doing that.

Other than that, you'll be picking up a lot of weapons and armour. There are different colour coded grades and each item has its own level,which affects its stats. Worth checking what you've got from time to time.

All the excess stuff you get can be sold or dismantled by the blacksmith into raw materials.

Subbax

I picked this up yesterday. I'd completely missed it for some reason so hearing that it was sort of Souls made me very interested.

I'll see how I get on later tonight.

Dinostar77

Game doesnt hold your hand at all. So you may want to consult a guide for the basis or just learn as you play.

digi

Yeh im back in that burning village place near the start and struggling again.
Just unlocked a load of skills to try next time i get on though.
Using the weapons from jons videos, looks decent but im not great.

JonB

It's a tough game at the start, but definitely gets easier. The spear may be good to begin with.

Generally, against bigger enemies I don't think low stance is all that great. It makes your attacks fast but they don't do enough damage. Medium stance is usually good for dealing with multiple enemies. High stance for maximising damage.

The kusari-gama is good once you unlock the chain move that lets you reel in and stun opponents with high stance. Hardly any enemy can block it. There's also magic later on which is a bit too useful (those sloth talismans).

Subbax

Yeah, I went with spear and tonfa with the shark spirit. It's relatively straightforward but just remembering all the different buttons will definitely take some getting used to.

Haven't plugged the xbox controller in for ages!

stonechalice

Ki pulse Ki pulse Ki pulse

Subbax

Yeah, I'm getting used to the ki pulse now but still need to get it cemented.

I'm confused by the yokai at the moment. I try to dispel the fog as soon as they create it but for some reason sometimes my attacks don't stun them and they just eat two hits to the face and smash me into the ground. Do they get buffed by the fog?

I'll try just throwing one attack and then ki pulse to get rid of the fog quicker.

Dinostar77

Subbax, honestly i tend to ignore the fog. I just lure the enemy out of it.

As for ki pulse, its probably more important towards the start of the game when your weaker. I'm 20 off bosses down and i only bother with ki pulse for bosses or strong non boss enemies.

I can't recall if you can level up yet, if you can do so whenever you can.

Lastly, like in the souls games, you can run past enemies as well.

stonechalice

Nah Ki pulse is essential if you wanna get gud at this game. It's tied to so many moves.

Clearing the fog should not be a priority, timing you're combo right so you can finish with Ki Pulse to get Ki back and get more attacks in is far more important. If there's fog nearby then bonus - Yokai enemies regen Ki quicker in the fog.

Dinostar77

Boss shima sakon is doing my nut in. His 2nd phase 1 hit kill lightning attacks are a pain. Got him down to 15% before but had no charged living weapon. God I hate this boss.

Edit: wouldn't you know it. Next go after a rant and I beat him. @chalice gave me an idea. Block his ki with a spell when in lighting phase. It worked. Woo hoo.

Subbax

Yeah, I've levelled up the tonfa stat and ki meter.

I think I noticed the yokai having a visible fog aura so that must be the buff. I assume I was just getting unlucky not stunlocking with my combo then?

Noticed I don't really regen ki in the fog so will lure them away and just get some more practice in. Might spend a few deaths almost killing one to get more understanding.

The tonfa are pretty sweet. Do my weapon choices in the beginning mean anything or was it just what weapons I was given first?

Subbax

Going to level some spirit next for the guardian buff.

stonechalice

Nah weapons will come and go mate I wouldn't worry.

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