...And the main reason for that is the load times after death are mercifully short.

Well there are other reasons as well. The combat has enough depth and movesets that when I die, I could think of more ways to get the upper hand or try a new strategy (such as changing stances). The story actually seems to have more going for it than whatever is happening in the Soul's games. I like the spirit animals and that there's more to customize and upgrade than your traditional souls game.

The one thing I do like about other Souls games that's missing in Nioh is that sense of dread (at least so far).

But man, those load times are great. Yes, I know DS on PC can have fast loading times too, but it's something to behold on a console which usually handles these things poorly (Bloodborne).

What are your thoughts on the game so far? I'm like 4 hours in, so barely enough for a first impression, but enough to compliment the load times.

It's been a good month/year for gaming so far. Between this and Yakuza 0, I'm all set for the next couple of months. Just gonna chill and be happy.

Good to hear. I played the first beta and watched MaximillianDood go through the first hours of the game. It's great to see how smooth the game runs and how different the weapons are. A lot of the graphical effects fall flat for me, but since the actual combat is so good i can forgive the game for that.

They nerfed the shit out of Hino-Enma; though I'm still pretty good at the fight. Think I'm on the cusp of being at new levels (though Nue's level is 2-3 times the size of the alpha version. Side missions are dope, brief NPC co-op was cool.

Game's really good.

That ki pulse dodge skill is so good.

I never got too deep into the betas so I've mainly stuck with the sword and haven't specced into Dex much, but after trying out some of the ninjutsu, there seems to be a lot of good utility stuff in that tree. I may end up picking up the kusarigama just to get more use out of the Dex points I'll be focusing on now.

Yeah i'm enjoying it too, just beat the alpha level. Does anyone know when you get the rewards from alpha/beta? Can't seem to find them.

@boozak: it is in the "boons" section of the shrine.

Having played through the first level now I have to say that calling this a "Souls-like" feels disingenuous. In many ways it's sorta like Souls' "evil cousin". Everything that's great about Souls is sorta ok in Nioh, and everything that's sorta ok in Souls is great in Nioh. I went in more or less blind and found myself somewhat disappointed that the game isn't really what I was expecting, but I'm sure what's there will grow on me.

My biggest gripe so far is that the loot system seems pointless and has a big potential to be a complete hassle. It sorta reminds me of Darksiders 2, the game just didn't need random loot with stats at all. Not that random loot isn't a fun feature, but it ends up being a distraction from the main draws of the game. Also, what's up with more or less 3 rounds of similar tutorials ? I guess at least one of them is optional, but still....

Just beat the second boss. This game has been great so far. I really, really like the stance system. In Souls terms, it's like having access to every move set from a class of weapon at once. Having the stances change how blocking and dodging behave adds some interesting tactical choices, too.

@memonk: Got'em, thanks. (although they're now under leveled, such is the pointlessness of pre-order esque content)

After doing the first side mission I get the feeling that doing these might over level you. Not that is matters much, i'm sure it will still be challenging.

I'm really trying to hold off on buying this until I have more expendable income, but the temptation is almost too great.

@boozak: you can forge higher level equipment into them to make them higher level.

Not sure if the first mission is easier than the rest of the missions but so far I havent had a hard time with the mobs. Think it is also down to the fact that i played both betas a few hours so I am kinda familiar with the basic mechanics of the game. By the first mission i mean the level that was in the first nioh beta last year. Being kinda vague on purpose since i dont want to spoil stuff.

But never killed the boss in that beta so shall see how many tries it will actually take for me to kill it.

I love the Dark Souls series, but this game is great. It's a much more polished and faster game than any of the dark souls games ever were. It's Dark Souls, but sped up in combat with the addition of skills/stances + diablo loot drops.

The second main area's levels are very Demon's Souls-esque.

In my book that doesn't equal a better game. I mean sure if you are into fast combat in the first place thats a given. I personally like the slow and methodically nature of Souls, and what makes those games great is that you actually feel your character. They actually have some weight, and each swing of a weapon you can really feel the power and a nice feedback on impact. I dont get that in Nioh. Feels more floaty and weapons lack the same oomph as most Souls weapons have.

But thats just my opinion.

Digging the game a lot so far! Only a few missions in but so far so good. In an attempt to make it as Dark Souls like as possible I did switch the fast/heavy attacks to R1 and R2. Playing an axe build which (to me) has a similar feel to mid weight Souls weapons. Once you get the stamina recovery mechanic down the combat flows nicely. My 30 minute planned play session lasted 4 hours!

I was undersold on how actiony the combat was. And the loot/gear progression feels looser than a Souls game. So I'm really enjoying it. I was most surprised at how many options they give you, out side of the combat. Like the ninja/magic skills and the ability to sell gear for amrita. I don't feel desperate or lost ever, just challenged.

Wait, what control scheme is that?! I was looking for it last night because I kept hitting R1/R2 out of force of habit. All the control schemes I looked at still had attacks bound to square and triangle. Basically I just want a "Dark Souls" control scheme option. It's a minor issue - but weird. They give you all those graphical options, and have a whole page dedicated to setting what attacks you want to take priority when making certain button prompts. It's odd that with all that customization that they don't let you bind controls to whatever you want too.

Yeah, I'm enjoying it. I do wish they'd tutorialized some of the systems a bit better. The core gameplay is easy enough to pick up, but a lot of the stuff in the margins isn't easy to find. If Jeff hadn't mentioned being able to set up which skills take priority I doubt I'd ever have realized that's an option. And maybe I'm not to the point where it gets explained yet, but something about Glory/Reputation/Titles, etc. would have been nice to have explained.

It doesn't hugely detract from the game in any way, but I worry that having all those systems and not explaining them will scare people off, since it makes the game look more complicated that it actually is.

can't get past these two big knight guys right at the beginning. another fucking waste of money for me. yay.

i have to stop buying these fucking games. i am absolute garbage at them, any way you slice it.

shame jeff and jason make it sound so rad.

@ripelivejam: they both do a single attack and pause. All you have to do is wait for them to swing, then dodge out of the way and slice them two or three times. If the timing on the dodge is giving you trouble then you could just block instead and then attack.

If the problem is that they're attacking at the same time then use rocks to lure them out individually.

@lawgamer: The type B controller setting is the one that moves the light and heavy attacks to R1/R2. Also it makes block square while keeping doge at X which I found to be a much better button layout than the type A setting.

@humanity: yeah as soon as i posted that i finally beat them. i seem to do better with runkah vs axe (faster dodge maybe?). we'll see how much farther i get before i get really overwhelmed.

@ripelivejam: patience is key but yah it's also all about finding a weapon you feel comfortable with. First Souls game I ever played I exclusively used a spear because it let me hide behind a shield while poking enemies to death. Then when I felt more confident I started experimenting with different play styles. Bloodborne was an ultimate boot camp for learning how to dance around enemies without a shield.

block is fucking USELESS in this game.

e: well it sure feels like it. after struggling against enemies for another hour or so again i'm slowly getting the hang of the dodge. feels like bloodborne all over again. at least i beat the first boss (which actually wasn't difficult though it was more a cutscene thing). yes i know i suck but i'm trying to persevere.

Anybody who didn't like the alpha but liking the main game? Also are you playing on a standard ps4 or pro?

@oursin_360: That's totally me. I was turned off by the difficulty and the RPG elements initially. Its definitely easier than that alpha. I'm actually not having too hard of a time which feels weird. The game is pretty generous with the timings and the variety of refillable items. I'm on a standard PS4 and it looks fine running at 60. If an enemy is far away though(and if the screen is busy?) then they'll move in stop motion, until they get closer. I've seen this happen only a couple of times.

I really love it so far. I like how mechanics-heavy the game is. It seems to have a lot of depth and complexity both. Already see a decent amount of build possibility. Too early to say, but I dare say this is the step forward for Souls games I hoped Bloodborne would be. It just seems to improve on the core formula in a way I really dig so far. I'm also completely into the setting.

I really like it so far but... what is with the difficulty in this game? The regular enemies (humans, yokai and oni) are incredibly simple. I can clear each area so far without dying, but the bosses are so much more difficult than any other enemy type it's like they're from a different game. The bosses are kind of mechanically unfair too (baked-in unreactable mixups... why?). In the Souls games you can at least figure out a strategy but in this you've just got to be lucky and hope you make all the right guesses. I'm not particularly bad at these kinds of games either. Well, maybe it's still too early and I'm missing something obvious.

After you get past the giant phallus the bosses are really quite good for like four straight missions and the levels are pretty sweet too.

@sensibleparty: I very rarely die to bosses even sight unseen, they're challenging but manageable; of course first time I played I had trouble but that was like middle of last year. Regular enemies still give me trouble on occasion; though not your boilerplate soldiers. Every boss has patterns, not all of them are fair but not everything you can do is fair either.

@iamterics: thanks for the feedback, i caved but man this thing is taking forever to download. Not sure if psn is just slow today or a lot of traffic on this game, but man i haven't even gotten the 12gb dl'd yet to play the damn thing after like 3 hours. Taking about twice as long as usual.

I also enjoy the methodical nature of the dark souls games. The slow heavy hitting weapons just feel good when you're on point. But after 3 entries(4 if you include demon souls), I'm kind of looking for something different, but similar enough. Nioh really fits that. Add in all the extra stuff(skill trees/customization/DIABLO LOOT) that I enjoy, and it's been a fun ass game.

@fredchuckdave: That sounds promising. I just need to keep at it, I guess.

Amazon USA has this listed as "shipping in 1-2 months". Wha??

Guess they didn't anticipate demand very well.

@frytup: yeah its sold out but it will probably be back in stock once the prime discount price is over.

I'm on the 2nd boss and feel like quitting. I never had too much of an issue in dark souls but it feels like I'm slashing this dude like hell and he's taking little to no damage; then I get hit twice, run out of stamina and I'm dead. It's just not fun.

Have they said if a PC release is possible?

When have Sony ever published something bound for the PC? Since ... like, 1998.

It's probably good for my wallet and backlog that this game is currently sold-out on Amazon and my local Gamestop, because this sounds like something I'd be very into. Yeah, I could just buy it on PSN, but then I'd have to wait for it to download overnight on my slow internet and that's clearly too much trouble.

Before the quicklook I really wanted this based on what I'd heard, but something there just didn't grab my attention. If it were on PC I'd probably get it anyway, but as it is maybe I'll wait until I get a ps4 pro. If I get one. Maybe I'll see or hear something more about this that makes me want it. I played and beat all of the souls games, bloodborne was my favorite. I didn't like lords of the fallen much though either so maybe I just like those games.

Plus you'll be overpaying, probably. I'm still in the first mission but it definitely feels like the last chance Beta was the finished build with some tinkered drop-rates. I'm going to just chase numbers rather than preferred movesets. The hammer that carried me through the Beta has already dropped but the swiftness of a sword is welcome. Whilst the levels look very much ripped out of a Ninja Gaiden, the shortcuts are great to find. I'm giving Yokai a wide berth, though. I cannot tackle them confidently yet.

@shindig: Oh, didn't realized Sony published this one. Sorry. Enjoy, PS4 users.

@arbitrarywater: I find it incredible that a game would be sold out, on Amazon of all places, in this day and age.

I actually bought the game on PSN and for once the price was cheaper and I get cool looking armor as a pre-order bonus. Also that eject button has been messing up on my console so I prefer to go digital when possible. Kinda nuts that Sony has not acknowledged this pretty wide spread problem in the slightest.

For anyone having trouble with this guy (just a Dojo mission so not much of a spoiler):

Yeah i agree, something different is very welcome indeed.

The biggest thing to get used to is guarding out of stunlocks. I've been trying to roll out of stunlocks like Dark Souls but guarding is the only thing that will get you out.

This game is reminding me more and more of Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden II the further I get into it. The speed and damage that enemies are capable of after the first 20 hours are really reminding me of NG2 more than Dark Souls or Bloodborne. The swordplay is really reminiscent of NG2 as well.

@shindig: Helldivers (dec,2015) is published by Playstation and available on steam.

That said, this is not coming to PC unfortunatly. Just thought it was weird that Helldivers made it to PC eventually.

Are there invincibility frames on the dodge? Feel like the second boss (first real boss) is super hard to dodge like there is no invincibility on the dodge at all. Fought him twice so far and don't really feel like i'm doing anything wrong, those stamina draining things are fucking horrible though.

@oursin_360: Depends on the stance. I'm not sure if rolling (High Stance) has any iframes. Mid Stance most certainly does though. I have been straight up dashing through arcs of lightning and took no damage. Perhaps Low Stance has the most iframes. I'm not sure about that, but the way it's worded seems like that stance is preferred for dodging.

wow, you know i didn't even think about that and now that you say it out loud it's just obvious lol. Thanks, i will give it a shot again later.