Nioh is addictive

Nioh is a hard game, but not too hard. It feels more forgiving than FromSoftware titles once you get the hang of it. The early game seems brutally difficult: you burn through Ki (stamina) fast, deal little damage, and face multiple enemies at once. This forces slow, grueling one-on-one fights by baiting foes apart. Coming from Souls games, it's tempting to play it the same way, but that doesn't quite work. I got so frustrated early on that I uninstalled it and didn't return for a long time. After beating several Souls titles, it now feels much lighter and less punishing.

Enemies are straightforward once learned. They have limited attack patterns and low variety, so you can consistently beat them without taking damage with patience: stay out of range, punish safely, avoid greed. Everything hits hard. Two or three mistakes can kill you, so methodical play is key. Most enemies are slow and easy to dodge one-on-one. Early bosses feel easier than FromSoftware ones. No massive monsters with bizarre patterns requiring brute-force learning. Circle, dodge, observe attacks, punish when safe, and victory comes quickly. Rushing for extra damage gets you killed.

As you progress, mechanics deepen with weapon variety, ninjutsu, and onmyo magic for playstyle variety. You can go heavy axe for one- or two-shotting basics, or fast dual swords/tonfa like I'm using now. Mastery comes from combos, timed dodges, and Ki pulses to regain stamina faster for longer chains. Each weapon has its own skill tree for new moves and passives. Layering stance changes, skills, pulses, and dodges raises the skill ceiling and keeps it addictive without getting to fighting game complexity for combos.

Progression feels natural. You master skills before new ones pile on. Tons of items add options: bombs to burn enemies, shuriken to pull singles, talismans for elemental resistance. Item drops are plentiful, so gearing revolves around optimizing for your style. Keep sets for defense, offense, or loot/amrita farming. It's optional. You can button-mash an axe with no skills and still progress, though min-maxing elements, resists, and stats makes tough spots much easier.

The mix of combat, loot, and depth feels like a Souls-like crossed with a dungeon crawler and fighting game. It's incredibly satisfying to clear missions deathless. I just did one, including the boss, and felt unstoppable. Then got wrecked on the next. Might grind levels or explore for mission shortcuts before retrying.

Revenants (player ghosts) drop great gear from their loadouts. Some areas have everyone running the same set from chain-killing the same revenants. It almost feels like cheating. Skipping that leaves you undergeared and raises difficulty significantly.

I ran high luck/drop rate early for rare gear and amrita gain for fast levels, trading some survivability/damage. It balanced out with better finds. Pure offense/defense makes rares harder to get, so swapping gear strategically works well.

Guardians grant bonus stats and a beast mode when the gauge fills: extra damage, new combos, semi-invulnerability (damage hits the meter). Great for tough enemies and boss clutches. Available often.

The story is linear mission-to-mission with shopping/forge breaks in between. Team Ninja made a great game. I'm hooked and plan to finish it, then Nioh 2, then 3 soon after.

I'd give it 10/10 for addiction and fun. Graphics hold up nearly a decade later, though not mind-blowing. Story is basic. The focus is combat mastery. Gameplay and value are definite 10s if you push past the rough start and learn the ki burst/purification and weapon swap combos.

If you like Souls-likes (think Demon's Souls, not Elden Ring), Ninja Gaiden, or a solid challenge, you'll probably love it. Note, It has a more arcade game quality to it, if you are a fan of those!