I love that Team NINJA are always trying stuff out - since Nioh through Wo Long and now Ronin, they’re obviously keen to experiment. Unfortunately, while their previous ones have been hits, this one is a bit of a miss. Any real sense of a soulslike is gone, making way for aggressively mid Ubisoft type openworld checklist activities. The bloated scope reveals a lack of polish. Exploration is a chore and unrewarding. Combat is fun at first, but quickly becomes pretty mindless (and amazingly, from these guys, super easy). I hope they try the openworld stuff again, but for me this aint it.

A lot of Nioh buildcrafting stuff has been simplified, some new stuff has been added. Morale system is clever, forcing further exploration. Combat is very satisfying. Story is passable. Good game.

A refinement of its great predecessor, Nioh 2 does everything you’d hope for from a sequel. The core mechanics remain tight & additions fit in seamlessly without ruining any balance. Outstanding game.

Nioh transcends its soulslike roots by adding successful new ideas like stances in combat and Guardian Spirits. Enemies and environments become repetitive after a while, but worth the price of entry.