Dark Souls was From Software’s big hit, which helped found the Soulslike genre. If you’re currently looking for a fun alternative, you can get it on Steam for a reasonable price, with MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes even spending over 100 hours on it.
What game is it about? On February 7, 2017, the Soulslike Nioh was released in an already packed year. The game comes from Team Ninja, who were previously primarily responsible for the Ninja Gaiden series.
Nioh is based on games like Dark Souls, but mixes it with other aspects:
Above all, the mission structure and the looting and leveling sound daunting for Souls fans, but that’s exactly what ensured that I put over 100 hours into the game.
Nioh – Trailer for the Dark Souls alternative from Koei Tecmo
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The perfect mix between Dark Souls and Diablo
What makes Nioh so good? Nioh doesn’t have a perfectly structured open world and hidden lore. It is a mission-based soulslike that primarily relies on loot and builds. And that’s exactly what makes it so good. The missions are entertaining, offer small open areas and therefore a good flow for looting and leveling.
The variety of different weapons and pieces of equipment is reminiscent of Diablo. There are set bonuses, scaling stats and of course level-ups with which you can put a lot of points into desired values.
A big unique selling point in combat are the different spirits that you can equip. They have various bonuses and are a good aspect to improve the builds you have built.
In combat you can switch between 3 stances with the different weapon types. Depending on the opponent, this can also be worthwhile. If you want to quickly cause status effects such as fire, a quick stance makes sense. This also ensures variance within the weapon types.
The game is still really difficult and you have to learn the gameplay. Using the items and equipment sets, you can also build very strong builds with which you can easily breeze through medium-difficulty levels.
Absurd story with Japanese mythology
Fans of Japanese mythology will feel at home. The story is quite absurd: you play William Edwards, who lands in Japan in the 16th century during a war at the beginning of the Edo period in order to save his guardian spirit. There he has to assert himself against countless Yōkai, Japanese spirits and demons.
The story isn’t really the focus, but the designs of the Japanese yōkai are fun. Friends of the absurd will feel at home. But you shouldn’t take any of this seriously.
The satisfying gameplay loop and setting ensured that I couldn’t put the game down. Between all the side missions, farming, DLCs, and building builds, I spent over 100 hours. On howlongtobeat.com, the main story of the Complete Edition lasts an average of 42 hours. If you really want to do everything, then you’ll probably spend an average of 143 hours.
The Complete Edition of Nioh is currently available on Steam for €11.49 instead of €49.99. This roughly corresponds to the price of many McDonalds menus (via https://fastfoodpreise-info.de/).
If you want more fights in the same style after Nioh, you can also get Nioh 2 or Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty on offer. However, Wo Long was not well received by all players when it was released: Nioh’s successor is a bestseller on Steam, but only 37% like the game