Nioh: Looking Death in the Face

[Aranea Highwind]

 

If you’re as excited as we are for Nioh when it launches on February 7 in North America, then you’ll be delighted to hear that, as of today, pre-orders are live across PlayStation Store and your local retailers.

 

On PlayStation Store, we’re offering two editions of the game:

 

Standard Edition

• The full game

 

Digital Deluxe

• The full game
• Weapon pack with five new weapons
• PS4 Avatar
• Season Pass

 

Pre-order either edition to receive:

 

The Nioh armor to equip in-game, inspired by the ancient statues that stand guard at temples across Japan.

 

 

And a Nioh Dynamic Theme for PS4.

 

In addition, if you pre-order Nioh or the Digital Deluxe Edition on PlayStation Store or purchase in the first two weeks after launch, you’ll also receive the Crimson Master Armor, another in-game armor but this time based on legendary samurai Yukimura Sanada.

 

 

“We created Nioh to be a very challenging game, so we put a lot of thought into the design of its difficulty,” says Game Director Yosuke Hayashi.

 

“For example, we had an enemy that throws a quick jab at you and causes immense damage, and it was difficult to avoid and defend against. So now these enemies may still attack you with the same level of damage, but we redesigned the movement of the jab itself so that it gives players a split

second to dodge or block.”

 

The rigorous alpha and beta testing that Nioh has undergone has only helped shape the PS4 game for the better. It’s been your all-important feedback which has — rather ironically — removed Team Ninja’s fear that many years of hard work were going to potentially miss the mark.

 

“Nioh is a new IP, so in a lot of ways we wanted to get users’ feedback and understand whether we were going in the right direction,” explains Hayashi-san.

 

“For example, some of the feedback we got from our users was that they didn’t want the battles to involve too many enemies, because it would be too challenging. So we looked at more one-on-one encounters where greater skill was required.”

 

“That we were able to get people to like the game during the alpha and beta testing is something I’m really happy about. So as we get closer to launch, we’re putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to meet those high expectations.”

 

That sense of anticipation has only grown with Nioh’s recently announced PS4 Pro enhancements, something Hayashi-san is delighted to take advantage of.

 

“I’ve always felt that games on PlayStation were very visually compelling, but now seeing these games on PS4 Pro, my perception has exceeded that.”

 

“Gamers don’t compromise on things like frame rate, so we really focused on maximizing the power of those particular aspects and introduced lots of visual options. For example, one is to play the game at a targeted 60 frames per second at1080p — it was great that I was able to realize this through PS4 Pro.”

 

 

Of course, when you’re facing a giant, acid spitting, spider-bodied seductress, you may regret the visual fidelity on your screen. And given that you may need many hours to complete Nioh, there’ll be no shortage of gritty, challenging encounters.

 

“We wanted to create impressionable bosses,” laughs Hayashi-san. “So you’ll discover a few when you play!”

 

And if that’s not enough, the smiling Game Director has a few pointers to potentially help reduce the ol’ mind-killer.

“Don’t fear death,” Hayashi-san says. “While Nioh is a challenging game, if you carefully pay attention to the movements of your enemies, you’ll be able to find chances for an opening.”

 

“And don’t be afraid to seek help from other players online from our great community, as there’s always someone out there who can offer guidance. Nioh is really about self-improvement. And in an era of games where there’s less lasting “death” in action titles, I want you to feel like you’ve genuinely accomplished something once you’ve completed it.”

 

So, is your steely soul ready to handle the nightmarish creatures that await you in Nioh?

 

 

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/11/14/nioh-looking-death-in-the-face/

 

I for one cannot wait to play this game.

 

EDIT:

 

Fixed topic title.

Edited November 14, 2016 by Paige

[RedRozeReaper]

Can't wait for this game, gonna be hard to play this in a month where Horizon, Persona 5 and Berserk all come out

[JavaNext]

Really enjoyed my time with this during the beta, looking forward to playing the full game.

 

Any word on what the Mark of Warrior and Conqueror DLCS are?

Edited November 14, 2016 by JavaNext

[Xionx]

hm i will preorder this game .... i mean "blablablub never preorder , you dont know what you get" ->  is not really working here !  i played both Demos , alpha and beta ,  and i enjoyed it a lot.

 

Only really bad point on Dark Souls 3 was the low dropped difficulty, and thats why i look forward to NIOH , it is hard but when you die than only because you made mistakes or tried to be greedy with attacks . 

[Auto-Tomato]

Appreciate you keeping the info coming (previous threads, Resi 7 etc..) Paige, didn't realise this was up on the Blog.   

 

One of the games I'm looking forward to, this and Nier, but I'd hoped we wouldn't see a season pass, and well, sigh.   The pre-order isn't on the store yet (UK), so I can't have a look, but I hope this isn't going to be yet another mystery pass with little to no explanation as to what I'd be buying.   Story/campaign content?   Or am I going to be paying an extra £20 for useless cosmetics?

 

I hope they've patched the Muneshige fight, to stop people trip-stab locking him to death, I beat him normally long before I saw the Entangle spam, and it was a satisfyingly tough fight, the tripping makes a mockery of the encounter.

 

Still, the alpha and beta were both great and I'm eager to play Nioh, hope we get further level variants, normal, twilight and nightmare say, with even tougher & different enemies and atmosphere again, and I hope that season pass is worthwhile, few are in my experience.

[TwilightSpira]

I loved the beta so much, I'll probably get the deluxe edition.

[Uncle_Aura]

I'm guessing these bonuses don't apply to a physical preorder.

[Aranea Highwind]

The Standard Edition & Digital Deluxe now can be pre ordered on the US PSN store if you visit the browser store.

 

Standard Edition

 

https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/games/nioh/cid=UP9000-CUSA07113_00-NIOH000000000000?smcid=pdc:us-en:pdc-games-detail-nioh-ps4:leadproductinfo-pre-order-download:nioh:up9000-cusa07113_00-nioh000000000000:emcid_null

 

Digital Deluxe

 

https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/games/nioh-digital-deluxe/cid=UP9000-CUSA07113_00-NIOHDIGITALDELUX?smcid=pdc:us-en:pdc-games-detail-nioh-ps4:leadproductinfo-pre-order-download:nioh:up9000-cusa07113_00-nioh000000000000:emcid_null

 

By pre ordering either the Standard Edition or Digital Deluxe you will receive a dynamic which comes with the music that plays after you are killed in the game. For those who would like to see the dynamic theme in action here's a video a recorded with my capture card.

 

[Auto-Tomato]

I had a look at the NA store via the link above:

 

'Digital Deluxe edition includes the full game, an exclusive avatar, a season pass with three pieces DLC containing extra missions and story.'

 

Ok, that sounds better, but I'd still rather know what I was buying, 3 half hour dlc's, with a mission or two?  Or 3 proper, lengthy dlc's of at least 4/5 hours each?   Hence, some sort of value for money!   I am unusually hyped (in the responsible sense) for Nioh, but this season pass business is souring it a little.   Can't devs/publishers just put out a game nowadays without the need for cash grabbing, you know, a full game, with nothing cut to resell as dlc, or utter fluff disguised as a mystery box?   

 

I really hope Team Ninja, Koei or SIE put out proper, worthwhile content for the pass.  I know, I know, I don't have to buy it yadda yadda, but it's still annoying, especially if it's suspected it's something that was cut from the base game, or locks a true ending or important storyline behind yet another paywall.   It's a while before it's out, hopefully there'll be more info nearer it's release date.    Will I be able to reforge (re-level) the pre-order weaps/armours?   Or will they become redundant 5 mins into the first level?

 

I know the game is good, but I'll probably do what I usually do, wait for the reviews, and try my best to ignore all the fluff, not seeing anything worthwhile for a pre-order and I'm paranoid the season pass will be base game cuttings, hope I'm wrong, but the way the industry is nowadays...

[Dragon-Archon]

I really hope the developers used a hard, but fair approach instead of being cheap just for the sake of creating a hard game.

[Uncle_Aura]

"Didn't want the battles to involve too many enemies"

I hope this means they remove the regular enemies from the twilight boss fights.

[Aranea Highwind]

I had a look at the NA store via the link above:

 

'Digital Deluxe edition includes the full game, an exclusive avatar, a season pass with three pieces DLC containing extra missions and story.'

 

  Will I be able to reforge (re-level) the pre-order weaps/armours?   Or will they become redundant 5 mins into the first level?

..

 

I suspect we might able to reforge weapons and armor, after all a couple of those are exclusive by pre ordering the game. But there's also the possibility the exclusive armor might becomes useless after leveling up earlier in the game and we have to grind for the exclusive set of armor to drop at a higher level.

 

"Didn't want the battles to involve too many enemies"

I hope this means they remove the regular enemies from the twilight boss fights.

 

Team Ninja has been taking the feedback provided by the Alpha & Beta players seriously. The game will be hard but will feel like a fair challenge.

[Auto-Tomato]

I suspect we might able to reforge weapons and armor, after all a couple of those are exclusive by pre ordering the game. But there's also the possibility the exclusive armor might becomes useless after leveling up earlier in the game and we have to grind for the exclusive set of armor to drop at a higher level.

 

 

Team Ninja has been taking the feedback provided by the Alpha & Beta players seriously. The game will be hard but will feel like a fair challenge.

I spent quite a bit of time in the blacksmith during the beta, reforging to bring my equipment up to higher levels, 37 was about as high as I could get to drop iirc, so it'd be going against the grain if the pre-order stuff was locked out of this.   I suppose they could become available later game, but if the same applied then they'd likely become redundant all over again, quickly.   I managed to add skills, not just change them too, using the soul forge, or whatever it was called, that's another query too with regards to pre-order equipment.   It might be a nothing question, but I remember getting the armoury weapons as a pre-order bonus for Destiny, which turned out to be an insulting con, get them at level 5...but I've better stuff by the time I'm level 5, get them again at level 10...but I've better stuff by the time...   I just hope it's not shiny trash to illicit a purchase, especially with the news there's a season pass.   Somebody better call PETA...bovine abuse, the amount of milking going on in this industry now!  

 

I agree with the latter statement, they even toned down the difficulty between the alpha and beta, but it remained a fair challenge, even in twilight.

[Aranea Highwind]

 

Koei Tecmo will host the first in a series of Nioh live streams on November 20 at 22:00 JST on YouTube.

 

The company plans to host a new Nioh live stream on the 20th of each month, meaning we should see at least two more before the game’s release.

 

The live stream will feature MC Hatsune Matsushima, Toshiyuki Itakura of comedy duo Impulse, and Nioh directors Yosuke Hayashi and Fumihiko Yasuda. In addition to taking on new stages with powerful bosses, the stream will also debut the latest information.

 

 

 

http://gematsu.com/2016/11/nioh-special-live-stream-set-november-20

 

Don't miss this stream as new information will be revealed, hopefully something regarding the seasons pass included on the Digital Deluxe edition.

[Aranea Highwind]

For those who missed the livestream from today you can now watch the replay on Youtube. It seems reforging will be available in the game as we saw someone upgrading the DLC armor we receiving by completing the Alpha & Beta of Nioh. You can see how the Mark of the Conqueror & Mark of the Strong looks like by clicking the link below as well a bunch of screenshot i took.

 

EDIT

 

We are actually receiving a transmog system so we can bring the DLC and the Alpha & Beta gear with us through the whole journey.

 

Stream screenshots

http://imgur.com/a/CGKJs

 

Mark of the Conqueror & Mark of the Strong

http://imgur.com/a/eKclC

http://imgur.com/a/gcnLz

 

Edited November 20, 2016 by Paige

[Xionx]

For those who missed the livestream from today you can now watch the replay on Youtube. It seems reforging will be available in the game as we saw someone upgrading the DLC armor we receiving by completing the Alpha & Beta of Nioh. You can see how the Mark of the Conqueror & Mark of the Strong looks like by clicking the link below as well a bunch of screenshot i took.

 

EDIT

 

We are actually receiving a transmog system so we can bring the DLC and the Alpha & Beta gear with us through the whole journey.

 

Stream screenshots

http://imgur.com/a/CGKJs

 

Mark of the Conqueror & Mark of the Strong

http://imgur.com/a/eKclC

http://imgur.com/a/gcnLz

 

 

so dlc of alpha and beta is cosmetic gear?  im not surprised, i was expecting something like that , even if i hoped for more

[Aranea Highwind]

so dlc of alpha and beta is cosmetic gear?  im not surprised, i was expecting something like that , even if i hoped for more

 

Yup the DLC we obtained by completing the Alpha & Beta will be cosmetic, i suppose the DLC weapons we obtain by pre ordering the Digital Deluxe edition will also be cosmetic items.

 

It should be worth noting the game difficulty been toned down drastically. During the stream there was only one encounter were the player fought 2 enemies at the same time and even that could have been avoided by just killing one of the enemies with a bow/gun. The next livestream will be on December 20, 2016.

[Auto-Tomato]

Yup the DLC we obtained by completing the Alpha & Beta will be cosmetic, i suppose the DLC weapons we obtain by pre ordering the Digital Deluxe edition will also be cosmetic items.

 

It should be worth noting the game difficulty been toned down drastically. During the stream there was only one encounter were the player fought 2 enemies at the same time and even that could have been avoided by just killing one of the enemies with a bow/gun. The next livestream will be on December 20, 2016.

As long as we can use the dlc cosmetics in the forge then I'm fine with that, but...

 

I sincerely hope the game hasn't had a further difficulty reduction.   From the stream I hope it's just the area being used, as making Nioh even easier, the change from alpha to beta was fine, but easier again, and I'd seriously think twice about buying it.   I want a challenge, not a casual experience.

[Aranea Highwind]

For anyone here attending PlayStation Experience 2016, Nioh will be one of the playable games during the event. Most likely people will be able to play the stages we have seen so far, so don't expect anything new.

[Aranea Highwind]

Nioh PlayStation Experience 2016 trailer!

 

[Stardroid]

Personally, I hope that this time, in a game like this, the trophies are solo and not co op. Because I generally dislike the idea of having to put up with the whole game solo while others can breeze through more easily with their buddies and receive the same reward trophy wise. I know that there is nothing stopping me from doing the same, but I feel like it would take away from the experience and also ruin the whole sense of achievement. 

[Arkthur]

This game looks rad. I'm intrigued by the different stances and how they work, combining that with weapons creates many posibilities.

[Aranea Highwind]

Something that i forgot to mention is that during the past stream, it was revealed that we would be having a vendor that sells character skins. Players will have the option to change the appearance of Williams for another character. During the cutcenes, William will appear normally and not the character skin. Last but no least, the game cover was also revealed.

 

 

 

[DO_or_DIE_312]

This game looks pretty dope.I hope it isn't as difficult as the Dark Souls games and Bloodborne.I never played those games but if this game is anything like them I might have to prepare myself mentally  and jump right rite in.

[Aranea Highwind]

Quote

 

 

Do you still have any questions regarding the game?

 

WE are giving you the opportunity to post your questions to game director Yosuke Hayashi! We'll choose the best questions and post the replies!

 

Post your questions by 5pm Wednesday in this thread with your questions!

 

http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/Action-Adventure/Nioh-Exclusive-Q-amp-A-with-Game-Director-Yosuke-Hayashi/m-p/24835074#M30812

 

 

If you have any questions regarding, Nioh be sure to visit the European PlayStation Forums. You question might be featured and answered by the game director Yosuke Hayashi.