I’m back to talk about the Steam Next Fest, but not really. It’s the last day, and while I just took a quick look, the pictures aren’t loading. This happens once in a long while, and I’ve taken it as a sign just to give up on this Steam Next Fest. Instead.
Let’s talk about Nioh (Team NINJA) instead. Why? For a few reasons. One, Ian is playing the second game and having a blast. He’s way into it and saying it’s so much better than the first game. I only played the first area and a bit of the second game before life and my medical crisis got in the way.
Let me dial it back a bit.
I have had Nioh envy for so long ever since the first game. It has been touted as the best (for its time) soulslike. We can debate whether it’s a soulslike or not, and I see both sides to that argument. Personally, I think they are soulslikes because of things like difficulty; combat that is heavy, deliberate, and elaborate; hard bosses; level design that is trying to be like Souls; and just the general atmosphere. On the not-soulslike side is: shit-ton of loot drop. In fact, I would say that this is one of the biggest strikes against every Team Ninja game is the ridiculous amonunt of loot that drops in the game. I’ve played several of them, and at some point, I just resign myself to not picking up anything that isn’t….I want to say purple is their highest color. Then there are so many different drops that have micro changes, such as ‘this polearm gives you +1% increase on freeze, but -2% on heat. Shit like that.
When I say they drop a ridiculous amount of loot, I mean a truly ridiculous amount. We’re talking dozens of items every three steps (or so it felt like). I honestly stopped even looking at loot some of the time because it was overwhelming. And then, annoying. And then, it made me actively angry. I’m sure they’ve heard the complaints a million times, and they are apparently never going to change that.
I have played several of Team Ninja’s games, but none to completion. I played about a third of the first Nioh; the first area (plus sub-missions) of the sequel; almost half? (or so I’m told) of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, and about an hour of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.
The reason I stopped playing each of this game was because I just could not with the bullshit any longer. I could give a longer, more eloquent answer (and I will), but it boiled down to me just being tired of the bullshit.
First of all, I have said this several times. I don’t like From games because of the difficulty. I suffer through that in order to experience the worlds that Miyazaki creates. I would love to play a game of his that has no combat, but is just exploring the world around you. Seriously. WhenI played Shadow of the Erdtree, the DLC for Elden Ring, I pretty much ignored the main story (which I often did with From games) and just wandered around the world.
Side note: Never trust Miyazaki when he estimates how long a From game will take. Or rather, when he gives a number for how long a game will take. Him or his representative. For the base game, they said it would take roughly thirty hours to get through the story. Sure, if you ignored everything else AND knew what you were doing, you MIGHT be able to get through the main story in thirty hours. In fact, when I was platting the game, I did my third run in twelve hours, and someone in the Discord I’m in did it in roughly two. But, again, both of us knew what we were doing. There’s no way I could have done that on e my first or second run.