Let’s talk about the Nioh 3 (Team NINJA) demo. I installed it and gave it a try. I didn’t actually spend that much time in the custom creator because it wasn’t as vast as the ones in the past. And, to be honest, I went into it thinking that I would never buy it, so why bother? I chose Body B with long hair and a big chest, and that was good enough for me. But before I get into it, here was the post I wrote yesterday about the Niohs and my complicated feelings about them.
The tutorial was much like the other games. Choose a weapon and practice with it. Then, go through a light tutorial that covers about one-hundredth of what you’ll need to know by the end of the game. I chose my old favorite, the odachi, and kept it moving.
Still in the tutorial area, I came across a scene in which I met Hattori Hanzo–by the way, why the fuck is he so insanely hot in this game? Anyway, he tells you of another way–the way of the ninja. So now I had to choose a second weapon that was more tricksy than strength. I tried them out and finally chose the double hatchets. They’re new to this game (I think?), and I’m an axe person since I first started as a pyromancer in the original Dark Souls.
There was ninja stuff in the other games, but this is the first time they had it in a completely separate style (if I’m not mistaken). You have to hit RT while you’re in combat to switch to that style.
In the samurai style (first style), they still have the ki pulse which I just cannot get the hang of. After you attack (light hit X, heavy hit Y), you press RB to get a huge chunk of your ki (stamina) back. This has been in all of their Niohs, and I still cannot do it consistently.
Another important part of combat is the burst that the enemiy/boss does. It’s a big burst of red and very visible. Except, I just don’t have the ability to react to it in time. Well, what I seemed to have forgotten about in this demo is that you have to do RT and then B in order to counter it. After doing it properly the first time (and getting the counter), I promptly forgot that you had to hit B with the RT. Which, as you can probably guess, makes a ton of difference.
I did not realize this until I was talking to Ian (he’s playing Nioh 2 right now), and he mentioned it was RT+B, and I was like, “Wait, what? B? Huh?” Well, that would make a huge difference. Since this was after I finished playing the game for the day, I don’t know if it’ll make a big difference or not. Meaning, if I can get the timing or not. I did hit the first one with ease, and it seemed like it had a more generous timing. Will I play more of the demo to find out if it’s true?
I’ll get to that in a bit.
The tutorial area was fairly short, and I was to the tutorial boss before I knew it. And he beat my ass over and over again. Since I could not get the burst counter (because I had forgotten the proper way to do it), I simply dodged around it. Not efficient or great (since you really want to be able to do it to finish off the boss), but you know, if I didn’t get hit, I considered it a positive.
By the way, there’s something I hate in all these kind of games. How an attack you do on the boss does such tiny damage, whereas when they do the same attack on you–it takes half your health or more. I absolutely hate when a boss can one-shot you. Granted, sometimes, it’s my fault because I tend to run with very little health/vigor. In Elden Ring, I had 18 Vigor for the first 100 hours of my first playthrough. So, yes, it was my fault bosses were one-shotting me. BUT STILL. They should adjust for that. Am I just being grumpy now? Yes.
Back to the tutorial.
I know this boss was supposed to be fairly easy. I know I was supposed to get him in a few tries. I know how these games work. I also remember dying to a very early boss in the second game a hundred times. That game helpfully counted each time you died to a boss. So very (not) helpful and so (un)wanted.
Another thing that has become a staple in action games that I hate: bosses having four-to-six move combos. I was counting as I was getting hit. One hit. Then two. Then three, four, five, and six. Some simply don’t have any stamina, and, yes, I blame that on FromSoft as well. They like to push things, and then everyone else thinks they need to keep up.
This really went out of control in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC (Elden Ring). Look. I love the DLC. The level design is beyond compare. Miyazaki was at his best in that area for this DLC. I don’t tthink any From fan would argue with that.
The problem is that, as they always do, they dramatically upped the difficulty combat-wise. they gave bosses combos for days, no stamina, and no breaks. Hyperpoise, too, and in one parcticular case (IYKYK), a ridiculous light show that made it impossible to see the arena. I hate it when FromSoft buys its own hype is what i’m saying.
I could see those influences in the boss fight of this game. The infinite combos, the hyperpoise, and no end to the stamina. Well, actually the last isn’t true. There was an end to the stamina, thankfully. Just not enough.
This is where I’m pretty sure that it’s my fault more than it’s the fault of the game, but the faults in the game don’t help. And I’m already tired just from playing the intro. When I got to the boss, i heaved a big sigh, girded my loins, and told myself to just try. I was not in the least excited. i did not think, “Oh, yeah! I so want to do this.” Instead, I thought, “Oh, fuck. Well, ok. Might as well see what this is about, I guess.”
Again, I want to remind you that I forgot how to do the counter tot he burst, but I’m not sure that would actually help me all that much. I mean, it would help, yes, but I suck so much at these games. Like so much.
As much as I want to like the Niohs (and it’s a lot), I just…don’t. I felt so defeated as this boss pushed my shit in time and time again.
Did I eventually beat the boss? Yes. Did I feel joy when I did it? No. Just relief and exhaustion. Remember, this was the tutorial boss. This guy was supposed to be easy. Oh, and the way I finally beat him? I completely gave up on using the samurai style. I only used the ninja style, and it worked only beacuse I found a pair of uchis (I think) that allowed me to flip after attacking. That was how I avoided most of the attacks, including the burst attacks.
Do I think I’ll play more? I don’t know. I am curious to see what happens if I actually do the counter correctly, but enough to put myself through the misery again? I’m not so sure about that.