Review game Nioh

Japanese mythology is incredibly rich and diverse with all its thousands of spirits, deities and demons. But what happens if you dilute it with a portion of the real history of the Country of the rising Sun, where in the war for territory and influence converge two powerful clan of the Sengoku period? Throw in a bunch of mysticism, vibrant main character, a great visual and an incredibly deep combat system, elaborate to the last detail. In the end we will play Nioh developed exclusively for Sony PlayStation 4 console, read which I would recommend, first and foremost, fans of the legendary series Dark Souls. But about all under the order.

Create a game Nioh quite a long story, full of UPS and downs. You should start with the fact that its development started already in 2004 and the plot of the game was based on an unfinished script by Akira Kurosawa the film "Demon" (Oni), to remove which after the death of the great Director had his son Hisao. But the film was never released, and the game for a number of reasons were in the so-called "production hell." Eight years, the developers worked on the project, but in the end the producers decided to rename the game from Oni in Nioh, much of it to recycle to zero and produce finally. The project would bring to mind the gone four years.

A Few words should be said about the developer Nioh. We are talking about the Studio Team Ninja, which is famous for series like Dead of Alive and Ninja Gaiden. There is in the record Studio and quite unexpected projects like Metroid: Other M, developed by the request of Nintendo, as well as Dissidia Final Fantasy, which turns the legendary JRPG series in a spectacular fighting game. In 2008 from-for financial disagreements with publisher Tecmo post the Studio head left the legendary game designer Tomonobu Itagaki. Many doubt that Team Ninja will be able to rehabilitate and recover after such a shock, but as they say, no one is indispensable, so the development process continued according to plan. And let to develop Nioh has been spent insane amounts of time, nerves and money, but in the end the developers managed to create something truly amazing.

Brave English Navigator William Adams was familiar to me even in the TV series "Shogun" (1980), which I watched in my early childhood. Imagine my surprise when I learned that he is the main character Nioh, right here, for some reason he is painfully reminiscent of Geralt from the Polish video game series "the Witcher". The game, as in the teleplay, set in the year 1600. The plot revolves around the confrontation of Adams with the British occultist Edward Kelly (the character also existed in reality). After another they go on a sea journey in an attempt to find magic stones "Amrita" (the name borrowed from Hindu mythology) that can give the advantage to the British crown in the war against Spain. As a result, the ship Adams wrecked off the coast of feudal Japan, and it is here that the real fun begins.

Nioh, despite the fact that draws inspiration from reality and allows us to remember a huge number of famous historical figures of the early seventeenth century, captures the imagination of the players first of all thanks to the skillful inclusion in the plot elements of Japanese mythology. Evil demons plaguing the land of the rising Sun, the game was referred to as "youkai". I already told you about this term in the overview of the game , only there it was about harmless ghosts are the bullies, not about the dark monsters that destroy everything around him. It turns out that the two powerful the Tokugawa and Ishida are fighting not only among themselves but also with the hordes of the undead, leaving behind parched land and empty villages.

William Adams met with representatives of one of the clans and want to help them in the difficult time for Japan. He feels that Edward Kelly somewhere weaves its insidious web. It is possible that it was he put his hand to the horrors that descended on heads of local residents. In the fight against evil William help not only people, but also friendly mythical creatures. And then you will come across little shrines, inhabited by tiny forest spirits Kodama. In this place of peace and harmony you will be able to restore their vitality, to raise the level of the character, to make offerings to the spirits or to receive gifts from the bonus DLC for the game, receive a blessing and to improve some of their characteristics, as well as much, much more. If during the game you suddenly stumble on lost Codes – indicate him the way to the nearest Shrine, and in gratitude, the spirits will reward you.

The Main character, like many other characters in the game, inextricably linked with the spirits-keepers. This is a supernatural being, usually personifying a certain animal, protects its owner and helps him in battle. At the beginning of the game you can choose one of three elemental spirits: fire dog Kato (increases attack power), water shark, Isonade (allows you to better feel the approaching enemies) or air bird Daiba-washi (improves evasion from enemy attacks). Later, as you progress through Nioh, you'll get a new guardian spirits, to switch between which you can in sanctuaries. In that case, if your character dies in battle, the spirit resurrects you at the nearest altar, while he himself remained to watch over your slain body, as well as the accumulated experience, remaining to lie on the field of battle. As in the series of Dark Souls, you have to get to the scene of his death and to regain lost experience. In case, if on the way to the site of the former death-kill you again – the experience is lost forever, and the spirit returns to you automatically. Also guardian spirits are able to move into your gun, at the time making it lively and giving the elemental energy. This can be done only if fully filled in a special circular scale in the upper left corner of the screen.

During the game, periodically you will come across the graves of dead warriors. It can be both NPC and real players who died in that particular place. Personally, I liked that you can hear the last thoughts of dead warriors that allows to feel the atmosphere of the game even better. At any time you can summon the spirits of the fallen warriors and fight them for valuable loot and more experience, just keep in mind that if the level of the enemy will be much higher than you, the fight will be extremely intense and can end not in your favor. So sometimes it's better not to risk it and just walk past the grave. Otherwise, you will see on the screen sad words "left this world" and will start the game with the nearest sanctuary bereft of experience. Speaking of that, experience in this game are the ones Amrita, which is the equivalent of a shower of Dark Souls. I often compare these games, because the developers Nioh didn't even hide the fact that he was inspired by works Hidetaka Miyazaki of From Software. However, the Creator of Dark Souls was in no way against such borrowing. I think he even flattered by such an attitude to his work.

Management in Nioh is quite simple. Zafiksirovany on the enemy by pressing the R3 stick, you can inflict a weak or strong attack with their weapons (the button "square" and "triangle" respectively). Do not forget to actively use the block L1, and evasive action – button "X". Button "circle" allows you to remove the weapon. The R1 trigger, you can at any time change the fighting stance, and here begins the distinction of the combat system from what we are accustomed to in Dark Souls. The main character has three stands: the upper, reinforcing the power of his attack is average, allowing the most effective protection against damage and lower – to make William Adams maximally active and resourceful. Learn to combine three posts in combat, you will easily be able to defeat any opponent. And do not believe those who say that Nioh is much more difficult than playing Hidetaka Miyazaki. This is not so. Just before us a few other mechanics, which is just something you must get used to.

An Important element of the combat system is the so-called "Ki energy" that represents the analogue of stamina. With every blow inflicted on you by the scale of the Key is reduced, but if the time to press the R1 trigger at the moment of appearance around the character of the blue flash, the scale will be filled almost instantly, allowing you essentially to cut opponents without a break for recuperation. Something like we saw in Gears of War where you can speed up the process of reloading weapons, in time pressing the appropriate button. This technique is called "Ki surge" and you will have to master first. Without the Key in the game to survive will be Oh so easy. Especially given that many youkai generate a magical field inside which your stamina is melting before our eyes, and the strength of your enemies increases markedly. Ripple is not only able to regenerate your stamina, but also to dissipate this very dark energy, allowing you to fight as efficiently as possible. Ki is not only you, but also the opponents. Scale their stamina appears directly above them, so you will always see how exhausted the enemy in time to attack him and disable.

The main character has eight quick slot where you can stick a particularly useful battle items such as flasks of medicine. To use these items you can arrow D-Pad. Always remember that enemies slain in Nioh respawn after you've visited the sanctuary and restored vitality. To avoid this, heal by using items or relax in the hot springs – it will not entail such unpleasant consequences, besides you briefly activates the process of regeneration of health even on the battlefield. Along with the nectar, for which you get a new level...