Spirit sharks and Shiba Inu puppies aside, Team Ninja’s Nioh continues to give off strong Dark Souls vibes, right down to the more polite “Ready To Die?” tagline in the trailer. We’ll see if that vibe holds when the week-long PlayStation 4 alpha demo kicks off later this month.
Nioh (or sometimes Ni-oh) has been in development since 2005, so it’s more likely a more measured Ninja Gaiden than a wilder Dark Souls. Still, it certainly feels as if Koei Tecmo is riding Bandai Namco’s success on this one. It’s only fair after Namco Bandai swapped its name around months after Tecmo Koei did back in 2014. Copycats, the lot of them.
From the YouTube description for the demo trailer:
Set in a time of civil war in Japan, Nioh not only incorporates classic elements such as samurai and supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore, but also offers the exhilaration of an authentic samurai sword fight straight from Team NINJA, the team that defined brutal action games.
They defined this shit. You’re welcome.
The Nioh alpha demo for PlayStation 4 starts on April 26 and runs through May 5. Players who complete the demo will secure exclusive downloadable content at launch, which sounds a bit like what Square Enix is doing with the Final Fantasy XV Platinum Demo currently. See?
The difference here is that once May 5 rolls around the demo is gone. Kaput. Cannot even be re-downloaded. I think they stole that move from Konami.
Hopefully the demo will make Nioh a game that’s definied more by what it is that what it looks like.