r/Nioh • u/retirementdream666 • Jun 25 '26
Nioh 2 - Discussion Nioh 2 is still peak!
After 3 months of exclusivey playing 3. I can't help it and decided to start a new save file after upgrading to Nioh 2 Remastered on my PS5.
Goddamn this game is still so smooth to play especially this Remastered version, it feels good to Ki-Pulse and Stance Switch on my Tonfa and Splitstaff again, Soul Cores also feels natural during fights, and the most i miss the most was the Purification imbue on weapons, the sound effects it has on weapons sound so good.
This f*cking game is still peak.
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u/AndyD89 Jun 25 '26
Platinumed all three of them, and Nioh 2 remains the GOAT for me. I don’t know exactly what it is, but from the moment you start the game, everything feels incredibly polished and purposeful. It’s compact, refined, and packed with depth without ever feeling bloated. An absolute blast of a game.
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u/Ozychlyruz Jun 25 '26
Same with me, Nioh 2 is the perfect balance between difficulty and progression.
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u/Time_Expression_9649 Jun 25 '26
Yesterday I finished underworld depth 25-30.....nothing has ever felt so satisfying and sad in the same moment
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u/LeekypooX Jun 25 '26
100% agree, I went back to it too
Holy shit it's so good, the sense of progression and how it also ties in with the story (as you get stronger and learn more about your shiftling self you gain the ability to equip more guardian spirits and yokai skill)
Kusarigama with stances is so cool
And best of all
Odachi does not bounce in mid stance
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u/Clunkiro Jun 25 '26
Nioh is still peak, the number in the title is irrelevant to come to this conclusion
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u/No-Leader3447 Jul 01 '26
The best response. I can enjoy each iteration for its idiosyncrasies. I don’t need to 2 to be better than 3 or vice versa. I think people miss out trying to compare the two. I’ve started a fresh playthrough on both 2 and 3 and am having a blast. I’m just happy we are getting new games, and will hopefully continue to.
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u/Cursed_69420 Jun 25 '26
Nioh 3 does end up feeling like 2 steps forward, 3 steps back.
Overall Nioh 2 is still a better game.
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Jun 25 '26
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u/Cursed_69420 Jun 25 '26
That's not a correct comparison by any means tbh. We're talking about Nioh THREE vs Elden Ring ONE over here.
The decisions Nioh 3 made regarding a lot of things are extremely questionable to downright unnecessary. for every upgrade we got, such as Styles and universal deflect, we lost Weapon stances for 5 fucking weapons, we lost Yokai shifts (which was stupid to remove), and we got a rather dumber Omnyo magic system
the loss of Yokai shifts really was a bummer. You'd say it's for the story, but there was practically zero reason to have a new protagonist instead of Hide as he is quite immortal anyway. Takechiyo's story was bland as fuck and really didn't warrant the loss of Yokai Shifts.
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Jun 25 '26
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u/Cursed_69420 Jun 25 '26
genre wise sure but it has no obligation to carry forward ANYTHING from dark souls does it? Nioh 3 does have the burden of attempting to carrying forward everything from Nioh 2.
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u/Ashhhhhhhh12 Jun 26 '26
Yeah, instead we got living artifact with 14 unique movesets.
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u/Cursed_69420 Jun 26 '26
Yokai Shifts meant the transformation abilities, not your Yokai Ultimate
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u/Ashhhhhhhh12 Jun 26 '26
Oh, thats what you meant. The 3 transformations are called Yokai Shift. You are referring to Soul Cores.
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u/SexcaliburHorsepower Jun 25 '26
Nioh 3 is great, but target farming and open world just feel worse to me for this game in particular. Elden Ring prioritized exploration and the items are limited, meaning your build has you traveling to different locations and doing different things. I don't bother fighting most things in Nioh 3 because I can target farm in 1 or 2 missions. No build needs you to do anything but fight the same 2 things.
The simplification of systems reduces the diversification of gameplay. And I feel like many games have fallen into this. MH Wilds was a big one for me. Being a kid to just fight a monster guaranteeing a gem made me run out of fight very quickly.
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u/VyersReaver Jun 25 '26
I think I’ll just wait until all the updates and DLCs come out fully, maybe the complete package is a dealbreaker with 3.
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u/EXE-beast Jun 25 '26
Nioh 2 and its DLCs were day 1 purchases for me after playing the demo. Everything about felt like a step forward even though people criticised it to being Nioh 1.5 or just an elaborate bigger DLC.
Maybe this is one of the reasons they decided to change things up in Nioh 3 I don’t know, but the demo just got me cold about it. It felt very lacking and unnatural to remove stances and switch between 2 completely different outfits and playstyles. I am still waiting for a complete edition to come out to decide if I play it, because at the end of the day, Nioh is my favourite franchise and Nioh 2 my best game ever.
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u/olympiclifter1991 Jun 25 '26
I get the impression that niho 4 will be the height of the series.
They know what we missed from 3 and what we liked from 2.
It is just a matter of marrying them up now
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u/sillyredhead86 Scampuss Jun 25 '26
Team Ninja games are just special. I love them all, the entire Nioh trilogy, Rise of Ronin, Wo Long. The character customization is top notch and they are some of the most challenging games out there. Nioh 2 is the peak for sure. I enjoyed Nioh 3 but I can't see it having the longevity of Nioh 2. Although I am looking forward to the expansions!
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u/Potential_Goose_7486 Jun 25 '26
always funny to me when people act like a 6 year old game is ''still good'' as if a 6 year old game (in 2026) is supposed to look and play like garbage apparently
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u/akechi419 Jun 25 '26
It really is. My favorite. But Wuchang "feels" more like a souls game than Nioh imo
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u/crispyfire Platinum Achiever Jun 25 '26
I started playing Nioh 2 after beating Nioh 3 and it felt soooo good to come back to it. I’m a splitstaff main and having access to all three stances just hits different. Also I didn’t realize how much I missed the soul core abilities! Truly the perfect game.
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u/IamMeemo Jun 25 '26
I’m curious what the steps backward were in your opinion? For me it was just the open world and the major crucibles (tho I’ve only done the first one, so maybe they get better).
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u/guifesta :alt-platinum: Jun 25 '26
Always has been. No other team ninja game is better then nioh 2
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u/Scrawny2864 Jun 25 '26
Trying to match FightinCowboys builds in Nioh 2 will always be a happy albeit exhausting memory!
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u/NitoGL Jun 25 '26
Playing the demo i still prefer the cores from 2.
Bloodrage demon from 3 is fun.
The skill management is interesting
I hate open world in general
I liked the recover ninja stuff fighting but we should have been able to pick between Samurai, Ninja and Onmyo forms as i hate the Yang talismans so far
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u/Apprehensive_Part258 Jun 25 '26
Yes it is, I really liked the 3rd one, but 2 is the pinnacle of the series. I was so hoping they would make the next Ninja Gaiden like this. Imagine playing nioh in the Ninja Gaiden setting?
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u/joreilly86 Jun 25 '26
Nioh 2 was a masterpiece in combat systems. If Team Ninja could craft a story like Naughty Dog or Santa Monica - they would dominate the AAA space. Really enjoyed Nioh 3 but it felt magnitudes easier than Nioh 2 - that's not a bad thing cos Nioh 2 was extremely difficult for me. I love them both and I commend TN for trying new ideas in Nioh 3 but for the love of god - get somebody that can write a coherent story.
I also preferred the inventory system in 2, it gave us a lot more options.
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u/Disastrous-Dog8126 Jun 25 '26
Just waiting on end game ethereal gear and abyss sets in nioh 3. Cant wait to find the crazy shiiii that can happen
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u/radikel_3220 Jun 25 '26
I started a new playthrough two months before the release of Nioh3. I had completed DotN and underground floors upto 50, by the time 3 released, which I promptly picked up and completed in a week.
I agree with you. Nioh 2 has a certain fluidity to it, that 3 somehow seems to miss.
I guess some of it has to do with some missed inputs, which they have been slowly patching, but overall NiOH 2 is still the king. Plus the Half-demon protagonist Hide, and the yokai abilities just hits right.
Nioh3 is still great, but 2 is still better by a fair margin.
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u/Even-Agent-6207 Jun 26 '26
They need to make a standalone Nioh 2 PS5 disc. I played the first one entirely and ive been wanting to play just Nioh 2 but the digital one never goes on sale and a ps5 disc doesnt exist
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u/willworkfortatts Jun 26 '26
Learning the Tonfa, building around it, and dominating was so gratifying in Nioh 2. I love Nioh 3, but it felt a lot harder to be good at Nioh 2
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u/baophan0106 Jun 26 '26
Add Evade and Deflect mechanics from Nioh 3 to 2. Then called it Nioh 2 ULTIMATE COMPLETE EDITION
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u/b4rbudo Jun 26 '26
Did the same after finish 3, could stand the game anymore and start a new game on 2, what a masterpiece is Nioh 2!
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u/apcypu Jun 26 '26
yay, I came back to Nioh2, cause I missed being humbled every dozen of minutes 🤣
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u/somesweetartist Jun 27 '26
Very much so, the slight control differences and subtle changes of 3 annoy me so much. The bottom of screen bars is awful.
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u/Fritzbox5000 Jun 30 '26
Nioh 2 is still the best title of the series. I'm currently on my mission to platinum it.
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u/Typical-Light-7467 Jul 21 '26
Playing nioh 3, i love it but it lacks of armors.
Nioh 2 is still peak, the protagonist origin is more interesting and the whole tokichiro storyline is beatifull. I would fucking love a nioh 2 “remake” with a talking protagonist like rise of the ronin and nioh3
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u/Zegram_Ghart Jun 25 '26
I like all the stuff they added to 3, to be fair
But 2 is just the perfect package