Not many people remember the ordeal suffered by that video game called Oni in the beginning and Ni-oh shortly after. It was the year 2004, where it was presented for the first time. And since then he has been stumbling through different studios and changing his style in the process, from role in the more traditional vein to a musou , to settle definitively as one of the great alternatives to From Software’s Dark Souls, with samurai and demons. Yes, the first Nioh took a whopping 13 years to reach the market , emerging very gracefully from such a tumultuous development.
With its prequel Nioh 2, Team Ninja definitely established its ideas, exploiting the spirit of the Yokai, providing an experience with more soul. And today comes the complete collection for PS5, with both games, all their expansions and several performance improvements. But is it enough if you still have the ones from PS4?
Two works of Team Ninja that you have to play
Unless you feel like replaying them and earning, incidentally, two additional Platinum trophies, it will not compensate you if you squeezed them back in the day. Otherwise, you have one of the best Souls-style sagas on the market . As if it were a diabolical mix between Tomonobu Itagaki’s 3D Ninja Gaiden and the From Software saga. Frantic and demanding like few others, but with his own identity.
And it is that as we commented in the analysis of the first in 2017, there are also many differences in turn with respect to the Souls . For starters, it does not have a connected open world, but from the main map we travel directly to regions of different sizes, each with its own objective. Yes, each “phase” has a mission to fulfill, which will always be to defeat a boss.
Team Ninja offered with Nioh several interesting features , such as the issue of positions with the weapon drawn (high, medium and low), which translated into greater offensive power or speed when attacking, being more or less exposed to the front. to the enemy. To this had to be added the Ki pulse, with which to regain resistance after an attack or to purify the remains left by the Yokai, demons based on legends of feudal Japan. If we do not master all that, we are completely sold out, since the enemy kills us with two or three blows. And here it happens as in the Souls, that we lose the “souls” and the enemies reappear, having to touch our corpse to recover them.
Of course, this Japanese study took note of other characteristic features of the iconic Hidetaka Miyazaki saga, such as the absence of a map as such, the fact of unlocking shortcuts or an extremely slow way to progress in the parameters of our character, so that the The simple idea of farming does not make a difference and the tenacity and skill of the player prevails to face the challenges, penalizing if they hit the buttons without rhyme or reason. In short, a technical and tough game like few others, but highly rewarding if we master them .
Nioh 2, meanwhile, improved the whole set, hitting the spot with the addition of soul cores , with which to obtain unique abilities of the Yokai, a bit in the style of Konami’s revolutionary Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. It also dramatically increased the number of demons, causing a greater variety of situations, creating a much more enjoyable adventure.
This prequel was expanded with the expansions The Disciple of the Tengu, Penumbra in the Capital and The First Samurai, going back further if possible in time and with extremely tough challenges, in some cases, while in the first Nioh they were The Dragon of the North, Honor revolted and The end of the massacre , the latter being especially good. And the best part is that all these DLC are here.
What the Nioh Collection brings with the power of PS5
On a personal level, I was much more eager to replay the first Nioh on PS5 as it was launched in 2017 , since I have more recent Nioh 2 having recently released its latest expansion. Also because William’s first adventure aged a little badly compared to its prequel, which made better use of the PS4’s capabilities. The good thing is that this no longer happens with the new PlayStation 5.
Both deliveries can reach 120 fps (if we have a 120 Hz compatible TV, of course) with dynamic 4K resolution, or the traditional 60 fps at native 4K, showing spectacular in both cases. Now, we are facing remastering of the 2017 and 2019 games , no remakes . What does this mean? That there is no substantial improvement in terms of textures, which makes the first look worse than its prequel, for example. And logically, they lose the comparison against the remake of Demon’s Souls, which is next-gen .
Everything runs smoother and looks more defined when compared to the PS4 originals, of course. And we will also notice improvement in terms of screen loads, taking advantage of the powerful PS5 SSD . There the differences are noticeable: loading a phase in the first Nioh on a PS4 Pro takes us on average almost 20 seconds, while with its version for PS5 it only takes only 2 seconds, while in the prequel the difference is of 10 seconds versus 2.
And what about using the DualSense? It does not enjoy the same impact or make the most of all its functions as in the aforementioned exclusive PS5 remake of the 2009 PS3 classic, but there is improvement in vibration and especially resistance when using ranged weapons, such as the bow. , where we will feel the tension and we will have to press the trigger with more force. It’s not so surprising anymore, but it’s cool.
Are these details enough if we squeeze out the PS4 originals? That will depend on each one, logically, but a priori, no. Unless we did not have the DLC, which there is worth making the jump to this version, by combining all the content in the same batch. I, at least, did want to replay the first one because of the above a few paragraphs: it came out more years ago and its performance is lower than the prequel even though we play it from a PS4 Pro. And be that as it may, both are highly recommended, especially if this genre is so Japanese.
Ultimately, Nioh Collection is the definitive collection of Team Ninja works . Although it does not receive the remake treatment, the simple idea of having both games and all their expansions, apart from some more than noticeable improvements in performance, make it a most attractive combo. Focused, yes, more to those people who have not tried them yet than to those who already had them on PS4 or PC.
Nioh Collection
| Platforms | PS5 |
|---|---|
| Multiplayer | Yes, online |
| Developer | Team ninja |
| Company | Koei Tecmo |
| Launch | February 5, 2021 |
| Price | 69.90 euros |
The best
- Nioh and its prequel with all its expansions
- The noticeable improvement in the performance of the first
- The chop for soul cores in Nioh 2
- How it has ostensibly reduced burdens
Worst
- Graphically, it could give more of itself on PS5
- It does not add any extra compared to the originals