In 2017, Nioh arrived on the video game market , an action and combat title with Dark Souls- like mechanics and a fairly demanding level of difficulty . He did it hand in hand with Team NINJA, the team responsible for the mythical Ninja Gaiden saga and the truth is that they managed to surprise and conquer the public with a worked and immersive story that used the history of the Sengoku period (period of wars in Japan) and the character William Adams with the rich Japanese folklore of the yokai or demons.
The success exceeded the expectations of the study and, consequently, March 2020 has witnessed the arrival of Nioh 2 , a prequel that promises to take everything that liked the first to a new level and to which new weapons, stories are added. , monsters and the interesting yokai way to let out the beast that we carry inside . To get closer to this project we have spoken with Yosuke Hayashi, director of Team NINJA and one of the main people in charge of Nioh 2 .
With Nioh , the response from the players was very good as they did not expect such a complete game. What has their feedback given you regarding Nioh 2 ?
With the feedback from Nioh players we wanted to improve the aspects that were the subject of comments. One of them was the number of enemies to defeat , which was a bit limited and we wanted to expand. Second, the opportunity to create an avatar, a character of your own and customize it. Finally, when you play the online mode, if you get help from a partner it is quite easy to overcome the levels and we wanted to work on that too. I think that in these three aspects we have tried to make the experience of playing this game suppose a greater degree of satisfaction for the player .
Does the avatar customization section go beyond an aesthetic addition or does it really have any influence on the dialogues or on any detail of the plot?
Unlike in Nioh where the main character was William, a Westerner arrived in Japan , in this case it is not so much that the character can move the story based on how he thinks or how his character is and more taking into account that the The idea in the previous video game was to place the player, through William, in a world that he does not know within that part of the story. For that we needed that in Nioh the character was not a Japanese but in this case it is not so much that there are some changes when endowing the character with feelings or an aspect but that it is closer to the player and that the characters located around are the that move history. If you want a male character you can have it and if you prefer a warrior then too, but it does not depend so much on the appearance of that character but on how you use it.
As for the new weapons and the yokai mode, what is going to surprise players the most?
In the case of Nioh 2 we wanted the players to have a different experience than Nioh and that is why we implemented the yokai mode so that every time the player tries to defeat the opponent it will be a strategy fight. This time we have increased the fighting time so that the player can implement an attack plan and think about what is necessary to defeat the opponent . I think that those who have enjoyed the previous video game will also be able to enjoy Nioh 2 and that we have improved that level of satisfaction that the player will have.
From a plot point of view, why did you choose a prequel?
Actually, when we developed Nioh we did not think that there would be a sequel but in the previous video game we took the last stage of the Sengoku period, of the war period, which is very interesting and we wanted to show those moments. If in Nioh it was the last part of this period, in this case we wanted to work on all the aspects and events that we could not show because they happened before Nioh . I believe that with this change, both players who have not played the previous title and those who already know Nioh , will be able to enjoy it only as an individual story , separate, and separately connected to the previous story.
Although the history of Japan continues to have a great weight in the plot, have you tried to give greater prominence to Japanese mythology and the yokai or does it still have a certain balance?
In no case do we try to create a game that the player cannot enjoy if he does not know the history of Japan. Obviously if it is familiar to you then it will feel closer but the important thing about this video game is that the player can become a samurai and defeat the enemy. It is an action game that allows you to enjoy this experience and, depending on the action at any given time, it will do so with one story or another but above all I think it will be of use and enjoyment for all the players who they like this type of action games.
When Nioh came out, many players compared it to Dark Souls . Now with Nioh 2 you have very recent Sekiro: shadow dies twice , which also happens in Japan during the Sengoku period. Do you think you have managed to give it that own essence that sets it apart?
Both titles are video games that our staff like a lot and obviously we know them, but a video game must be given a unique aspect so that it is not “like X” or “similar to Y”. That already happened with Nioh and the case you mentioned about Dark Souls but I think it is not about overcoming. We know what we can overcome and the wall that we must face is in ourselves. When creating Nioh 2 , we have taken player feedback and ratings into account to improve these aspects and make Nioh 2 a unique video game for these players.
