Koei Tecmo's fondness for Japan's tumultuous Sengoku period is on full display in Nioh.

And despite all the inevitable dying, Nioh is surprisingly rich with solutions to overcome its many hurdles. This Team Ninja production, set during a time of great social upheaval in Japan, demonstrates the studio's penchant for demanding action-driven gameplay that rewards tactics and high dexterity. With each death, you learn a bit more about yourself and your enemy. Through its Dark Souls-inspired combat, you're taught the virtues of patience and the value of defense. Our original Nioh review, first published in 2017, continues below. It’s still brutal, but it’s now a bit more beautiful. The demanding, precise combat feels faster and more polished. In a Soulslike, where tracking every moment of every movement is an absolute necessity, it makes a world of difference. In both 4K and PS5 mode, Nioh runs at a stable 60 frames per second, faster and smoother than the original. More importantly, the frame rate has improved dramatically.

The environments are dramatically sharper, making it easier to notice the cracks in craggy rocks and the way torchlight glows in the dark and brightens the area around it. Though Nioh is still starting to show its age compared to its sequel and games designed for modern hardware, like the Demon’s Souls remake, Nioh looks noticeably more detailed on PS5. Death, it turns out, is less painful on PS5.īy clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's That said, the team at Digital Foundry found that it runs at a lower resolution in “PS5 mode.” Like many enhanced games on PS5 and Series X, Nioh’s once-excruciating load times have been cut to less than a second in this version. The 4K and “PS5 Standard” seem visually indistinguishable to my eye. There’s also a “PS5 Standard” mode that optimizes the game specifically for the new console. Nioh Remastered, can run at either 4K (at 60 frames per second) or up to 120 frames per second (at 1080p). Continue after the break to read our original review of Nioh.Īfter four years, Nioh takes a couple of big leaps forward on next-gen hardware. After playing the first few hours, Mike Epstein has some impressions on how the changes impact the PS5 version of the game. The new version is available as a free download on PS5 for players who already own Nioh on PS4, and as part of The Nioh Collection, a next-gen re-release. Editor's note: Sony recently released Nioh Remastered, a technically upgraded PS5 version of Nioh for PS5 and PC.

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