Nioh 2 stars Hideyoshi, a half-human, half-Yokai hybrid that’s hell-bent on destroying anyone who challenges them. The hero possesses incredible strength and speed and uses it to great effect in the fast and furious combat of the series. The Dark Realm of the Yokai is the main setting of the game, and it’s once again filled with monsters and enemies to take down. Taking them down involves transforming through different “beast” forms, each with their own strengths and weaknesses to make use of in combat. Taking down different enemies will require tactical use of these forms is a big part of combat. But to add depth, Team Ninja is also fleshing out various weapons that the player will make use of.
Nioh 2 has a much harsher combat system in multiple ways, offering a lot more challenge for the sequel. The inclusion of more challenging enemies means that more people playing will be able to respond to the problems before them easier. This means that the development team has to balance these new additions very carefully. There’s also an asynchronous multiplayer system that allows players’ characters to be turned into NPCs that will feature in the games of other players. This is a direct copy from the Pawn system of Dragon’s Dogma, and it will be very interesting to see how the developer makes use of the idea. It’s this new combat system that developer Team Ninja has to refine, and thus they want to test extensively. For that reason, the company has announced a beta will kick off this week.
As to what is included in said beta, it’s actually a few different things. The open beta for Nioh 2 will grant players access to a new weapon, the Switchglaive. In terms of setting, the player will begin their journey in a safe zone called the Interim, but from there things get pretty unsafe. Full combat abilities will be in the beta, allowing the basics to get tested fairly well. The character customization features will also be there, feel free to make a trash goblin.
Team Ninja has announced that Nioh 2 will release March 13, 2020. And the teased PlayStation 4 beta will come soon. The beta is set for November 1 to November 10, and can be downloaded from PSN store starting the day of.
