#i really love art of mob interacting with spirits so i wanted to add to the pile!!

[eshithepetty]

Well hello, horrors within my comprehension :)

[ID: fully colored and shaded art of Mob from Mob Psycho 100 and a spirit. The background features a close up of two buildings and a tree, cast in evening light. Mob is standing in his school uniform, a bag in one hand, the other hand placed on the head of the spirit, which is an amalgamation of parts and colors, from teeth to eyes to skulls to leaves and more. Despite this, Mob is smiling as he looks at it's closed front eyes. End ID.]

[hyperfixationtimego]

awwww poor mukuro 👊😞

//tw poisoning, paranoia

mukuro has a very bad distrust in food she doesn’t see prepared herself, so with her rbf people would just...see this menacing, buff lady staring at them from across the kitchen and immediately get scared.

sakura ends up making her food mostly, and she lets Mukuro inspect the ingredient before she adds it; Sayaka tried to help, but she’s very insecure about Mukuro “not trusting her” with food so she disengaged from the making. Kyoto had a book on warning signs of poisoning, and she lends it to Mukuro, who just about cries when she’s given it.

also 💛 I think I have him ✨✨majorly mischaracterized✨✨ but I really want a friendship between Mukuro & the short mob blond (ends in hiko maybe? fuyuhiko?? idk), and as such Peko prepares food for Mukuro. She talks herself through tasks when she’s bored, so Mukuro likes listening to her explain what she’s doing - queer eye anon

!!!!!!!

first of all I love everything about this and second of all this is. reminding me of one of the sdr2 anthology things where hebesbhsdhvd teruteru is preparing food for nagito and nekomaru while they’re in the hospital (I don’t remember why they’re there) and they see him preparing the food and he just. Looks SO fucjing angry

they’re like “oh??? he’s going to kill us????”

honestly one of my faves because a) Nagito is drawn rlly cute in most of the panels, and b) teruteru and the reason he was acting all scary and angry,,,,🥺 it’s so good I love it hdbsbsbsbsbw

LIKE I JUST??? HSBWBWBSBSB

+ hanamura’s weird I’m CRYING

ok ok ok sorry anyway back to mukuro

but yeah???? literally????

highkey it hurts teruteru’s pride as a chef to be distrusted like that, but he can mostly deal with the way she stares at him as long as she stays out of his way while he’s cooking hdvsbdbd (it’s his art!! he gets lost in it very easily, so it’s pretty simple for him to block out external stimuli, including scary soldier ladies who look like they want to wring his neck)

also I feel like she’s probably the ONLY person the other students have ever seen been able to make Kirumi visibly perspire and become nervous lmaooo like!!! Kirumi’s used to this sort of thing, and she’s willing to accommodate Mukuro’s needs bc ofc she is, but??? There’s just something???? about how intense the staring is that just. REALLY puts her off (although not enough to get her to stop doing her job 💛)

and yesssss 🥺 Sakura is a godsend highkey bc of how patient and understanding she is?? Like not even just with her girlfriends, either, but with everyone??? freaking support system friend and we love her for it

but yeah mukuro rlly appreciates it?? she knows it can seem a bit peculiar to others, but for her, the fear is incredibly real and detrimental to her wellbeing if not dealt with appropriately. She doesn’t want to skip meals, but if the people who are cooking won’t allow her to see what’s being put into the food, she won’t eat unless she makes something herself. So Sakura being patient is rlly important to her

And :( it really is pretty devastating for Sayaka, especially considering how she’s usually so proud and excited about her cooking. She hates not being able to surprise her girlfriends with romantic meals!

Ultimately, of course, she recognizes that Mukuro’s comfort and safety comes before any of that - just means she has to find other means of showing her affection ❤️

It probably takes Sakura having to sit her down and chat with her about how Mukuro’s paranoia is nothing personal and there’s nothing to take offense from; their gf just needs a little love, compassion, and understanding !

Afterwards Sayaka’s like Ah. (*sayaka protag voice* nOw I uNdErStAnD-)

and !!!!!! freakingnggffnfbdbdb id die for gift giving kyoko because vsvsbwbwvsgw and also??? Mukuro would ALSO die for her because holy shit???? that’s so sweet????

Kyoko: *shows affection and concern through sentimental action*

Mukuro, crying, unsure how to deal with people caring about her: fucking superb you funky little detective

!!!!!! Yes fuyuhiko!!!! and it’s not a mischaracterization dw dw!!!

honestly 👀👀👀

Mukuro/Fuyuhiko/Peko friendship hours oh my GOD

highkey I imagine mukuro and fuyuhiko’s first interaction involved a lot of death threats and getting angry/annoyed at one another to the point where physical violence was threatened, at which point Peko stepped in with her sword skills and knocked Mukuro on her ass (if only because ikusaba was caught off guard) and muku was like oh???? this woman could potentially kick my ass??? that’s so hot I wanna be her friend

and then they all got to know each other a bit better and now they’re all friends!!! Muku and fuyu still like to get up to some aggressive banter, but it’s (mostly) pretty baseless. Empty threats and mean-spirited jokes, but, in like, a cool platonic way dhsbsbdbsb 💛

they probably all hang out in the kitchen together while Peko cooks - it’s rlly nice!!! Peko gets to both keep an eye on both of them to make sure they’re not murdering each other, while also having company and conversation to keep things light-hearted and nice! Fuyuhiko loves it because spending time with Peko is always 👌, plus he can definitely understand where Ikusaba’s coming from in regards to her phobia because, y’know, being part of the yakuza.....that’s pretty similar to some of the shit he has to be careful of y’know?

and Mukuro !!! gets to eat nice food that a friend makes her!!!! because she knows for certain that it’s safe to eat!!! and she gets to distract herself, too, sometimes and ease the fear factor a little bit when she loses herself to conversation - even though logically she knows that she’s safe, Fuyuhiko, Peko, and Sakura help to make her feel safe as well!!

[eddycurrents]

BPRD: Being Human - “The Dead Remembered”

Story: Mike Mignola & Scott Allie | Pencils: Karl Moline | Inks: Andy Owens | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in BPRD: The Dead Remembered #1-3 | April-June 2011

Collected in BPRD: Being Human

Plot Summary:

In 1976, Professor Bruttenholm takes Liz with him to investigate a haunting in Massachusetts that may have ties to the witch trials. While there, Liz experiences her first real crush, trying to come to terms with her powers and the ghosts that haunt her, both from the past and the present.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is in reference to the chapter itself and is not indicative of anything found in the issues or collections.)

pg. 1 - Interesting cold open, on the confrontation of a “witch” by a mob threatening to do her ill. The terror in her eyes is aptly captured by Karl Moline, Andy Owens, and Dave Stewart here in the art.

It’s also interesting in that in our current understanding and hindsight, witches as envisioned by witch hunters, priests, and such during the height of the Salem Witch Trials don’t exist. These women were generally falsely accused out of politics, jealousy, spite, etc. or in the rare case where they exhibited some natural or scientific knowledge. No magic powers. No communion with the devil. So, in general, we often find stories in which these women are accused, the women are given a sympathetic outlook, because we don’t believe they’re actually “witches”.

In a world like Hellboy though, magic witches and demons do exist. The women can actually be what the people accuse them of. As such, it adds a certain level of doubt as to the veracity of the claims that otherwise wouldn’t be there. So you wonder, is she really a witch? And, if so, is she a good witch or a bad witch?

pg. 2 - And we’re into the present of the story in 1976. I absolutely love Hellboy and Bruttenholm here interacting as adults. It’s an interesting dynamic, also when it comes to Bruttenholm getting nostalgic about young Hellboy. It is funny to see a kind of inversion of HB wanting to go on a trip.

pg. 3 - It’s also great to see Hellboy acting like a big brother.

pg. 5 - One hell of a nightmare to carry around with you as baggage. Compared to the somewhat neutral palette (other than the vibrant reds), it’s interesting to see this explosion of bright colour for Liz’s memory from Stewart. It gives a very nice impact to how overwhelming it can be to Liz.

Also, there’s an idea put forward here that her “minders” are terrified of her. That’s got to do one hell of a number on a kid.

pg. 7 - Hellboy’s probably the most human and humane of any person at the Bureau. You really get the impression that he wants Liz to succeed and be “normal” (whatever that normal may be).

pg. 8 - I hate this car game. I have a few friends who do it still, and I always see it as a kind of gatekeeping and flouting of knowledge rather than the sharing of information that I know at least one of them means it as. I’m probably guilty of it in some regards as well.

The song is “Loves Me Like a Rock”, by the way. Which is kind of interesting since it involves the devil and being fooled.

Though Liz’s response of ultimately diving into reading is the perfect teenager reaction, regardless of time period.

pg. 9 - The Father’s dilapidated house is interesting. Who puts a priest out to pasture in the middle of nowhere?

pg. 11 - The incorporation again of Henry Hood is nice, as is the possible ties to the Whittier family we met earlier in The Whittier Legacy. That gives further credence that Anne perhaps actually is a witch.

I like the simple purple wash Stewart uses for the flashback.

pg. 13 - I like that the priest is building the possibility here of Anne’s innocence throughout the terrible ordeal. It sets up the idea that this could be a revenge haunting.

pg. 14 - It’s somewhat funny that the witch, or whatever it is at this point, would use fire to spook Liz. It feels like something intentional that a spirit would utilize in order to sew doubt in Bruttenholm.

pg. 15 - Which seems to have worked. You get the impression that Bruttenholm thinks that Liz caused the fire.

pg. 18 - Why is it always smudging? There are other ways to cleanse and purify an area, especially when you consider that Bruttenholm is a stodgy Brit (even if he has been living in America for at least 30 years at this point).

pg. 19 - Liz is also downright mean to Teddy here. I mean, it’s understandable given what just happened with the professor, but wrong target.

pg. 22 - Now that’s just creepy. The bullet hole in the back of her head just makes it even more terrifying.

pg. 24 - You’d think that this happening in the woods would clue the professor and the priest that it’s not necessarily the house that’s the problem, but no.

pg. 25 - It’s also kind of sad that Liz is effectively being unheard, disbelieved, and denied here. It would only further her feelings of alienation.

pg. 28 - It ultimately didn’t seem to stop Teddy, though...

pg. 30 - Teddy emphasizes that it always does seem to be the kids who know the truth. Also, that adults tend not to believe the kids.

pg. 31 - There’s something about those shell wind chimes.

pg. 33 - I think it’s kind of weird that Bruttenholm is still pursuing the ghost as if it’s in the house and not tied somewhere else. Sure, there are manifestations within the house, but his previous attempt at purification didn’t even get a little bit of cupboard rattling.

pg. 34 - Being concerned about occult methods now is a weird quirk.

pg. 36 - It would have to be scary to find out that you’re developing pyrokinetic powers. Add that to the usual problems that any adolescent goes through and this is just a recipe for a firebomb.

pg. 39 - It’s a wonder that Liz didn’t go into a permanent state of shock from this. Actually seeing the full flashover event that caused the death of her family, friends, and more is just horrifying.

pg. 40 - Also the guilt from knowing that her mother knew about her lie is clearly eating at her.

pg. 42 - Awkward...

pg. 43 - More about those wind chimes. Also, regardless of whether Anne Caldwell was guilty or not, the mob “justice” is just nasty. 

pg. 44 - The repetition of “Behold, I am against thee, saith the lord of hosts.” is interesting.

pg. 46 - I like the seeds of doubt planted as to who or what the ghost is, though Bruttenholm still seems to be looking in the wrong direction.

pg. 47 - This has got to be hard for a kid to understand. Also, Bruttenholm really isn’t great at interpersonal skills. He does at least seem to be trying.

pg. 48 - Third time’s the charm, right?

pg. 49 - It is good, though, that Bruttenholm seems to have finally clued in on what Liz really needs. Locking her up and treating her like a feral animal definitely isn’t good for her.

pg. 51 - I do like that the kids are taking the approach ultimately that the witch was the wronged party here.

pg. 52 - Or maybe she is evil.

Also, if this was what happened the first time I ever tried a cigarette, I’d never smoke. Ever. (I don’t and never have, but you get my point).

pg. 53 - The increasing severity of the storm is wonderfully depicted.

pg. 54 - Definitely evil.

pg. 55 - Just great art from Moline, Owens, and Stewart. The horror feel is intense.

pg. 58 - Liz being forced through the stages of Anne’s death in the present is very weird. It gives the impression that the witch wants her to experience something, 

pg. 60 - There’s an interesting line here about power. Giving you the impression that maybe Anne wants Liz as a vessel.

pg. 62 - That’s an impressive column of fire.

pg. 64 - Poor kid.

pg. 66 - Good on them. This is sweet.

Final Thoughts:

Liz is probably my favourite character outside of Hellboy himself. For a character who was going to die because Mike Mignola didn’t know what to do with her, she’s come very far, suffered a lot of adversity, come to terms with her own agency, and become the fire. This origin story, delving further into what happened regarding the death of her parents and also some of the formative events that clearly imprinted on who she became, paints a complicated picture out of fear, self-doubt, and building an abrasive personality in response to it.

It’s also really nice to see more art from Karl Moline. His art on the Liz-centric issue of War on Frogs was wonderful and he, with inks here from Andy Owens, was the perfect choice to come back to flesh out this period in her life. Also, his witches are creepy fantastic.

d. emerson eddy does not want to burn the witch.

[gamerszone2019-blog]

Children of Morta Review

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/children-of-morta-review/

Children of Morta Review

Children of Morta is a game about family. Mechanically, it’s a satisfying dungeon crawler where you grind through bad guys, level up your characters, and unlock better abilities so that you can face off against a series of increasingly difficult bosses. But really, at its heart, it’s a compelling game about what it means to be a part of a family, and how being surrounded by loved ones can make you a better, stronger person.

The Bergson family, six of whom you’re able to play as, is made up of warriors, mages, and inventors all tasked with holding back the Corruption–which has, at the game’s opening, started to spread across their homeland. Their house sits atop a shrine, and to battle against the evil forces of the demonic Ou they need to travel through portals and conquer dungeons, in order to awaken three spirits that can guard against the Corruption.

It’s a cliched fantasy setup, but Children of Morta makes the most of its tropes by making sure that you’re invested in the Bergsons and their plight. Between runs of the dungeons, you’re treated to cutscenes and vignettes of the family interacting with one another, and you get to know the beats of their lives and what they get up to when they’re not enduring dungeons. You start with two playable characters, family patriarch John and his eldest daughter Linda, but the other four are introduced within the game’s opening half. Seeing them train and grow in cutscenes, and getting a sense of their place within the family, means that you’re already attached to the characters before you get your hands on them.

Gameplay in Children of Morta involves battling your way through hordes of enemies to reach each dungeon’s boss, exploring thoroughly and nabbing as many temporary boosts as you can along the way. Each character has three main abilities they’ll unlock as they level up: a standard attack that can be used continuously, a special attack with a cooldown, and a more defensive ability (although some of these can still do damage). The combat isn’t necessarily super deep, but it’s a lot of fun thanks to some extremely satisfying animation and the strategic possibilities that become available as you level up. Dungeons consist of multiple levels and are generated anew each time you enter, so finding the entrance to the next level will always require some exploration. Occasionally I’d find myself frustrated when the path to the exit ended up being very elaborate, but this also kept the game feeling fresh when some dungeons took a long time to clear.

There’s an imbalance between the number of melee and ranged characters–four melee to two ranged–which is a shame, because playing the ranged characters changes the rhythm of the game significantly by encouraging a slower, more thoughtful playstyle, and only having two of them feels like a missed opportunity. I found that Linda (who uses a bow and arrow) was the character I most often managed to beat bosses with, since so many bosses are primed to punish you for getting too close, and I would have loved to have another option beyond her and Lucy, the family’s youngest daughter.

Each character plays differently, and you’ll no doubt have your favorites. Lucy can shoot a continuous wave of fireballs while standing still, and can be upgraded to withstand three hits without damage; Kevin, the youngest son, can dramatically increase his speed and strength by building up “rage” with continuous knife attacks, but he needs to get very up-close to do so before using his power of invisibility to get out of danger. Some characters are less interesting; for the life of me I can’t figure out how to make Joey, who swings a huge hammer, effective. But it’s still fun trying out a character you haven’t played for a few runs and getting into the groove with each of their distinct rhythms.

You need to switch characters regularly, too, as any member of the family who is used too many times in a row begins to suffer from corruption fatigue, which lowers their overall health until they’re given time to recover. Each member of the family can also unlock new abilities that benefit every other family member as they level up (like higher rates of critical attack or even assists in certain situations), and later abilities in their skill trees can be very useful–I initially dismissed John for being too slow but found his shield and wide swing arc extremely useful later in the game, and was ultimately glad that the game encouraged me to use every character and discover their strengths (in five cases out of six, at least).

The plot’s focus on the family, paired with the tremendous art and beautiful animation, makes it easy to love the Bergsons. Lucy is so full of energy that she’ll jump in the middle of her run animation (which doesn’t interrupt your pathfinding at all but adds personality to her sprite), while eldest son Mark’s Naruto-style run is a perfect complement to his martial arts fighting style. Charming touches like this are everywhere, and they give the characters more personality. You feel those unique traits come through in combat, too; there are few things more satisfying than seeing Kevin shimmer with rage and rip through a huge mob of enemies.

And as with any family gathering, Children of Morta will encourage and then test your patience. It’s a grind-heavy game; it was very rare for me to beat a dungeon on my first shot, as most required that I level up and learn the boss’ attack patterns, which requires storming through the dungeon to get to them a few times. You can get away with running right past most enemy mobs, but to stand a chance against the boss at the end, you want to be armed with powerful buffs, and growing stronger requires farming experience and gold to unlock new abilities and improve your stats.

However, it takes a long time for the grind to start wearing you down. The combat is meaty and intense, and the allure of growing stronger is so compelling that dealing with huge crowds and collecting all the gold they spill can hold your attention for hours. There’s a sharp increase in difficulty right at the end, but I could always identify what had gone right–which fights I’d avoided, which charms I’d made use of, how I’d thought about my character’s relative strengths and weaknesses to the boss–and adjust my strategies accordingly to continue to do well. The grind helped make me a better player, instead of simply acting as a level gate.

There are special buffs that are only active for that session, and you have a much better chance of beating the boss if you go in after thoroughly exploring the dungeon and powering up. There are many different kinds of buff you can unlock, some temporary, some permanent; I found that I did far better against bosses when I went in with a lot of them active. You can find the various items and objects that make you more powerful throughout each dungeon, or buy them from shopkeepers that pop up, and I found myself getting excited whenever I found a good combination. Going up against a boss that has beaten you several times, now armed with a combination that you think will give you an advantage, is a great feeling.

Your dungeon runs are also broken up by numerous subquests that can appear throughout each dungeon, which expand on the game’s lore, introduce new NPCs, and result in significant upgrades or rewards. A few even have major narrative impact–there are a series of quests early on that end with the Bergsons adopting and raising an adorable puppy, for instance. But if one dungeon is really giving you grief, eventually it can feel like the game’s ready for you to move on before you’re ready yourself–you’ll stop getting cutscenes and character vignettes after missions, and you’ll find that you’ve run out of subquests to complete. But then, the feeling of eventually taking down a boss that was troubling you is extremely satisfying, especially knowing that you’re going to get more lovely character moments as you try to beat the next one.

You also have the option of playing the whole game in co-op, and the game balance differs depending on whether you’re alone or not. However, I found myself preferring to stick to solo play–it’s annoying for a friend to talk over cutscenes and the difficulty scaling makes co-op more complicated.

Children of Morta’s fantastic art style and enjoyable storytelling take what would have been an otherwise fun roguelike dungeon-crawler and elevate it a great deal. Taking down enemies and eventually triumphing over bosses is enjoyable, but what kept bringing me back was the connection I felt to the Bergsons, and my sincere desire to help them push back against the Corruption. After all, it’s a lot easier dealing with dungeons full of monsters when you have a family to come home to.

Source : Gamesport

[nazih-fares]

Announced at the 2005 edition of E3 as an exclusive for the PlayStation 3, Team Ninja’s Nioh have come a long way before reaching the Bluray players of our shiny PlayStation 3. Originally created by its mother company Tecmo Koei, Nioh was supposed to be a “simple” JRPG, with very classical elements, telling William’s adventures, an Englishmen based on a real historical figure (William Adams), who had come to Japan and learned the local martial arts way to become  the first ever Western Samurai. Sadly,as if it’s tradition with 1Japanese games, things when wrong and the project was transferred to the hands of another studio called Omega Force, known for turning everything into a Muso genre (Warriors, Orochi, Samurai and Dynasty series). After a few years of development, Nioh, unable to satisfy the demands of Tecmo Koei, changed for the ultimate time development team and started from scratch with the makers of Ninja Gaiden (and Dead or Alive): Team Ninja.

It was up for this studio to completely transform Nioh, and heavily influenced by Hidetaka Miyazaki, create a similar style experience, closer to a Japanese universe and lore. Were Tecmo Koei and Sony Interactive Entertainment (for the West mainly) right to put his baby in the expert hands of this Action game studio? Or was the obsession to create another Dark Souls too much to lose its core values? Let’s see in this review.

The first thing you’ll notice by booting the game and discovering its artistic direction, is the feeling of Nioh passing through several studios before landing in the hands of Tomonobu Itagaki (Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden’s creator), with remnants of work done by Omega Force especially on all historical aspect of the game. Nioh takes place in feudal Japan invaded by demons, yet doesn’t seem to prevent the local warlords to still wage war against each othters. These generals are the same historical figures that can be found in all the best Muso games in the world, character design included (visually speaking, very close to a Warriors Orochi). So forget the bootylicious bimbos of other Team Ninja productions, but Nioh’s character design are great nevertheless without being raunchy, whether it’s the main hero, but also for the heroines, monsters and bosses.

It’s in this Japanese era that William fights against forces of evil, stalling their march on their world domination, but also to save his loved one held prisoner. If this starting pitch is much more concrete than the riddles of Dark Souls, while being supported by cinematics at the beginning and end of each chapter, Nioh’s narration is as much a conundrum as a From Software game can get. The mission briefing is often a single page to read, with no real indication of your goals, and although easy to follow, the tribulations of William in the different regions of Japan are very conventional, with this duo of demons and civil war. In any case, the overall mood of game is greatly pictured, with a true feel of Japanese folklore, whether in the interpretations of Onis (the traditional name for Japanese evil spirits) or in the settings and surroundings. The soundtrack also demonstrates talent, both in terms of music and sound effects, composed by Yugo Kanno, mostly know for his work on Rain but also a hell lot of Anime composition such as JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Psycho-Pass and more. For those of you preferring original voice acting, you’ll be glad to know that Japanese voices are in the game, on top English dubbing, and numerous other languages in terms of subtitles and localized menu.

Now let’s jump in the heart of what matters in a game like Nioh: the gameplay. While Tecmo Koei as a whole had influenced the artistic direction, we will obviously find a lot of features from Dark Souls, but embellished with a whole lot of elements unequivocally belonging to Team Ninja original work. So let’s start by mentioning what Nioh really took as an inspiration from Dark Souls, to answer directly to the questions that most of you From Software fans want to know.

The first basic mechanics that can be found in this Dark Souls-like is the way how experience works, managed via camp fires. If the player dies, it loses all of its hard-earned experience (called amrita), which will remain there at the very place of your death, and finds itself in front of the last altar you visited. Your task then is to recover your precious belonging without dying, otherwise you will disappear forever in a limbo of ragequit and the frustration of having done all this for nothing. Because yes, the other basic principle of Dark Souls is that the game is one hell of challenge for players, and while not impossible, it pushed me at some point of almost rage quitting. Hell the slightest mob can send you to an instant death, the moment they feel a glimpse of confidence, an honest error, or have fallen into a trap, but that’s another story.

The fighting mechanics against various bosses, both in terms of size and design, relate as well to Dark Souls, and here it will often be necessary to go through a series of trials and errors to find the beast’s weaknesses, whether it’s in his evasion speed, the elementary damage or use of a particular item. On this front, the sensations in combat are closer to a Bloodborne than to a Dark Souls: the dodge is much more practical than a parry, as the latter consume more of your stamina (or ki) gauge, which can be bad when an enemy is countering you. The game is nevertheless more accessible than a Dark Souls for amateurs, since it offers a real tutorial where we learn more about the many subtleties of the gameplay.

True to any Team Ninja games, the fighting mechanics feel great (if not better than Dark Souls or even Bloodborne). The most striking aspect being the postures that one can adopt with its weapon, comparable to a “stance” in a fighting game: Medium is your standard mode, high stance to strike harder but become more open to attacks, and low stance to be more focused on defense but will do less damage. Another big subtlety, that reminds me of a bunch of Naruto games is the ability to recharge your ki faster by pressing R1 precisely when you’re done doing a combo, as your body start absorbing blue orbs around the arena. All these numerous and very demanding fights are already more exhilarating with the mechanics, and Nioh even inherited a feature straight out of Ninja Gaiden which are bloody dismemberment. Finally the last added feature is the living weapons, a sort of elemental powered attack where you are immune to damage and weapons deals extra damage, on top of being able to trigger your spirit guardian’s special attack.

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Level design wise, don’t expect the Metroid-ish world of Dark Souls, but arenas divided into different stages, which are more linear, yet still offering many shortcuts to unlock near shrines. It starts from a view of the map of Japan, where you choose your mission, main or secondary one, and teleport straight to the action… A big difference from the massive linked levels of Yarnam. Nevertheless there’s a lot of exploration to do in Nioh, but the overall level design are not as complex as I would’ve liked it to be from JRPG, even if really great to look at. Plus the game is a visual marvel, whether you play it on a regular PS4 or PS4 PRO (with 4K HDR resolution), locked at a constant framerate of 60fps with no slowdown in the time of my reviewing, just rare slow loading of enemy animations from a range.

On the front of gear and loot management, Nioh also stands out very strongly from its influence, as it’s closer to a Diablo than anything else, with insane amount of drops on a constant basis. Gear plays a big part as well as heavy load can harm your attack speed and will require William to spend more Ki to attack or do any sort of action.

When it comes to multiplayer, there’s only a coop mode for the moment, with a PVP planned later on as downloadable add-on. In any case, I briefly managed to play a quick multiplayer session, where you basically join yokai realm missions with other Williams that are harder and more rewarding. The other function is called Random Encounter where you make yourself available to anyone who is calling for help at a shrine. Add to this a really long game lifespan, thanks to its multiple challenge levels and replayability based on missions, you’ll have a lot to do, especially if you’re aiming for a Platinum trophy (crazy you).

Nioh was reviewed using a PlayStation 4 digital code of the game provided by PlayStation Middle East. We don’t discuss review scores with publishers or developers prior to the review being published

  Nioh is the kind of action-JRPG that we like, and even if heavily influenced by Dark Souls, has its own charm and original mechanics. A must have! Announced at the 2005 edition of E3 as an exclusive for the PlayStation 3, Team Ninja's Nioh have come a long way before reaching the Bluray players of our shiny PlayStation 3.