Nioh

"During two years' voyage, the Geloof (Faith) was lost, the Trouw (Loyalty) sank, while the Hoope (Hope) vanished without a trace. The good news of the Blijde Boodschap (Gospel) was nothing but lies... Only Liefde (Love) remained. An ironic twist, for what awaited us in the Far East wasn't love. It was monsters and death.."

—William Adams

Nioh (Japanese: 仁王, "benevolent king") is an Action RPG/Hack and Slash game developed by Team Ninja for the PlayStation 4. It was released worldwide in February 2017, and was published by Koei Tecmo in Japan and Sony Interactive Entertainment internationally. Gameplay revolves around navigating levels and defeating monsters that have infested an area. Nioh takes place in the very early 1600s during a fictionalized version of the Sengoku period, when Japan was in the midst of civil war prior to the ascension of the Tokugawa shogunate. A sailor named William, in pursuit of an enemy, arrives in Japan and is enlisted by Hattori Masanari, servant to Tokugawa Ieyasu, in defeating Yokai that are flourishing in the chaos of war.

Nioh‍'‍s gameplay is very much derived from Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, copying mechanics such as dropping unspent experience points on death that can be recovered by reaching the point of death without dying again, save points that both instantly totally restore the player but also resurrect nearly all defeated monsters, summon based co-op system, leveling system, uses per rest based magic, and more. Where Nioh differs from the Souls series is that where Dark Souls takes place in a single conjoined world, Nioh‍'‍s levels are a linear series of standalone levels selected (and replayable) from a world map menu. While this is in many ways a downgrade, it makes the best of this system for optional sidequest levels, which can have unique maps or clever rearrangements of parts of maps from the main story. More important, and more in Nioh‍'‍s favor, is that where the combat of Souls is deliberately slow with very unsafe attacks, Nioh‍'‍s combat is significantly faster, and more fluid. Not simply an animation and frame data detail, enemies in Nioh have a Ki (stamina) bar like the player does, encouraging measured but constant attacks, rather than the Souls standard of waiting to exploit an enemy's unsafe attacks and retreating till it's safe to do so again.

Beginning development in 2004 as a multimedia project based on an unfinished Akira Kurosawa script, it went through multiple revisions over the following eight years as general producer Kou Shibusawa was dissatisfied with the result. Team Ninja was given the project, and the subsequent development lasted four years. The story was based on the life of historic Western samurai William Adams, although it was embellished with supernatural elements. First announced in the year it began development, information became sporadic until 2015, when it was reintroduced as a PlayStation 4 exclusive. Alpha and beta demos were released during 2016, to both gauge public reaction to the title and make adjustments based on feedback. Initially scheduled for a 2016 release, the adjustments pushed the release into the following year. Upon release, Nioh received critical acclaim, with most critics comparing it fondly to the Souls series of games. On November 7, 2017, Nioh was released on Steam and during the 2018's Sony conference, the sequel was announced.　Koei Tecmo's official upload of the trailer. Taking place during the rise of Oda Nobunaga, before the events of the first game, it released for PS4 on March 12th 2020. A PC release, including all DLC content, was released February 5th 2021.

Tropes used in Nioh include:

Almost Kiss: Interrupted due to the stench of having just come out of the Sewer Level. Note that the real William Adams was married with kids as this point in history.
All Webbed Up: The inner part of Joro-gumo's lair has webbing all over the place, it shows up more as you go on, even her victims are all wrapped up in silk cocoons.
And Now for Something Completely Different: The prologue is noticeably different from the rest of the game, given how it starts off at the Tower of London in England rather than in Japan.
And the Adventure Continues...: 2 ends with the protagonist and Mumyo decide to continue traveling to find and kill any remaining hostile yokai.
Battle in the Center of the Mind: The final boss of 2 takes place during an attempt by the main antagonist to possesses the hero after Taking the Bullet for a revived Hideyoshi..
But Not Too Foreign: William is part-Irish, which explains his accent as well as his affinity to Saoirse, a Gaelic Guardian Spirit. This is in contrast to real life, as he's born a full-blooded Englishman. The sequel shows his son who, true to anime genetics, has light hair despite his mother having absolutely no chance of carrying the needed recessive gene.
Bow and Sword In Accord: Strict ammo limits (~20 shots carried) prevent bows and guns from being usable as primary weapons (at least, not without end-game equipment selection dedicated to gaining unlimited ammo). Instead, they have their own dedicated equipment slot and button to use them, making the two high damage situational weapons used to selectively remove choice enemies from a distance (generally enemy ranged attackers, or helmetless enemies that haven't spotted the player yet).
Childhood Friends: Saoirse has been William's Guardian Spirit since he's a child. It's also evident that the two are close.
Composite Character: Okatsu is a composite of multiple historical women from the late Sengoku, including Oyuki, William's wife.
Crossover Cosmology: Downplayed. But in addition to Buddhism and Japanese Mythology, there are also elements of Celtic Mythology and Western European mysticism in relation to alchemy.
Distant Prologue: Sort of. The game's opening starts off in 1598, two years before the main plot begins.
Final Boss Preview: In 2, Starter Villain Yoshitatsu fights rather like the final boss.
Follow the Leader: The games blatantly take many inspirations and mechanics from Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. The two games are often cited as among the few, if not the only, Souls-likes that are actually good, and even surpass the originals in some areas.
Gameplay Ally Immortality: Any segment where another character follows you has that character be immortal. Significant damage will only result in that character kneeling over till healed or sufficient time has passed. This is most noticeable in the second game, as such accompaniment is more frequent, but a few levels of the original had it as well.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: The second game features character creation but the main character's parents (a Japanese historical figure and a Japanese looking yokai) are revealed very early on, and knowledge of history indicates the main character would be 28 years old (at the start) while characters find nothing unusual about the appearance of the main character's human form especially since they're twin to another, locally prominent, historical figure, so clearly you aren't supposed to be a blue skinned blonde Amazon with red eyes or a black man.
Gender Flip: In the second game Yoshitatsu, as the player character's identical twin, will be female if the player character is. Can also be a Race Lift, but that falls under the above bit on Gameplay and Story Segregation.
Government Conspiracy: A secretive cabal led by Edward Kelley and Sir John Dee has not only been using Amrita to win England's battles against the Spanish, but has also sets its sights on Japan ostensibly for Queen and Country. With Kelley trying to further stoke the flames of war there.
The Gump: The main character of the second game is Hideyoshi's close associate, and thus at most of the major events of Oda Nobunaga's conquests until he's corrupted by the spirit stones and becomes the main antagonist. William's Historical Hero Upgrade, having deciding roles in battles he wasn't a front line combatant in, may make him a case of this as well despite being (loosely) based on a real person.
Gratuitous Foreign Language: In addition to the use of English and Japanese, there's also Irish Gaelic.
Historical Domain Character: Many of the human characters in the game, including Hattori Hanzo, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the actual William Adams.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: While William did indeed become one Japan's few Western samurai and an adviser to Tokugawa Ieyasu in real life, he definitely wasn't locked up in the Tower of London nor fought demons.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Although the real Edward Kelley and John Dee practiced alchemy, in-game he and his master have mystic powers. Averted however with Oda Nobunaga, who despite his reputation is portrayed in a nobler, more solemn light. The sequel adds Hideyoshi, corrupted by the Spirit Stones into a crackling madman shortly after Nobunaga's death.
Interface Spoiler: In the second game's character gallery Yoshitatsu's entry is unlocked, showing the warlord masked and armored, long before actually appearing physically in the plot. If the player made their character particularly distinctive, details like an unusual skin tone will be visible through the eye slit. The same is true, to slightly a lesser degree, if the player character is female as the English version of the profile changes pronouns rather than opt for Gender-Neutral Writing.
Invisible to Normals: Most supernatural things are invisible to normal humans, and William's ability to both see them and fight gets him noticed upon his arrival. The sequel largely does away with it.
Jidai Geki: Much of the first game is set at the tail end of the Sengoku period, during Tokugawa's rise to power. The second is set earlier, during Nobunaga's rise.
JRPG
Katanas Are Just Better: The opening area has European bastard swords. As these are found in the opening they are substantially less powerful than even low-end katana found near the end of the first non-tutorial area. You can however make any sword look like a bastard sword thanks to the ability to change weapon appearances. You return to London in the epilogue, and while drops are much higher level, they will likely have inferior statistics to the swords you've spent extensive time perfecting.
Magic Knight: A possible build that is encouraged by the early reward of Raikiri, a katana which scales with spirit status.
- The sequel adds three entire weapon types for this.
Mook: Of the human, undead and Yokai varieties. All of which can easily kill you.
Mirror Boss: Yoshitatsu is a literal Evil Twin that fights like the player. The twist that the boss uses the options you did not pick at character creation.
The Musketeer: It's possible for William to have a build emphasizing both swordsmanship and marksmanship, be it with bows or guns.
Nintendo Hard: The game, even at its Alpha state, quickly gained notoriety for being incredibly hard, easily being on par with if not surpassing the likes of Dark Souls and Team Ninja's own Ninja Gaiden.
Occult Blue Eyes: Where William has blue eyes because he's European, the second game's protagonist has a normal eye color (which could be anything) but people capable of seeing the supernatural see a deep, glowing blue.
Omniglot: Hattori Hanzo is revealed to be this, being one of the few Japanese characters who can actually converse with William in English.
Only One Name: William is oddly only referred to as "William" in game, even in character bio.
Prepare to Lose: In real life, gamers had to do this...A lot.
Puzzle Boss: The mission Greater Demon Hunting pits the player against a fairly agile, very tough boss able to kill most builds in one hit when you can first access the mission, but you fight alongside an NPC that can deal major damage and can only be temporarily KOed. Winning requires tricking the boss into running around while your ally keeps taking out its HP.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Used to indicate corruption by Spirit Stones.
Ridiculously Cute Critter: The Kodamas are adorable green creatures that live in trees and man-made objects.
Shown Their Work: Even with the fantastical elements and creative licenses in the game, it's clear that Team Ninja had done a lot of research.
- The Historical Domain Characters' personalities are nigh identical to their real life counterparts, including antagonists Edward Kelley and Sir John Dee.
- The outfits and armor worn by guards in the Tower of London are based on the actual Tudor-era uniforms of the Yeoman Warders. In fact, the Tower doubled as a prison at various points in British history.
- Saoirse, William's Guardian Spirit is based on the mermaid-like Celtic Merrow; notably she even speaks entirely in Irish Gaelic.
- The small fleet of ships William was a part of on route to Japan all have Dutch names, reflecting how they belong to the Dutch East India Company. And like in real life, only one of those ships, the Liefde ("Love") actually made it to Japan.
- The English translations however, makes the bizarre choice to refer to late 1500s smoothbore matchlocks as "rifles" (The Japanese text uses 鉄砲, teppou, the period term for such guns).
Spiders Are Scary: Spider Nest Castle, anyone?
Surprisingly Good English: In addition to the good voice acting, it's justified in that the English heard is largely spoken by European characters, though this also extends to a couple of Japanese ones like, Hattori Hanzo.
Time Travel: The DLC for the second game is set hundreds of years in the past.
Title: The Adaptation: The PC version is called, Nioh: Complete Edition
Translation Convention: Played with. European characters like William speak in English whereas Japanese ones by and large speak only in Japanese. William's able to understand them though, in part due to magical Babel Fish as well as through the likes of Hattori Hanzo, who can speak English.
Unobtainium: Amrita, which is equated to the Philosopher's Stone among the Europeans. It's also why the likes of Edward Kelley are so interested with Japan, as it has enough Amrita to allow them to defeat England's enemies and Take Over the World.
Useless Useful Spell: Most bosses are (near) immune to most stats conditions that can be inflicted with a single strike, with the notable exception of Sloth, which is both crippling and rarely resisted. In response, enemies in the DLC are given near total resistance to it. The sequel takes a more middle ground by making Sloth more dependent upon a character's Magic stats so it's only useful for actual mage builds instead of being something every build grabs.
Where It All Began: The first game ends with a return to England. The second ends with a cutscene taking place right where the first boss was fought, which is rather strange since its been 60 years and the dead tree looks exactly the same as it was left.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: It's mentioned that England had been using pirates and privateers to scour the known world for Amrita. By 1598 though, William is shown imprisoned at the Tower of London and slated for execution due to Kelley wanting to dispose of potential loose ends and deeming them unnecessary.
Yokai: Many of the bosses that the player faces are various spirits, demons, and other supernatural creatures that are found within Japanese Mythology.