One of the most interesting titles revealed at Tokyo Game Show 2015 has to be Ni-Oh, the PlayStation 4 exclusive developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo.
This action RPG seems to have been influenced by many titles. Obviously there's a touch of Ninja Gaiden given the developer background, the samurai setting recalls Onimusha and it's also clear that they have taken some notes from Dark Souls; finally, the main character can't but remind you The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia. The story is based on a script by Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa.
Some additional and juicy Ni-Oh gameplay details have been shared today. A (low quality) livestream of the game debuted on Nico-Nico and Neogaf user Pricken was kind enough to share his translation of what the developers were saying.
- On the bottom right you can find four icons that determine fighting stance.
- Your Offensive and defensive capabilities are dependent on your stance and can be changed on the fly.
- There are bloody katanas on the ground where other people have died.
Apparently you can activate them and fight against their "phantoms" for good loot.- You can change armor and weapon in real time, so make sure you're in a safe area when you do.
- There are also spears in the game that are good against groups of enemies.
- There are guardian spirits that William can see and infuse into his weapon for a limited time like the flame wolf and the blue owl.
Guardian spirits appear after you die. (I guess as a helping hand?)
You will have to decide when to use it apparently, so there might be a limit.- There are shrines where you level up with the experience you've saved up, and where you can change spirit.
- In some locations you might come across some strange glimmering (can't make out what they call it), which will spawn a youkai that drops good loot.
- The boss shown is called anonryou (revengeful demon), a powerful oni.
- You heal in real time, so it's important to look for an opening to do so.
When he heals he infuses his weapon with what looks like a blue owl spirit, different from the fire wolf from earlier.
Here's the Ni-Oh gameplay footage; let's hope that Koei Tecmo will publish this in a direct-feed form at some point.
