It may seem that the project is extremely dull when it comes to locations. A systematically repeating series of villages, caves, palaces, dojos, mountains and woodlands – that’s all there is. But at times, the developers delight with really epic locations, like an atmospheric palace complex where ancient youkai dozed, sealed a long time ago in the old days. During the study of various buildings and chambers, in fact, it seemed that someone lived here, lived and performed rituals, prepared for war and received guests. Although, of course, the project lacks the integrity of the world like in the Souls series, where the locations are connected with each other and each one is fraught with some mysteries, and we act as archaeologists, exploring secrets. In Nioh, the developers partially compensate for the repeated races with a different location and types of enemies when passing missions in the same area.
If we talk about the second part of the series, although it transformed the formed formula of gameplay, improving many mechanics and further diversifying the process (if we take into account the system of turning into youkai and using the active skills of monsters, as if you were a blue magician from Final Fantasy), not a drop not changed. As a result, Nioh 2 plays great, giving room for creativity with its complex mechanics, but only feels like a typical “right sequel” lacking any really significant innovations. Let’s hope that after the rest, the authors will be able to breathe new life into the franchise and turn the foundations of the series into Nioh 3…
On the PlayStation 5, both the first and second Nioh give you a choice of three technical settings: 4K @ 60 FPS, 1080p @ 120 FPS, and Standard mode with 60 FPS and improved reflections, shadows and model detail. The developers have tried to get rid of the problems with anti-aliasing and transparency of objects, which took place on the PS4 Pro. However, there were some compromises.
In the first Nioh, the standard mode yields better image quality, but this effort is blurred by the dynamic resolution dropping to 1800p and below. In 4K everything is quite stable, but there are rare, barely noticeable changes in resolution in saturated scenes. In the 120 FPS mode, you will achieve the lowest input lag and responsiveness of the controls, and given the focus of the game on fast-paced gameplay, this comes in handy for reading enemy animations and counterattacks. The only problem is that this option implies a drop in resolution and the formation of ladders on the character models.
The second part of the series, due to its freshness, turned out to be more difficult to optimize. Standard mode produces better shadows and draw distance, but has dynamic resolution. In 4K, the game tries to keep the brand at the full-fledged 2160p, but in some places the resolution drops to 1944p. At 120 FPS, shadow detail and quality are sacrificed.
With regard to frames per second, the first Nioh, with very rare exceptions, consistently produces 60 and 120 FPS in the corresponding modes. Nioh 2 in standard and 4K modes also demonstrates 60 FPS with an enviable consistency. But switching to 120 FPS, you can observe drawdowns of up to 90-100 frames in open areas. In this regard, the PlayStation 5 lacks technology such as VRR (variable refresh rate), which allows you to smooth out such irregularities.
