Nioh Last Chance Demo Impressions

Hey, guys and gals. Its your favorite Spider here (love me!) and I'm gonna tell you about the latest, and final, demo for Nioh! If you've been reading this site, or the gaming sections of internet in general, you'll know that Nioh is a Dark Souls inspired Feudal Japan Samurai action game, and it's great! With publisher Koei Tecmo backing it, and Team Ninja developing, Nioh is shaping up to be an absolutely brilliant game. Team Ninja has released both an Alpha and a Beta and they seem to have learned a lot from the player feedback from both. So far, this Last Chance demo is the culmination of that feedback. 

First off, this last demo is actually pretty short. Its the shortest demo Team Ninja has made so far, as I, a relatively careful, plodding, methodical player, got through to the boss in about two hours. While I like to think I'm getting better at the game and found quick ways through areas, I can't help but feel like I blew through it. I definitely got through this one faster than either of the last demos, especially the beta as that demo started with the same level from the alpha before opening up to a new area and I still got my ass handed to me a few times. 

As with each demo, new weapons were introduced. In the Alpha we got a taste of swords, spears, and axes, as well as bows. The Beta let us try out dual swords, which quickly became one of my favorites, and rifles, and cannons, though rifles may have been in the alpha and I simply didn't find them. This Last demo gave us the kusarigama, or chain scythe (or sickle). I apparently have a tendency to go for the faster weapons so dual swords and the kusarigama have become my goto. Each weapon has also had a few alterations to its skill tree. 

Finally, this demo, like every demo, video, and the game in general, is beautiful. The colors are vibrant and bright. Its a welcome change from some of the more muted colors of other modern games. 

Completing the demo, like the others before, allows players the chance to download the Mark of the Conqueror, from the Alpha, the Mark of the Strong, from the Beta, and this demo grants players a new helmet based on the demo's boss, the Ogress. All these things will be saved to system data, so if for some reason you don't have your original system *cough*stolen*cough* I don't know what to tell you. The Mark of the Strong is still available for download on the PS Store, but the Mark of the Conqueror is not. Sorry about that. 

Nioh is set to release Feb 7 in NA, 8 and 9 in EU and JP respectively (as I understand it, I've seen conflicting reports but all within the same week). I hope those interested had a chance to try out this Last Chance demo as it was only available this weekend and as of this writing, it will be gone in less than 12 hours.