When comparing Nioh vs Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, the Slant community recommends Nioh for most people. In the question“What are the best Dark Fantasy games on Steam?” Nioh is ranked 14th while Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is ranked 15th. The most important reason people chose Nioh is:
Nioh is a very fast-paced game, which also rewards awareness and patience. The combat in it is all about dodging, countering enemy attacks, and looking for openings. You will quickly regret any hasty decisions (like fighting three demon Samurai out in the open) since they'll most likely lead to your death. It also features some very intense boss fights that further expand upon this core concept. The fights are much longer and requires you to focus the entire time. Nothing beats the sense of accomplishment when you finally beat a giant mythical demon.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Fast-paced, intense combat
Nioh is a very fast-paced game, which also rewards awareness and patience. The combat in it is all about dodging, countering enemy attacks, and looking for openings. You will quickly regret any hasty decisions (like fighting three demon Samurai out in the open) since they'll most likely lead to your death.
It also features some very intense boss fights that further expand upon this core concept. The fights are much longer and requires you to focus the entire time. Nothing beats the sense of accomplishment when you finally beat a giant mythical demon.
Pro Rewarding exploration
Exploring in Nioh feels worthwhile since it helps you find new equipment and rare materials. This will help progress your character, allowing you to defeat enemies in fewer hits and giving you a smoother playthrough overall. It's also very exciting to accidentally stumble upon secret areas.
Pro Grand boss fights
The game has interesting, multi-part boss battles. A lot of character to the fights is added by the impressive, grotesque boss monster designs.
Pro Impressive, flowing combat system
The game has a visceral, impactful free-flow fighting system that emphasizes counter-attacks, dodges and stringing combos with a variety of weapons and moves.
Cons
Con The story isn't particularly good or meaningful
Nioh has kind of a throwaway story. You won't fall in love with any characters, and nothing that happens will shock or awe you.
Con Punishing difficulty for beginners of the genre
Nioh, like any other Souls-like title, has a very brutal entry difficulty. If you're new to the Souls-like genre, you'll have to get used to a lot of the mechanics, dodging, and, most importantly, dying. This can be the source of extreme frustration for the first ten hours or so, which causes a lot of players to quit during that time. If you can get over this initial hurdle, you'll finally start enjoying the game. The acquired skills will also carry over to other games in the same genre.
Con A departure from Castlevania series in key areas
Some aspects of the game are considerably different from the previous Shadow game. For example, combat is a lot more God of War than Castlevania and boss fights are a lot more Shadow of Colossus than Castlevania.
Con Stealth sections feel out of place
The game has stealth sections that involve turning into a rat and getting from one place to another while avoiding detection, but the stealth gameplay is very barebones and feels very out of place in a Castlevania game.