Nioh 2: from the Sengoku period to William's enterprise

The adventure proposed by the intriguing one Nioh in 2017 it was decidedly particular: flourished in a period in which the soulslike genre was the most popular of all, the game has rewritten some features in its own way, developing mostly satisfying peculiarities. With a mission structure on the map that can be replayed in any eventuality, a series of special objectives, but above all a narrative linked to the deeds of a single protagonist, the binomial Team Ninja e Koei Tecmo has guaranteed buyers a challenging product full of Japanese culture to the core. Learning from one's past creation and smoothing out some corners, we are offered a Nioh 2 which will be part of a period of time prior to the arrival of the blond William on the Japanese coasts. The same director of Team Ninja, Yosuke Hayashi, explained the reasons for this choice and the connections with the first chapter:

In Nioh we portrayed the world after the death of Nobunaga, one of the most important historical figures of the Sengoku Era, so we decided to share and show what happened to Japan when it was still alive.

As players are already quite familiar with Nioh's story and characters, we wanted to recreate connections with the previous chapter and offer them to players.

The landing

The events of Nioh, starring William, come to life at the end of the sixteenth century, with England and Spain contending for control of the known lands. In this scenario, the existence of particular stones called "Amrita“, Containers of monstrous spiritual power and capable of making a difference in any situation. The engine of the narration revolves around these spiritual stones, with William in pursuit of an obscure alchemist, Kelley, who took possession of his guardian spirit after showing off the power of the Amritas at the expense of our hero. To retrieve it, and to understand what the hell is going on, William himself finds himself traveling to a distant land called Japan, a land ravaged by endless wars and infested with terrible Oni. The line between good and evil is thin, both for mortals and for spirits, and immediately our hero will test the power of both.

The events - which we invite you to relive by recovering the first title - lead the protagonist first of all to meet important historical figures (first of all, Hattori Hanzo) and to take sides in favor of Tokugawa Ieyasu in the bloody diatribe. With a meticulous fidelity and a mastery in inserting the playful-narrative issues related to it, the story of the golden-haired samurai and that of the end of the Sengoku era intertwine in an impeccable way. With epic historical notes - we highlight in this sense the battle of Sekigahara - and with a real encyclopedia of demons available, enjoying Nioh has translated into a real thermal bath in the culture of feudal Japan.

The situation then, when our hero arrived on the eastern shores, was anything but rosy, and he worked hard to make his contribution. But what happened first? How many centuries of legends, honor and blood have crossed each other?

Impartiality and respect

Just to answer all this, in Nioh 2 we will take a step back. The events will come to life in 1555, with a particular focus on the historical and indelible figure of Oda Nobunaga, Daimyo of the fief of Owari. It was thanks to him that feudal anarchy ended in the Sengoku period. After being resurrected in the final stages of the first title, with a part in the chessboard that we will not reveal to you if you have not yet played Nioh, in this prequel the leader will be a figure already present in the early stages, as evidenced by the message released by the developers on the PlayStation Blog:

We are in the Japan of the warring states. It is 1555. An interminable conflict has transformed the country into a chaotic territory infested with demonic Yokai, evil spirits who feed on their victims.

It is right in the midst of this relentless chaos that we will make the acquaintance of our protagonist (or our protagonist, depending on your initial choice), a solitary Yokai hunter in the pay of those who request his services in the province of Mino. The warrior, however, hides a terrible secret: he is a half-blood orphan in whose veins both human blood and Yokai flow. Unable to carve out a place in society, our hunter prefers to travel alone.

The situation worsens when the protagonist loses control of his power Yokai struggling with a ferocious enemy. The tragic situation will be saved by a wandering merchant, Tokichiro, who sells the so-called "Spirit Stones", magical artifacts capable of communicating those who possess them with the Yokai spirits. Our warrior thus manages to regain control over his demonic side.

Since that time, the two decide to team up and travel together in search of other powerful Spirit Stones, prompted by an influential warlord bent on tracking down these artifacts to ensure proper use is made of them.

However, the mission is interrupted by someone (or something) who, like them, is looking for the stones. Having managed to escape thanks to the help of Yokai Mumyo's hunter, the three find refuge in the province of Owari, ending up in the service of the great Oda Nobunaga.

But their plans will be short-lived: they will in fact be forced to face demonic forces intent on recovering the remaining Spirit Stones. The adventure of our half-blood warrior “Hideyoshi” can thus begin.

 

Nobunaga was born in 1534, so in the early part of the story of Nioh 2 he will be in his early twenties. We do not really know how long our adventure will last (not in playful terms, but in historical terms), but it will be enough to do a couple of quick calculations to realize that about 18 years will pass from Nobunaga's death to William's arrival in Nioh. The total will be well 45 years of known events (but with some unpublished protagonists) that will lead us to explore the proud Japanese culture even more deeply.

This opens up a range of interesting possibilities on the events, the battles and the diatribes that we will be able to face. In chronological order, here are some of the moments that could be covered during the time Nobunaga is still alive:

• Battle of Miyajima (1555)
• Battle of Okehazama (1560)
• Second Battle of Anegawa (1570)
• Siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji (1570-1580)
• Sieges of Nagashima (1571-1573-1574)
• Battle of Mikatagahara (1573)
• Battle of Nagashino (1575)
• Battle of Tedorigawa (1577)

However, the last demo we were able to test was set in the destruction of the castle of Kitanosho, which took place during the battle of Shizugatake of 1583 between the supporters of Nobunaga and those of Hideyoshi for the succession. Consequently, it is reasonable to think that the historical time frame covered in the title go beyond the death of the daimyo (1582), and that other historical facts before 1600, from the submission of Shikoku (1585) onwards, can therefore be taken into consideration.

We don't know if time jumps, flashbacks, or an atypical narrative will be used in Nioh 2, and that's why we can currently only speculate. How will everything be reconnected? We just have to wait until March 13 and find out ... or maybe even sooner with our review!