The interest of the circle that has gathered around the excellent Team Ninja title shows no sign of diminishing, and after having greatly appreciated the first two DLCs dedicated to Nioh 2 - or The Disciple of Tengu e Darkness in the capital - back to feudal Japan with the third and final additional content: The First Samurai. As expected, the crusade against Otakemaru continues, even if this time our stop will mark the end of Hide's journey. Before starting the brief analysis, know that the feeling this time is that the cartridges have all been fired in the first two additional contents, like in a submachine gun, and then remain in a certain sense with the crumbs in this latest DLC. However this remains only a feeling, because although there are no new weapons to attend this time, Nioh 2: The First Samurai it also adds a new level of difficulty, clearly dedicated to veterans and those who have survived the severe natural selection of the Koei Tecmo title.
The last stage
As we have already said, this time with the last time travel we will accompany Hide in what will be the closing of the narrative arc. This final chapter, despite offering pleasant contents at a more than accessible price (€ 9,99), has different characteristics than the first two. The most important thing is that this trio of events, proposed in less than a year from the release of the main game, managed to offer players a huge slice of content, but without upsetting the general concept of the game and without making it more "pompous. " the whole. The first difference concerns the narrative: in this third act of the DLC in fact we are faced with only 2 missions for the story, which added to the secondary ones and your skill will keep you busy between 5 and 7 hours. Also in these we will not come to meet any historical figure, as we were previously used to ... but don't worry, the bossfight will reserve you some pleasant surprises.
But be careful, because "short" is not synonymous with "simple", and if you face Nioh 2: The First Samurai with bravado, you will soon pay the price. As it had already happened in the pre-patch version of the original game, the difficulty peak is particularly high, and with the entry of new Yokai enemies to give you a hard time, the concentration required will be maximum. So do not assume that your builds are perfect to face the missions worthily, especially because (also due to the new enemies) the new armor sets that you can get will be useful (and for a couple of styles in particular, very useful).
The dream and the otretomb
Although the plot is smooth and direct in its brevity, the writing and presentation of the missions do not appear particularly inspired, forming a sort of "compromise". When I talked about defeatist sensations (the story of the crumbs) I was referring only to those who would stop at just such activities, but the dark chasm of hours and hours of play that follow the story are just around the corner, the perfect challenge for all veterans. The real flab of this latest DLC in fact lies in its hardcore soul: the content is clearly devoted to satisfying the aforementioned circle of players who have continued to grind hours in the game and strengthen themselves gradually. This is possible thanks to the new difficulty level proposed, called "The Dream of Nioh", Suitable only for veteran players, but also thanks to theendgame inserted: this is the "Afterlife“, Which follows in the footsteps of the already known Abyss of the first Nioh, and which includes over 100 floors of pure challenge and adrenaline where the personal search for the proverbial“ maximum limit ”can be continued.
