Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Battlefield 6 Classes - Support trailer image

    Battlefield 6 Really Wants You To Play Support (But Knows You Won’t)

    07/31/2025
    Battlefield 6 Multiplayer Reveal promotional image

    Battlefield 6 Classes, Maps, And More: Everything You Need To Know

    07/31/2025
    A glimpse at all the upcoming Star Wars stories coming to the galaxy

    Star Wars Stories: What We Learned At SDCC 2025

    07/25/2025
    Blindspot episode still

    It’s been 5 years since ‘Blindspot’ ended. Why haven’t you watched it yet?

    07/24/2025
    Strange Scaffold

    Strange Scaffold Summer Showcase Delivers Bizarre And Brilliant Games

    07/22/2025
  • Fantasia Festival
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
But Why Tho?
Home » PC » REVIEW: ‘Nioh 2 – Complete Edition’ Is a Great Game With Plenty to Do (PC)

REVIEW: ‘Nioh 2 – Complete Edition’ Is a Great Game With Plenty to Do (PC)

Arron KluzBy Arron Kluz02/04/20216 Mins ReadUpdated:05/25/2022
Nioh 2 Complete Edition
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Nioh 2 Complete Edition

Nioh 2 – Complete Edition is the re-release of the 2020 action-RPG developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo in Japan and Sony Interactive Entertainment in the rest of the world. It takes place during the Sengoku period in Japan, a time of constant civil war and power struggles. Players are put in the shoes of Hide, a half-yōkai orphan mercenary that specializes in hunting full-blood yōkai. After a tutorial level where Hide teams up with traveling merchant Tokichiro, who has his eyes firmly planted on fame, Nioh 2‘s story takes off.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

As Hide and Tokichiro begin hunting down powerful soul stones to sell, they quickly become entangled in the political warring of the Sengoku period. The narrative plays out almost like an old Assassin’s Creed title. The player interacts with very loose interpretations of historical figures and eventually plays a pivotal role in events, all with a supernatural twist. By the end, the narrative is sufficient but leaves a lot to be desired. Reading all of the lore and journal entries fills the player in on the interesting history and beliefs behind the different yōkai and characters throughout the game. Still, even then, there is a lot of the story that goes unexplained. Certain interactions or plot developments occur completely unmotivated, with developments feeling more like the next bullet point in an outline rather than a natural progression. The story is interesting enough not to skip cutscenes and gets the player from one point to another, but that is as high as it reaches.

But the chances are that the story is not the reason players are coming to Nioh 2. This is a souls-like action-RPG; the mechanics are its flesh and blood, which is where Nioh 2 really shines. There is a ton of mechanics to cover, but it all starts with the player picking their two-weapon loadout. There are 11 weapon types to choose from, each with its own complete skill tree, combos of light and heavy attacks, and distinct play styles. On top of that, while fighting, players cycle through three different stances: high, medium, and low. High stance slows your attacks down but greatly increases the damage. Medium stance offers median damage while decreasing the amount of Ki (similar to stamina in other games) used when blocking enemy attacks. Low stance has the fastest attacks with quick combos while also decreasing the amount of Ki used when dodging. 

Nioh 2 also has a great mechanic known as a Ki burst. After a short pause following an attack, players with good timing can activate a Ki burst, replenishing some of the Ki they just expended. These bursts allow players to be much more aggressive, knowing that a successful burst will give them enough Ki to dodge away or block the enemy’s returning attacks while still punishing players who approach combat too recklessly. It can be a lot to keep track of in the heat of a difficult fight, but once the player has familiarized themselves with the systems, it is immensely rewarding. The multitude of options gives the player countless choices of approaching every encounter in ways that are engaging and effective. 

Nioh 2 Complete Edition

But do not forget, Hide is also half yōkai! This manifests as the third important bar in the top left of the screen: the player’s Anima. Anima is charged by dealing damage to any enemy. Once the player has enough, it can be used on both yōkai abilities and burst counters. Yōkai abilities are high damage, flashy moves that are unlocked by eliminating enemy yōkai who drop soul cores. Each yōkai has one specific to them and is reminiscent of one of their signature moves. Players can equip two at a time as well as leveling them up through combining similar cores. There is quite a bit of variety, and they offer great options for crowd control or limit the maximum Ki of the more powerful enemies and bosses that players will come across. Conversely, Burst counters are a well-timed defensive counter that can cancel some of a boss’ biggest moves and leave them briefly stunned and vulnerable. 

Hide’s yōkai heritage also brings with it a new inclusion for the series known as yōkai shifting. Shifting is available after building up enough charge through dealing damage to enemies and temporarily transforms Hide into one of three yōkai forms. Each form has its own set of moves as well as a special move. Shifting is a great resource to deal a ton of damage when needed and avoid damage as well. When the player shifts, their usual status bars are replaced with a power gauge. This gauge slowly depletes over time, and whenever the player attacks, dodges, takes damage, or uses their special attack. This also means that when shifting, players take no health damage from incoming attacks, making it a great resource to close out those boss fight attempts that are a little too close for comfort. 

The deep combat mechanics are great, but they are really given room to shine by the enemy design. Each enemy has a very defined and surprisingly expansive move set, especially the bigger yōkai. Their animations are reactive and natural-looking, all while maintaining good silhouettes so that they’re easy to read even in the most chaotic of fights. There is a good enough variety in the enemies, although there is a lot of repetition. Nioh 2 avoids this being a detriment through both the large move sets the enemies boast and placing them in varied environments and groupings that dictate how you can engage them. 

The environments stand up to scrutiny all on their own. While not the most technically beautiful game to release in the last few years, its art direction more than makes up for it. The environments are saturated with a desolate atmosphere as you traverse war-torn locales, all highlighted by moments of contrast with the small instances of brightly colored life. It is a shame that some bad framerate issues slightly squander the beauty of it. While easily passing the recommended specs, maintaining 60 fps was a struggle, even with low settings. 

Nioh 2 – Complete Edition offers an absurd amount of content. With dozens of hours of story-driven content, a solid three-player multiplayer mode, and multiple new difficulties for new game+ playthroughs, there’s a lot of great content to play through, even if you do not want to touch the grindy end game known as the underworld. The story can be largely ignored, but the core gameplay and the complexity of the mechanics are satisfying to master make Nioh 2 – Complete Edition a great option for any fan of the genre.  

Nioh 2 – Complete Edition is available on February 5th on PC.

Nioh 2: Complete Edition
  • 8/10
    Rating - 8/10
8/10

TL;DR

Nioh 2: Complete Edition offers an absurd amount of content. With dozens of hours of story-driven content, a solid three-player multiplayer mode, and multiple new difficulties for new game+ playthroughs, there’s a lot of great content to play through, even if you do not want to touch the grindy end game known as the underworld. The story can be largely ignored, but the core gameplay and the complexity of the mechanics are satisfying to master make Nioh 2: Complete Edition a great option for any fan of the genre.  

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticlePatch 2.1.0 for ‘Legends of Runeterra’ Brings New Champion, New Cards
Next Article REVIEW: ‘Drawn to Key West’ Issue #1
Arron Kluz

Arron is a writer and video editor for But Why Tho? that is passionate about all things gaming, whether it be on a screen or table. When he isn't writing for the site he's either playing Dungeons & Dragons, watching arthouse movies, or trying to find someone to convince that the shooter Brink was ahead of its time. March 20, 2023

Related Posts

Key art for Ninja Gaiden Ragebound
9.0

REVIEW: ‘Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’ Is Excellent Nostalgic Chaos

07/30/2025
Tales of the Shire screenshot of personal playable character.
6.5

REVIEW: ‘Tales Of The Shire’ Has Magic, Even If Its Sometimes Hard To Find

07/28/2025
Killing Floor 3 promotional key art
7.0

REVIEW: ‘Killing Floor 3’ Is Co-op Chaos With A Familiar Flavor

07/25/2025
Wildgate promotional key art
9.0

REVIEW: ‘Wildgate’ Is Co-Op Space Mayhem Done Right

07/25/2025
Wheel World promotional keyart from Annapurna Interactive
8.0

REVIEW: In ‘Wheel World’ The Ride Is The Story

07/23/2025
Wuchang in WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers
9.0

REVIEW: ‘Wuchang: Fallen Feathers’ Elevates The Genre With Exploration And Creativity

07/22/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Wildgate promotional key art
9.0
PC

REVIEW: ‘Wildgate’ Is Co-Op Space Mayhem Done Right

By Adrian Ruiz07/25/2025Updated:07/30/2025

Built for friends and tuned for competition, Wildgate is messy in the best way: smart, surprising, and bursting with room to grow.

Glass Heart
7.0
TV

REVIEW: ‘Glass Heart’ Offers Messy, Musical Catharsis

By Allyson Johnson07/22/2025

The musical drama series ‘Glass Heart’ soars when it focuses on the epic performances of it’s fictional band, TENBLANK.

Simon in An Honest Life But Why Tho
3.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘An Honest Life’ Is Terribly Dishonest About Its Own Politics

By Jason Flatt08/02/2025

An Honest Life is an overly severe misfire about a law student who falls in with anarchist burglars that can’t decide who it resents more.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here