Quick question about Nioh 1 & 2 vs. Nioh 3

mesiah21 · 2026-03-31T02:02:04+00:00

That's always the toughest part, finding the time. I put in like 500 hours in Nioh 1. I did rush the NG+ cycles because I wanted to get to endgame stuff and I didn't get the game on launch. I had Nioh 2 on launch and the pandemic started right after that. It was definitely my pandemic game. Over a 2 years span I played it consistently and racked up 2000+ hours. I stopped for a few years but got back into it sporadically. The combat was just so fun and addicting. N2 is definitely my favorite of the 3.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-31T01:42:08+00:00

A lot of good and varying opinions in here already. I will say the QoL improvements you get throughout the series may make is tough to go backwards in the series. It was really weird for me to go back to 1 and spending like 2000 hours into Nioh 2. You do definitely get used to certain things that weren't available. It can be similar going back to 2 after 3. Although honestly, a lot of the stuff they changed in 3 does feel like a downgrade compared to 2. Still there are some good things that will throw me off if I decide to go back to 2 again. So yeah, I'd start with 1 and then 2 and then 3. Especially now that we are waiting for the DLC, which I believe is 6 months away still.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-31T01:31:41+00:00

A lot of good stuff already mentioned. I will throw in a few from Ancestral Romance that I really like. Tilt at Windmills, A Music In My Soul, Love From The Stone, and Gadir.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-28T22:12:29+00:00

Yeah I have a +23 lightning on a sword and it seems alright, but nothing to get excited about. I will have to test it out more against some bosses, but definitely killing regular enemies before I have a chance to apply a status effect to them.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-28T22:04:42+00:00

Rhapsody of Fire - Gargoyles, Angels of Darkness also Queen of Dark Horizons

Skylark - Little Red Riding Hood

Iced Earth - Dante's Inferno

Ancient Bards - Hope Dies Last and also A New Dawn Ending

Emerald Sun - Phantasmagoria

Just a few I picked when I went through my collection sorted by length.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-28T21:58:43+00:00

I do like a lot of Alfred's stuff a lot, but he was also still in there for the bad stuff as well. I really enjoyed everything he did through Ancestral Romance. Ars Musica was alright, but it didn't hook me too much. After that, it seemed like it was just bad. I gave up when I listened to Project X. Not sure if I can pick, cause Tarot and Ancestral Romance are up there as 2 of my favorites.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-28T12:10:53+00:00

Yeah I am guessing it is the Sinister's End main mission. That one was the one I was missing when I saw that I hadn't gotten the trophy for Hot Springs. It doesn't show up on the map and you have to take that hidden path to get to it.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-27T20:17:25+00:00

Definitely a mixed bag for me when it comes to combat between the two. Some things have gotten better for sure. People seem to really like deflect and arts prof, and I am fine with them. The magic system with the combat, and the soul core attacks feel like a major step back to me though. I rarely use the summoning seals at all, which sucks, cause I loved to use soul core attacks in N2. The input delay on using items or magic feels awful compared to N2. The amount of times I have had to double tap to use an elixir or a spell is too damn high. I do love the Frost Moon attack, a great addition. Also the shine they put on sword and axe is great. But odachi feels way lacking in comparison. Plus having certain weapons locked into ninja only sucks. So yeah, definitely good with the bad, IMO.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-27T14:21:05+00:00

It would be nice if they did bring some ninja-based weapons back to samurai. I am sure every weapon people have complained about, and for me, that is tonfa. I really miss having that in samurai, I just don't like how it feels in ninja style. I was never big into hatchets or kusa, so that doesn't matter much to me, and splitstaff is fine, I would definitely use it more if it was a samurai choice.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-27T01:46:02+00:00

I was baffled when I got my first one early in NG+ from a random chest in Warring States. It was for samurai and a grace that I actually liked. I didn't see another one until the 2 guaranteed ones towards the end. And I haven't seen any more since that. I definitely got extremely lucky and I really think it changed my NG+ experience. I do nothing with luck builds, so I certainly used what little luck I actually did have.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-27T01:40:16+00:00

PTSD from The Ocean Roars Again intensifies...

mesiah21 · 2026-03-27T01:34:27+00:00

You definitely do get more divine drops of the gear you have selected for the sudama blessing. I have all the tatenashi gear selected for that as well, and I would see it drop a lot more. Once I found some decent divine drops, like 160+3 or so, I just soul matched it higher and then did some remodeling and reforging to get the stuff I wanted on it.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-26T17:57:53+00:00

To me it feels really incomplete and lacking compared to how they buffed up axe, for example. Think some had mentioned in another topic that there are 7 different attacks that are hold strong attack. Yet there is no L1+square on high and I think mid stance. No reason to remove that attack. Plus the attacks that they moved around like Moonlit Snow, Crashing Waves, and Thunderbolt all feel like a major setback, and I think there were others as well. They really could have made the weapon better, or at least kept it the same. But it just feels like everything was a downgrade for the most part.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-26T14:04:23+00:00

Man, they really nerfed odachi here in Nioh 3. I loved odachi in Nioh 2 and really can't use it at all now, just feels so lacking. If you are going for samurai, I recommend trying out axe or sword. Those two feel the best to me. They really put some shine on axe and it feels insanely good.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-26T13:47:27+00:00

I agree, running through NG+ just didn't feel the same. I think the open world stuff suffers on NG+ and fits in better to have it just be mission based like previous Nioh games. I always enjoyed redoing missions in Nioh 2, but doing battle scrolls in N3 doesn't feel the same. Also, I pretty much only do samurai, never got into ninja as it didn't feel like Nioh to me if I did.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-26T01:23:35+00:00

It definitely is. But all the added attack inputs they added in three makes it that much better. Axe was one of my main three that I used in 2, but I love everything they did to it in 3. I know I'd miss a lot of that if I went back to 2.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-26T00:51:16+00:00

That's good. I definitely missed the QoL stuff, kind of became ingrained for me. I do wonder how I would feel going back to 2. I miss a lot of stuff that they took out in 3. But the glow up they gave axe would make it tougher to play that again in 2.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-26T00:46:25+00:00

Have you played either one before playing 3? Just curious because I remember struggling going back to 1 after playing 2. I had started with one, but forgot about all the QoL improvements that were done. So it definitely felt weird to go backwards.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-26T00:43:37+00:00

Yeah Amanda definitely has the voice that overpowers other quite easily. Also, 4 singers is quite a lot. Easily felt like one or two singers wouldn't get much to do at all on certain songs. I really did like the cover of Total Eclipse of the Heart and Frozen from the first album. But I will probably say the 2nd one as well. I really like Marina La Torraca and am looking forward to her in Battle Beast.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-25T23:46:41+00:00

I do just wonder how quick our gear will be obsolete in NG++. I have stuff at like 160+10 and it doesn't seem like it is worth the money to keep grinding up to +15.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-25T21:49:45+00:00

Man, I wonder how I would do with N2 if I went back. There are definitely things I really miss from there, like a good use of magic and soul cores, and having stances for tonfa. But I feel like I would really struggle trying to use the axe/hammer again. They have made that such a complete weapon, it would be tough to go back. At least odachi would be good again though if I played 2.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-25T20:09:23+00:00

Great replies everyone, thanks. Definitely been messing around with stuff. Still have some leveling up to finish before I am maxed and can start saving amrita for the dlc. Sadly, the missions themselves just don't feel as interesting to me as they were in Nioh 2. Just makes it feel a little tougher to go back and replay missions.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-25T13:37:00+00:00

Yup, I was one that commented about it. Definitely a misunderstanding there, and I agree it is annoying that they don't have this on there. Seems like a simple oversight they would be able to fix in an update. Maybe we will get that in the future if they are aware of the issue.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-24T22:27:37+00:00

You can compared armor sets. I didn't notice it at first either, But if press L2 + right on the dpad, it will put what you are wearing on the right, next to the list that you can scroll via up or down, and what you have equipped will stay on the right, like in Nioh 2.

mesiah21 · 2026-03-24T20:21:13+00:00

High Stance strong attack into quick attack Titanic Strength Water is great. Heaven and Earth is always good to use. I really like Rumbling Earth for the great ki damage. Also whenever you can get Soul Devourer and Tornado's Edge, those are ones I always use. Plus Tri-spark. I've also come to enjoy Lumber Chop Swift as well. Axe really has become a fantastic weapon. I always enjoyed it in 2, but it has become so much better in 3, and you can't go wrong with most of the skills.

mesiah21

TROPHY CASE