Hi guys! Today I will talk about Nioh and Dark Souls 3. I will do a comparison between them and I will let you be the judge of which game is better. First I will talk about the storyline of those 2 games, then I will talk about the difference or similarities in their gameplay, and lastly, I will compare the visuals and tell you my final thoughts. Now let’s begin.
Table of Contents
Storyline
When it comes to the storyline it’s difficult for me to choose which games has the best story.
The reason is that I didn’t really like or was drawn to either story. The problem with Dark Souls 3 storytelling is that it’s very confusing, to say the least. I swear before I watched a video on YouTube explaining the story of Dark Souls 3, I had no idea what the story was about or why I did the things I did in the game.
Now to be fair I haven’t played the other Dark Souls games, I have only played Dark Souls 3 but I can’t really use this as an excuse for Dark Souls 3 since I have played other sequels of games that I hadn’t played the original but I still understood what was going on and why.
From what I read in Dark Souls 3 you are supposed to learn the story through reading item descriptions and dialogue from NPCs and you still only learned half, the other half is guessing and theorizing.
I can respect their decision to write a game’s story that way but I can’t say that I am a fan of it.
As for Nioh, the story is very mediocre and it’s just there to have something to fight for. Nioh’s story has its moments for example when you meet historical figures but beyond that, it’s average and forgettable.
I don’t believe that someone should pick either game for the story.
Gameplay
The main difference between Nioh and Dark Souls 3 is the combat system.
I will probably get some backlash from this but I will still say it. Nioh is Dark Souls 2.0 meaning it has taken inspiration from all the things Dark Souls games did and improved upon them.
I played both Nioh and Dark Souls 3 in the same year and I have to say Nioh’s combat is a lot more polished than the combat of Dark Souls 3.
Nioh gives you the option to switch stances with each weapon you use and each stance has different moveset and techniques. This alone gives a whole new dimension to fighting enemies since you have to choose carefully which stance is the most optimal in each situation.
Dark Souls has more limited moveset when it comes to fighting with weapons.
In both games, there are combos you can use with weapons but Nioh has added skills to each weapon that do different things. Dark Souls 3 doesn’t have that.
As for the variety of weapons, you can use Dark Souls 3 has over double the number of weapon categories that Nioh. I can say that here we have a case of quality vs quantity.
Nioh may have fewer weapon options compared to Dark Souls 3 but the weapons have more substance meaning that they have abilities.
There are some weapons in Dark Souls 3 that have special attacks but in general, Nioh has more things that you can do with a single weapon.
When it comes to enemies and bosses both games feel similar. I can’t really say that one game is harder than the other when you fully understand the systems of each game and how you are supposed to play.
Also the variety of enemies in both game is at the same level so we have a tie here too.
Lastly, both games have Co-Op and PvP modes and a lot of replayability. No game stands out here either.
Visuals
Both games look good in their own way but Nioh has somewhat better visuals, which is to be expected since it was released one year after Dark Sous 3.
There are also a lot of diverse and interesting locations that you will visit in both games. Of course, both games are dark so don’t expect a lot of beauty or eye-catching scenery.
When it comes to character customization Nioh beats Dark Souls 3 easily since it has an equipment transmogrification system and for those of you that don’t know what this is, it basically means that you are able to change the appearance of all your equipment and keep the stats.
FromSoftware needs to finally implement this kind of system and it’s not that this system is difficult to implement.
To summarize when it comes to visuals Nioh is the best choice for me.
Final Thoughts
Nioh and Dark Souls 3 are both games and whichever you choose you won’t be disappointed. Now to summarize what I said in the previous sections.
First, when it comes to the story both games’ stories didn’t matter much at least to me. I felt nothing while playing both games at least when it came to the story.
Nioh offers fewer weapon options than Dark Souls 3 but weapons have different skills that you can unlock and different stances(each with each own moveset) that you can use. As I said for me it’s quality vs quantity.
When it comes to variety of enemies replayability and difficulty both games are at the same level.
So for me the deciding factor is the combat system and Nioh wins in that aspect in my opinion.
This is it, guys. I hope you found the article informative and that I helped you decide which is the best game for you.
Write in the comments below if you agree or disagree with what I said and if you think I forgot something. See ya in the next article.
You can support us and get notified when we post a new article by following us on Twitter, liking our Facebook Page and sharing our articles.
Follow @GamerWelfareHere are the links for the images I used: