Nioh: A Tale of Two Englishmen in Feudal Japan

DE4520318AE51212928FD8D8B63AAB105C043BC8 (2560×1440) Nioh:

Time to Beat: 57 Hours

Dark Souls III was the best game of Awkward Mixture's first five years. It's inevitable that Nioh, released by developer Team Ninja a year later (2017), suffer a comparison. Unfortunately, its armor is too fragile to protect against the savage blows of the juxtaposition.

Unlike the fictional setting of Dark Souls, Nioh opens with an introduction in England, 1598. Imprisoned for an uncertain offense, the protagonist, William Adams, escapes with the aid of a Guardian Spirit, Saoirse. At the top of the Tower of London, William fights Edward Kelley. Even after the player defeats Kelley's henchmen, a cutscene allows the villain to triumph. Stealing Saoirse, the evil sorcerer escapes to Japan.

A brief text box introduces a collection of themes; the philosopher's stone, alchemy, Marco polo's mysterious adventure to Asia. These are completely disregarded until the end of the game. Nioh occurs at a time of historic upheaval. Elizabeth the First, Queen of England is reaching the end of her reign (She dies in 1603), and the Anglo-Spanish War, which started in 1585, ends in 1604. In Japan, two rival daimyo seek to end the nearly two hundred year period of chaotic war by defeating the other and unifying the country as Shogun. This Sengoku period ends in 1615.

Against this backdrop of death and rebirth, William chases Kelley to the Land of the Rising Sun.

The opening is unsatisfactory, and leaves many problems, strewn like the detritus of a shipwreck in its wake. Why was William imprisoned? How did he acquire a Guardian Spirit? Why does Kelley travel to Japan? How does William know Kelley is going to Japan? Why does William come back to life when killed?

I'm not claiming there are no answers to these questions. I am saying they are perfunctory, unexplained, unsatisfactory, and too brief for their importance in the story. 6383C5C932EBDB6A0A050F9CD50F0A2254B04D2D (2560×1440)

The first level opens in Usuki, a small town along the south east coast of Japan. The year is1600. William disembarks, encountering a region in flames. The town has been torched, with bandits prowling the conflagration. More threatening are the monsters, Yokai which challenge the Englishman. From this small battlefield William joins a number of historical figures in the wars which led to the creation of the Tokugawa shogunate. Nioh is semi-historical. William Adams was a real person, the first Englishman to reach Japan. Crashing in1600 off the coast, he became a samurai and advised Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. The historical William, though presented with the title of samurai, was an advisor as merchant and shipbuilder. The fictional William is only a samurai. He interacts with a number of historical people, and a few historical events, such as the battle of Sekigahara.

The first level in Japan, Isle of Demons, is forced to act as a tutorial, because the previous level doesn't explain enough mechanics (I vaguely recollect that the level in England is skippable?). After defeating the boss at the end of the level the player is presented with a map of a region of Japan, Kyushu. Between missions the player watches scenes as William, later nicknamed Anjin by the Japanese, sits through political meetings with an ever shifting cast of characters. Because politics plays no part in the mechanics of Nioh it was easy to ignore. At first the story of Japanese politics bore no relationship to William's quest. Two-thirds of the way through Nioh the player's adventure aligned with Ieyasu's goals, but by then it was too late. I didn't know anyone's name, or what they had done in the first forty hours. The fault lies in the prologue, which doesn't explain or engage and doesn't set up enough connections. The stereotypical main characters hinder the plot as well. Almost the entire game is set in Japan, yet the protagonist and villain are two Englishmen, who have decided to make Japan their playground. These two lack depth; one is a dull stereotype, while the other is skeletally archetypal, yet without flesh on the bones. A number of Japanese characters, even with less screen time, demonstrate more nuance than these two. A30104404E8239374084B7D4A79B8038D9EEF107 (2560×1440)

William catches up to his foe a handful of times. He fights Kelley, or one of Kelley's thugs. Even though the player wins the fight, the game awards the victory to Kelley. In the following cutscene he always recovers, does what he wants, and escapes.

After eventually cornering and defeating the final boss, William wraps up his duties in Japan. Nioh has an epilogue. A return to England, three years later, after the queen's death. The level layout is the same as the very first one. It tries to incorporate those first ideas, the philosophers stone, alchemy, and the Anglo-Spanish war. But since those themes were never mentioned after the first level, it seems disjointed and unconnected. A final, final boss, introduced at the last minute, is tiresomely dispatched. The game awards the player two achievements simultaneously. How is Nioh 2 (released in 2020) going to start? A vision urges William to return immediately to Japan (Historically, Williams never left Japan, and died there at the age of 55).

During his time in Japan, video game William rarely considers any greater purpose. He is fixated on defeating Kelley, because Kelley defeated him, and recovering Saoirse. The Japanese share more serious concerns. The two leaders, Ieyasu and Ishida Mitsunari display a deep desire to end war. Iesyasu demonstrates, through his dialogue, complicated motivations, and a nuanced personality. But to achieve their goal they fight against each other, seeking to be the ruler. The lesser villains seek a desirable outcome. Kelley is too one dimensional; he nakedly seeks power for its own sake. Nioh uses these characters to present themes about war. But does the game glorify war (through its heroic representation of the commanders and the graphic violence) or condemn it (through the words of the leaders and the graphic suffering of those who die)? The developers at least pretend to consider the question, but don't devote enough time to its answer. F31D5B491B0B371F84C3E2A36D9064B483CBB818 (2560×1440) In the end, opposing leaders (not Kelley or William) seem motivated by the same reasonable objective, marred by a catch-22; they must end war, by uniting Japan through war.