Nioh

Nioh is set in 1600 within a fictionalised dark fantasy version of the late Sengoku period, a time when the clans of Japan were at war prior to the unification under the Tokugawa shogunate and the beginning of the Edo period. Amidst the fighting and high death toll, yokai have appeared and begun wreaking havoc across the land: major yokai threats that appear in the game include Hinoenma, Jorōgumo, and a Yuki-onna born from the spirit of the wife of Oda Nobunaga following the Honnō-ji incident.[2][5]

The game's main protagonist is William Adams (Ben Peel[6]), a blonde-haired Irishman who arrives in Japan in pursuit of an enemy. While there, he crosses paths with Tokugawa Ieyasu (Masachika Ichimura[6]) and his ninja servant Hattori Hanzō (Toshiyuki Morikawa[6]), forming an alliance against both William's enemy and the yokai infesting Japan. William is trained in combat by Yagyū Munetoshi, Hōzōin In'ei and Marume Nagayoshi.[7][8][9] The main antagonist is Edward Kelley (Hiroyuki Kinoshita/Nicholas Boulton[6]), a Westerner driving the conflict using his dark alchemical abilities under the order of John Dee (Timothy Watson), chief advisor to Queen Elizabeth I.[9]

William also crosses paths with numerous historical figures from the period: these include Ieyasu's allies Ii Naomasa (Jun Fukuyama[6]) and Honda Tadakatsu (Tesshō Genda[6]); daimyo Kuroda Yoshitaka (Yōhei Tadano[6]) and his son Kuroda Nagamasa (Hiroshi Tsuchida[6]); Ieyasu's main rival Ishida Mitsunari (Takahiro Sakurai[6]) and his allies Shima Sakon (Keiji Fujiwara[6]) and Ōtani Yoshitsugu (Kenyuu Horiuchi[6]); Tachibana Ginchiyo (Shizuka Itō[6]), head of the Tachibana clan, and her husband Muneshige (Eiji Hanawa[6]); hostile mercenary Suzuki Magoichi (Yasuyuki Kase[6]); Yasuke (Richie Campbell[6]), a former favored vassal of Nobunaga; the Date clan including Date Masamune, Date Shigezane and Katakura Shigenaga; Sanada Yukimura, Sarutobi Sasuke and the Sanada Ten Braves; and Tenkai (Takayuki Sugō[6]), a monk of the Tendai Buddhist sect and master manipulator of yin and yang magic.[5][8][9][10][11] Original characters include Okatsu (Emi Takei[6]), a female ninja in Hanzō's clan who holds a dislike and curiosity for William;[7] and Fuku (Risa Shimizu[6]), Tenkai's disciple.[9]

The game opens with a narration by William describing Amrita, a mystical golden stone found in abundance in Japan that is sought by the government of Queen Elizabeth I to secure victory over Spain. William was one of those contracted by the queen to obtain Amrita, but afterwards was imprisoned to keep the Amrita a secret. Held in the Tower of London, William breaks out with the help of his Spirit Guardian Saoirse, a water spirit born from the prayers of his village who saved him from death when he was a boy and now prevents him from dying. William is confronted by Edward Kelley, who seeks Japan's Amrita. After trying to kill William, Kelley uses his Ouroboros spirit to steal Saoirse and transports himself to Japan with William in pursuit. Landing in Japan in 1600, he fights Oni that are ravaging the area, receiving aid from Hanzo Hattori to help find Kelley in exchange for fighting Oni. On one of his first missions, William is joined by a Nekomata, who tells him that the delicate balance between good and evil spirits has been disrupted by the past century of war in Japan. Possession by Nekomata allows him to understand Japanese.

William's work against the yokai and saving key figures earns him Ieyasu's favour, while Mitsunari and his supporters align themselves with Kelley, in hopes that Mitsunari can create a land not wholly ruled by the strong. William aids Ieyasu in fighting powerful yokai, despite learning from Okatsu that he murdered many of his family in a ruthless bid for power—Okatsu being one of Ieyasu's illegitimate daughters who escaped by becoming a kunoichi. Kelley continues to plague William, including impersonating Tachibana Muneshige in an attempt to undermine Muneshige's wife Ginchiyo; resurrecting Oda Nobunaga's wife Princess Nō, as a yukionna; and draining an Amrita seal keeping evil spirits from ravaging Kyoto. William succeeds in stopping the spirits with help from Tenkai and the Nekomata, who sacrifices itself to give Tenkai time to restore the seal. A later encounter sees William saving Okatsu from Kelley's control, then escaping with her when Ieyasu arrives and Kelley attacks, though Ieyasu is willing to let Okatsu die.

Events come to a head during the Battle of Sekigahara, where William faces off against first Ōtani Yoshitsugu—who uses Kelley's alchemy to empower his weakened body—and Shima Sakon. With Sakon defeated and Mitsunari's army routed by Ieyasu's forces, Kelley convinces Mitsunari to allow a ritual to offer the lives of his 300 men to animate a Gashadokuro that William defeats with help from Hattori and Tenkai. Ieyasu has William pursue Mitsunari, fighting him when Kelley transforms him into a yokai-hybrid before returning him to human form, resulting in his capture by Ieyasu's forces. William pursues Kelley to a hideout where he disrupts his attempts to resurrect Nobunaga, Kelley flees while Nobunaga's close friend, Yasuke, duels William. William heads to confront Kelley in Nobunaga's reconstructed castle, being subdued by Nobunaga's resurrected form before Nobunaga rebels against Kelley's control. Cornered and defeated, Kelley uses Ouroboros and Saoirse's energy to resurrect Yamata no Orochi. William defeats it, then learns from the dying Kelley that he was gathering Amrita to be sent back to England for his master John Dee. Having reclaimed Saoirse, William decides to disappear, allowing Hattori to avoid killing him on Ieyasu's orders and report him dead. This saddens Okatsu, who had begun to care for him and thought him different from other samurai.

Following Mitsunari's execution, Ieyasu establishes his family's rule, setting the Edo period in motion as an era ruled by humans and hiding the truth of the yokai and William's involvement. Three years later, William returns to England and confronts Dee, who offers him a partnership to guide England towards world conquest following the death of Elizabeth I. Upon refusing, Dee activates an elevator around his chamber, bringing William and himself into a secret tower where massive stores of Amrita are seen, Dee then absorbs energy from the crystals and transforms into a monstrous apparition known as Hundred Eyes. William defeats Dee, blinding him and thus neutering his magical abilities. Before leaving, William notices one of Hundred Eyes' magical orbs, and after receiving a vision of Hattori's death at the Siege of Osaka, decides to return to Japan.

The story is continued through downloadable content (DLC). In Dragon of the North, William returns to Japan where he is reunited with the resurrected Nekomata, and where the Tokugawa shogunate is opposed by Yokai under Date Masamune. But Masamune is supplied with Amrita by a Spanish spy named Maria, who escapes and offers her services to Toyotomi Hideyori, as the means to create more chaos in Japan to capture and use the Amrita for the glory of Spain. Since its naval defeat to England, the Spanish Empire was a shadow of its former self and hoped to use Amrita to regain its status as a world power. In Defiant Honor, William searches for Maria while helping the Tokugawa army deal with Sanada Yukimura. In Bloodshed's End, William plays a role in the Siege of Osaka as he defeats Hideyori, revealed to be a golem created from Amrita. Joined by Yukimura, who had his ninja vassal Sarutobi Sasuke assume his identity to fake his death during the Battle of Tennōji, William confronts Lady Chacha as she transforms into a Nine-Tailed Fox demon in an attempt to kill them. Chacha is defeated, and Yukimura remains by her side as Osaka Castle is consumed in flames as the Genna Era begins. William and Hanzo continue to hunt Maria.

Early promotional artwork for Nioh. While the majority of its original elements were dropped, the setting and blonde-haired protagonist remained constant throughout the game's development.[16][17]

The original version of Nioh was based on Oni, an unfinished script by Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa.[18] According to Yasuda, this initial version "just crashed", and the team had to start all over again. The only elements to survive into the final version were the setting, the protagonist being a blonde-haired foreigner, and the basic scenario concept: the narrative was otherwise changed into an original story based around the life of William Adams, an Englishman who became a samurai serving Ieyasu, and the events of the Sengoku period.[13][16][19] While the original Kurosawa script was dropped in favor of an original story, artistic elements and battle movements were inspired by other Kurosawa pictures such as Yojimbo and Seven Samurai.[16] The earliest draft of the new original story, created by the scenario writers of the Kessen series, gave the main character a leading yet unrecorded role in the events of the Sengoku period. This version was almost entirely scrapped.[20]

Development on the title first began in 2004, when it was designed as a traditional Japanese role-playing game.[13][21] It was being developed internally by Koei, four years prior to its 2008 merger with Tecmo.[18][19] Development of this initial version ran from 2004 to 2008, lasting approximately four years before all work up to that point was scrapped.[22] The role-playing version was scrapped by Shibusawa as it did not have enough fun elements within it.[15] Production was rebooted and transferred to Omega Force, a division of Koei Tecmo, and shifted in genre to a fast-paced action game similar to their Dynasty Warriors series.[21][22] This version was also scrapped, again due to Shibusawa being dissatisfied with the project's direction.[21]

Team Ninja were first brought on in 2010 to help develop the action gameplay. It was at this stage that the title began evolving into an action role-playing game.[17][23] When first presented with the project by the Koei staff, Team Ninja were skeptical about the project, unsure of its Western protagonist and setting, wondering if it was intended to be another Dynasty Warriors-styled game.[23] Development was fully transferred to Team Ninja in 2012, with subsequent production lasting around four years. Up to this stage, only the basic concepts had been finalized, but when Team Ninja began full development the project solidified into being a full action title.[13][21][23] Team Ninja's staff handled the gameplay aspects, while earlier staff from the original Koei team handled the scenario.[15]

The alpha version was completed in August 2012.[24] The team originally used the Ninja Gaiden engine, and Shibusawa was again concerned as he felt the game was turning into a Ninja Gaiden clone; a cited example was a scene where William was swinging an enemy with his bare hands. Yasuda was brought on board around this time. Hayashi struggled to make the gameplay work for a samurai character, and after half a year halted development again. When Koei Tecmo began producing games for the PlayStation 4, Shibusawa and Koei Tecmo CEO Hisashi Suganuma asked Hayashi to develop Nioh for that platform. Once details had been confirmed, this version took three years to develop.[20] In total, the project was in development for between twelve and thirteen years.[13][21] Shibusawa said fan expectations of the game in Japan were the only reason the game was not cancelled.[20]

Once production of the game was confirmed in 2014, Shibusawa said the team needed to reexamine the planned narrative.[20] During early talks, Yasuda and Hayashi disagreed about what type of narrative they wanted, as Yasuda wanted to make something closer to Ninja Gaiden and Hayashi wanted a sombre experience based around war and death. The focus on death was drawn both from the setting and lore surrounding the Bushido samurai code. The game's opening in the Tower of London, which had a sinister reputation and folklore surrounding it, played into that theme.[20] The overall theme of the game was the cycle of life and death, which was represented by both William and the enemy yokai.[12] Yasuda was responsible for the yokai hunting aspects of the narrative, something Hayashi strongly opposed.[20]

While a Western main character was settled upon for the final game, the initial concept had a native Samurai as the main protagonist in an original story. As the Koei staff had a history of developing historical titles such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Nobunaga's Ambition, they decided to base it on historical events.[25] The Sengoku period was chosen as the game's setting due to it being a fertile period in Japanese history for an action title. Shibusawa was also fascinated by Adams' exploits, and the story came to be based on the major events in his life and iterations within Japan, then an isolated nation. They also added fantastic elements such as yokai.[13][19][22]

A major influence on the story was James Clavell's 1975 novel Shōgun, which focused on a fictional English samurai based on the real-life Adams.[26] The character of William was initially conceived as a Western pirate who became a samurai, then shifted into his current form.[27] His general design changed little during production, but minor details were altered over the years.[20] The game's singular focus on death contrasted sharply with Team Ninja's earlier works, which had also incorporated mild erotic elements.[12] At the management's insistence, brighter or comedic elements such as the kodama were added.[20]

A notable element of the story was the casting of high-profile actors in the lead roles, with many providing both voices and motion capture. The team wanted to bring the characters to life and fully express the historical aspects of the narrative. While the Koei staff had a strong background in games using historical figures, they had focused more on stylish presentation than subtle expressions during story sections.[20] While the majority of the cast spoke Japanese, William spoke English. Initially this was to have been reversed, but the team thought it unrealistic even within the team's fantastical take on the setting, so they adjusted it. It also represented how William could communicate well with others despite a language barrier.[25]

When Team Ninja were first involved with the project, they performed much trial and error testing to find a gameplay style best suited to the game's tone.[28] When the project was given to Team Ninja, Shibusawa told them "to complete the mission of creating Nioh". The decision to give the project to Team Ninja was heavily influenced by the success of Dark Souls and other similar titles, dubbed by some as "Masocore" due to their difficult, yet rewarding action gameplay.[19][21][29][30] Many at Team Ninja were fans of the Souls series, and credited their surge in popularity with saving Nioh from possible cancellation and allowing progress for development of the game.[19][21] Other influences included Bloodborne, Ninja Gaiden, Onimusha and Diablo.[26][31] The main aim for the developers was to emulate the tough gameplay of both the Souls series and their earlier work on Ninja Gaiden while also making it accessible, fair and rewarding for players.[19][21] Rather than outsourcing an engine or carrying an engine over from one of their other properties, the game engine for Nioh was built from scratch.[25]

While the combat was extensively influenced by Souls games, Team Ninja's use of loot was more heavily influenced by the Diablo series, as they wanted combat to revolve around player skill rather than gear acquired through combat.[26] The gameplay incorporated elements of samurai combat from popular culture.[16] Historical accuracy when it came to weapons, armor and fighting styles dominated the gameplay design, which resulted in shields not being added as they were not used in combat by samurai.[26] Each boss, from yokai to human enemies, had their own appearances and tactics.[27] The yokai were all drawn from Japanese folklore, although their designs underwent slight alterations from their original forms.[26] A recurring element for the yokai bosses was how they were designed: first they decided the initial form and impression, then the developers added an element which would catch players off guard: for instance, if a yokai appeared beautiful, they would become ugly at some point during the battle.[27]

A manga based on the character and setting, called Nioh: The Golden Samurai (仁王～金色の侍～, Niō: Kin'iro no Samurai), was written by Yosuke Katayama and began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Magazine starting in May 2016.[37] The manga ran for twelve issues until May 2017. It was collected into three tankōbon released between February and May 2017 by Kodansha.[42][43][44] An official soundtrack, featuring all 45 pieces of music from the game, was released in Japan on February 15.[45]

A demo version of the game, dubbed the "alpha demo", was released on PlayStation Network (PSN) on 26 April 2016. The demo was available until 5 May. Completing the demo unlocked access to a free downloadable content (DLC) pack dubbed "Mark of the Conqueror". This demo was released so Team Ninja could receive feedback from a future online survey to improve the game's mechanics.[46] The demo was downloaded by 850,000 people worldwide, and feedback was positive overall aside from recurring complaints about its lack of tutorials, high difficulty and awkward control scheme.[47] Based on this, the team made a number of changes and tweaks to the gameplay.[14] A second "beta" demo released from 23 August to 6 September. It featured new stages, additional weapons and revamped gameplay based on the feedback from the alpha demo.[11] Like the alpha demo, downloading the beta demo gave free access to DLC content, this time a pack dubbed "Mark of the Warrior" alongside the original "Mark of the Conqueror" pack. They again undertook a survey of players, and made numerous adjustments and additions to the game based on this feedback.[48] The game's delay from 2016 to 2017 was caused by these adjustments.[29] A third demo, called "Last Chance Trial", was made available from 20 to 23 January in North America and Europe. It gave access to both prior DLC and a final reward for the full game.[49]

Producer Fumihiko Yasuda, at a presentation at Tokyo Game Show 2018, later attributed Nioh's success to the "demo strategy", saying that aside from getting feedback from users, the demos also had the aim of showing players they were being listened to, "which they hoped would result in players being more supporting of the game".[50]

Nioh opened at number 2 in the UK sales charts.[70] Retailers Amazon and Walmart sold all their stock of Nioh within the first week of release.[71] It sold 75,477 copies in its first week in Japan, entering the charts at number 2.[72] On February 24, 2017 Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja announced that Nioh had shipped over one million units worldwide within its first two weeks of sale. The numbers included retail shipments and digital sales.[73] By February 2020, the game had shipped over 3 million copies worldwide.[74]