I especially like how smoothly it switches tones. While I was never concerned in William's personal tale, I fell in love with Nioh's colorful ensemble of characters and the epic scope of their collective journey, which establishes an incredible tone for more than 70 hours of adventure: a wacky combination of history and fantasy that gives an unexpected lightheartedness to what appeared to be an overly serious action game. William is terribly undeveloped, but his journey through the misty mountainsides, war-ravaged towns, and horrible battlefields of 1600s Japan remains engrossing, owing to visits by other important historical individuals such as the enigmatic Hattori Hanzo and the powerful Tokugawa Ieyasu. You take on the role of a fictionalized version of actual sailor William Adams, who transforms into an almost hilariously absurd demon-slaying action hero during Japan's Sengoku era. Nioh's tale serves mostly to add spice to your quest. The Dark Souls gene is present in this title, and nothing is stopping that. We're on the same page if this sounds familiar. Doors open from only one side for no apparent reason. Elevators are triggered via floor switches. Its adversaries are strange and bizarre, and boss battles are lengthy tests of patience and ability. Its surroundings are bleak or stormy, and levels need carefully investigating locations in order to discover shortcuts and surprises. You'll fight through gauntlets of foes in pursuit of the monster at the conclusion of each mission, armed with a variety of samurai-themed equipment. Nioh's is an action game that focuses on familiarizing yourself with adversary attack patterns, maintaining your Ki, and avoiding or blocking strikes while seeking for an opening to strike. Instead, the game is one that brings some much needed creativity to the table. Nioh: Complete Edition is a title that has some clear inspirations on its sleeve, but it manages to avoid being a blatant copycat. There aren’t many video games that are able to wear their inspirations as proudly as this one.