Jason Thomas

Brutally challenging, yes, souls like gameplay, check. Invisible walls that prevent you from using your environment to its fullest? Check. No multiplayer/invading or assisting other players? Yep. Not sure why this is getting as high marks as it is to be perfectly honest. While the game hails from souls borne type games, it’s lacking features that people from this genre have come to expect. And to say that it has removed the restrictions that souls games presented I can somewhat see, but basic things such as invisible walls as well as rag doll body drop physics when re-entering an area should not exist for a game that is 90+ on some of these reviews. While the game has some very satisfying moments, it’s not nearly solid enough in my own personal opinion to warrant a 90-92. 85 at best. And that’s being fair, 80 would be what I would want to give it. The game feels less responsive than predecessors particularly in regards to the deflect counter stab mechanic and mikiri counter / counter slash mechanic. The stealth in the game is there in small doses, but it’s nowhere near as well done as it has in past games such as Techu. The ceramic shards which you can throw at enemies realistically could also be thrown somewhere else to draw the attention of enemies in another direction, allowing for a stealth kill, instead it’s used to pull enemies toward your current location which is counter productive. As a shinobi, the darkness would typically be your friend, only at times it feels as though the enemies have superhuman eyesight and can tell right where you are, even after retreating to tall grass or shrubbery nearby. It leads to a back and forth run in run out gameplay loop that feels like your are pulling trash in an MMO. The only difference is there isn’t a party behind you and you can very well defend against 3-4 of them given how many skills you have as well as your own personal skill level. These aren’t the makings of a 9/10 game. While the graphics and some key elements have come forward, there are some areas in combat and other gameplay mechanics that have taken a step backward.