From Software’s Dark Souls has become incredibly popular in recent years, so it’s only natural for other developers to want to take a shot at mimicking the series. The most recent attempt is by Team Ninja, of Ninja Gaiden fame, with Ni-Oh.
GameSpot reports that during the 2015 Tokyo Game Show, Team Ninja held a closed door gameplay demo which they have since posted for our viewing pleasure.
In the demo, which you can check out above, we see the player character, named William, exploring an abandoned village at night. Combat is very similar to Dark Souls; players methodically dodge and strike studying enemy patterns, learning the best time to strike, and all while managing stamina. Souls fans will also notice how similar Ni-Oh’s UI is to Dark Souls. What Team Ninja offers that is new to the Souls formula is the stance system.
At various points in the game, the player would choose one of the four stances available, which alters the way William engages the enemy. It’s not totally clear what they do but it’s a safe bet that players can upgrade their favorite stance since the walkthrough also gave us a look at the leveling system, another thing Souls fans will recognize.
Overall, Ni-Oh looks like a Dark Souls game set in feudal Japan, which should be pretty cool. It will be interesting to see how much Ni-Oh will set itself apart from Dark Souls and how Team Ninja’s past experience with Ninja Gaiden will influence its design.
Ni-Oh currently doesn’t have a release date, but is planned for release later this year.