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Nioh 2 Review

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A brutal sequel just proved harder doesn’t mean worse.

IGN dropped its official review of Nioh 2 on March 10, 2020, three days ahead of the game’s PlayStation 4 launch, and the verdict is about as glowing as this genre gets. Reviewer Mitchell Saltzman spent the video breaking down how Team Ninja’s follow-up builds on the 2017 original’s brutal fusion of fast-twitch melee combat and Souls-like masocore design. The short version: it’s denser, deeper, and occasionally a little too much of a good thing.

• IGN awarded Nioh 2 an “Amazing” 9 out of 10 in its official review published March 10, 2020.
• The game introduces a custom-created protagonist named Hide, a half-human, half-yokai “Shiftling” with new Yokai Abilities, Yokai Shift transformations, and Burst Counters.
• Nioh 2 releases on PlayStation 4 on March 13, 2020, published by Koei Tecmo.

The Review Verdict

Saltzman’s score puts Nioh 2 firmly in the upper tier of IGN’s ratings scale, and the reasoning tracks with what longtime fans of the studio’s work expect from Team Ninja: unforgiving encounter design paired with combat systems deep enough to reward mastery rather than punish it. The review frames the sequel as an expansion rather than a reinvention, one that keeps the bones of the first Nioh intact while stacking new mechanical layers on top.

Its stellar combat depth and satisfying difficulty make the journey exceptionally rewarding.

That’s the core tension IGN lands on — a game confident enough in its combat to keep piling on systems, betting that players will stick around long enough to untangle them.

Hide, Yokai Shift, and the New Toolkit

Central to the review is Hide, the game’s custom-created Shiftling protagonist, whose half-human, half-yokai heritage unlocks abilities the original Nioh never had. Yokai Shift transformations let players briefly become a yokai mid-fight, Burst Counters give a new answer to enemy openings, and the returning stance-switching system and Ki Pulse stamina mechanic still anchor the moment-to-moment swordplay. According to the review, these additions layer on top of an already technical combat foundation rather than replacing it, giving veterans of the first game — and fans of similarly punishing titles like Hitman 3-style precision design — plenty of new depth to chew on.

Factors Slowing Project Momentum

The review isn’t a blanket celebration. Saltzman flags the game’s overlapping progression systems, inventory management, and loot mechanics as the sequel’s biggest drag, noting that the sheer volume of gear, skills, and stats can occasionally overwhelm players and slow what is otherwise a blistering pace. It’s the classic loot-RPG trade-off: more systems mean more customization, but also more menus standing between the player and the next fight. For a franchise built on momentum, that friction is the review’s clearest knock.

A Sequel That Doubles Down

What separates this review from a simple “more of the same” verdict is how firmly it credits Nioh 2 for expanding on what made the 2017 original work, rather than just polishing it. Team Ninja’s willingness to add entirely new systems like Yokai Shift and Burst Counters — while keeping Ki Pulse and stance switching as the combat’s backbone — is treated as the sequel’s biggest win, even with the inventory bloat weighing it down.

With the March 13 launch just days out from IGN’s review, the score gives players heading into that release date a clear read: expect a harder, busier, and ultimately more rewarding version of what Nioh already did well in 2017.