Despite tweaking camera controls and other gameplay elements in light of beta feedback, Game Director Fumihiko Yasuda still considers Nioh to be a “masocore” game — that is, a combination of “masochistic” and “hardcore.”
Destructoid caught up with the developer ahead of the RPG’s launch early next month, where Yasuda noted that during development, Koei Tecmo “consciously avoided making the game easy.” First up, Yasuda-san addressed concerns over those aforementioned changes, claiming the final build of Nioh is streamlined, not easier.
“We believe ‘streamlined’ is the better expression. We are aware of such voices claiming that by improving controls and camera, the beta felt ‘easy’ to veterans from alpha demo. Nioh is meant to be a masocore game so during development, we consciously avoided making the game easy.”
Further in the interview, Fumihiko Yasuda touched base on the inspirations behind Nioh — inspirations that span much further than From Software’s Souls series.
“Nioh was influenced by [the] Bloodborne and Souls series. For RPG/hack ‘n slash elements, especially the looting system, we looked to Diablo as well as Borderlands. As for samurai depiction, we took hints from movies such Lone Wolf and Cub by Kenji Misumi and Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa, as well as numerous Japanese period pieces.”
In related news, Nioh‘s Creative Director Tom Lee was quizzed about the future of the Ninja Gaiden series by US Gamer, to which he replied:
“Maybe I can say that Nioh is a gateway into the next chapter for Ninja Gaiden. [Ninja Gaiden] is a very important, if not the most important franchise, for us. But at this point I think this franchise needs to be in the shadows for a while until we bring it back. There will be a time, and when the time is right, we will bring it back.”
Nioh is slated to hit PS4 on February 7 and February 8 in North America and Europe, respectively. A PvP multiplayer mode will be released “shortly after launch.”
[Sources: US Gamer via IGN, Destructoid]
