Since the release of epic Demon Souls by FromSoftware Games back in 2009, the souls-like games have started to achieve great success, and the sub-genre has become explored by several other games. A souls game is a title with a great art style, graphic development, and tremendous stories but, more importantly, an extremely high difficulty level. They are made to be challenging, making players “suffer” and replay even the most simple fights several times.

This genre is the pet project of FromSoftware Games, which, besides Demon Souls, released Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, one of the two games we brought to comparison.  

But the developer isn’t the only one to delve into the niche with great quality. Team Ninja is responsible for making the other souls-like game of today’s comparison: Nioh 2. After all, which of these two samurai games is the best game?

Nioh Vs Sekiro: A Little About the Two Games

To decide which of these two games has the lead, we are about to compare several features the games offer their players. Some examples are boss fights, combat system, and loot system. But, before we compare them to decide which is a better game, let’s discuss each title individually.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Sekiro is an action game that follows the shinobi called the Wolf. In this samurai history, your objective is to take revenge on a rival samurai clan that attacked and kidnapped your master. 

The third-person gameplay focused on stealth, exploration, and combat, emphasizing its bosses. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has proven to be a unique game and was nominated for several awards, including the most wanted 2019’s Game of the Year Award.

Nioh 2

Nioh 2 is an action role-playing game developed by Team Ninja, the developer of Ninja Gaiden. We follow the journey of a half Yokai (a kind of ghost) called Hide as he begins his journey during the Sengoku Era. As Hide, you will duel Kashin Koji, a mysterious entity that serves as the game's main antagonist. 

The game presents a unique art style, distinguishes itself for the wide range of weapons and techniques, and works as a great grappling hook. That’s because it is both a prequel and sequel of the first Nioh game.  A perfect middle ground between Ninja Gaiden and a souls game such as Dark Souls.

Sekiro vs Nioh 2: The Comparison

Now that we have both games set, let’s begin the comparison and see whether Sekiro Shadows Die Twice or Nioh 2 offers a better experience for its players. 

Gameplay

The first thing we need to analyze is the gameplay of each game. And, on this matter, gamers can expect a solid experience on both. But Sekiro takes the lead on the first comparison. What impresses me most is how Sekiro Shadows Die Twice was capable of offering solid gameplay from the very beginning. 

The reflection system is incredible and makes everything more fluid. Nioh, on the other hand, is not impeccable and is passing through a list of updates to improve it as much as possible. One day, maybe, Nioh's development will be enough to put some doubt in our minds. But, as Aragorn said in Return of the King, it is not this day. Today, victory goes to Sekiro.

Visuals and Graphics

The second thing games look for most, whether for a console or PC, are visuals and graphics quality. We know how much bad or weird work on this matter can kill a good idea and turn a long-awaited game release into a complete failure.

And it is tough to define a winner here. The two games presented special care regarding graphic and visual quality, taking the best of the new generation of consoles and the most powerful high-end PCs.

With the need to give it to one side, it goes to Sekiro. The game presents more impressive scenarios for players to enjoy when they figure they finally don’t have a complicated enemy to fight against. But, on this matter, victory goes for details only, and Nioh 2 could be better for many.

Combat

Another significant feature of both games is combat, but besides having several similarities, this is not one of them – it is actually an important difference. Sekiro Shadows Die Twice favors a combination of patience and defensive posture. Of course, you can go nuts, but bosses have different attacks, patterns, and combos that deal too much damage. Many gamers will find difficulty dealing with it while fighting, but that’s the fun behind Demon Souls, Dark Souls, and Sekiro.

On the other hand, Nioh offers far more complex gameplay in terms of possibilities rather than difficulty level. Since Nioh 2 has a wider range of weapons and magic skills, it lets players decide between far more different styles, making combat more attractive in general. It also has fast-style combat, unlike Sekiro. Well, point for Team Ninja and Nioh 2.

Weapons and Skills

And, since we are already kind of talking about them, why not go to weapon types and skills both games offer? After all, this is another critical factor in the gameplay. Sekiro offers a set of prosthetic tools that players can access but in terms of weapons, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice limits players to one katana, and that’s it. 

Nioh 2 allows players to use a primary and a secondary weapon, which can make a direct difference in your stats. Besides that, Nioh 2 offers a more extensive range of skills and brings the book of incarnation, which allows players to reset their tree of skills. Besides making combat more interesting and fun, these factors ensure more replayability than Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Point for Nioh.

Number of Bosses

To finish talking about all the factors related to combat gameplay, let’s start looking at game bosses. And when it comes to quantity, Nioh 2 surely has the advantage. There isn’t much to talk about here. While playing Sekiro, you will be fighting 13 different bosses, which would not be a bad number for many games. The problem for them is that Nioh 2 has 42 different bosses. Point to Nioh 2, then.

Boss Development

When we talk about bosses, numbers are surely important, but who doesn’t like to fight that well-developed and animated boss? And here, Sekiro scores again. The art direction was incredible in many aspects of Sekiro, which can also be said about the bosses presenting next-level design. 

Sekiro has fewer enemies, so we can say that, for them, it is a matter of quality, not quantity, which we know many players will prefer. Nioh 2 enemies development is pretty good, but we can’t say it is on the same level as Sekiro. Personally, there are only a few titles that I would prefer in terms of enemy development.

Enemy Variety, Patterns, and Challenge

Besides big fights against serious enemies we learned to love, normal enemies we find along the way are also significant. Enemies' variety helps the game avoid repetitiveness and offers different levels of challenge for players to overcome.

And, regarding quantity, Nioh 2 is ahead of Sekiro in terms of numbers, but Sekiro takes the lead in caring for each enemy individually. The way enemies are crafted in Sekiro makes them far more believable and beautiful than in Nioh 2. Besides that, the work on their attacks and patterns makes them pose a real threat to players at any level of the game, which is also something we look for when discussing Souls-like games.

Story

Another big and important difference between Nioh 2 and Sekiro is story development. And this is an undisputed victory for Sekiro, and everyone who played the game will say that. The game offers far more content when it comes to stories. It is way more developed, and the characters are real and easy to care about. 

The plot will keep anyone who plays it afflicted until the end. Nioh also offers an interesting gaming experience when it comes to the story but compared to Sekiro, it is pretty forgettable, and going further on this comparison doesn’t make not even a bit of sense, so let’s turn our focus to something else.

Setting Fidelity

Besides having a great story, being faithful to the setting of your game is extremely important. It helps with immersion and keeps players interested in the game. Comparing settings becomes even more important as both games pass in the Sengoku era, a very characteristic and chaotic time in Japanese history. Besides that, both draw inspiration from real-world historical figures and the samurai epoch.

Both games offer a solid gaming experience at this point, but Sekiro has a more polished approach for this time of civil war. The game takes the fans to the story of the real Ashina Clan. 

Nioh 2, on the other hand, brings several clans with different real-world characters to interact with the protagonist. Despite the different approaches, both games put a lot of focus on being exact and faithful—from the protagonist to the weapon, armor, environment, and everything else.

The problem with Nioh 2 appears when we see the protagonist from the first game returning. The character is awesome, very likable, and has understandable convictions and objectives. Basically, the problem is that… he is Irish. It’s not a huge problem, as we see him fully equipped and doing a convincing job as a samurai. 

But, personally, only knowing that Team Ninja decided to create a European character as the main protagonist of a series that passes in the Japanese Sengoku Era makes me give the point to Sekiro. In technical analysis, it's not a big deal since they did a great job, and it would be normal for any fan who played to say they prefer William over the Wolf. But IMO, Sekiro has the lead.

Multiplayer

Another very important factor for any good gaming experience is the multiplayer possibilities. And there is no secret here. Nioh 2 beats the opponent and is totally ahead. That’s because Sekiro has no Co-Op or multiplayer, not allowing us to play with random guys or friends, which can disappoint fans. What’s more,  everybody hoped to play it online, as all the other souls-like games made by From Software before.

Nioh 2, for its time, has a co-op multiplayer for you to catch all the guys to play together. Nioh 2 allows you to play with up to two other players. This makes the game far more interesting, not to mention harder, as the number of enemies grows with the number of players in the co-op adventure. It works to keep the game at a complex difficulty level, which still makes completing the game a great accomplishment.

Loot and Itemization

Following our comparison, it is time to discuss loot, items, and gear. After all, they are extremely important to your character development, as you will need them to get stronger. 

Sekiro doesn’t have a loot system to help you gather some gear, such as that great weapon or armor. Itemization in Sekiro is limited to quick-use items, so you will only get stuff to heal or give you temporary buffs. To get stronger in Sekiro, you must keep leveling your game as you earn experience and learn new attacks. 

Nioh 2 offers far more complex loot and itemization possibilities compared to Sekiro. You would be wrong to think the game fails to present us with all kinds of stuff when it comes to gear. Powerful armor and weapons make your life at least a little easier by changing your character stats and also playing a part in the customization of your samurai. All of that without losing the challenging and kind of intuitive gameplay.

Rules are not set here, and we could say this point is far more a question of opinion, as both games are amazing, and some players prefer more or fewer items. But the point goes to Nioh 2, as more possibilities are always good and, at worst conditions, keep players’ interest for a few more hours. Not considering the stats and customization changes it may bring.

Game Pace

This is another hard topic to discuss as it is far more about an individual taste. The game pace is determined by a ton of things, but two of the most important are combat speed and movement possibilities. And, considering these two, we can say that Sekiro has a faster pace than Nioh 2. Combat in both games has a similar speed, besides being very well designed and impacting. 

The main difference between Nioh 2 and Sekiro is in the overall characters’ set of moves. Sekiro has the grappling hook, which ensures players far more mobility and allows them to reach places that seemed impossible to get. 

In Nioh 2, you feel like a heavy samurai who keeps his foot on the ground and jumps fast into battle. Sekiro shows you as a swift shinobi, who uses high-speed moves and other techniques to hit an enemy from behind or to break their defenses. As mentioned, each fan will have their preference. For us, the point goes to Sekiro.

Character Customization

Another thing that most fans generally care about is character customization. This feature becomes even more requested when talking about RPGs. 

Nioh 2 is far ahead of Sekiro on this matter. The FromSoftware Games entry has only four different outfits to choose from, and the customization features end there. 

Nioh 2, on the contrary, has several other customization features you can enjoy. The game presents a detailed character customization “center,” allowing you to play god and create your characters and determine some incredible details.

Not to comment equipment transmogrification feature, which means you can manage and make your armor or weapon have the appearance of others you like most but keep the better stats. 

Long story short – compared to Nioh 2, Sekiro’s customization is tedious.

Additional Content, DLCs, and Replayability

Last but not least, we’ll discuss additional content and DLCs of the games. They are another factor that decides the game’s replayability, so we must look at them to determine which, Nioh 2 or Sekiro, is the best game.

Nioh 2 has three different DLCs: The Tengu’s Disciple, Darkness in the Capital, and The First Samurai. Besides that, the weapons, items, skills, and customization possibilities ensure the game's great replayability, as many players would like to retry it in a whole new style someday. Multiplayer also helps, as it makes the game more challenging and allows those who played alone to have some fun with friends on a second try. 

On the other hand, Sekiro doesn’t bring new stories or missions within its only DLC. The only features are new skins, gameplay changes, and general improvements. The exception is the addition of the Boss Rush mode, where players can rush the fights against the bosses to test their abilities. Replayability in Sekiro is more related to fans trying to test their own limits and break their records. Considering all that, the point goes for Nioh 2.

Bonus: Games Difficulty

Well, what can we say besides PREPARE TO DIE? As mentioned more than one time before, Sekiro and Nioh 2 are souls-like games,  meaning they are hard and will make you suffer. Some can say that Sekiro has that artificial difficulty, where your character gives less damage than it should, making the fight last longer, and amplifying your chances of dying. Well, artificial or not, it is hard, and you will die many times.

Nioh 2 will also make you pass through several difficulties, even though some of the complaints mentioned right above don’t apply to the game. Besides getting you out off guard and making you pay for that, the loot system can make your character extremely overpowered, which can make the game far easier to break through if you have patience.

The Best Place to Get Nioh 2 and Sekiro!

RoyalCDKeys is the best place for you to get some of the best games available in the market for special prices you won’t find anywhere else!

We provide safe and working keys for all of our products. With us, you can get keys for both games Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Nioh 2. If you’re looking for Sekiro, you can get the game for PC or Xbox Live

• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Xbox Live CD Key
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Steam CD Key

If you’re looking for Nioh 2, you can get the game for PC and PS4 with us!

• Nioh 2 - The Complete Edition Steam CD Key
• Nioh 2 PS4 PSN CD Key

Conclusion

And we have finally got to an end! It was hard, just like the games are, but we made a complete comparison of Nioh 2 and Sekiro! Apart from the bonus topic, we analyzed 14 different and extremely important features of both games and finished with a tie, with both games scoring in seven topics. 

This proves how good both entries are but doesn’t answer the question of which game is the best. Well, since we have to give this answer, we’d go for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. We could start giving different levels of importance to each topic and try to find a winner. However, even that may not give a satisfactory answer. We would rather give the victory to Sekiro as we could dive far more into it than in Nioh 2, but we could easily accept the opposite answer.

For more guides, tips, and comparisons about some of the best games available, remember to check RoyalCDKeys! We have the best content to help with all your videogame doubts!