One game is getting criminaly snubbed from most GOTY nominations this year...

... and that game is Nioh

Seriously.

It's combat mechanics are arguably better then the souls games. The artstyle can be very pretty at times. Endless replayability. Complex RPG mechanics; one can beat the game and still have no clue about ninpo magic, ninja skills, etc, etc. And yet I dont see it being mentioned in most GOTY nominations at all.

Yeah, yeah, "fvck GOTY awards" and all that but, at the very least, I think publications should throw a bone towards Team Ninja for their hard work on this amazing game. They certainly deserve it cause, contrary to the dozens of souls clones out there, Nioh actually tried something different with its combat with the stance system and Chi recovery system.

So, is it or is it not unfair this game is being completely forgotten for GOTY nominations and from people in general? I guess good gameplay doesnt matter anymore...

Definitely better, like not even close lol.

Yeah, thought it was funny when both it and Cuphead got snubbed on best action at the VGAs.

Personally would've picked Nioh, but both were deserving.

A lot of great playing games still get their dues, and it's not like Nioh has been outright ignored.

But between this year being pretty stacked, along with the fact that deeper action games tend to struggle a bit more with the wider audience, not surprised that Nioh has been a bit of an afterthought.

Definitely in my top 3 this year though, it's a great game.

Nioh and Divinity: Original Sin 2 didn't get nearly enough support. :(

Nioh has the best combat system of any game I have played this year, and Divinity has the strongest and most expansive roleplaying elements of any RPG I've played this year.

I wouldn't say snubbed...this year just had too many great games to list them all.

As you mention Nioh...many others have listed Yakuza 0 as the best game they've played this year. It's really quite a roster for 2017.

I think for this reason GS is doing their TOP 10 best games of 2017 to give credit to the other amazing games that came out this year because they can't all be awarded GOTY.

I haven't really payed attention, so I didn't know Nioh didn't get any recognition. That sucks, seems like a great game. I doubt there are many games that are better than Nioh in 2017..

@Litchie: As far as combat mechanics, I can't think of a game better this year than Nioh. What little I have played of it so far has been an absolute delight. :)

Actually, I'm going to play the heck out of it when I finish work today.

Cat Quest.

I think the problem was that Nioh never got enough support it needed. Some have thought it's just another Dark Souls clone and from what I played on PC, The combat system in Nioh is also far more demanding from what I play Bloodborne on the PS4. Bloodborne came first, so it's why Nioh didn't get enough recommendations and Horizon: Zero Dawn was a new IP to the PS4 and overshadow it.

Looks like a nice game for sure

Sadly, there's always gonna be one.

I'm still salty as hell that Bayonetta 2 didn't get Game of the Year in 2014.

It launched very early in the year and maybe it just didn’t leave an impression that lasted.

That piques my interest. How does it stack up to Bloodborne?

Not really. It might be a good game to you (I didn't like it that much), but releasing in a year with BotW, Mario Odyssey and DOS2, being good is not enough. It just can't compete with genre defining games.

Never even heard of this game until now. Looks fun. I'll pick it up during the Steam winter sale.

Nioh was amazing. That same sense of exploration you get from Souls games, yet the combat system is deeper and requires more skill. Really Dark Souls only beats it in it's open world level design and Lore (unless you're super into samurai lore I guess).

So glad I get a chance to play it again on PC at high graphics settings AND 60fps.

Definitely in my top 5 for the year.

There are aspects of Bloodborne that I do prefer. It has much better enemy variety, cooler environments, and while Niohs level design isn't bad by any means, I still prefer Bloodborne in that respect.

But as far as combat mechanics go, Nioh is just on another level. It's closer to what you'd get from a proper beat em up like Ninja Gaiden, Bayo, or DMC. Takes a little bit before the combat really opens up like that, but once it does, the game lets you go crazy. The way the combo system, stance switching, and Ki (stamina) recovery feed into each makes for some really intense skill based combat.

Easily the best combat I've experienced in a ARPG.

This channel has some pretty dope combat vids worth checking out:

Honestly surprised you haven't played it yet bro. Game is dope af.

Nioh is awesome, probably my #2 for the year behind Divinity OS2

I didn't play much because I got annoyed with the difficulty.

git gud yeah yeah

It's definitely front loaded though. Once I got past the first proper boss, things leveled out. And in the late game I'd say it even got a bit too easy.

But the first 4-5 hrs or so can be pretty brutal on the first go.

Definitely agree with Op. Nioh was a bright, shining star this year. Cuphead also deserves a little more love than it got.

It's a great game, and easily ranks among my top 10 of the gen. I also think it's better than Bloodborne as well (superior combat and customization).

@Renegade_Fury: Nioh's combat is just the business, isn't it? :)

@jumpaction: It is, and the best part about it is that Nioh encourages you to experiment and learn which fighting styles suit you best without any real punishment. In the Souls games you have to plan everything out beforehand, which is one aspect I don't particularly like.

There are a lot of games that dont make it, but really thats because we had an abundance of quality games this year. 2017 is just a tough year

@Vatusus: I completely agree. Nioh is the best souls type game I have ever played. Combat is faster and more fluid than bloodborne. It's a GOTY contender in my book.

I thought you were gonna say School Girl Zombie Hunter. How disappointed I was.

@Renegade_Fury: I love how the ki pulse and flux system not only naturally allow you to explore the different stances, but also let you perform some seriously cool and satisfying combos and play the game aggressively. It's really magical! Whoever thought of that deserves a medal.

I agree, I was wondering the same thing why Nioh had such a lack of representation.

Recalling back, Nioh was pretty much the first remarkable game release of 2017, before the onslaught of all the other amazing game releases. I am concerned because it came out so early it just got overshadowed by all the other games that followed suit.

I agree as well. I dumped so many hours into that game this year. It is such a fantastic game.

One thing I will say is that the patches released around the time of the 2nd DLC made some unfavorable changes to the gameplay that really sticks out in boss battles. They no longer follow the same set of rules, where before they did. What were they thinking with that shit?

I was about to get it on PS4 but then was busy with Persona 5 and Horizon: Zero Dawn. After that it was announced for PC. I was at the end of my semester by the time it came out and got flat broke during the holidays lol. I'll get around playing it soon enough. My 4 1080 Ti's are mining but I believe I still have an old R9 290 laying around so I'll just play it on that. Now that you mention the combat is more akin to Ninja Gaiden I'm very interested. I'm having dreams about playing a game like that again.

@freedomfreak Yeah, git gud scrub. You should have known what you were signing up for.

this is what everyone sees:

another souls clone....nothing to see here

I only played the beta so take this lightly, but I didn't really care for what I played. It seemed to be weigh down a seemingly clean and good game with a superfluous loot mechanic. But like I said, I didn't really play it much.

@KBFloYd said:

this is what everyone sees:

another souls clone....nothing to see here

And those people would be wrong

At least Nier Automata is getting some love.

Well you're not wrong. Nioh could've just been a focused action game and I would have preferred that.

The loot and "rpg" busy work doesn't really enhance the core game, just serves to pad out what could've been a cleaner game while also allowing people to circumvent the git gud aspect with stats and gear. It also appeals to these game-per-square-inch gamers who put way too much stock in game length equaling value. Then you have a lot of modern gamers who need a drip feed of rewards because somehow enjoying good gameplay and improving as a player just isn't rewarding enough lol.

Basically they took a good action game and wrapped it up with elements that have a more widespread appeal. The kind of things that many ARPGs need because their combat can't stand on its own... even though Niohs combat can lol.

All that being said, I know it sounds like I'm shitting on the game, but it's still pretty great. I'm not really bothered by that stuff, and in some instances it can add to the fun. But there were a lot of times when I just wanted the game to drop the bullshit and get straight to the fuckin. As much as I enjoyed Nioh, it just made me crave something more pure like NG, Bayo, DMC, etc.

I'm definitely enjoying the combat of Nioh. It's light years above the combat of the Souls games. Only about 9 hours in the game on steam currently.

@KBFloYd said:

this is what everyone sees:

another souls clone....nothing to see here

That would be blatantly ignorant since Nioh is its own beast.