[Nioh 2] Feel My Rage After Being Killed Ten Thousand Times!

Introduction

Rage - a game that makes me want to throw my controller. Satisfaction - a game I could play for days and nights without stopping.

The Joy of First Playthrough

Tired of "It's really fun, you should try it too" recommendations, the fun of Nioh 2 is like: If there's a button that gives you pleasure when pressed, but the cost is anger accompanied by physical pain hitting you 5 minutes later, what would you do?

My choice: Keep playing! Play until I have to stop.

This is how I felt playing Nioh 2 these past few days. The frustrating parts made me feel Illidan's rage after being imprisoned for ten thousand years - so close, but still killed by the boss. The satisfaction of gradually feeling yourself getting stronger is truly rewarding. This feeling completely took over me. I even felt that taking time to reply to messages was troublesome. If it weren't for my neck hurting badly, plus headaches, plus that intuition telling me "I must stop and rest," I really wouldn't want to put down the controller. Just let me lie on the couch and keep playing until I become the ultimate champion.

Nioh 2's boss design is really good - always making you die when you feel you're just a bit away from success. You have to try again and again, standing before the boss, facing the challenge. I remember facing Saito Toshimitsu, dying countless times, until that one time he entered low health state. I could feel my hands shaking - victory was so close. But I could feel that at moments like this, when your mindset changes, your reactions can't keep up - what they call "losing your composure."

This isn't a card game where at the end you just need to play a certain card. This is a duel between masters - the decisive moment is less than a second. Sure enough, Saito Toshimitsu used an onmyo spell, then a thrust, and I died. But the more this happens, the more my heart itches. I always feel I can defeat him if I just pay attention to a few more details.

When fighting Enenra, this feeling was even stronger. Enenra is a wall that makes many newcomers quit, but it felt like if I just fight one more time, and one more time, eventually I'll win.

The Beginning of Suffering

At the 80th hour, I really broke down. Against Hayabusa, I fought many times, getting one-shot without even touching him. This sense of defeat was too strong... My mindset completely broke. I wondered if I was really that bad at the game, even though I'd optimized my equipment to the point where I didn't know how to improve further.

Dragon Ninja

After 124 hours, you have to seek new techniques, level up higher. Ki pulse isn't enough anymore - flux, flux 2. Normal attacks don't do much damage anymore, so you start trying weapon skills, yokai abilities, and soul core combinations. The desire to get stronger makes you constantly seek better builds, but humans aren't machines. You don't have time to try every combination. Physical fatigue and pain remind you to rest. Moreover, after trying 3-5 combinations and finding no significant difference, you start questioning whether spending time on this game is meaningful.

A New Beginning in NG+5

164 hours, finally reached NG+5, even cleared it. But there wasn't much joy because I didn't do it myself - I called many visitors for help. But did I get stronger? Yes, definitely. Just the high-level equipment alone is far ahead of before. But this is just the game character getting stronger - my understanding of the game doesn't seem to have changed at all.

Two NPCs + two players teaming up to help

187 hours, yes, still haven't given up on this game. At 180 hours of playtime, I found that my previous damage methods had significant problems. I needed to integrate various weapon skills more smoothly. Simply using weapon skills or yokai abilities alone can barely deal damage anymore - and this is with my equipment nearly complete. Sometimes you suddenly kill an enemy, but sometimes you fight back and forth only to get one-shot. The core reason is insufficient burst damage. Burst damage comes from two sources: smooth weapon skill combos and dodging enemy attacks. So dodge-attack and dash-attack are must-learn content now - this is the current bottleneck.

Found a video to practice. Although I prefer exploring my own playstyle, clearly without watching others' compiled strategies, it would take much more time to figure out.

I spent 30-40 minutes on the first floor of the Underworld constantly practicing dodge-attack and dash-attack. Gradually I realized that learning is a process of constantly breaking through your own cognition. This process isn't necessarily easy, but when you keep practicing, I found the brain adapts automatically. Whenever this happens, I think of that example of swapping hands while riding a bicycle. I believe my brain can gradually adapt to this switch - it requires repetition, repetition, and more repetition. When I finally succeeded in practice, I felt really happy. Suddenly I found my dodging had improved significantly.

While practicing, I couldn't help but wonder - do those genius masters practice like me? Is my practice time shorter or longer than theirs? I accept that my practice time might be longer, but I also want to know how geniuses do it.

Also, between talent and learning - talent lets you enter flow state faster, and once you're in flow state, you simply don't want to stop because it's just too satisfying!

I also found that I've almost never entered flow state while playing controller games, because I've barely played controller games since childhood. This isn't an excuse - rather, recalling when I played PC games, over hundreds of hours there were always a few rounds where time seemed to slow down, and the only one dominating the battlefield was myself. That feeling of being in complete control is truly wonderful.

Now I'm going to rest first - my right hand feels a bit sore from switching to a different control scheme.

The Temptation of Nioh

Want to play, but don't want to get up, a bit hesitant, feels like I can't win anyway...

At the 200th hour, I gradually understood that the "Mind's Eye Awakening" stages in the dojo are meant for players to realize this truth - don't just look, but observe, comprehend, and explore your own playstyle. That is, your own techniques.

At the 208th hour, I beat the old master in Mind's Eye Awakening, and even cleared two consecutive floors of the Underworld. Equipment unchanged - I could feel what truly got stronger was my own heart.

The old master in Mind's Eye Awakening

Now I can solo most monsters!

Nure-Onna

Aberrant Soldier

Yatsu-no-Kami

Up to now at 235 hours, I still haven't escaped this game's pit. It seems new adventures are still waiting for me...

------------------2024-03-02 14:59:41 Update 282 hours, seems like I haven't gained any new insights from the game. The daily grind has gradually made me uncomfortable. I've fought all the way to the deep floors of the Underworld. Besides equipment getting better and monsters having more HP, there's nothing new to explore.