Where to Start · Nioh
Where to Start with Nioh
Start with Nioh — the first game teaches the stance system and the historical Japan flavor that separates this from every other masocore action RPG on your backlog.
Not Dark Souls — and that's the pitch
Combat is faster, more technical, and brutally honest about button mashing. You run three stances — low, mid, high — and the whole skill ceiling is learning to swap them mid-combo without eating a yokai slap for your trouble.
Ki Pulse or bust
After a string, you hit the pulse window and your stamina bar forgives you. Miss it and you're standing in the red with a boss windup already in your face. Nail it and you feel like you hacked the matrix with a katana.
Then Nioh 2 — but after 1
Nioh 2 is a prequel and widely considered the tighter game mechanically — Yokai Shift, character creator, smoother flow — but play Nioh 1 first so the story beats and returning faces actually land.
The series is still moving
Nioh 3 shipped February 2025 — Team Ninja isn't done with this timeline, so you're jumping into something that's actively growing, not a museum piece.
Why the first game feels different
Nioh 1 is Sengoku-era fiction built around William Adams — a real English sailor who became a samurai under Tokugawa. He's the only Western lead in the series, and the historical scaffolding is half the vibe.
Rows and prices: Nioh on GameOrder.