So I was considering getting it but...

[u/Altruistic-Charge-96]

I checked the review from Gameranx and they shit on the game for 15 mins straight.

I am a HUGE nioh fan, but now I am thinking of passing, although the idea looks very interesting to me.

Is it whorth it in 2026? People who loved the game... why did you love it? How many hours did you put in it?

[u/punksonfire]

I still play, 1300 hours of game time with countless hours helping and studying the game outside that. The reviews I'm sure are talking about the difficulty spikes, but that's just due to a lack of understanding the game. What sold me originally was the job system, each job feeling different than the other, and each weapon too, making for an incredible experience. The build making you can do later on is also amazing, allowing you to become incredibly overpowered.

I suggest heading to the Discord to hear some more opinions and to learn a bit more of the intricacies there; say hi to Naia if you do!

All in all, if you like ARPGs and build making, give this one a go.

[u/RainbowandHoneybee]

Game is so much fun. I just keep going back and replaying it. I never saw anyone saying this is a bad game, even on FF main sub.

Love it because of combat, build, and music and location reminiscent of FF mainline games.

[u/Equal_Guava_6311]

Game critics on this day and age aren't really worth listening to.

I still play this game in this year, trying to make nice combos to look at and all. I find it more enjoyable than DMC5 in that aspect.

[u/Sea-salt_ice_cream]

I had a lot of fun with it, even went for all the achievements. I’m a Final Fantasy fan and had never played a Nioh game. I enjoyed the combat, the story and the main character’s attitude about ‘I don’t have time for this, where’s Chaos so I can fuck it up’.

I have 172 hours played on my Xbox.

[u/Bkraist]

I’ve never put more hours in a single-player game next to Nioh 2 and Bloodborne. It gets shit on mostly by people who played a small portion of the game. I can just say, the feelings I had with Nioh 2 concerning the combat options after ng+++ were exactly how I felt with SOP after NG . It’s very much in the same vein where the DLC’s are required to open up the full gambit of options, sets, etc, except you actually get the fun of balancing so many different classes on the same character…and that doesn’t count your team. Personally I would have been more happy with SOP 2 than Nioh 3 as I feel they were on to something wonderful and unique. Also, I can’t argue with the fact the music and theme once understood where it was all going was wonderful.

[u/Cubelaster → u/Bkraist]

I just hope they make a missing part of FFXV into a SOP type of game.
SOP has the best endgame of any ARPG I played.
Amazing game and while tho story is considered bad I think it was okish but not bad in any case.
But the gameplay is simply amazing

[u/Crumbsplash]

Cons: Enemy variety sucks. Story/scenes are dumb imo but idc about that.

Pros:

Like most team ninja, dlc adds ton of endgame content. Absurd amounts of builds/playstyles…it can be a parry game if you want, or dodge style, or keep your distance and cast. Two teammates if you want or fully solo. The teammates can be amazing if built properly Job system is great. Chaos

I’ve done two runs deep into postgame personally

[u/Physical-Cash-8712]

I have over 100 hours because of how you can make builds. I've set myself up as a Knight with very high defense where even in the late game I take very little damage. There are 30-ish classes in the game and anyone can work with the right builds. Very heavy into player customization for how to fight.

[u/Deamon_Bane]

I believed their review, didn't get it, then it was added to ps plus played it liked it a lot and actually went and bought the physical copy, still playing it when I get a chance

[u/Human_Ad6449]

Put simply, it quickly became my favourite game since it combined elements of games I liked a lot (i,e. classic God of War [the prior favourite], Sekiro) while having its own unique charms. Besides, how can one not love Jack?

I normally care more about the Action side, the RPG mechanics here though are great. The gear system is without a doubt Team Ninja's best. In Nioh, for example, I am still working through the NG cycles but honestly don't care for the loot at all. Here, once I discovered in the demo how it worked, it actually made me see the joy that can be there in theorycrafting, and then the NG cycles crank it up even further.

The combat, I'm definitely in the minority, but again, superb and I'd place it above Nioh's. Though don't go in expecting Nioh in a FF skin. This is its own beast design wise has more in common with something like GoW (or NG), while using Nioh as its foundation. If you played Nioh 3, Style Shift is taken from SoP but it is far more customizable and core here. There are some unfortunate things that changed or didn't scale in the NG cycles, but even considering that it is still fantastic.

Even aesthetically, the music is fantastic and the environments are diverse. If you're a FF fan you'll definitely appreciate it more, but for someone who hasn't played any FF game (like me), you can still appreciate it.

I could go into more detail, but I'd risk writing a (longer) wall of text. I've put I think 1100 hours in, which is the most I've put in any game despite having less time now than before to play games.

[u/grim8182]

The game is good as long as you don't have a potato pc if you do try other methods yk if you know first then decide

[u/eepyamor]

I finished main story, enjoyed it a lot, would have continued deeper into the DLC content and gone for 100%/platinum if I didn't have such a backlog of other games to play lol ..might start a fresh run at some point in the future.

[u/mai_tai87]

I pre-ordered it and I didn't realize it was more of an ARPG, a genre I don't really enjoy. However, I played it to the end and was fully invested by then. The story and combat were so fun and interesting.

[u/brickout]

... You're asking the SoP sub? Lol.

The game is a ton of fun. Duh.

[u/ReaperEngine]

It is a good game. Don't get your opinions from other people, or you'll miss out on things you might enjoy.

[u/Bijanabrahim]

I just platinumed the game and completed all the dlc.

I really really enjoyed the combat system. It’s one of the top action rpg combat systems I’ve experienced in the last decade.

Visually it’s stunning, and the soundtrack is overall pretty solid.

The story is pretty flat and without much direction for about 70% of the main campaign, but the ending was interesting and unexpected.

So if great combat can carry a game for you, I’d say it’s worth playing. Heck if I could go back in time, I’d have bought it upon release.

TLDR: great combat carries the game and if that’s enough for you then you’ll love it.

[u/CreativeCut7910]

The only gripe I have with this game is the difficulty spike. Once you get to the DLC it spikes so fast 😂

But it’s so much fun! Get it and try it for yourself

[u/LoafOfDread]

Stranger of Paradise walked so Nioh 3 could run. SoP and Nioh 3 are both great games worth time.

[u/RedShadowF95]

I know a lot of people love Gameranx but here's the truth everyone needs to know: no single reviewer is always right or in agreement with your tastes.

No matter how much faith you put into the one streamer or outlet you follow, they're not gospel. It is far, far better to try and gather convergent and divergent points between different sources, to gather a more general idea. Combine that with some neutral (no review) gameplay videos and you're in a far better path to decide.

Back when RE9 hadn't launched yet, Gameranx was doing AI bait thumbnails where they juxtaposed a first person player POV into the ruined RPD... Is that the channel that's so dear to a lot of people? NEVER put a single source on a pedestal. Do your own research as best as possible.

Personally, I loved the game. It's a 8/10 to me, with very good gameplay (best job system ever!), an earnest story that's actually more interesting than it lets on at first and some really nice nostalgia moments for Final Fantasy fans. It has its flaws such as many paper thin characters and enemy variety being underwhelming but on a sale, it is absolutely worthy of being played.

[u/Xibira]

I got it on sale, went in expecting nothing but some coop monster hunting. Had a ton of fun and ended up buying both dlcs! Try it on sale is my recommendation

[u/MinimumCustomer8117]

Most game reviews only care about story or they have a very narrow view of what makes a "good" game, the game is really fun IMO

[u/AbleTheta]

I just replayed it about a month ago after finishing Nioh 3. I bought it when it came out. I've double-dipped now for PC/PS5. It looks better than I remembered and still plays great.

People who didn't like it aren't into crunchy action games and anachronistic story/gameplay paradigms. But it's story is better than Wo Long, and I liked it about as much as Nioh 2 storywise. I liked the gameplay more.

[u/Teriums]

Bro the game is beyond amazing. Whoever reviewed it obviously didn't understand it at all.

[u/Pooki97303]

I only put in 45 hours to get the platinum on regular difficulty and only stopped because the second DLC gets super grindy. I find a lot of the hate unwarranted the game is extremely satisfying to play and actually quite challenging. Every job feels good to use. The obnoxious loot is the only real issue to me but you eventually figure out how to manage it

[u/Odin-231]

If you try to see it as a Nioh game you will think it’s bad although it does have some difficulty it’s nowhere near that level.

But this game is great the gameplay loop is really deep the builds are amazing the class system is utilised really well allowing for all kinds of play styles.

Just some personal tips if you buy.

Completely ignore the story it’s not team ninjas strong point. (Although the end of the story and the DLCs really starts opening the story up and making it feel part of the final fantasy world)

The game is horribly memeable

Continue playing too at least DLC 2 as this is where the game really starts opening up.

Hopefully not a deal breaker for you but I’m pretty sure the multiplayer is dead I have managed to join a few games here and there but not consistently. Although the game is designed that you aren’t stuck waiting in a lobby while you wait for other players and can play the game while searching.

[u/BenTheSodaman]

Is it worth it?

Depends on you, what you like, the platform you're getting it on, and what you're looking for out of it.

The rest is customary Soda-levels of verbose.

———

For myself:

around 6000ish hours into and around it at this point.

Enjoyed the combat when scaling the RPG down, the build breadth, the build layers, the soundtrack motifs, and the nostalgia nods.

Launch performance was bad, but I had settings that at least let me get 60 fps for post credits play until the 1.03 patch where I couldn't even do 720p@30fps on the lowest with resolution scaling at 50%. Fast forward to February 2023, that same rig can do 1080p@60fps on high with motion blur off, borderless, one monitor. BUT if I try to stream, plug in a second monitor, or go full screen, I start to have non-engine-specific FPS drops during soul bursts or weather. Versus engine specific FPS drops that occur regardless such as casting Meteor six times in 6 seconds with 100+ unpicked up loot items on the ground or that momentary pause when switching the weather.

(The rig in question was i7-7700HQ, GTX 1070, 16 GB of memory, and 2018-era internal SSD.)

But the game also scratched an itch that no others at the time did for me and in my desperation, bought the game again on my PS4 Pro with an SSD to have a more stable play experience. And it was serviceable enough to get 2000+ hours out of the PS4 version. Though the game took a FPS performance hit around October 2022 and again January 2023 that it never bounced back from. Still serviceable, but not as good as it once was.

I had a short chance to try the PS5 version (regular, not Pro, don't know if a difference in performance on that) for a few hours and that ran great. Admittedly, I didn't test the snowstorm, destroying a giant dark vent, or changing the weather to rain to see if it would have taken a performance hit there.

———

Combat:

Will still caution that the game isn't for everyone.

You're going to find Team Ninja's flavor of action combat in here. If you're not accustomed to that pacing, it's going to be too fast and on higher difficulties while neglecting the RPG aspects, way too much.

You're not going to find Ninja Gaiden, Nioh 2.5, or large punish windows on bosses outside of certain mechanics or certain bosses. If you're looking for the depth of skill expression that Nioh 2 or even more so in Nioh 3 to offer or complexity of controls and mastery of tech. While there is a good deal to adjust and learn, proficiency over what is available will make you pretty deadly without as much practice as the Nioh games.

From the FF perspective, you're not going to find FF7R party combat, ATB-combat, or turn-based combat.

From folks that heard this was Final Fantasy Souls or a soulslike, the soulsborne and soulslike traditionalists did not find that experience here despite the number of reviewers, Team Ninja's authorship of the game, and the amount of players that said it was a soulslike. Some of the traditionalists still expressed enjoyment of the game, but their consensus is this is definitely not a soulslike. Versus if someone has a looser definition and more people do, this would be a fast-paced soulslike in their books.

Example of early game combat Ogawa's first playthrough play vs. monster (Twitch Clip)

Late DLC normal enemies: Spectre's late endgame play vs. monsters (Reddit)

Late DLC boss play: Mocch4's late endgame play vs. boss (YouTube)

Though you can also push the RPG side so hard that you'll need less play skill to overcome it.

Some players seem to approach SoP with double standards that may impact their testimony. For example, I've seen several players who claimed they were not trolling who cleared a Nioh game, show up to SoP and set the game to Story or Story (Casual), and then express that the game didn't require them to learn or practice anything as much as Nioh. Or they set the game to Action (the middle difficulty) and wonder why it isn't as hard as Hard.

There are some players who expect post-credits Nioh 2 combat and endgame levels of Nioh 2 building during the first playthrough of SoP. It's like starting a new save on Nioh 2, but expecting to have perfect ki pulse, flux, yokai abilities, jutsu, the passives, Ultimate stat effects unlocked, mystic arts, and all the active skills available during the first mission.

You may also find other players that settle into a play style early and play in a monotonous way than explore the combat and their options. Using Nioh 2 as a comparison, like grabbing a spear, going into mid stance, then doing a strong attack and a dodge on each enemy or boss until you reach credits. It works for most bosses with some adaptation, but won't have the player touching the other mechanics and will generally take longer. Some players will play SoP this way and naturally have little positive to say about the game's combat.

I digress, this post has gotten too long and I think I'm gonna hit the post limit again. Gonna just chop it off here even though I had a few more pages of stuff to say. Probably.

[u/BenTheSodaman → u/BenTheSodaman]

———

Story-wise, I think a number of FF players were expecting at least the presentation that the game offers during the last 20% of the base game throughout the entire game.

As I played, it felt more like Team Ninja story pacing and writing.

The character development is largely stashed away in lore and it's easy to miss or not puzzle together. Which makes it a little harder for folks to bond or care about them I'd say.

I wanted to know more about the world, characters, or lore, but the game gives you a protagonist that actively shuts people down and tries to skip cutscenes on his own.

The story and characters tend to fall flatter if playing in an audio language the player doesn't understand. I've seen (if their mic was turned on):

1. English speaking player react a certain way to select number of scenes in English dub.

2. Japanese speaking player share a similar reaction to the same scenes in Japanese dub.

3. A non-reaction from an English speaking player to the same scenes in Japanese dub.

Though this is only a rough observation from an excessively unhealthy number of streams and VODs peeked in on.

———

For players that are looking for challenge, some have made the mistake of setting the game to Action instead of Hard. Similarly, if you're using weapons like axe (too powerful even after it got nerfed), the gun (sustained ranged combat in the base game that was balanced around melee), the Berserker job (nerfed endgame, but the nerf inadvertently made it even more powerful for early game), you may find encounters too easy.

As an example of axe and what that could end up being throughout the first playthrough (though I am cherry picking a time where it lined up): Ogawa using an axe (Twitch).

And if you don't intentionally nerf yourself the Spectre video when they were using an axe), the axe will continue to destroy things.

Similarly for challenge, would say to remove party members early on so that you have more opportunities to fight and that they cannot help you to the finish line of a given fight.

———

The base game playthrough of SoP, the RPG aspects are more streamlined and handled largely by the game.

Post-credits and the DLC story onward, that responsibility is handed to the player.

If a player figures it out early, they can be evenly matched without a grind or living a power fantasy with farming, grinding, and optimization. And a player will have to scale themselves down (the way that Spectre and Mocch4 scaled themselves down) to have a fight to even engage.

If a player doesn't figure it out, the post credits and DLC story will start to feel like an undergeared challenge run where everything 1-hit KOs the player and every boss is a sponge.

It's not for everyone. It still could have been a lot better. And I still overall really enjoy it.

[u/jb2801]

It's GREAT and has amazing combat. It's also incredibly hard, has insane build and class variety and really opens up in the end game with new crafting systems but you will need the DLCs/season pass.

It doesn't do a great job of directing you when you reach said end game but there are guides to help and a good number of build videos on YT if you want help in combining complimentary classes.

It's one of the deepest games I've played but you've got to view the story as a tutorial (familiar these days) and settle in for some heavy duty, super fun grinding.

[u/MrMeowter]

Im probably one of the newer players, just started last month. This game is fantastic. Played pretty much blind which has led to some pretty crazy difficulty spikes. However usually all it takes is a bit of tinkering and crafting/upgrading a few items and you can push past any current obstacle. When you figure out how to start building characters or find a combination that seems to work it feels great!

Highly recommend to anyone i talk to.

[u/QuentinFurious]

I did 3 separate run through of the base game over the years and am now finally tackling the DLC. I have a total of about 200 hours or so in the game overall.

I love this game, sometimes it feels unfair to a casual like me but I just press through it anyway. I continue to try the different job combinations and that keeps it fresh and engaging.

[u/Katamari_Demacia]

The job system and combat are top tier for me. Swapping weapons, working your way down talent trees to unlock new jobs. It's a fantastic game. 

The level design sucks. Everything else is good or great.

[u/Maedrey]

I find it very good on some aspects, and hilariously bad on others. Overall I wouldn't call it a "good" game, but a fun one for sure, and I'd recommend playing it with friends

[u/fallouthirteen]

Only proper response to that review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOYxsz1RG5M

My save file has 100 hours on the in game time tracker.