Nioh 2 Guide#
Nioh 2 was developed by Team NINJA under Koei Tecmo, produced by Fumihiko Yasuda, and is the sequel to Nioh. The stage is 1555 in the Sengoku period — a chaotic age before Tokugawa Ieyasu unified the land — and you play a half-yokai protagonist born of human and yokai parents, fighting and growing through a Sengoku overrun by yokai. As of October 2022, the Nioh series had surpassed 7 million copies sold worldwide (announced by Team NINJA on October 27, 2022).
Platforms: PS4 / PS5 / Xbox Series / PC | Release dates: PS4 on 2020-03-12 and PC on 2021-02-05, plus a Complete Edition for PS5 / Xbox Series.
Basic Information at a Glance#
Everything below has been verified through official channels and forms the factual baseline for this entire section.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Team NINJA (under Koei Tecmo) |
| Publisher | Koei Tecmo |
| Producer | Fumihiko Yasuda |
| Release dates | PS4: 2020-03-12; PC: 2021-02-05; plus a PS5 / Xbox Series Complete Edition |
| Genre | Sengoku-period yokai action game |
| Protagonist | A half-yokai born of human and yokai; gender and appearance fully customizable |
| Complete Edition contents | The base story “Awakening” through “Afterglow” chapters + three paid DLC |
| Series sales | The Nioh series passed 7 million worldwide (announced 2022-10-27) |
The Core Loop#
Nioh 2 is built around the protagonist’s dual identity as human and yokai: you fight with weapons in human form while wielding yokai power through your half-yokai blood. Understand the loop below and you understand the skeleton of the whole game.
- Engage yokai: regular enemies and boss-tier yokai attack, and some areas are cloaked in the Dark Realm — a dark domain laid over the mortal world where human ability drops sharply while yokai rapidly recover health and grow stronger.
- Burst Counter: when an enemy unleashes a powerful attack, use the Burst Counter to make it strike your afterimage. Success interrupts the enemy for a stagger and heavily cuts its ki and maximum yokai power; emptying that cap triggers a yokai execution.
- Seize Soul Cores: defeating yokai yields Soul Cores; equip one to use that yokai’s Yokai Ability, up to 2 equipped at once.
- Yokai Shift: the first game’s Living Weapon finisher has become the Yokai Shift transformation, split into Brute, Feral, and Phantom types by guardian spirit.
- Collect and grow: fell yokai, collect Kodama, and trade with Sudama to steadily strengthen your half-yokai power against deeper Dark Realms and stronger yokai beasts.
Core Systems at a Glance#
| System | How it works |
|---|---|
| Burst Counter | A counter that lets the enemy hit your afterimage; success interrupts the enemy and heavily cuts its ki / maximum yokai power. Three types by guardian spirit — Brute staggers hard, Feral carries long i-frames, Phantom leans defensive |
| Soul Cores | Obtained by defeating yokai; once equipped they grant that yokai’s Yokai Ability, with a maximum of 2 equipped |
| Yokai Abilities | Split into Phantom and Feral styles: Phantom raises a shield-like barrier to absorb attacks, and a well-timed block intimidates the opponent while restoring yokai power; Feral leaves an afterimage for a high-speed dash that deflects attacks and restores yokai power, with forward dashes homing in on enemies |
| Dark Realm | A dark domain in the mortal world: human ability drops sharply while yokai rapidly recover health and strengthen; the half-yokai protagonist can lean on Soul Cores to fight the powerful yokai beasts inside |
| Yokai Shift | The evolved form of the first game’s Living Weapon, split into Brute, Feral, and Phantom types by guardian spirit |
| Kodama | 225 in the Complete Edition (150 in the base game + 25 for each of the three DLC); once collected, choose their blessings at shrines to raise the matching drop rates |
| Sudama | Purple special Kodama; trade unwanted equipment and items for random goods of the same quality — only offering an unpurified Soul Core has a chance to return a Kodama Soul Core |
Complete Edition and DLC#
The Complete Edition collects the entire base story — the “Awakening” through “Afterglow” chapters — plus three paid DLC, each set in the Heian period and reaching back into older history:
| Content | Stage and theme | Additions |
|---|---|---|
| The Tengu’s Disciple | Late Heian period, the Genpei conflict | New story, new characters, new guardian spirits |
| Darkness in the Capital | Mid Heian period, Heian-kyo | New story, new characters, new guardian spirits |
| The First Samurai | Early Heian period, the Suzuka mountain pass, a duel with Otakemaru | New story, new characters, new guardian spirits |
The DLC also added two new weapons, the Splitstaff and the Fists. The official and verifiable sources do not carry a complete list of the new missions and rewards in each scenario, so this site will not speculate.
Platform and Version Differences#
| Platform | Key points |
|---|---|
| PS4 | The base game’s launch platform (2020-03-12) |
| PS5 Complete Edition | Haptic feedback and trigger effects, cloud saves, up to 3 PS Plus players online; 33,226 player ratings averaging 4.55/5 (as of 2026-01-29); rated 18+ |
| PC (Steam / Epic) | Customizable keyboard and mouse, broad controller support, Ultra-HD / 4K, ultrawide, HDR, and 144 Hz support, 60/120 fps with matching hardware; cross-platform online play with the Complete Edition |
| Xbox Series Complete Edition | Released alongside the Complete Edition |
PC players can claim a store bonus helmet from the in-game Shrine → Boons menu.
What Each Sub-Guide Covers#
The Chinese section keeps a full set of sub-pages; here is what each one covers, at a glance:
- Beginner basics — half-yokai openings, choosing a Burst Counter type, first steps against the Dark Realm, early Kodama blessings
- World exploration — the Sengoku stage and region framework, shrine blessings and bonus claiming, DLC stages
- Combat — the three Burst Counter types, Phantom and Feral Yokai Abilities, Dark Realm rules, Yokai Shift
- Soul Cores — equipment limits, guardian spirit affixes, farming Kodama Soul Cores
- Yokai Abilities — effect breakdowns, the yokai power cycle, links to yokai executions
- Story and world — Sengoku 1555, the main cast, characters with special abilities, the voice cast
- Hidden elements — all 225 Kodama, Sudama trading, the Hayabusa costume
- Bosses — the confirmed duel characters and boss-fight framework
- Builds — pairing Soul Cores with shrine blessings
- Item collecting — the five Kodama blessing types and Sudama trade rules
- Skills — the skill frameworks behind Burst Counters, Yokai Abilities, and Yokai Shift
- Controls and settings — input support per platform and claiming bonuses
- New Game+ — post-clear goals and what is not yet documented
- Quests and NPCs — the base-game chapters and DLC scenario structure
- Clans — Sengoku warlords and the Sohaya
- Endgame — late-game collection goals and the DLC finale
- Tips — Burst Counter timing, Dark Realm counterplay, trading strategy
- Updates — the evolution from launch to the Complete Edition
- FAQ — answers to the most frequent questions
- Gallery — visual design and screenshot appreciation
Related Games#
- Bloodborne — a gothic, high-difficulty action RPG with an equally unforgiving combat rhythm
- Elden Ring — the benchmark open-world soulslike action RPG
- Sekiro — FromSoftware’s precision-deflection action game, cut from the same cloth as the Burst Counter
- Sifu — a hardcore kung-fu action game built on precise defense and counters
- Stellar Blade — a sci-fi action game with high-difficulty combat
Related Rankings#
Best Soulslike Games · Best RPGs · Hardest Bosses
Full Guides#
In-depth sub-guides — beginner basics, world exploration, combat, Soul Cores, Yokai Abilities, story and lore, hidden collectibles, and FAQ — are available in Chinese on NTGame’s Nioh 2 section.
If you read Chinese, the sub-guide section there also covers bosses, builds, item collecting, skills, platform controls, New Game+, quests and NPCs, clans and warlords, endgame, tips, the version update timeline, and a screenshot gallery.