After a long wait full of some quiet spells, Nioh 2 has been given a release date of March 13, but players won't have to wait nearly so long to try it out. The Nioh 2 open beta, announced earlier this fall, kicks off this Friday, November 1 and runs through November 10. Koei Tecmo have announced some details about that beta. Those who have save data stored from the original game will be able to play as William, the original game's protagonist, in the beta period. Alternatively, players can also customize their own characters for the first time.
One tutorial region and a second tougher section, the Sunomata stage, will be playable during the week and a half-long beta, and players who make it to the end will then unlock an exclusive item, the Kamaitachi Helmet, for use in Nioh 2.
It's suddenly a busy week for the Nioh series. Just yesterday, it was announced that the original Nioh will be included in November's PS Plus lineup of games given to subscribers. Nioh released in 2017 to rave reviews, boasting a mighty 88 on OpenCritic with 97% of critics recommending the game. Fittingly, it was developed by Team Ninja, and also takes several cues from the Dark Souls series. To this day, it's one of the most beloved soulslike games not to come out of the series' home of FromSoftware.
In Nioh, players battle Japanese monsters of folklore, Yokai, as the blond-haired swordsman, William. The game was praised for its tense, rewarding combat. The sequel puts players in the role of a new character, fully customized by players for the first time in the series. The protagonist will always feature one commonality, though: they'll be half-Yokai themselves. Though the original game eventually migrated to Windows PC following an exclusive launch on PS4, Nioh 2 remains billed as a PS4 exclusive for now.
