{"id":31672,"date":"2017-05-08T00:43:20","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T00:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=31672"},"modified":"2017-05-08T00:44:46","modified_gmt":"2017-05-08T00:44:46","slug":"dragon-north-review-expanding-difficulty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=31672","title":{"rendered":"Dragon Of The North review \u2013 expanding difficulty"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dark Souls-esque samurai adventure gets its first DLC expansion, but is it as good as the main game?<\/p>\n

With E3 just over a month away there\u2019s been a lot of talk recently about what From Software might be working on next, in terms of both their follow up to Dark Souls III and hopes for a sequel to Bloodborne. Supposedly there won\u2019t be a Dark Souls IV, but instead something new that\u2019s merely inspired by the original games. Which brings us neatly to Nioh. Of all the games brave enough to try and copy From\u2019s formula, it has been by far the best so far. The question here is whether the game also shares From\u2019s knack for must-have DLC.<\/p>\n

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Dragon Of The North is the first of three planned expansions, which extend the narrative beyond the end of the game to form a little epilogue trilogy of their own. Team Ninja has been pretty good about post-game support already though, starting with a free patch in March that added 10 even harder missions. And released alongside this paid-for DLC is another free update for PvP (player vs. player) competitive play.<\/p>\n

As you might guess from the price, Dragon Of The North isn\u2019t a particularly long experience, with not enough content to address most of the complaints in the original. But it\u2019s made to the same high quality, and with the same attention to detail. And, obviously, it\u2019s just as difficult as ever\u2026
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Nioh: Dragon Of The North (PS4) \u2013 as hard as you\u2019d think<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dragon Of The North is based in the mountainous Tohoku region in the north of Japan, which makes the expansion\u2019s snow-blasted vistas probably not the best-timed release of the year. Although it seems all the DLC will have a wintery setting, even as the story begins to move south. Here though it begins with Japanese noble Date Masamune, who, like most of the characters in the game, is based on a real historical figure. In reality Masamune was known as the \u2018One-Eyed Dragon\u2019, which in the game translates to him having a dragon guardian spirit.<\/p>\n

The expansion\u2019s new missions are nothing that will surprise you if you\u2019ve already worked through the main game, but the new setting does at least look quite different from the often hellish backdrops of the original. There are new enemies too, although predictably a lot are just palette swaps and minor variations of what already exists. The half demon\/half human hybrids make an impression though, and seem to hint at future enemies and story points to come.<\/p>\n

The new bosses are all viciously difficult, but if you\u2019re buying DLC for a game like Nioh we assume you\u2019d be expecting nothing less. They look great too, as boss battles have always been one of Team Ninja\u2019s specialities, but for some reason they are all extremely fast. So if your character is the slow but strong type you may have more trouble than you expect.<\/p>\n

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Nioh: Dragon Of The North (PS4) \u2013 From would be proud<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Depending on how rusty you are with the game it won\u2019t take you more than a few hours to work through the main story missions, with three story levels stretched across two maps. They\u2019re generally well-designed, with a good mix of open and narrow areas \u2013 plus plenty of secrets and Dark Souls style shortcuts. The placement of shrines sometimes seems a bit random though; we\u2019d almost say generous, although that\u2019s probably too strong a word for a game like this.<\/p>\n

Other new additions for the DLC are new guardian spirits, which again draw heavily on real Japanese mythology \u2013 in particular some of the strange ideas they have about cats (which will be especially appreciated by Monster Hunter fans). There\u2019s also new skins, Trophies, and a new class of weapon called odachi, which translates (probably) to \u2018big giant sword\u2019. You get one straight away, but there are others hidden away elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Dragon Of The North is not the sort of DLC to mess with the formula of the original, and that includes addressing its flaws \u2013 given the scant number of new enemies and maps. As a result, \u00a38 is still probably a bit too much. But assuming the other two are up to the same standards \u00a320 for the season pass seems just about right. And if the third DLC ends with a proper hint about a sequel then it\u2019ll be even more worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n