Ni-Oh Alpha Demo Gets Some Feedback, Major Changes Ahead
Ni-Oh's Alpha ended some weeks ago and some players have been sent surveys on what they thought of the game. Earlier this week, developer Team Ninja released some info on what those survey results were.
Ni-oh was regarded for its brutal difficulty, but some players thought it was a little too brutal, especially in the early levels. Team Ninja aims to rectify that by re-balancing the difficulty, tutorials to explain some of the game's mechanics, redone controls and camera angles when locked on to an enemy, and some changes to the user interface.
The charts for the survey results are split up by region, and vary wildly. It appears players in Asia did not take to the game, especially the crushing difficulty. Players in the Americas enjoyed the game, rating it as 60% "Very Good" overall.
60% Very Good Overall
The Americas seemed to enjoy the alpha demo the most, with the highest percentage of "Very Good" ratings.
Only 18% Very Good, not looking so hot
Asia didn't seem to like the game nearly as much, with the game's difficulty seeming like the biggest detractor.
50% Very Good, in line with America
Europe seems to be in agreement with America, making it even stranger that Asia territories disliked it so much.
43% Very Good, 40% Good. Not a bad split.
Overall, the world at large I believe liked the game, but it seems enough was said from players to warrant some major changes in the final release. Early on, enemies were incredibly powerful, with some even strong enough to end the player in a single swing. Stamina management was crucial, running out of stamina (or Ki) left William winded and open to attacks. Moreover, it seems durability is being completely stripped out, which seems an odd change to me, as I'd heard nothing of durability being a problem. It even changed up my strategy when determining which weapons to use against which enemies; simply exploring the world and getting familiar with the area, I'd use lower strength weapons to save durability of stronger weapons for stronger enemy and boss encounters. It added a bit of strategy and depth but seems that will be lost now. Bummer.
Ni-oh will be launching later this year, so hopefully these changes will help to appease angry players and bring in more audience. All the same, you've still got my money Team Ninja. Please just let me have the game soon...
