A new Nioh 2 trailer revealed the game will release on March 13, 2020, and that the title's heavily anticipated open beta period would begin shortly. Nioh 2 is the follow-up to the immensely popular Nioh, a game that released with fairly low expectations attached to it and completely wowed audiences with immersive, deep combat atop some of the most dynamic visuals the Souls-like genre has ever encompassed.
To say that expectations for Nioh 2 are significantly higher would be something of an understatement. Nioh persisted as one of the more popular games in its launch year well after its release date, and has since been a reference point several critics have used when praising action-game elements. Developer Team Ninja is well-aware of the fact that fans want way more information about the world in which the game takes place, too, and the studio has decided to make Nioh 2 a prequel to the first game's narrative in order to dive deeper into what fans already found intriguing about its predecessor. Early looks at the game wowed fans with even more stylistic and pleasing combat, while hints at the story revealed it would appear things are just as interesting the second time around.
Now, Nioh 2 is doubling down on the early 2020 release window that was announced for it earlier. Team Ninja announced via the PlayStation Blog that the team would be launching the game on March 13, 2020, accompanying the announcement with a release trailer. Nioh 2's open beta period will also begin shortly on November 1, 2019, and will be available as a free download on the PlayStation store from that date until November 10, 2019. Producer Fumihiko Yasuda teased that fans will also get a look at the game's newest weapon during the beta, too, a massive blade called the Switchglaive.
Nioh 2's release date is bound to be intriguing because it doesn't appear concerned about how crowded that time frame is. Of course, The Last of Us 2 was delayed, which frees up the AAA releases coming prior to its release, but March still places Nioh 2 competing squarely with other huge winter and spring titles like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Cyberpunk 2077. It will slot nicely into its role as a PS4 exclusive that at least partially makes up for the loss of The Last of Us 2 until later in the year, though, and Sony is obviously confident in the game's ability to both perform and move copies in that timeframe.
Nioh 2 has eschewed its predecessor's "dark horse" label and should instead be considered a serious contender for one of the best games of 2020. The release date reveal trailer does little to dim that expectation, and with all the lessons learned from the first Nioh and an incredibly talented squad at Team Ninja working on the sequel, fans have a lot to look forward to when Nioh 2 lands on PS4 in March 2020.
Nioh 2 releases on March 13, 2020 for PS4.