Round 3: Which has better character customization?
All three Dark Souls games will give players the freedom to create and customize their very own personal Chosen Undead, Bearer of the Curse, and Ashen One. Whether you want a male or female character, a good-looking dapper chap, or a scrawny little thief, the choice is completely yours. All characters can wear all types of armor in the game, regardless of stats, and you can spec your character into any build you want.
At a glance, it seems like Nioh barely has any customization at all. Everyone is forced to play as William because Nioh is his story. Sure, you could unlock skins at the Hidden Teahouse, but it’s just not the same as building your character from scratch. However, if you can look past the cosmetic aspect, Nioh does actually have a lot to offer in terms of character customization.
Similar to Dark Souls, you can build your character in any way you want. You can be a tanky axe-wielder, a ninja who relies on shurikens, or even an Onmyo mage who relies on spells and talismans to get by. Even further than that, however, is the ability to customize every single piece of equipment you carry. Every weapon and armor comes with slots for Special Effects, and you can re-forge your stuff at the Blacksmith to get the perks that will best suit your play style. This means that every piece of gear is unique, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find another player who has the exact same katana as you do. Taking things one step further, Nioh’s Blacksmith also allows you to re-fashion your armor to make it look like any other piece of gear you’ve come across in the game.
With Dark Souls, the fashion variety feels pretty limited in comparison with Nioh. It’s also relatively common to see many players finding that one particularly popular armor set in the game and choosing to stick with it. This results in a lot of players sporting the same fashion in Souls. There’s a lot more armor variety in Nioh, and the ability to transmog your armor allows for some seriously creative fashion that won’t negatively impact your stats.
Winner: Nioh is the clear winner here. Sure, you can’t change the way your character looks, but you can at least make sure that everything else about your build is completely unique and different from other players.
