Learn more about the history that inspired Nioh: Complete Edition
The action samurai game Nioh finally hits PC this week on November 7th, as it mixes a fantastic action game with extremely rich historical context.
The end of the 16th century was a period of unification for Japan, which saw three military leaders succeeding until the battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and the victory of Tokugawa Ieyasu, which resulted in getting the Shogun title from The Emperor in 1603. This led Japan towards a long period of stability, known as the Edo period.
It is also a period of confrontation between Westerners and Japanese, following the first contacts with the Portuguese in 1542, the introduction of Christianity and firearms into the Japanese warrior culture.
The Tokugawa Ieyasu Shogun commands respect
Map of Japan drawn by William Adams around 1600
Westerners come to do business - painting dated 1600
The character embodied in Nioh actually existed. William Adams, an English navigator from Kent, who served under the orders of the famous Sir Francis Drake is brought to life in stunning detail with the hack and slash game Nioh coming to PC this week.
We note that William Adams in Nioh still looks more like a distant cousin of Geralt! ;)
From left to right: William Adams, William Adams in Nioh, Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai, Geralt in The Witcher.
Starting from Holland in 1598 at the head of a fleet of five ships, Adams landed on the Japanese coast after a destructive journey of two years. Upon his arrival, the Portuguese Jesuit priests present in Japan present him as a pirate and recommend his crucifixion.
But Togugawa Ieyasu was made his adviser and even given the title, which was never awarded to a Western samurai before.
If you've never visited the Stibbert Museum in Florence, here's what real samurai armor looks like.
A fluent Japanese speaker, a vassal at the court of the Shogun, married to a Japanese nobleman and beneficiary of a fief and income attributed by Togugawa Ieyasu himself, he worked for the English East India Company and organised a number of expeditions to Siam, Cochinchina and Tonkin.
He died in Hirado in 1620 at the age of 56. His Japanese title reads Anjin Sama (Master Pilot) and his memory is kept alive by the street named Anjin Cho (Pilote Street) in Edo and by the feast of June 15, given each year in his honour.
These historical facts inspired James Clavell's novel Shogun and the famous series with Richard Chamberlain as Captain John Blackthorne, Adams' double fiction.
And if you are passionate about the history of medieval Japan, there are plenty of other games you can experience the period with:
- Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
- Shogun Total War Collection
- Total War: Shogun 2 and the expansion Total War: Shogun 2 Rise of the Samurai
- Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai
- Aragami
Nioh is coming to PC tomorrow with the Complete Edition, you can pre-order the game right now and get your key directly after purchase from Gamesplanet.com!
This new version will add a number of improvements such as higher resolutions, 60 FPS and much more. Plus the Complete Edition will also include the three main DLC packs: Dragon of the North, Defiant Honor and Bloodshed's End! It will be the ultimate experience for anyone who has played the game on console, or for those who have never played it before.