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Nioh PS4 Game Gets Alpha Demo, Manga Adaptation

The official PlayStation YouTube channel began streaming a video on Monday to announce that Koei Tecmo Games' Nioh "dark warring-states action RPG" will get an alpha demo on the PlayStation 4.

The demo will be available to download on the PlayStation Network Store between April 26 and May 5. Those who clear a stage of the demo will get "The Mark of the Conqueror" DLC from the PlayStation Network once the game officially launches. The game's staff will also hold an online survey during the demo to get feedback. The demo will be available in Japan during the same time period.

Japanese announcement trailer

The game is also getting a manga adaptation (pictured at right). New artist Yōsuke Katayama will draw the manga and Koei Tecmo Games is credited with the original work. The manga will launch in the June issue of Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine when it ships on May 9.

Team Ninja (Dead or Alive series, Dissidia Final Fantasy arcade) is developing the game. Koei Tecmo Games announced the game with a teaser video in September. The company then revealed in December that it will release the game in the West.

Koei Tecmo Games will release Nioh exclusively on the PlayStation 4 this year. The PlayStation Blog confirmed on Monday that the game will also launch in the West this year.

The game follows William, a blond-haired, blue-eyed samurai who arrived in Japan during the Age of Warring States, when the land was beset with supernatural entities.

Koei Tecmo Games' general producer Kou Shibusawa is working on the game. Before it merged with Tecmo, KOEI had previously announced the game, then Romanized as Ni-Oh, as a PlayStation 3 release in 2004. At the time, it was based on concepts from the late acclaimed film director Akira Kurosawa (The Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Ran).

Update: Replaced N. American video.

Source: Famitsu