Nioh
After many hours in this game over the past two months, I think it may be time to finally move on to something else.
I know people point out a few flaws with this game (some lack-lustre level design, reused locations and enemies, some gimmicky bosses, too many OHKOs, it gets a bit grindy, etc.), but despite this it's one of my favuorite games in... well, a good while.
I learned a lot about the Japanese Sengoku periond, the Tokugawa Shogunate and Japanese folklore, all of which was pretty cool. The main story is a bit hammy, but it's set against actual historical event and characters and I actually like how it intertwined folklore into actual history.
What sets this game apart from all others I've played, though, is the combat and how it works in sync with the character progression and build system. It feels very fluid to play, and takes a long while to master, but is satisfying when you do. There's a really nice variety of weapons, and each has its own style and moveset (times three, actually, since the stance system changes things up as well). Skills, item and set bonuses, and ninjustu and onmyo (magic) abilities really let you mix up your approach and bring in something of a tactical element alongside the fluid combat. This all works superbly well together, I thought, and even the gimmicky OHKO bosses felt like a puzzle to be solved rather than a frustration given how much flexibility you have as a player to keep trying new approaches.
It DOES get pretty grindy through later game cycles, though, and that is why I'm putting it to one side for now (not without a pang of regret, I must admit). I stuck with it much longer than I usually do for these types of games, as I just the other day opened up the final area in NG+++. At this stage, though, you need to work more assiduously on your build to keep progressing smoothly and I was finding the drop rates on some key items (especially smithing texts) just too damn low - or RNGesus was just angry with me, I dunno. About 50 runs on one boss, 10 on another and 20 on another duo of bosses, and none of them dropped even one of the texts I needed to start to round out my build. This has sapped my will to continue, for now at least, great as the combat still feels to play with. I think Team Ninja could have easily upped the drop rate on these things by ten times and still have maintained the lure of late-game investment for hardcore players.
It gets a solid 9/10 for me, though, for how much I loved the combat and the setting (and Nekomata).
But only two pages on the game thread here. It's clearly not going to be fore everyone, but I can't but think it merits much more attention. Roll on Nioh 2's PC release!
Regional variations maybe?
Thanks for trying.
. Eventually after trying multiple things it worked and so the times it played flawlessly I tried to get through as much of the main storyline as possible fearing it would crash/freeze again. 
