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+---- Thread: Nioh's Twelve Year Development (/thread-3872.html)
Nioh's Twelve Year Development - DrakeVagabond - 05-18-2017
The development of the game began in 2004 internally by Koei, four years before the merger with Tecmo in 2008. After it was scrapped, production was rebooted and transferred to Omega Force, and shifted the genre to a fast-paced action game similar to Dynasty Warriors. This version was also scrapped, again due to Shibusawa being dissatisfied with the project's direction.
Team Ninja was brought on to help develop the action gameplay in 2010, while earlier staff from the original Koei team handled the scenario, having a finalized concept in 2012. The final version was released in 2017, placing the project in development for between twelve and thirteen years.
Sources:
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-nioh-evolved-from-a-jrpg-to-an-action-game/1100-6443682/
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-09-30-nioh-director-fumihiko-yasuda-on-difficulty-player-feedback-and-whats-changing
https://www.vg247.com/2017/01/23/nioh-hands-on-souls-plus-samurai-is-a-pretty-great-idea-it-turns-out/
https://www.destructoid.com/bent-not-broken-nioh-s-flexible-rigidity-370774.phtml
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j14e9zTnVbk