Nioh tentatively has my recommendation. My comments and thoughts below are in comparison to the Souls series. While i did ultimately enjoy the game, it simply felt too drawn out in many regards.

As a Souls veteran, Nioh's main story feels kinda dragged out. This might be forgiven or even overlooked if the game did not utilize the over world map/hub as opposed to a free-ranging open world build. I got so extremely frustrated and fatigued by the mid-point that I nearly gave up.

The stamina mechanic, while solid, has a major learning curve and can be overly harsh at times - small attacks, from smaller trash enemies, can leave you open to single hit kills from a variety of foes which can be maddening.

There is a boss about 2/3 of the way through whose AOE attack is honestly some of the worst game balance since the Bed of Chaos. No way to block, dodging can be iffy, and if you roll unluckily, it can hit you twice and be a insta-death.

Additionally, the level designers felt very trigger happy with so many insta-death environmental hazards (specifically ledges on narrow passages).

My last point may or may not be on me but it also felt like the game chugged along worse than it should have on specific levels - levels where it was raining or had mist just ran super slowly despite me turning the settings I could down in those instances.

Finally a sports game that isnt the same as everything else. As long as they dont release a new one every year, Psyonix will have done good in my book.

Very fun, nice change from the normal FPS game, and with the developers expanding on the various modes, it makes it even more fun.