Nioh's second expansion is coming this month

Team Ninja's samurai action epic Nioh is getting its second paid DLC pack, Defiant Honor, on 25th July.

This €9.99 expansion is set in the wintry Osaka Castle, which is based on a real historical landmark. Nioh creative director Tom Lee described it on the PlayStation Blog as "the largest and most impregnable castle of Sengoku era".

Defiant Honor will add a whole new weapon, the billy club-like Tonfa, along with new armour, magic items, guardian spirits, enemies and sub-missions.

This add-on will also introduce new difficulty levels, though it's not clear if these are to make the game easier, harder, or if both ends of the spectrum will be available. In its current form, Nioh only has one difficulty level until you finish the campaign and unlock the extra hard Way of the Strong.

In its current form Nioh is no slouch when it comes to challenge. While there may be ways of min/maxing your character to tone down the difficulty, going into Nioh cold provides a very stiff challenge, even for Dark Souls aficionados like myself. If you have the resolve to get a game over again, and again, and again, Nioh is a pleasantly punishing romp.