I'm looking forward to it regardless of what it is taking inspirations from (Lords of the Fallen falls under the same category and I enjoyed it for what it is). From initial looks it's a faster paced Dark Souls, yes, but there the big things that will seperate the games will be the mechanics and combat.
Might as well make the comparison from the Dark/Demon Souls viewpoint. Lords of the Fallen was a much slower game in almost all aspects of the game. Ni-Oh looks much faster than Dark Souls (possibly faster than DS3 just going by the beta) as influenced by TN's own games (such as post Itagaki NG). Ni-Oh has some kind of insta-kill mechanic that the others don't have (the closest DS comes with this is ripostes and back stabs). There are strong draws from the DS system, yes, but there is still uniqueness that you kind of can't look at going full DS (too many reviewers and modern gamers have this issue. Duke Nukem Forever is a good example. It's a bad modern game compared to CoD or other FPS games but is a great game when you play it with the mindset that the damn series never got out of the 90s).
So far three weapon styles for Ni-Oh that we know of, katana, naginata, and bow. DS and LoF had you kind of make your own way to play (LoS is the "kinda," DS definitely was make your own playstyle). Each game has it's own unique settings. DS had European medieval influences, LoS is more or less some kind of Warhammer fantasy influence, Ni-Oh is taking inspiration from Japanese myth and legends. I enjoyed each title I've played (excluding Ni-Oh) and there are certain aspects of DS games that I have had irks with that Ni-Oh looks like they are remedying their own way.
Having open minds about games that have inspirations can be a good thing.