I may not have come back for the hot moment, but I personally loved both 2017’s Nioh and 2020’s Nioh 2, and stand by the opinion that they were probably the best Souls-like games you could play at the time, outside of actual FromSoftware games.
While the first two games offered solid combat mechanics and sometimes brutal difficulty spikes, Nioh 3 feels like the biggest surprise and biggest step forward for the series to date. It’s simply expanding on just about everything that worked the first time, whether it’s the move to an open world or new combat stances, and I’m absolutely here for it.
If you’re a fan of the first two Nioh games, I can’t recommend this third one enough.
new samurai on the block
Like the first two Nioh games, Nioh 3 doesn’t do much to bring the story to the forefront of the experience. There’s definitely a little more interaction as you spend time with additional support characters and guardian spirits, special animal spirits that can be equipped to support you in battle with special skills and abilities.
Set in 1622, Nioh 3’s story begins immediately as players take control of a fully customizable protagonist known as Takechiyo Tokugawa. Takechiyo is appointed as shogun, and his younger brother Kunimatsu becomes angry and jealous. Kunimatsu harnesses ancient evil powers to unleash demonic beings known as Yokai to devour the land. Takechiyo is then taken away, initially in 1572, in order to right his family’s past wrongs and defeat the yokai that appears to be giving Kunimatsu power.
Capture in-game
Players travel through time to several different historically inspired eras, each with their own unique visual flair and open-ended world to explore. The only problem with the whole story is that the gameplay takes a backseat as the game progresses, and the stakes only really increase as you near the end. Neither Nioh nor Nioh 2 had the strongest story to begin with, and generally relied on gameplay to do everything, but Nioh 3 improved on so many aspects that I wish it had been treated the same way.
However, that doesn’t mean Nioh 3 isn’t challenging or boring. Players can also take part in 50 Crucible challenges scattered throughout the story. These challenges essentially serve as more challenging showdowns against unforgiving enemies. You’re fighting for special loot here, but if the usual challenge of simply playing through the story wasn’t enough for you (trust me, it is), there’s another layer to work on in the meantime.
There are also plenty of collectibles, including 13 Masters that unlock new skills for certain weapon trees, and Jizo statues that will help you while in the Crucible.
I wish there were a little more enemy variety as you progress through each historical era. That said, there are still quite a few bosses to fight, and they are all incredibly unique and visually impressive. In the process, you will also be given exploration levels. This basically rewards you based on how much you actually explore the open world. This is the main concern I have with open world games. Because without any motivation, the freedom of exploration is not so impressive. In this way, your time in Nioh 3 doesn’t feel like a waste, but rather a reward.
Credit: Koei Tecmo
Finally, you can also play Nioh 3 with two other friends in three-player co-op. Just complete the opening mission, find the first shrine, and you’re good to go. You can summon Acolytes (AI controller companions) to defeat more powerful enemies, even on your own.
Overall, Nioh 3’s core experience doesn’t feel lost for fans, but the larger open-world setting makes it feel like the next natural evolution of the series without forgetting its more challenging roots.
Choose one or two stances
Like its predecessor, Nioh 3’s strongest point is its combat. And I can’t really convey how great this combat is. Nioh and Nioh 2 had some wonderfully brutal combat, but Nioh 3 takes it a step further by adding new stances, including a dedicated ninja style that essentially changes your weapon and moveset on the fly. You can also parry enemy special attacks, allowing you to continue your onslaught with your newly chosen style.
Samurai style acts as a standard fighting style, which gives you access to two different stances. Low stance suppresses attack and defense power, making it more reliable in close quarters combat. High stance, on the other hand, allows you to deliver more devastating blows at the expense of defensive reaction time. Certain weapons may be more effective and enemies may be more susceptible to certain stances, but if you’re confident in your skills you can usually get away with either.
However, the biggest change in combat is the new ninja style. This can be activated by pressing R2 on the PlayStation 5’s Dual Sense controller, for example. Ninja style creates a unique set of moves, and you can also choose a secondary weapon to use here. I chose dual katana for my ninja style attacks. As a result, he was able to perform a flurry of rapid swings and slashes, even though his stamina bar, known as Ki, took a huge hit. Again, you can equip up to three items that will help you in battle.
Credit: Koei Tecmo
While Ninja Style can seem effective at times, you’ll usually always have to rely on Samurai Style at some point, thanks to Ki Pulse. Pressing R1 on the Dual Sense will instantly restore combat readiness to the player, saving a bit of Ki in the process. This action takes a little getting used to and is pretty much required in the Samurai style, but it saves you more money than you might think.
The fact that these two styles give you different moves and abilities is enough to make your head spin. But if that’s not enough, Nioh 3 offers skill trees for both styles as well as each stance. Along the way you will find a ninja or samurai lock. These locks give you points that can be used to unlock certain abilities at will. I can’t even begin to describe what’s on offer here, but I will say that this is one of the most impressive and diverse skill trees I’ve ever seen in a game.
If that’s not enough (trust me, I know), you can also upgrade your levels by praying at shrines that act as checkpoints, like in classic Souls. These temples also allow you to fast travel between temples, while the experience points you collect, known as amrita, can be used to upgrade more specific statistics such as constitution, heart, satmina, strength, skills, intelligence, and magic, all of which enhance your overall effectiveness in combat.
Nioh 3 now allows players to collect equipment and loot along the way, allowing them to equip the most powerful gear on the spot with the tap of a button. This is a great system, with the game dropping a fair amount of loot early on and gradually becoming more effective. But as with any randomly generated loot system, things can get a bit difficult and frustrating as you progress.
Credit: Koei Tecmo
That’s simply because as you acquire the game’s more powerful items, your chances of getting high-end gear feel a little less likely, and as a result, the feeling of solid progress feels a little less. That being said, it’s only in the second half that it really feels like this.
The fact that Nioh 3 has been able to maintain such balance from the beginning is truly a feat in itself. Combat is consistently impressive and satisfying, to the point where the brutal difficulty feels justified given that most deaths are caused by the player’s lack of skill rather than game mechanics. This is the best in series history, and that’s really saying something.
look at the part
Nioh 3 looks great overall, filled with vibrant color palettes and impressive lighting as you navigate these unique eras and environments. The character models and overall textures are also decent, and while enemy variety is slightly lacking, at least they look great.
Things work out relatively well, but it depends on how you choose to do it. Performance mode aims for 60 FPS and usually stays at 60 FPS. For example, this is the mode I recommend for almost all players using the base PlayStation 5. While frame rate drops are relatively rare, they can make the game look a little muddy, sacrificing draw distance in the process. Resolution mode certainly adds a noticeable level of clarity and detail to the environment. Although it runs at a virtually stable 30 FPS, it’s not the way to play games that rely on reaction time and benefit from higher frame rates.
Capture in-game
PlayStation 5 Pro users can get a higher resolution of 1440p at 60 FPS, but for more intense boss battles or when there are multiple enemies on screen, a certain drop, however small, feels inevitable.
final thoughts
Overall, Nioh 3 takes what made its predecessor great, while upgrading and expanding on it accordingly. The new Ninja style brings surprises to the already great combat, adding a level of depth and fluidity perhaps never seen before.
Every inch of the open world feels rewarding, although the somewhat minimal story and randomly generated loot can be annoying at times. But given that the core gameplay is always at the forefront of the experience, it’s hard to miss. The team, or Team Ninja, has created some of the best work in the series to date.
4 1/2 stars (out of 5 stars)
Highlights: Great combat with new ways to play. Explore an open world and different historical eras. Expanded skill tree adds even more depth to combat
Cons: Randomly generated loot can be frustrating. The story sometimes takes a backseat
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Platform: PlayStation 5, Windows PC
Available: Currently
Review was conducted on a PlayStation 5 Pro using an activation code provided by the publisher.
A featured header image was also captured in-game.
