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Nioh 3 is the third entry on this long-running Koei Tecmo collection, coming six full years after Nioh 2 dropped in 2020. It refines nearly each a part of the core gameplay expertise, increasing it with quality-of-life enhancements and a fight system that’s match for almost anybody.
Its holistic strategy to the soulslike style supplies it with an amazing quantity of content material, huge open worlds (known as open fields) that reward exploration, quests and smaller tales excellent for the normal RPG fan, and a hack-and-slash and Sekiro-style fight combine to suit any choice.
It’s my first new recreation of 2026, and man what a begin it was. Nioh 3 does nearly every little thing proper, and I’m tremendous excited to leap again in as quickly as I’m carried out scripting this up.
A barely totally different Sengoku Jidai
Nioh 3, like a lot of Koei Tecmo’s video games, takes place in historic Japan, beginning through the early seventeenth century just a few years after the Tokugawa Shogunate was established. You play as Takechiyo, one of many Tokugawa clan who was alleged to ascend to the rank of Shogun earlier than unusual Yokai invaded Edo and burned it to a crisp.
You’re then transported again to totally different civil wars just like the Heian or the Warring States (Sengoku) interval, with historic figures like Tokugawa Ieyasu and Takeda Shingen taking part in vital roles within the story.
It’s a enjoyable tackle the standard Samurai setting, modified to suit the sport’s narrative the place challengers for the throne have demons on their facet, aiding them to ascertain a brand new Shogunate.
Within the wake of this warfare, you’re tasked with serving to eradicate the Yokai and convey about lasting peace in Japan, preventing all kinds of monsters, human, monster people, demons, and anything you may consider within the course of.
The sport locations you in enormous “open fields,” as the sport calls them, the place you finally resolve the place to go, although the story itself is supposed to be skilled in a selected means. However you may more-or-less ignore most of what the sport tells you to do and discover at your individual tempo, leveling up and coming again to proceed the plot once you really feel prepared for it. The maps are very paying homage to Elden Ring‘s on this respect, although they’re extra streamlined and conventionally separated into leveled zones.
This doesn’t imply you’re barred from going to a zone even when underleveled, however it will likely be a major problem to beat (very like going to Caelid first in Elden Ring could be).
The maps are crammed to the brim with content material that rewards exploration and the inquisitive thoughts. From mini-games chasing cats round to achieve highly effective upgrades to bases that want capturing to world bosses and epic battles, every little thing is correct there, ready so that you can encounter it. The liberty of the way you strategy it’s a main spotlight for Nioh 3, and it actually enables you to choose and select your battles with out locking you right down to singular approaches.
There are additionally numerous quests you may choose up that present up on maps so the place to search out them however don’t maintain your hand after they’re being solved. In reality, there’s no map path taking you on to the hunt both, so the thriller of quests that we’ve grow to be used to in soulslike video games continues to be there, albeit rather more approachable.
The story itself isn’t all that nice, and I didn’t pay an excessive amount of consideration to it. Although I’m a giant nerd for the Sengoku and Heian durations, that is to this point faraway from the precise issues that it barely even passes as a Jidaigeki (interval story).
I’ll say character designs, the Japanese voice performing (the English dub is straight-up horrible), and the grand scale of what’s occurring play into the vibes of Nioh 3, and people vibes are off the charts. I beloved each single bit that needed to do with the artwork fashion and character designs on this recreation, whether or not they’re random grunts or enormous, imposing dudes like Takeda Shingen and his generals, amongst others.
Among the greatest Soulslike fight ever
Whereas the world and the exploration are nice and all, Nioh 3, being a soulslike recreation, stands out essentially the most with its fight.
You’ve two types: Samurai and Ninja, every outfitted with literal dozens of weapons and armor sorts, in addition to full-blown ability timber, combos, martial arts, ninjutsu, you identify it. One is oriented round slower, extra methodical fights (the Samurai), whereas the opposite rewards fast-paced, relentless assaults and dodging (the Ninja).
You possibly can swap between every on the go, and plenty of fights will reward you for those who use each on the identical time.
The Ninja can sneak round, use highly effective and lightning-fast assaults, dodge to evade, and make the most of Ninjutsu (more-or-less spells) to nice impact. I spent a lot of the recreation because the Ninja, however style-swapping is a crucial a part of the gameplay and a few bosses positively had been simpler to beat because the Samurai than the Ninja, seemingly as a result of the previous is extra heavily-armored and based mostly round turn-taking and protection slightly than unstoppable onslaught.
The Samurai, nonetheless, could be performed very like you’d play Sekiro, highlighting deflections as a substitute of dodging and blocking. This a part of the sport is so well-done they might’ve simply made it the default setting, although Nioh 3 loves to offer you choices for every little thing so this, too, is your individual to resolve what to do with.
The spellcasters within the again shouldn’t fear both. Even when the sport actually needs you to play melee, there are various methods to embrace the Samurai Wizard inside you with summons, Ninjutsu, and different spells you’ll find across the recreation.
Talking of summons, Nioh 3 does an amazing job with its summoning system. You possibly can place down summoning markers and gamers can usher in your character into their world to battle alongside them (the characters are AI managed). However, for those who die someplace, as a substitute of merely leaving a blood pool behind you want Darkish Souls does, Nioh 3 turns your demise right into a summonable revenant that others can battle to achieve Glory and even some loot out of your character’s stock.
Don’t fear, you your self don’t really drop something or get adversely impacted in case your lifeless character finally ends up dropping. The winner, although, can really earn rather a lot.
After all, no soulslike fight system could be full with out the bosses. To say I beloved them could be an understatement, with every boss being very totally different from the one you’d fought earlier than, with distinctive skills, movesets, benefits, and weaknesses. The problem additionally varies, however I didn’t encounter any boss that didn’t have some apparent or obtrusive flaw that was simply ready there to be exploited.
Even essentially the most difficult bosses had one thing that might be used in opposition to them, or a really apparent moveset, or had been vulnerable to a selected weapon or mixture of assaults, and so forth. One boss did really feel a bit “bullshitty” to me, however I simply summoned an AI-controlled buddy and we beat him to a pulp (even when the AI died on the half-way level).
You’re additionally given a strong shapeshifting means that prices up as you battle which could be of large assist in powerful fights. You possibly can regain the bar after dying, making subsequent makes an attempt simpler if issues go nearly proper and also you’re capable of change form and go berserk on the boss.
Unfair spawns and different features of what I take into account synthetic issue had been nowhere to be discovered. Versus video games like Hell is Us which noticed soulslike fight as nothing greater than dozens of tremendous sturdy one-shot enemies in a room, Nioh 3 takes its issue very critically and makes every little thing as truthful as it may be.
As long as you’re across the identical stage because the enemy, you should not have any hassle getting by the problem, even when it takes you many makes an attempt.
It’s nice for everybody
Nioh 3 is probably going going to be remembered as essentially the most common soulslike on the market. It has deflecting for Sekiro followers, an enormous open world for these extra aligned with Elden Ring, cool and truthful boss fights like Darkish Souls 3 had, and twisted horror of Bloodborne.
High quality-of-life enhancements and streamlined mechanics make it essentially the most refined soulslike expertise I’ve ever had, and it’s going to be powerful to return to older titles that don’t take away all of the horrible and unfair bits like crappy enemy spawns, unhealthy gank fights ( you, Elden Ring), repetitive bosses, buggy platforming, and so forth.
Nioh 3 could be tough across the edges generally in its leaping, platforming, and efficiency bugs (although it runs nice more often than not). Nevertheless it’s an incredible expertise all all through, regardless of not having essentially the most attention-grabbing of tales.
However, then once more, most Soulslikes don’t.
