Nioh 3: The Kotaku Overview

Nioh 3 is a risk-taker. Shaking up what followers have come to anticipate from the sequence, it tosses out the outdated formulation of easy missions and replaces them with an open-world twist that works shockingly properly. Within the midst of wandering the hidden corners of Japan, gamers will discover unbelievable secrets and techniques and evocative battles, however what’s gained from this formidable scope is simply as usually hampered by a shocking lack of problem and a deadweight story that fully overstays its welcome.

When Nioh launched in 2017, solely two years had handed because the arrival of Bloodborne and the market wasn’t fairly as flooded with action-RPGs of that kind. Whereas many such video games have come since then starting from the spectacular Lies of P to the extra middle-of-the-road The First Berserker: Khazan, when Nioh launched, there weren’t as many choices for extremely fast-paced “Soulsborne” experiences. Workforce Ninja was forward of the curve, kicking off a sequence full of intense boss fights, responsive gameplay that contrasted with FromSoft’s weightiness, and a quintessentially Japanese sensibility mixing historic fiction with broad epic storytelling. And it kicked ass.

Nioh 3 continues this custom and thrusts gamers into the position of Tokugawa Takechiyo, grandchild of the well-known shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Awakening one morning to seek out the capital metropolis underneath assault by a military of demonic yokai, Takechiyo is finally whisked again in time to the war-torn Sengoku interval. This kicks off adventures that take you thru every kind of fantastical locations as Takechiyo works to stop future tragedies, all brought on by a mysterious Nice Evil Demon Man.

To match this epic scale, Nioh 3 makes one very huge change to gameplay and construction that breathes a contemporary little bit of life into the yokai-smashing antics: it shifts (principally) to an open-world design. Break up between a number of maps, Nioh 3’s world is expansive and full of areas that you could sort out in principally any order. Whereas there’s a primary story route if you wish to preserve issues targeted, the higher rewards come from wandering off the overwhelmed path. You may discover a hidden dungeon full of loot and even run right into a boss out within the wild. There’s many surprises.

It’s onerous not to attract comparisons to 2022’s Elden Ring however the extra apparent and significant antecedent is Workforce Ninja’s personal Rise of the Ronin. Adapting classes discovered from that open world, Nioh 3 expands the likelihood area of the sequence and at the most effective moments, that are normally discovered on the much less rigidly structured early maps, enjoying Nioh 3 is surprisingly enjoyable. You’re by no means far-off from one thing fascinating and time will soften away as you discover.

Infrequently, this construction builds distinctive tales. In a single early recreation map, I wanted to dispel some boundaries so as to attain the Nice Evil Demon Man; every of the boundaries was guarded by a boss. As a substitute of going the route which Nioh 3 meant, I moved in reverse order and hit the highest-level boss first, encountering a tough soldier who fought with a cadre of summoned demon minions. It wasn’t the toughest battle however the reality I may lower my very own path to face this problem is an actual testomony to Nioh 3’s world design. It was loads of enjoyable.

This openness begins to constrict as the sport strikes alongside and among the most fascinating maps are much less a group of “zones” than ranges related by corridors. The freewheeling early recreation provides technique to a extra conventional endgame and whereas which means shedding the liberty that helps Nioh 3 stand out from friends, followers of the prior video games will admire the prospect to dive into extra demanding and targeted dungeons explorations with a bit extra spice. 

Essentially the most spectacular of those are areas going down inside one thing known as “the Crucible.” This hellish pink nightmare realm envelops sure castles and hideaways, populating the world with extremely aggressive monsters. Take injury in these areas and a portion of your well being bar is eliminated solely till you possibly can assault a couple of monsters and undo this dire debuff. Nioh 3 continues the sequence’ mixed-results degree design on the subject of dungeons—different video games are merely extra intelligent—however shifting between open-world exploration and Crucible areas is at all times thrilling.

This all comes with the sequence’ adore it or hate it strategy to loot. Workforce Ninja motion video games are full of loot, even essentially the most primary enemies popping into multi-colored pinatas of weapons, armor, and different goodies. Development is sluggish however sure as you choose up a barely higher helmet right here or discover a uncommon spear there. For gamers who hate stock administration, it could be annoying to often pause exploration so as to dump further gear or break it down for crafting elements. Sickos who love shiny issues and the joys of slowly optimizing their character over the course of prolonged journey, in the meantime, may have a blast. The gear rains like manna from Heaven.

How does this all play out while you’re preventing the baddies? Isn’’t that what that is all about? The quick pitch is: fight kicks ass and Nioh 3 stays a best-in-class motion recreation. The messier model is that for all the thrill, your victories aren’t at all times satisfying.

The traditional knowledge on the web is that video games journalists are chumps who don’t know the right way to play video games. They’re weak-willed and fully unable to finish essentially the most primary of tutorials. I’m afraid I have to complicate that cliche by saying that Nioh 3 is just not solely the best of the Nioh video games by a large margin, it’s also maybe the best of this explicit model of Soulsborne recreation that I’ve performed. A few of the causes for this are good, some are unhealthy.

On the high of the listing is the truth that Nioh 3 has refined what was an already stellar and responsive fight system into what may simply be the best-feeling motion recreation I’ve ever performed. That’s proper! This recreation is usually too straightforward as a result of the gameplay is so goddamn good. The slightest contact of the analog stick permits for pinpoint actions on the battlefield, parry and dodge timings are intuitive and well-communicated, and your assaults circulation gracefully irrespective of your selection of weapon. Nioh 3 feels wonderful and persistently provides you the instruments to succeed. 

The particular sauce that turns this action-burger right into a taste bomb not like any of its friends within the style is the brand new capacity to swap between a Samurai fight stance and a Ninja stance. With the easy push of a button, you possibly can change from the extra conventional samurai type, that includes dependable weapons like swords and spears and axes, to a flashier ninja type. The samurai type is the one which Nioh veterans have come to know and it’s outlined by the power to modify into totally different sub-stances. A “low” katana stance, as an illustration, consumes little or no stamina however principally cat-scratches enemies. In the meantime, a “high” stance shall be a lot slower and go away you open when you miss however break the enemy’s guard.

Within the Ninja type, you’ve gotten entry to fast weapons that don’t do a lot injury however can stagger enemies with their unrelenting stress. You may also fill up on totally different ninja instruments starting from elemental talismans to poison or paralysis-causing shuriken, and far more. Swapping between these stances on the proper prompt interrupts harmful enemy assaults, staggering them. Nioh 3 is consistently encouraging you to alter your weapons and stances to fulfill the moment-to-moment wants of a battle. Consequently, you not often if ever really feel ts a loss for choices mid-battle.

This technique, a variation of the job-changing motion that Workforce Ninja experimented with within the underrated 2022 motion title Stranger of Paradise: Closing Fantasy Origin, signifies that Nioh 3’s gameplay is very customizable and every participant will discover their very own particular person methods of expressing themselves in fight. And whereas these two modes don’t really feel excessively totally different from one another, they’re distinct sufficient that you simply’ll actually have a favourite preventing type.

If that already appears like so much, brace your self. I’ve not even talked about the truth that finally every stance can finally carry two weapons—a samurai might need a katana and the reworking switchglaive—and you may also fill up on totally different magical spells and summons unlocked by consuming the left-behind souls of fallen yokai. After I say that Nioh 3 is the best recreation within the sequence, it’s in the beginning due to how easy it’s to adapt to new challenges.

You may begin with a battle together with your switchglaive within the “medium” stance that has it take the form of a spear. As you poke at a boss and study its assaults from a protected distance, you may acquire the boldness to modify to Ninja type and assault it with a flurry of small blows from a pair of tonfa, timing your dodges for the final second—good dodges principally preserve stamina—till you may get behind them and assault their again for double injury. 

Because the boss goes right into a rage, you may then determine to fall again solely and summon the soul of one of many bosses you beforehand defeated to assault with a particular capacity, possibly a hard-hitting lighting nuke assault. You’re always making micro-decisions all through your battles and the efficiency of those choices will usually imply that even the gnarliest demons don’t stand an opportunity.

That stated, I’d be mendacity if I unnoticed the truth that for a surprisingly massive stretch of time the enemies you encounter don’t supply the best challenges in and of themselves both. In a single story part, an ally warned me {that a} foe was “a presence more powerful than we’ve ever faced.” That wasn’t true; they died on my first try. Mileage will range from participant to participant however this was a typical incidence in my playthrough. It took till possibly my fortieth hour earlier than I began encountering bosses that felt threatening, and that’s a very long time for issues to really feel “easy.”

When difficulties reared their head in my playthrough, solely a few of them had been because of the designs of the bosses themselves. Ultimately, Nioh 3 does begin to pull out the usual methods so as to add problem to encounters—two-phase boss fights, assaults that have to be completely dodged—however when you’re a participant who doesn’t intend to do many aspect quests, it’s extra doubtless that the risk will merely be honest-to-God numbers. By the top of my playthrough, I used to be almost 30 ranges beneath what the sport really helpful. This meant I died in a single to 3 hits from mainly every thing and whereas that generated loads of pleasure, it happened not due to intricate boss design or sudden gameplay shifts that shook my playstyle. It was simply statistics.

For some gamers, Nioh 3’s surprisingly managed problem curve may show a real disappointment. For those who’re somebody who comes to those video games for the grand boss battles, I’m sorry to say that lots of them is not going to reside as much as your expectations. For those who’re a extra informal participant, I anticipate you’ll hit a wierd mid- to endgame spike that hampers your momentum.

Within the moments the place gamers do encounter one in every of Nioh 3’s extra demanding sections, it gives the extra-help options which have now develop into attribute for the sequence. Chief amongst these is a capability to spend simply farmable supplies to summon the ghosts of different participant characters. These non-player-controlled shades deliver an additional set of palms into boss fights or else assist filter out obstacles as you progress by way of ranges. They’re not the neatest companions however they are often very useful. If one way or the other that’s not sufficient, you possibly can spend your trinkets at a checkpoint shrine to summon an precise participant into your recreation that will help you as a substitute. Nioh 3 is greatest performed with out an excessive amount of further help and barring a couple of moments, such assist isn’t essential. 

A few of this may increasingly sound actually dire, particularly in mild of the truth that, once more, I feel that is The Greatest Feeling Motion Recreation Collection Ever. Nioh 3 is each some of the enjoyable video games I’ve performed when contemplating the moment-to-moment gameplay, and likewise some of the irritating video games I’ve ever performed on the subject of construction, tempo, and particularly narrative.

Whoever wrote this recreation’s story has fairly presumably by no means learn a narrative of their life and it’s solely doable that they’ve by no means spoken to a different dwelling human being. The preliminary leap again to the time of Tokugawa and people fateful Sengoku battlefields is acquainted sufficient and the time-traveling idea creates fascinating prospects to increase the scope of the story past what the sequence normally gives. With out spoiling what which means particularly, this journey actually finally ends up entering into shocking instructions. The issue is that they forgot to jot down characters or give gamers a motive to care about something that’s occurring all through the narrative.

Complaining concerning the story in a Nioh recreation can really feel a bit like complaining a few free T-shirt you bought at a rock live performance. Who cares? You weren’t even right here for that shit anyway. I’d usually agree if not for the truth that Nioh 2 managed, despite some clumsiness, to have a compelling story due to a well-written buddy relationship between the participant character and their charismatic pal Tokichiro. Humble beginnings grew right into a tragic epic that related to the unique recreation. Not excessive artwork however enjoyable stuff! It was the most effective form of pulp storytelling.

Nioh 3’s story, similar to it may be stated to exist, is a principally flat affair that lacks loads of the vigor of earlier video games. The core forged is smaller, opting to keep away from the earlier video games’ cavalcade of historic cameos, however they’re extremely underwritten. A few of this can be a matter of construction since you may get extra nuance and character beats by way of aspect questing, however it’s extra trustworthy to say that Nioh 3 doesn’t actually have a narrative. It has a group of zones and maps bridged along with the thinnest of connections, and whereas the sport’s massive scale might please gamers in search of essentially the most bang for his or her buck, it drags out the story far longer than is welcome.

By the point I had confronted the Nice Evil Demon Man for the third time just for a cutscene to play wherein I used to be teleported away by somebody saying “Actually, this next section of the game is where you will finally defeat the Great Evil Demon Guy,” I made a wrathful gurgle touched with a ferocity I didn’t assume my coronary heart may maintain. The stage was set, the story had considerably discovered itself and led us to a climax. This was it. Simply kidding! Demon’s in one other fort! Not solely that however the unhealthy guys are going to attempt the very same plan you prevented a number of occasions earlier than!



The irritating a part of Nioh 3’s lack of ability to style a compellingly paced narrative comes from a way of wasted potential. That annoying shift away from what I assumed can be the climax was instantly adopted by among the coolest stuff within the recreation. Taking a leap that I’d hoped the sequence would make for years (which I’ll once more not spoil right here), I out of the blue felt like I used to be enjoying a Nioh recreation once more! They might do all of it alongside! The degrees had been replete with fascinating gimmicks, the fight continued to circulation, and to my amazement I used to be lastly encountering cool characters.



That is the basic core of Nioh 3. It manages to take big structural dangers and the result’s that what could possibly be an incredible epic feels extra like quite a lot of half-written story pitches stitched collectively by an ape with a nail gun. I’ve by no means performed a extra inconsistent recreation inside this style, each when it comes to narrative focus and problem curve. And but despite that dissonance, which dominates hours and hours of a recreation that doesn’t know when sufficient is sufficient, the excessive factors are genuinely magnificent. When it’s good, you can be hooting and hollering.

Even so, within the worst moments of the sport I used to be neither pissed off by hardcore boss fights nor aggravated on the methods wherein the open world finally contracted. As a substitute, Nioh 3’s most dire moments did one thing I not often encounter when reviewing video games: they merely bored me.



All of this to say that the problem of Nioh 3 is never discovered inside a boss battle enviornment. The true problem of Nioh 3 is one in every of endurance. In overstaying the welcome and failing to craft compelling causes to push ahead and discover the world or see this story by way of to the top, it in the end calls for an excessive amount of belief from the participant. Grant it that belief and you’ll, on occasion, be handled with genre-defining high quality. And but despite these highs, I’d not fault anybody who poured dozens of hours into this recreation solely to expertise one other time-direspecting rug pull for deciding to not solely shut the sport off however by no means boot it up once more of their life.

I’ve spent loads of time stressing the negatives of Nioh 3 nevertheless it ought to be reiterated time and again that in case you are in search of livid motion that forces you to always make fascinating selections in the midst of a battle, that is the sport for you. Nobody does it fairly like Workforce Ninja. Different video games might need extra evocative worlds and extra realized characters. They may supply harder bosses to sort out. And but after almost a decade of reviewing these video games and lots of others inside this style, I imply it once I say nothing else performs like Nioh.

Nioh 3 additionally does one thing that established franchises, particularly at the moment, generally appear allergic to: it takes dangerous swings to modify up a beloved formulation. Within the moments the place every thing aligns and the shift to a extra expansive, exploration-focused expertise fires on all cylinders—creating shocking tales and distinctive victories—it’s not onerous to think about how successive video games may construct on these adjustments and proceed to supply additional pleasure.

In my evaluation of Nioh 2, I stated that the sport’s style was one wherein “you are with swords what Mozart was with music,” and that’s by no means been extra true than in Nioh 3. You’re not at all times participating on this lethal dance and the downtime between actions can really feel interminable, however as soon as the chips are down you in all probability gained’t care. You’ll sprint and parry, sneak and backstab. And it’ll really feel so good that you simply’ll eagerly push by way of all the additional bullshit  to your subsequent battle.