Nioh 3 review for PC, PS5

Team Ninja is back with a third installation of Nioh, and they prove that they remain strong. Nioh as a series has long been a series that, in my opinion, does a lot to take the formula enough from a souls-like game to reasonably be called one, but at the same time does everything to be entirely different. A souls-like in a technicality only, by way of the fact that when you die, you drop your XP that you need to bank at shrines to level up, which respawns enemies when interacted with. But quick-swapping class-based twists on combat, a beautiful open world with interesting exploration, and a sprawling set of skills to choose from do everything to differentiate Nioh 3 not only from its Dark Souls inspirations, but also from the previous two releases.

So, as mentioned, if you’re familiar with the Soulslike format, you’ll know what to expect to some extent here. Hard bosses separated by the world full of enemies to kill and nooks and crannies to explore to get stronger to fight harder bosses. Skill-heavy combat ensuring you can’t just cheese your way through every fight. Respawning enemies when you go to level up or die making you have to pick and choose when to actually bank your points if you don’t want to have to fight through everything again. All the usual suspects of the genre are here, and a Soulslike fan will find themselves at home in this environment. However, there’s so much unique handling Team Ninja puts into Nioh 3 that, even fervent souls fans might come out finding themselves enjoying Nioh 3 more than even some of the actual greats from Fromsoftware, themselves. I can certainly say as a big fan of the Souls games that Nioh 3 is definitely competing for a place high on the rankings against Dark Souls 3 or Bloodborne in my head. But this article isn’t about Dark Souls, it’s about Nioh, so let’s get into the meat on what makes Nioh stand out in its own light.

The biggest, most interesting thing has to be the class system. Nioh 3 introduces for the first time in the series the ability to fluidly swap between two “classes”: the Ninja/Shinobi and the Samurai. As you can probably infer, the Ninja is faster and squishier, while the Samurai is slower, stronger, and tankier. The way this is handled within Nioh 3 though makes it so you are always playing as both. Sure, you can choose to primarily play as one or the other, but, rather than only progressing whatever you’re using, Nioh 3 gives you skill points for both constantly to ensure that you’re never leaving one behind out of preference. With a one-button swap, you’re able to seamlessly swap between the two classes in the middle of combat so you can get up close and hit em hard with the samurai, then change to Ninja and make an escape. Each class has entirely unique weapon sets and skill sets, so you will always want to be doing your best to keep yourself familiar with both while exploring and fighting the overworld enemies.

Samurai is setup such that, when played efficiently, you will always stay up close and personal with your opponent. With the unique “Ki pulse” mechanic, you’re able to rapidly refill your stamina (referred to within Nioh 3 as “Ki”) between swings. Jumping between attacking and blocking, you should find yourself always face-to-face with your opponent. Movement is slow, so you will not want to be having to get around in the fight very much. Samurai is very much the “Strength” build class of the game, bullying enemies to keep them in place and not allowing them to return fire. Mirroring Samurai, the Ninja class keeps you light on your feet with Ki recovery bonuses from timing your dodges. Staying distant and jumping in for attacks of opportunity while an opponent is recovering is the name of the game here. Ninja does more Ki damage to your opponents, so they’re much better for staggering, so long as you’re good at dodging. Ninja is, of course, the “Dexterity” build class. Managing a healthy balance between the two classes in any given fight is the key to success, but one or the other is sometimes necessary in greater screentime for different bosses. Both feel really good, and neither stands out as being more favored by the devs in my experience.

Both classes have a large assortment of gear to equip, and almost in the vein of a Diablo level overload, there is a lot of loot to be had and decide on. Gear rarities and levels dropping from various enemies give you reason beyond simple level ups to continue grinding areas if you desire. Endless possibilities for stats on each piece makes it either a logistical nightmare or a statistical heaven depending on the type of person you are, but luckily an “auto-equip” system is also present to save people like me who just want to not have to think about it. Just click the thumbstick, tell it what level of encumbrance you want, and it’ll use whatever integrated algorithm exists to slap on what seems best for your desires. Thank you so much for this function, Team Ninja. Also, there is luckily no limit to the amount of individual items you can carry, so you are always okay to push off going through everything as long as you want until you find yourself buried under a mountain of swords and armor you have to wade through (or just be like me and auto-equip things then sell everything else blindly when you realize you have several hundred pieces of gear to sort through…)

Also new this time around with Nioh 3 is their semi-open world map. Reminiscent in some ways to Elden Ring here, but with some Quality of Life differences that I think are really nice. Your map always shows you the recommended level for each area, so you shouldn’t find yourself accidentally stumbling into a Caelid-type accidental self destruction. Each map section also functions to get more detailed the more you do within the cell. There are 4 “exploration levels” available per map cell and doing more reveals more. First revealing the roadmap itself up to revealing the location of any remaining collectables and activities within each when maxed out. This system feels very rewarding in action, and it serves very well as a way to encourage you to blindly explore new areas at first while giving you some forgiveness as you spend more time to save you some time from mindless exploration of areas you’ve already covered.

Outside of gameplay, there’s not a lot to speak on a ton for Nioh 3. It’s a game that is very much trying to give you a fun gameplay experience first and story is very, very clearly not the focus. Similarly to the previous two entries, the story of Nioh 3 is, in my opinion, very weak. It definitely feels like it’s there more as an excuse to reason you through the gameplay elements and areas than it is anything else. I don’t think it’s necessarily bad for the overall health of the game, but it is definitely worth noting. Likewise, oh god, the English voice cast for Nioh has always been, and remains, wildly inconsistent. Each character sounds like they’re recorded without hearing the other person’s delivery they’re supposed to be responding to, and overall it’s very reminiscent of a cheesy english dub from the late 80s or 90s. As a person who is dubs or die typically, even I had to give up on this one and change to having the original Japanese voices.

Nioh 3 is an excellent game with very few rough edges in the moment to moment gameplay. It’s a ton of fun, well made, beautiful looking, and full of content. Another excellent addition to the series, there’s little to desire short of hoping they put some more effort into the storyline. But… that’s not what anyone is here for anyway, so you can essentially just write it off as a con. Boss fights are unique, stylish, and flow well. Chaff enemies even require you to get used to their patterns and offer a bit of challenge on their own. Everything is here to make for a stellar experience for any Nioh fan or Soulslike enjoyer looking for something new to explore. Obviously considering my notes on the lacking storyline, you needn’t worry about having played the previous games. Just hop in and give Nioh 3 a shot.

Note: Koei Tecmo provided us with a Nioh 3 PC code for review purposes.

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