Game review: Nioh 3 (PS5)

Team Ninja was first made famous for its Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises in the past. However, the developer has made several Souls-like games in recent years, including Rise of the Ronin and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.

The studio's most successful Souls-like franchise, though, is Nioh, which started as a PS4 exclusive back in 2017. Nine years later, Team Ninja is back at it again with the release of Nioh 3 for the PS5 and PC platforms.

The first two Nioh games were different from the likes of Elden Ring and Dark Souls because they featured separate levels as opposed to one huge open-world environment. For Nioh 3, though, the formula has changed because this new game features several open-world levels set in different time periods.

Before you begin your journey, all players are required to create their own character from scratch. Your character's name is Takechigo, and they are destined to become the next Shogun. However, Takechigo is betrayed by their own brother called Kunimatsu, who also wants to be Shogun.

The story then pivots to Takechigo hopping between different timelines throughout the entire game to stop the invading threat of Yokai (demons). There are tons of demons in this game, and a lot of them are not easy to kill!

A new game mechanic that has been introduced in Nioh 3 is the ability for you to swap between Samurai gameplay and Ninja gameplay instantly with a press of only one button. You are free to favour a certain type during your tough journey against the Yokai.

The Samurai class is the more traditional style of Nioh gameplay, where you have a ki pulse and changing weapon stances. The new class is the Ninja gameplay that allows you to dodge faster and have access to several different ninja tools that can be refilled when you attack enemies. I opted to play as a Ninja throughout the entire game, mainly because of its superior speed.

As aforementioned, Nioh 3 has a different structure from the first two games because of its open-world level design. The open world is filled with collectables such as the returning Kodamas, scampuss cats, chijikosm, and even hidden bosses, just to name a few.

What I like most about Nioh 3 is the 14 weapons that are available in your arsenal. My favourite weapon in the entire game is the new Ninja sword. This sword has a similar moveset to the Ninja Gaiden games, including the famous Izuna drop! Unlike in the previous game, you don't need to buy DLC to unlock it here.

Another new feature added to Nioh 3 is an area called the Crucible. The Crucible is controlled by the Yokai, and your goal is to defeat the boss and destroy the spike to cleanse the entire area.

The only annoying part about the Crucible is that it includes a new mechanic called 'life corrosion'. This is where your health bar decreases to a certain rate when you get hit, but the sad part is that you cannot replenish your health using health elixirs until after you leave/complete the area.

One thing I feel that will overwhelm new players is the number of different gaming mechanics that have been included in Nioh 3. Aside from the new mechanics I already discussed in this review, players will also have to remember the old mechanics from the previous games, too. If you feel lost, I suggest seeking a guide to familiarise yourself with all the game's mechanics.

Another thing that might annoy newer players is the game's high level of difficulty. Much like many other Souls-like games, there is no easy mode in this game, so you cannot tone down the difficulty if you are struggling against a certain boss in the game.

That being said, I advise most players to level up above the recommended level in order to beat the bosses in the game. All you have to do is go around the open-world environments and kill lots of bad guys to level up. Surprisingly, none of the bosses in Nioh 3 took me three or four hours to kill like the first time I played Nioh 2 before launch!

Nioh veterans also don't have to worry too much about the new open-world environments because the map will guide you where you need to go most times. I didn't get lost as I did when I explored the Elden Ring DLC locations!

As for the graphics, Nioh 3 isn't a graphical powerhouse like Horizon Forbidden West or Death Stranding 2, but it's an improvement over the PS5 versions of both Nioh and Nioh 2. I'm just a bit disappointed that Nioh 3 has so many recycled enemies from past games, though. I was hoping newer enemies would have been introduced.

Despite having some minor flaws, Nioh 3 is still an excellent sequel to an underrated series. The gameplay is fast and satisfying, plus it adds new gameplay mechanics to make things feel fresh. You should definitely play this game if you love the Souls-like genre.