Nioh 3
Developer: Team NINJA
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Platforms: PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: February 6, 2026
Price: $69.99 USD – Available Here $129.95 AUD – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to a third game in a series, most fans tend to think that the development team has gotten things down pat and have found a nice rhythm, especially in a genre as well-trodden as Soulslikes have been. What fans don’t expect however is there to be a six year gap between games and as well as a completely new take on the game’s usual direction but that happens to be exactly the case here with Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo’s Nioh 3. While the first two titles followed fairly strict pathing with a few extra exploration options and the ability to revisit older missions for rare items or collectables, Nioh 3 not only introduces a number of open world, or as the developer describe “open field,” locations alongside the dangerous dungeon-esque locations now called Crucibles but an entirely new fighting style as well. With Nioh 3 diverting so heavily from its established formula while still sticking true to its hardcore difficulty, will fans come away satisfied with this latest battle between samurai and yokai?
Story
It is worth noting that players do not need to have any knowledge from the first two Nioh games to understand what happens in Nioh 3. Those who are familiar with the games will catch various references and some nice cameos. As for the game itself, players will take on the role of a customizable character called Tokugawa Takechiyo right as they are set to be appointed as the new shogun of the era. Unfortunately, while most of Edo is preparing for the joyous occasion yokai begin to swarm in and slay everyone in sight. It is only with the help of Takechiyo’s attendants and trainers, including Hattori Hanzo, that they manage to make an escape to the tunnels beneath the city.
Just as it seems like escape might be within reach, a blade pierces through their last mentor’s body and the one holding it is none other than Takechiyo’s younger brother Kunimatsu. Consumed by his hatred for the line of succession passing him by, he has willingly given in to the power of yokai to claim the lands for himself. After Kunimatsu’s power nearly slays Takechiyo, their guardian spirit manages to transport them back in time to the Sengoku era where they find themselves right in the middle of a war between the struggling forces trying to survive in a war-torn land and Takeda Shingen who has aligned himself with yokai. With nowhere left to turn but to try and save those that are within reach and potentially change the future by altering the past, it is up to the player to test their mettle against the strongest yokai and human forces of not only the Sengoku era but two others as well.
Nioh 3 takes some fresh risks when it comes to telling its storyline. Not only does it work to set itself apart from the past entries while still trying to tie-in some guest appearances here and there, it also balances it with the fact that players will be time traveling between three different eras besides the Edo period that they begin at. Surprisingly, this works out rather well as players are able to witness not only the various changes that Japan has gone through in these eras but interact with countless historical figures from these time periods as both allies and enemies. In fact, the way each location contains its own unique storyline in a way is even more impressive thanks to the way the plot begins to weave everything together. The overarching storyline is handled fairly well with a few surprises here and there to keep things interesting, especially in regards to the identity of a certain ally players will find helping them in every era.
One thing that is nice to note is that the game does feature side-quests called Myths now thanks to its “open field” nature. That isn’t to say that Nioh 3 bogs players down with these, since most locations only feature a few to start with and increase in number as players progress, and the plus side is many of these side quests tend to be quite interesting. Not because of the objectives, since they tend to boil down to simply slaying enemies in specific locations, but the stories that they provide. Thanks to the fact that the locations players are traveling through are overrun with all manner of yokai, these quests can come from lingering spirits, those hoping for some answer to their prayers, and even those clinging to vestiges of hope that never had a chance. This makes these side-quests feel important as it provides some extra context to the world and story. It is also worth noting that even “looting” corpses in the environment can serve as little lore drops of the location through short death echoes left behind in their bodies, especially ones up on hard to reach locations or tucked away in locked rooms.
Gameplay
Nioh 3 brings with it as many changes as one could possibly expect from the third game in a series. Sure, there are still the core elements there with regards to high difficulty combat and intense boss battles that most players will likely need to battle against countless times to surmount but numerous other aspects have been refined, expanded upon, and most importantly freshly introduced entirely. This latter aspect being the entirety of the Ninja Class and the open field exploration that players will take part in during the various time periods that they time travel to.
In many ways, Nioh 3‘s introduction of an alternate fighting style allows for players to both experiment more and alternate between styles if they so wish. That being said, players can opt to stick to only one form if they prefer it. That being said, the Samurai fighting style is as familiar as possible for returning fans as it focuses heavily on heavy weaponry and armor, deflecting attacks, and using ki pulses to purify demonic essence and restore the player’s own stamina. Ninja on the other hand are swifter moving fighters with rapid attack patterns, the ability to mist-shift to the side and back of foes at the end of combos with proper timing, and even leap over a foes’ head to attack from behind all while unleashing various types of ninjutsu that recharge the more damage players deal as a ninja. Swapping between forms can be done with a simple press of a button and is even used as a proper defensive technique against glowing red enemy attacks. These attacks cannot be blocked or dodged normally and instead a proper time style shift will trigger a “Burst Break” that deals massive damage to the enemy and their ki gauge, including permanently reducing a yokai’s ki gauge.
Players still level up using Amrita gained from defeating foes and stats upgraded apply to both Samurai and Ninja styles but it is worth noting that players are free to explore as they see fit with their builds since they can reset their stats at any time at a shrine. What some players may find a bit unusual though, especially if they were fond of certain weapons in previous games, will find that some weapon types are now relegated to only being available to a Samurai or a Ninja and that is it which may be limiting to longtime fans. It is also worth noting that, at least at the start, players will also find a number of their combat actions actually quite limited thanks to them needing to be unlocked by obtaining Samurai and Ninja “locks of hair” scattered throughout the world in chests, lootable bodies, obtained from friendly yokai, and more.
This means that various Samurai stances and attack patterns cannot be used right away and must be unlocked alongside various weapon abilities at the same time depending on what weapon the player fancies. Ninja features the same restrictions as players will find various ninja moves such as the “mushroom stomp” that easily jumps over a foe’s head for a backslash or vanishing dodge locked away until a skill point is spent. Similarly skill points must be used to obtain ninjutsu and weapon skills as well. While this does encourage players to explore as much as they can in the open field to try and uncover as many myths and hidden elements, it does mean that players will be limited in this regard even if the overall character fighting styles are far more complex and varied this time around. Though thankfully once again, players can reset their skills freely at any time with a press of L3.
While the Samurai style does play similar to how players expect, such as using ki pulses to purify a demon’s realm and allow their own ki to restore, the ninja fighting style does not have this ability. As mentioned earlier, the ninja fighting style is designed to feature quick hitting combos and powerful ninjutsu attacks (with some ninjutsu being far more effective than others and some seemingly not useful at all) to drain an enemy’s ki gauge and “grapple” them to deal a powerful finishing blow to most enemies or at least deal devastating damage to others. This means that players will want to swap between forms if they wish to make the best of both styles, especially regarding ki purification, but it is entirely possible to pick a favorite and power through.
Speaking of new and returning abilities, players will find that they now be able to use special attacks relating to the spirit they have equipped at the time, with the gauge refilling the more damage players dish out. Another entirely new power is the “Living Artifact” form that sees the player fuse with their spirit beast and enter a temporarily invincible state where they can unleash plenty of damage and drain away enemy health with ease, unless it happens to be a boss of course. Returning elements from the past game include demon cores that players can luckily obtain from defeated foes and insert them into their Onmyo Box to create both talismans that can serve as buffs as well as temporarily call forth a yokai to launch a series of attacks in limited form.
When not within a strict mission players will be spending most of their time in Nioh 3 roaming around the open fields which are littered with various things players can do. This includes aforementioned Myths, taking down enemy base camps, destroying smaller Crucible Spikes or mini Crucibles that send out waves of enemies, and of course finding and interacting with friendly yokai such as scampusses, kodama, and the new Chijiko. The more Kodama the player finds throughout the game the more Elixir (healing items) they will default spawn in with though players can use Kodama blessings to increase things such as Elixir drop rate, bonus stats from healing, and more. Similarly players can now uncover Jizo statues that can improve their abilities to survive within Crucible locations scattered throughout fields.
Every interaction with a collectable, completed myth, defeated base, or destroyed Crucible element will increase the player’s exploration gauge within that specific area and reward special stat increases and even unveil some hidden secrets the higher the exploration level. It is also worth noting that players can fast travel between both shrines as well as the Bodhisattva Statues within Crucible realms, though doing so within the Crucible is only possible if players are nearby one. As for these crucibles themselves, that is where the hardest challenges in the game arise. The main Crucible for every era features a lengthy location filled with traps and monsters that have all been enhanced by the Crucible’s wicked dark energy, this means that not only will they deal additional damage but inflict “Life Corrosion” that lowers the player’s overall health unless they go on the offensive and take down enemies to clear out this corrosion. Crucibles put players to the hardest tests possible and deliver the real “dungeon” like feeling of exploring a mostly linear path towards a boss.
That being said, there are story missions as well that players will occasionally find themselves locked into and needing to complete and while these are still just as challenging, it feels a bit more limiting now compared to the open nature of the rest of the title. Either way, no matter what location players are battling in they will come across both blue and red signs scattered throughout the realm with red signs containing “Revenants” of other players that were slain in the location and blue being “Acolytes” that players can spend Ochoko Cups to summon as temporary allies to battle against everything from free roaming enemies to bosses. Slaying revenants and helping other players rewards the player with Ochoko Cups but it often feels a bit uneven regarding the price of summoning aid, especially since ally AI is incredibly hit and miss and enemy yokai have a tendency to ignore them entirely and aggro only the player. It is also rather annoying that, should the player fall due to a cheap shot from a boss or misreading an attack pattern, their ally will instantly vanish even if they were summoned for less than a minute with no refund. It is also possible to play co-op with friends or even randoms in exploration and missions but doing so will also increase the challenge of foes within the world.
One aspect that continues to be a massive issue with Nioh 3 is one that has plagued it since the very first game and that is the fact that inventory management is a nightmare. While most foes drop only a consumable such as another elixir, status healing item, or a single piece of equipment, other foes can rain down numerous items and actually trying to sift through what might be slightly better is atrocious. Even filtering items into certain types can see players trying to investigate every tiny stat boost or trigger element that some weapon may have compared to their primary weapon or armor and it is quite frankly annoying that this is still an issue the third time around. While some may enjoy micromanaging their equipment to such an extreme degree, and a blacksmith that later can upgrade equipment is useful, seeing enemies rain down loot only for every piece to be useless is tedious.
It is nice to note that once players manage to beat the game that Nioh 3 keeps up tradition by offering a New Game+ mode that increases the difficulty of practically every encounter as well as unlocking a new tier of equipment, the chance to rebattle and gain useful rewards from Crucible spikes, and even use Ochoko Cups to focus on certain types of equipment and more. Giving players who want an even harder challenge more punishment if they so wish.
Audio & Visuals
Team Ninja has done an impressive job making sure to keep Nioh‘s style and translate into their new open field concept in Nioh 3. The open locations that players explore are nicely detailed with plenty of routes to explore, including vertical exploration, and each of the different time periods has a unique looking design to it. Crucible dungeons are exceptionally well-designed with horrific destruction and corrupted landscapes filled with traps and yokai. As for the character designs, once again the character creator is extensive and the character models for NPC are quite detailed and expressive during cutscenes. One thing that is truly impressive are the enemy yokai designs with standard foes being a bit repetitive after a while but bosses are truly exceptional looking. It is also nice to note that the level of gore remains as bloody as ever, with human heads flying with certain execution moves and yokai being split apart as players eliminate them in the field.
Nioh 3 offers both an English voice track as well as a Japanese voice track for players to choose between. It is nice to note that the English voice work is handled quite well, especially when it involves some of the more dramatic scenes or death echoes, those wanting the most authentic feeling experience will want to stick to the Japanese voice track to match the world’s aesthetic. The background music is quite fitting during combat and exploration, with a fitting mix of haunting and atmospheric tracks that are authentic to the setting and really help heighten the tension during already intense and difficult boss battles.
Overall
It may have been a long wait for Nioh 3 but Team Ninja has used their time exceptionally well. Not only does Nioh 3 expand upon the once linear level design by offering open field exploration with plenty of content to uncover and “Myths” to take part in, but the challenge of the Crucibles will push players to the limit of their abilities. With the impressive addition of the Ninja fighting style offering an entirely new set of skills to utilize and take on foes alongside the Samurai style, Nioh 3 remains as difficult and challenging to master as ever. Even if it does retain some of the flaws from the past and a few growing pains that longtime fans will have to deal with involving the new style system.
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