The second Nioh 3 was revealed as Crew Ninja’s subsequent undertaking, it instantly shot to the highest of my listing of most anticipated video games for 2026. That pleasure died down considerably when the studio revealed the sport’s “open subject” degree design. I am probably not into open world video games, however I used to be particularly frightened that we’d get a Nioh model of Rise of the Ronin. The truth is, it was an open-world Nioh-lite unto itself.
Crew Ninja’s video games since Nioh have by no means been in need of attention-grabbing concepts, and Ronin was no exception, however it ended up losing plenty of potential in sport design that was akin to considering you could possibly translate inflatable pool expertise to Olympic swimming.
I really feel like Nioh 3 was made with that baggage clearly in thoughts. It wastes no time proving that that is nonetheless primarily a Nioh sport, one which tries to push past what the sport’s construction permits.
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It is no surprise Nioh 3’s open world is taken into account its signature function. However the way in which it is constructed makes it so unconscious that it was simple to neglect that I used to be, technically talking, enjoying an open-world sport. The group’s determination to name this “open subject” slightly than “open world” is eloquent and appears to indicate acutely aware restraint.
The world of Nioh 3 is made up of a number of giant maps, every made up of smaller areas. Areas are literally only a bunch of hand-picked ranges, like these present in each Nioh sport, with a number of entry and exit routes. In fact, this opens up quite a lot of gameplay alternatives in itself. Roads and different distractions function the connective tissue that holds historically designed ranges and dungeons collectively, present to subtly nudge you towards the following factor.
It is a extra pragmatic and focused strategy to the open-world design type, eliminating the necessity for minutes upon minutes of wandering round open areas, which many video games do not discover a use for.
Surprisingly, there are not any automobiles to traverse the world in Nioh 3, though you’ll be able to go into (typically comical) supersprints once you hit the street. As soon as once more, I can not assist however be impressed by his restraint. For the mounts to make sense, there needs to be far more lifeless house between attention-grabbing content material, however understandably gamers will skip proper over them as soon as quick journey is unlocked.
Nioh 3’s strategy gives an alternate and requires slightly religion that you simply will not waste your time. Quick journey exists, however I solely used it to mop up every space after exploring it.
The true function right here is that you could change between two preventing types at any time: ninja and samurai. You play as two characters concurrently, rigorously deciding on tools and weapons for every, and sustaining two builds. In consequence, many ninjutsu, throwables, and a few Yin-Yang-like spells had been moved to Ninja. That is a technique Nioh 3 has made that half extra accessible. Anybody acquainted with the early video games is aware of that these highly effective skills are normally too cumbersome to make use of in intense fight.
Most of your time is spent as a samurai, however with the ability to change between the 2 at will with the push of a button offers you the motivation to discover how every one excels (or struggles) in sure conditions.
One of the best factor about Nioh 3 is that it builds on years of Nioh and post-Nio video games, selecting which mechanics and core options to advance, which to evolve, and refining all the things to make sense throughout the sport’s world.
Stranger of Paradise’s gear auto-equip function is right here and higher carried out. It really works as anticipated. Robotically equip the most effective tools and weapons for the job. It is very versatile so you’ll be able to flip it on and off, however you may find yourself doing so relying on the standard of the loot you get and the way annoying it’s to spend 10 minutes sorting via two inventories. You can too goal weight lessons, so you do not immediately end up gaining weight in the midst of a boss battle.
My favourite mechanic in Nioh 3 comes from Wo Lengthy: Fallendynasty. This is among the studio’s most attention-grabbing experiments in current reminiscence. Elden Ring modified open-world sport design ceaselessly, so the motion RPGs that got here after it needed to be taught from FromSoft’s masterpiece. Nevertheless, Fallen Diagnostics was a standard level-based sport, so borrowing concepts was out of the query.
However what Fallen Diana did as an alternative was present gamers with very compelling incentives to discover its world. This was important to exist in a linear degree sport. The system was that the participant’s powers would regularly develop as they explored extra components of the extent.
Nioh 3’s world is way bigger compared, however Crew Ninja has discovered an effective way to evolve this function. Every area on the map is assigned an exploration ranking, and the extra completely different actions you take part in, the upper your ranking. The motivation for doing so is twofold. First, as you degree up, the quantity of knowledge on the map itself will increase. It begins out clean, then reveals layers for roads and main cities, then reveals the places of all collectibles.
Climbing these ranges additionally offers you a set of bonuses to fight, which apply universally to your character. The truth is, there’s an total ranking that pushed me to maximise every area for map-wide bonuses.
You could possibly draw the road on the video games every sport is predicated on, however the actual win right here is enjoying this sport and seeing how meaningfully the expertise has improved in comparison with previous Nioh video games.
In fact, Nioh 3 evolves and in some circumstances recontextualizes the mechanics of its personal collection. Burst counter is now not tied to Guardian Spirit choice and is as an alternative assigned to the type toggle button. This accomplishes two targets. One is to coach your self to change between the 2 usually. This can be a huge function on this sequel, however it additionally makes it simpler to attract burst counters. This implies extra gamers are possible to make use of burst counters.
Making the sport extra accessible with out compromising the core expertise was a transparent purpose of Crew Ninja when growing Nioh 3. The place Ronin’s strategy had a sledgehammer-like delicacy, Nioh 3 sands away the pointless sharp edges and encourages gamers to deal with the extra enjoyable components of a mechanically dense motion RPG.
Generally it comes within the type of deflections being simpler to succeed (and extra rewarding), and different occasions it is available in extra complicated varieties that veterans take longer to grasp.
One facet that sadly hasn’t developed is the sport’s narrative. The general construction is the one attention-grabbing a part of the work, and it largely succeeds in distracting the reader from how overwhelming the work is.
This can be a time journey story that unfolds throughout 4 eras of Japan. The protagonist you create is sort of a time cop (time warrior?) who travels via every period to get rid of the evil of the terrifying Spirit Stone. By regulation, all conflicts in Nioh video games should all the time return to the Spirit Stone.
Intelligent as it could be, the trick cannot disguise how outdated and insubstantial it’s. That is nonetheless a foolish story involving historic figures. It is simply an excuse to ally or battle somebody . I’ve to admire Crew Ninja’s efforts in utilizing the identical narrative mould for all of their Nioh video games, solely incorporating characters and occasions that match the period.
After three video games, I do know I should not anticipate a lot from that facet of a Nioh sport, however I used to be pleased to at the very least get an thrilling wrapper. Splitting your marketing campaign into a number of eras can also be a helpful excuse to have a number of open-world maps, and is one other method to preserve your time travels recent.
Nioh 3 is not with out its irritating moments. The boss will nonetheless kill you in two assaults. Platform guidelines will typically confuse you. Plus, there’s plenty of spirit of PS3-era degree design that Crew Ninja cannot eliminate. The PC model runs tremendous, however I believe individuals with higher-range GPUs will complain about not with the ability to lock to 120fps, occasional stuttering when rotating the digicam, and crashes when a number of screens are current.
None of that takes away from what a terrific motion sport that is. Persevering with to evolve and construct on the previous whereas persevering with to supply the satisfying fight, mechanical depth, and construct selection that the collection is understood for is not any small feat.
I believe it is arduous to ask for something extra from Nioh 3. This can be a sport that proudly declares its targets on the outset and trusts gamers to find simply how far they will full them throughout a forty five+ hour operating time. It is a assured outcome that shakes up Nioh’s practically decade-old custom, and is barely surpassed by Crew Ninja’s regular hand.
Reviewed on PC, code supplied by writer.
