Simply as the unique Nioh was one of many first video games to emulate Darkish Souls to nice success, Nioh 3 is among the many first main Soulslikes to make use of an open-world blueprint post-Elden Ring. Nevertheless, Staff Ninja has all the time excelled at making use of its personal sensibilities to a now well-worn blueprint, and Nioh 3’s rewarding method to open-world design is a shining instance. Tack on an exciting new Ninja gameplay model, and this third entry asserts itself as the head of its collection.
The newcomer-friendly plot sees the customizable Seventeenth-century hero Tokugawa Takechiyo on the verge of being christened Japan’s subsequent Shogun. Your ascension enrages your jealous older brother, who moderately responds by surrendering his soul to evil yokai and plunging the land into demonic chaos. This darkness transcends time and area, so stopping him means time-hopping throughout historic eras, from early antiquity to the nineteenth century, to take away its affect on corrupted historic figures all vying for a similar energy. Although the plot turns into repetitive – go to an period, cleanse the corrupted soul of somebody who actually needs to be shogun, repeat – it’s ridiculous enjoyable (as all the perfect time-travel tales are) with a pleasant little bit of emotional weight within the theme of discovering what it really means to be a pacesetter.
Nioh 3 doubles the collection’ intense and mechanically dense motion with the brand new model shift mechanic. A button press immediately swaps between two gameplay types: Samurai, the normal Nioh gameplay expertise of stance-switches and the Ki Pulse timing mechanic to revive stamina mid-attack, and the entertaining new Ninja. This shinobi-focused class trades protection for fast evasion and sword stances for a plethora of cool ninja instruments and magic. I really like the Ninja as somebody who usually favors maneuverability over energy, and it grew to become my default model. It provides a contemporary Ninja Gaiden-inspired twist to Nioh’s motion and is a blast to play.
Nice fight balancing means each types are equally viable; you may theoretically beat Nioh 3 utilizing solely one among them. Nevertheless, the sport supplies good incentives to modify issues up. I beloved mastering Burst Break, a robust timed counter executed by switching types proper earlier than sure assaults land. Extra broadly, frequently switching between what’s basically two utterly completely different characters stored the motion feeling contemporary all through the 70+ hours I spent taking part in. Samurai duels may be fight chess matches outlined by exact blocking and parrying whereas rigorously utilizing Ki Pulse to increase extra deliberate weapon strikes. Ninja gameplay is a frenetic deal with of maintaining adversaries off stability with fixed motion, chipping at them from afar utilizing instruments, whereas unleashing flurries of acrobatic, combo-heavy strikes. Boasting separate loadouts and versatile development, together with free ability level respec for the dense weapons ability timber, there’s loads of freedom and incentive to experiment and alter issues up if gameplay turns into routine.
In true Nioh vogue, there’s an overabundance of choices for customizing and enhancing your character. From summoning highly effective creatures to help in battle, like Guardian Spirits and Soul Cores, to unlocking useful class talents for every Fashion, plus a number of strategies of enhancing/recycling the limitless quantity of loot, there’s a ton of helpful techniques to dig into. It sadly means quite a lot of time is spent poring over varied menus, however the sport introduces new options at a great tempo. Some main instruments don’t unlock till a dozen or so hours into the journey. I appreciated having loads of time to develop accustomed earlier than studying one more mechanic, whereas nonetheless giving me one thing new to sink my tooth into deep within the journey.
Nioh 3 correctly ditches the earlier entries’ linear zones and dated mission choice for varied expansive maps that gamers can freely discover. As confirmed with Elden Ring, this construction makes dealing with Nioh 3’s steep issue far more palatable; hit a wall, and easily discover elsewhere to sharpen your expertise or discover higher gear. I discovered Nioh 3 to be essentially the most approachable entry due to this construction, particularly since all the things you discover – together with the act of wandering itself – improves your character ultimately. Killing an elective boss you confront whereas trekking might reward a brand new class means for the Samurai or Ninja types. Opening a random chest might unlock a brand new crafting recipe for a robust weapon. Discovering collectibles like hidden Kodama spirits or Jizo statues rewards ability factors and everlasting passive perks, reminiscent of elevating the drop fee and effectiveness of therapeutic elixirs.
Moreover, tiers of exploration rewards present small however essential stat bumps merely for uncovering the world, and fill the initially clean maps with icons revealing goodies you missed whereas in an space. Passively gaining energy whereas making it simpler to do clean-up later compelled me to show over each stone like few video games of this ilk. This speaks to how impressively every of Nioh 3’s boatload of techniques feeds right into a gratifying escalation of energy. The open worlds might lack the mind-boggling emergent moments, however they frequently fulfill my power-hungry and completionist wishes to make the numbers go up. Crucibles, difficult corrupted zones that reward highly effective but dangerous weapons that may damage you virtually as a lot because the opponent, are nice locations to achieve energy. These hellish areas provide good breaks from the overworld whereas typically appearing as a deliciously difficult last check of a area earlier than shifting on to the following one.
Nioh 3 is a incredible leap ahead for Staff Ninja’s usually nice however more and more stagnant tackle Soulslikes. I needed to cease myself from in search of out the following superior hidden boss or from studying a cool new weapon to see credit to jot down this assessment, and the expertise largely manages to keep up its pleasure all through its prolonged runtime. Nioh 3’s hardships are many, and failure is plentiful, however its thrills are larger and extra spectacular than ever earlier than.
