If FromSoftware can do it, then Group Ninja believes it may well too. Having established top-of-the-line Darkish Souls copycats within the Nioh collection, the Japanese developer is chasing its personal Elden Ring second.
Nioh 3 isn’t fairly that, nevertheless it nonetheless marks a brand new spotlight for the franchise. That is all the perfect bits of the developer’s previous makes an attempt — the Nioh video games, Rise of the Ronin, and Wo Lengthy: Fallen Dynasty — rolled into one.
Whereas the primary two titles had been linear, mission-based affairs, the third expands to swimsuit an open zone construction. A number of maps spanning totally different areas and time intervals permit you freedom to discover, stage up, full facet quests, and ultimately make your approach to the principle goal.
It’s like if Elden Ring’s gigantic playspace was damaged up and divided by load screens, then splattered with Ubisoft-style exercise icons. This can be a reasonably dated, stereotypical method to open recreation design: you’ll filter enemy camps, supply new gear from chests, and discover easy collectibles. The whole lot will get marked on the map when you get shut, so there’s little in the best way of true exploration or secrets and techniques.
Nonetheless, that is an evolution of the Nioh components that works. The hardcore motion the franchise has turn out to be identified for is elevated by these primary distractions, offering new methods to check your abilities or enhance your construct.
Some maps are open stretches of fields with villages and settlements to interrupt them up, whereas others are correct built-up areas that’ll have you ever weaving out and in of streets, homes, and enemy bases. There’s additionally an total theme to every zone, with one gripped by a freezing winter whereas one other is crumbling away into the earth.
These maps are damaged up by smaller, linear ranges that progress the story, pleasing those that cherished the design of the primary two instalments. Nonetheless, you possibly can’t return to them, so Nioh 3 and its longevity dwell or die on these bigger zones.
Whereas missing originality, it nearly thrives.
The sport has the identical hook as Elden Ring, simply on a smaller scale: if you happen to’re caught, merely go some other place and return later, levelled up. Aspect quests and optionally available actions provide methods to improve your character, and because of the trademark Nioh loot system, you’ll consistently be incomes higher weapons and armour.
Nothing in regards to the recreation’s structural stretch is especially unique; fashionable Soulslikes have all adopted the mannequin, and the facet actions do little to face out. Nioh 3 nonetheless works on this setting, although, as its fixed pursuit for higher gear and upgrades makes these moments of over-familiarity price it.
Fuelling the sport’s wider scope is the returning Nioh fight system, which, this time, is cut up into two distinct types: Samurai and Ninja. Your customized character at all times has entry to them each, switching between them throughout battle to utilise their unique strikes and advantages.
Samurai continues the normal Nioh expertise, the place managing your stamina bar and performing Ki Pulses is essential alongside blocks, parries, and hard-hitting weapons.
Ninja, alternatively, is all about agility, deception, and quick assaults. Changing the Ki Pulse transfer is a dodge that locations a silhouette in your unique place to trick the enemy — could they be yokai or human. You should use Ninjutsu objects like bombs and shurikens, recharge your stamina by way of evasion, and extra simply sneak about for stealth takedowns.
It’s necessary to put money into each fight types as a result of totally different conditions and monsters demand a selected method. With talent bushes tied to the 2 fight types and each weapon kind within the recreation, there’s a severe quantity of depth to discover as a complete. You could possibly nonetheless get by simply specializing in one, however to take action would basically deny you half the fight system — there’s simply that a lot to it.
With a Guardian Spirit to flesh out your construct with magical abilities and a brief, final state known as a Residing Artifact, the title goes past normal sword swipes and hammer stomps to thrill with a wide range of skills and assaults.
By bettering upon the previous two entries and different Group Ninja titles, Nioh 3 is the end result of practically a decade of labor. You’ll wrestle to seek out higher melee motion all yr.
It’s additionally essentially the most approachable the collection has ever been. The final problem of Nioh 3 feels a contact beneath its predecessors; we had been capable of roll credit with just a few bosses giving us a lot bother alongside the best way. With AI companions and co-op options permitting assist from mates, there are methods to mitigate the problem of the roughly 45-hour marketing campaign.
It’s nonetheless a brutal expertise total that’ll punish you for any lapses in focus and errors, however with the open zones backing it, there are extra methods of getting higher. Nioh 3 feels significantly extra accessible consequently.
All of it culminates in a really acquainted title total, but expanded and enhanced in all the precise methods. The extraordinary motion that’s bought the Nioh collection to a 3rd entry stays the spotlight, and its greater maps ship extra methods to have interaction in it.
There’s a time-jumping narrative supporting issues, nevertheless it rapidly turns into background noise to the combating. Nioh 3 is all about constructing your character for the challenges forward by clearing its open zone actions, ending quests for loot, and overcoming boss encounters. The motion is the purpose, and that’s the place it’s at its finest.
The sport is usually match for objective at launch, although patches after the actual fact might want to tackle evident body charge drops — even on PS5 Professional in Efficiency Mode. Particularly when the display is crowded with enemies, Nioh 3 suffers from hitches and a stuttery body charge. It’s removed from easy, even when merely working across the surroundings.
