Koei Tecmo has loads of swords of their arsenal. Amongst their huge zone at Tokyo Recreation Present 2025, they featured demos of the soon-to-be-released Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, developed by KT’s AAA Video games Studio, and Ninja Gaiden 4, developed by Staff Ninja. However what drew me was Staff Ninja’s craggy peak within the far distance of February 2026: Nioh 3. As I used to be ushered in direction of one sport station in a sea of displays, I watched the opposite screens flashing with variants of the identical battle in opposition to a hulking Yokai beast, the Takeda Shingen, with its demonic horns and wild, white mane. I watched the opposite gamers die again and again, slapping their knees and groaning in frustration. With the fifteen minutes I used to be offered, I had two choices: discover an open “Heian Period” discipline or tackle the Takeda Shingen. Want I say which I selected?
There have been a couple of simpler fights main as much as the Takeda Shingen. Very early in my go to to demon-infested fifteenth century Japan, I used to be reminded that the Nioh collection isn’t any mere Souls-like. Returning in Nioh 3 is the low-mid-high stances with every weapon. The upper you elevate your weapon, the extra harm you do, however the slower you swing and the extra open you permit your self. There’s dashing and rolling, certain, however the collection encourages you to remain up near your enemies and use your formidable block as long as your stamina permits. Managing stamina can be a very powerful facet of Nioh 3’s fight have been it not for the flowing ki system of “respiration” and empowering your subsequent strikes after every collection of assaults so you find yourself pushing and gorgeous your enemies with more and more enchanted assaults… sadly, it’d been a very long time since I performed Nioh 1 or 2 and so I used to be a bit overwhelmed by the depth of its combating mechanics (if solely our reviewer Jerry Williams have been there—he liked Nioh 2!).
Nonetheless, sheer reflexes have been sufficient to get me by means of a couple of early enemies, and I discovered mid-fight that hitting the R2 button reworked my samurai warrior right into a extra agile ninja sort, with an entire new set of armour and weapons. This Ninja Mode changed the three stances with conventional shinobi instruments like a throwable kunai. I used to be shocked to see that there’s no discernible lag or pause when switching between Samurai and Ninja kinds, suggesting that Nioh 3‘s later bosses will nearly definitely require on-the-fly swapping. Additionally shocking was the emphasis on martial arts-styled assaults in my combo strings, although I’d by no means say no to giving a demon a swift kick.
Like earlier Nioh video games, you spend enemy-dropped Amrita to stage up Structure, Coronary heart (regarding ki administration), Energy, Ability, and so forth. There’s loads of variable stats and bars, although not an excessive amount of precise quantity crunching, fortunately. Utilizing the character construct I used to be given, I rested at a shrine and entered a dark-infested temple during which the Takeda Shingen resided. I’m not ashamed to say that I died many instances within the twelve minutes or so remaining of the demo. Because the adage in Japan goes: “fall seven instances, arise eight.”
Beasts in Nioh 3 usually are not so huge that a lot of their assaults can’t be blocked and parried. Simply don’t anticipate to get any large reward from a parry past saving some stamina and constructing ki. The boss was at first relentless, however inside a couple of deaths I noticed by means of his wiles. I might merely block this assault, roll by means of this seize, stand again from this slam. Like in a lot of Staff Ninja’s video games, loss of life instilled in me a type of fearlessness within the face of overwhelming adversity—the runback to the boss, in spite of everything, took solely seconds.
Nonetheless, I wasn’t doing sufficient harm! That’s what led to me enjoying round with Nioh 3‘s ki and magic methods. I grew extra assured with every rematch with the boss, making an attempt extra strikes from my sizable selection of approaches, each as a Samurai and a Ninja. Ultimately, I knocked the Takeda Shingen into his enraged second state… solely to die as soon as once more. Nonetheless, with solely seconds remaining, I threw myself again into the temple and again on the monster, till the top of the demo compelled us to cease. I felt like Rocky (albeit much less muscular) going the space in opposition to Apollo Creed.
Evidently like these round me, I didn’t conquer the boss within the brief time I had with Nioh 3. However with the various butt-whoopings I obtained, I additionally received a robust want to leap into all of the expanded depth of the fight come the sport’s full launch. That boss is simply fortunate we had solely fifteen minutes…
Nioh 3 is Staff Ninja’s fight at its most intricate, and I sit up for the rematch I’ll get with the Takeda Shingen when the sport releases February sixth, 2026, on PS5 and PC.
Nioh 3 Screenshots
