If FromSoftware can do it, then Crew Ninja believes it could actually too. Having established probably the greatest Darkish Souls copycats within the Nioh sequence, the Japanese developer is chasing its personal Elden Ring second.
Nioh 3 isn’t fairly that, but it surely nonetheless marks a brand new spotlight for the franchise. That is all the most effective 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 have 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 finally 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. It is a slightly dated, stereotypical strategy to open sport design: you’ll filter out enemy camps, supply new gear from chests, and discover easy collectibles. All the pieces will get marked on the map when you get shut, so there’s little in the way in which of true exploration or secrets and techniques.
Nonetheless, that is an evolution of the Nioh method that works. The hardcore motion the franchise has change into identified for is elevated by these fundamental distractions, offering new methods to check your expertise 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 beloved the design of the primary two instalments. Nonetheless, you may’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 elsewhere and return later, levelled up. Facet quests and non-compulsory actions provide methods to improve your character, and due to the trademark Nioh loot system, you’ll consistently be incomes higher weapons and armour.
Nothing in regards to the sport’s structural stretch is especially authentic; trendy 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 all the time has entry to them each, switching between them throughout battle to utilise their unique strikes and advantages.
Samurai continues the standard Nioh expertise, the place managing your stamina bar and performing Ki Pulses is vital alongside blocks, parries, and hard-hitting weapons.
Ninja, then again, is all about agility, deception, and quick assaults. Changing the Ki Pulse transfer is a dodge that locations a silhouette in your authentic place to trick the enemy — could they be yokai or human. You need to use Ninjutsu gadgets like bombs and shurikens, recharge your stamina via 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 strategy. With ability bushes tied to the 2 fight types and each weapon sort within the sport, there’s a critical quantity of depth to discover as an entire. You might nonetheless get by simply specializing in one, however to take action would primarily 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 expertise and a short lived, final state referred to as a Dwelling Artifact, the title goes past commonplace sword swipes and hammer stomps to please with quite a lot of talents and assaults.
By enhancing upon the previous two entries and different Crew Ninja titles, Nioh 3 is the fruits of almost a decade of labor. You’ll battle to search out higher melee motion all yr.
It’s additionally probably the most approachable the sequence has ever been. The overall issue of Nioh 3 feels a contact under its predecessors; we have been capable of roll credit with just a few bosses giving us a lot bother alongside the way in which. 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 in consequence.
All of it culminates in a really acquainted title total, but expanded and enhanced in all the proper methods. The extreme motion that’s bought the Nioh sequence to a 3rd entry stays the spotlight, and its greater maps ship extra methods to interact in it.
There’s a time-jumping narrative supporting issues, but it surely 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 generally match for objective at launch, although patches after the very fact might want to handle obtrusive body fee drops — even on PS5 Professional in Efficiency Mode. Particularly when the display screen is crowded with enemies, Nioh 3 suffers from hitches and a stuttery body fee. It’s removed from easy, even when merely operating across the atmosphere.
