If FromSoftware can do it, then Group Ninja believes it might probably too. Having established among the finest 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 one of the best 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 places and time intervals permit you freedom to discover, stage up, full facet quests, and ultimately make your technique 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 reasonably dated, stereotypical strategy to open recreation design: you’ll filter enemy camps, supply new gear from chests, and discover easy collectibles. All the things 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 system that works. The hardcore motion the franchise has develop into 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 general 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. Nevertheless, you may’t return to them, so Nioh 3 and its longevity stay 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: should you’re caught, merely go some place else and return later, levelled up. Facet quests and non-obligatory 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 recreation’s structural stretch is especially unique; 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 break up into two distinct kinds: 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 standard Nioh expertise, the place managing your stamina bar and performing Ki Pulses is essential 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 unique place to trick the enemy — might they be yokai or human. You should use Ninjutsu objects like bombs and shurikens, recharge your stamina via evasion, and extra simply sneak about for stealth takedowns.
It’s necessary to spend money on each fight kinds as a result of totally different conditions and monsters demand a specific strategy. With talent timber tied to the 2 fight kinds and each weapon kind within the recreation, there’s a severe quantity of depth to discover as an entire. You may 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 abilities and a short lived, final state referred to as a Dwelling Artifact, the title goes past customary sword swipes and hammer stomps to thrill with quite a lot of talents and assaults.
By bettering upon the previous two entries and different Group Ninja titles, Nioh 3 is the fruits of almost a decade of labor. You’ll battle to seek out higher melee motion all yr.
It’s additionally probably the most approachable the collection has ever been. The overall problem of Nioh 3 feels a contact beneath its predecessors; we had been in a position to roll credit with just a few bosses giving us a lot hassle alongside the best way. With AI companions and co-op options permitting assist from buddies, there are methods to mitigate the problem of the roughly 45-hour marketing campaign.
It’s nonetheless a brutal expertise general 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 because of this.
All of it culminates in a really acquainted title general, but expanded and enhanced in all the appropriate methods. The extraordinary motion that’s obtained 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 greatest.
The sport is generally match for objective at launch, although patches after the actual fact might want to tackle obvious 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 setting.
