The Nioh series has long been considered as one of the best Soulslike around, but the franchise created by Team NINJA couldn't be much different from the vast majority of games inspired by FromSoftware's Souls series. With a bigger focus on mechanical complexity and action gameplay features, the two entries in the series played more like pure action games, with a loot system reminiscent of the Diablo series sprinkled on top to deliver a very engaging experience for those willing to put in the time and effort to understand the franchise's many interwoven mechanics.
Although the second entry in the series improved on pretty much every element of its predecessor, Nioh 2 felt more like an expansion of the original, rather than a proper sequel. At a glance, the differences between the two games were minimal, and overall, the experiences they offered were somewhat similar. Only the most advanced players would notice, and appreciate, the many mechanical improvements made to the original's framework.
This is definitely not what will happen with Nioh 3 when it launches in a few months on PC and PlayStation 5. Though the third entry in the series retains many of the franchise's familiar features, it spices them up considerably with some significant tweaks that have the potential of making it not only the best entry in the series, but also one of the best "masocore" action role-playing games developed by Team NINJA.
The most significant change Nioh 3 will feature over its predecessors is a different level design philosophy, which is evident right from the get-go. Instead of featuring self-contained missions which can be selected from a main map, the new entry in the series introduces the concept of open fields - much bigger maps which offer plenty of rewards for those willing to explore them fully. As highlighted during a presentation I attended last week in Paris, Nioh 3 isn't an open-world game: although the maps are bigger than ever before, their size is small, compared to the maps of modern open-world games, and don't offer the same amount of side activities such games may offer.
To be honest, I wasn't too thrilled to learn that Nioh 3 would be moving away from its predecessors' progression system. I always felt the older setup of picking missions from a map, though dated, was more immediate and worked great in the context of the game, allowing the player to focus more on understanding and utilizing the combat, skills, and loot mechanics to their full potential to take down the most powerful of enemies. However, after spending around 4 hours exploring a never-before-seen map set in the Bakumatsu era (1853-1867), I couldn't help but appreciate how the open-field design of the new maps presents the main and sub-missions in a more immersive way, which remain the core of the experience.
While the general design felt standard fare for a game developed by Team NINJA, many of the new mechanics related to the open-field maps make exploration feel fun and rewarding. As players explore every corner of the map, collecting items, completing the Myths sidequests given by various NPCs, conquering Enemy Bases, and defeating the powerful Crucible Wraiths, the region's Exploration Level will increase, providing a variety of permanent buffs, including base stats increases and an enhanced map showing the entire area and markers for exploration spots and collectibles.
As the rewards for engaging with these new exploration mechanics also include items and gear, of which there's a lot in true Nioh tradition, skill points required to unlock weapon-specific and general skills via the game's different skill trees, and buffs offered by friendly Yokai and the new Jizo Statues which can provide a variety of blessings exploring maps in Nioh 3 is set to be as much as a big part of the experience as combat is.
The presence of open-field maps, however, doesn't mean that Nioh 3 lacks the closed-off areas featured in past entries in the series. Each of the maps will also feature a Crucible level where players must defeat a powerful boss to purify the area, a task made more difficult by the Life Corrosion mechanics, which temporarily reduce maximum life while inside a Crucible. To offset this, the Amrita Gauge fills up faster, giving players faster access to the powerful Living Artifact form, which makes a return from past entries in the series.
The design of these Crucible levels is reminiscent of the design of the main missions in the past entries in the series, featuring somewhat intricate layouts which are made more dynamic by some new mechanics, such as the ability to jump, reminiscent of Wo-Long: Fallen Dynasty, which give locations better verticality and the Spirit Veins, which can be used with a corresponding Guardian Spirit to explore locations further.
Although exploration and traversal are seeing the biggest improvement in Nioh 3 over its predecessors, combat has also undergone some rather significant changes, which players were already able to appreciate a few months back with a PlayStation 5-exclusive timed demo.
The addition of the Ninja fighting style, on paper, may have felt like a needless complication, but in reality, it adds up a lot of effective combat options, the ability to use Ninjustsu more freely than in past entries in the series, and use a total of four weapons, two per fighting style. With a major focus on agility and "trickier" weapons like the Tonfa and Kusarigama, the Ninja fighting stance essentially works as another Stance that can be as effective as the Samurai fighting style.
With its three stances and focus on hard-hitting weapons like hammers and the Odachi, the Samurai fighting style will instantly feel familiar to anyone who played the previous entries in the series. However, significant changes have been implemented in this fighting style as well. For starters, the High Stance attacks are slightly slower than in Nioh 2, and generally riskier to use.
Although I didn't have the time for thorough testing, I replayed Nioh 2 extensively again before this hands-on opportunity, and the difference was immediately noticeable. Deflection mechanics, which essentially involve a well-timed block, are also a significant focus of this fighting style. With the visual better highlighting when one has been performed, a reactive playstyle definitely seems viable.
Besides the two fighting styles, the biggest change Nioh 3 brings to the combat experience is the introduction of Martial Arts mechanics. These special techniques performed with different button combinations or at the end of combo strings which were already present in the previous entries in the series, can be chained one after the other once the new Arts Gauge has been filled and the Arts Proficiency mode enabled by using a Strong Attack or Martial Arts to create devastating combos that can keep even bosses stunlocked for their duration.
Don't expect this to be a free-win mechanic, however, as Martial Arts still use Ki, and players need to manage it to keep their combo going. This system is heavily reminiscent of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin's combat mechanics, and are a welcome addition that will make it easier for players of all skill levels to unleash the complex combos advanced players have discovered in Nioh 2.
As I wasn't used to these new mechanics, it took me a few minutes to move beyond what the muscle memory developed in Nioh 2 was making me do, but once I started getting used to them, they made combat more engaging, and taking on both returning and new Yokai was exhilarating. Particularly interesting was the final boss battle of the build against Takasugi Shinsaku, a real samurai who contributed heavily to the Meiji Restoration. Armed with a not exactly historically accurate gun, the samurai's fighting style is rather peculiar, which forced me to put the new mechanics to good use quickly. In true series tradition, the battle was challenging, but after a few tries, and a little bit of luck, I was able to take him down.
Weaving together the core Nioh series mechanics with features inspired by Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Wo-Long: Fallen Dynasty and even Rise of the Ronin, Nioh 3 feels like the culmination of all the masocore action RPGs developed by Team NINJA. How the exploration mechanics will hold up for dozen hours remains to be seen, but the first proper taste of the experience has undoubtedly made me even more excited about the game, and I cannot wait for February 6, 2026 when Nioh 3 launches on PC and PlayStation 5 to appreciate better the depth of the combat mechanics, which promise to outdo anything Team NINJA has done to date.
Travel and accomodation expanses for the Paris preview event covered by the publisher.
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