Nioh 3

I absolutely adore Nioh 3. It's one of the best Soulslikes I've played in ages, quite possibly since Elden Ring itself, and while it's not as large (thankfully), the way it breaks everything down and gives you endless flexibility means that it's just fun to play. There are layers upon layers of systems to master and learn about, but the fact that this game is a blast to play never goes away. Do not miss out on this.

I find it difficult to ask more from Nioh 3. It’s a game that proudly announces its goals at the outset, and trusts the player to discover how well it’s going to nail every one them over the course of its 45+ hour runtime. It is the confident result of shaking up Nioh’s near decade-old formula that’s only outshone by Team Ninja’s steady hand in crafting it.

Nioh 3 takes clear cues from Elden Ring, offering multiple sizeable open-world regions to explore and challenging enemy encounters aplenty. Its bosses aren’t particularly memorable, but the deep combat gives you a myriad of ways to approach each confrontation. It’s an impressively large action-RPG that I can’t stop playing.

Nioh 3's balancing also feels off, swinging back and forth between easy to difficult, and then very easy in co-op. It's a lot of fun to play, but the experience can vary wildly. Still, Nioh 3 is the culmination of Team Ninja's continued work on refining the Nioh experience. Nioh 3's ambition has yielded the most enjoyable and accessible entry in the franchise yet.

Nioh 3 is simply a good game because it's more of Nioh and Nioh 2 with a few extra dashes of different playstyles, a few new enemies, bigger environments, and some tiny gameplay tweaks. Those of you just looking for more Nioh/Rise of the Ronin/Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty are getting exactly that.

Nioh 3 is an evolution of Team Ninja as a studio. The solid foundation laid by the first two Nioh titles paved the way for aspects of Ninja Gaiden, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, and Rise of the Ronin to combine into the third and most ambitious entry in the series. This is a must play for any fan as Team Ninja truly cooked with this one.

With its new open field format, Nioh 3 is undoubtedly the best entry in the series yet, giving players more freedom to explore and making the experience feel more seamless. Add on top of that additional new features, such as the ability to switch between samurai and ninja styles on the fly and being able to freely respec, and you have a stellar example of just how good the Soulslike genre can be. This is an early game of the year contender, without a doubt.

If you come to Nioh primarily for fights and challenges, you will enjoy this new game because it brings an even more varied action combat system. Overall though, those also hoping to find compelling storytelling and worldbuilding might end up finding those aspects rather lackluster. I sincerely hope Team Ninja can use this lesson should they ever get to make a Wo Long 2.