Nioh 3

xSaitoHx
May 18
4 min read

About the Game

Nioh 3 is the third game of the series and an indirect open-world sequel to Nioh 2, taking place not too long after, but this time as the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu, where you will once again fight through the time of the Sengoku Jidai (Age of Country at war) via time travel shenanigans, as you meet some old, but also many new characters.

Story

As mentioned, you play as the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and are about to be crowned as the next Tokugawa shogun, until you are betrayed, and find yourself fighting though the city with the help of a familiar face, until you are saved by your Guardian Spirit, who sends you back in time allowing you can become strong enough to return to the present, while also preventing a past calamity from taking place and destroying the future you know.

Gameplay

Much similar to the previous entries, the game mainly focuses on fast flowing combat and attack combinations, feeling a lot more aggressive than previous entries, returning with the “low, mid and high” stance, for the samurai, but also introduces a new playstyle “Ninja”, which focuses purely on very quick attacks, deflecting and use of ninja tools, focusing on damaging your enemies stamina, or applying negative effects.

Each class has its own expansive set of weapons, catering to most playstyles you can imagine, with each weapon also having a massive moveset, and there are so many that it can be difficult to remember most of them, especially if you are a fan of trying out different weapons. Luckily, while using weapons can be a heavy stat investment, those stats can be respecced for free as many times as you want at Shrines, so you could freely experience all the different weapons without worry, even in a single playthrough if you wanted. Not all the moves can just be unlocked through Samurai and Ninja lock collectibles, but have to be earned by beating more powerful enemies, some of which are locked behind having certain guardians.

Like before, as you use a weapon, you become more familiar with them, which increases the damage you deal with them.

There is still Onmyo magic, but I feel it is a lot more restrictive and has also been generally nerfed in comparison to the previous two games, but is still there to make fights easier, but I found little use for it outside of boss battles, where it’s mainly there to buff yourself and debuff the boss.

While the game generally sticks to the combat of the previous entries, the Ninja form adds plenty new to the flow of combat, allowing for double jumping, various styles of aerial attacks, and moves that position you directly behind the enemy.

Like before, there are of course defelcts, and burst counters, allowing you to more quickly build up the enemy stagger meter, allowing for heavy counter damage.

Lastly, in regards to combat, there are of course also guardian spirits, which allow for special attacks, grant the player passive buffs, as well as transforming into Guardian form, which, for a limited time buffs your weapons while also increasing you damage, and granting you unlimited stamina and health (The gauge replaces health, and goes down in bigger chunks when you would take damage)

Kodamas and merchants are still here, and do all the same as in the previous two games, serving as smaller, passive buffs, or ways to upgrade or craft new equipment.

The Crucibles are a new area mechanic, where the Yokai inside are more powerful and drain your max HP with every hit, which you restore by dealing damage yourself, while also increasing the speed at which your Spirit Gauge fills up.

In those Cruicibles, you will find spikes, which give you permanent buffs when destroying them, ranging from Guardian buffs, increased guardian damage, and can also drop Cruicible weapons (Generally found in Cruicibles, not just spikes), which are powerful variations of your usual weapons, each having their own special “Cruicible Art”, which are usually powerful attack skills.

You can also find Scampusses lazing around the world, who will lead you to shortcuts, Hair Locks, or loot.

In the Eternal Rift, you can offer up their hairballs you gain by following them for unique rewards.

Visuals

The game looks great, with some amazing designs like the previous two games, but does lack some of the sharpness Nioh 2 had, which can make the game look a little blurry.

Performance is also a mixed bag, as it’s not as optimized as it could be, even for modern specs, especially in some areas, with many people having performance issues regardless of graphics settings, myself included.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Scampuss,
Weapon and character design,
Great selection of weapons and skills,
Combat flow.

Cons

Mediocre game performance.

Conclusion

Nioh 3 is an amazing and very fun game, like most Team Ninja entries, and while this one does follow a more open world trend, rather than the more linear story of the last two Nioh games, it didn’t get boring at any point. Definitely worth checking for any Souls-Like fan.

Rating: 9/10