It wasn’t that long ago where I probably would have completely ignored the release of Nioh 3. I never played the first two games, and it has always taken a somewhat high bar for me to even try out a Souls game. Despite very strong reviews, I could never get myself interested in the Nioh series for one reason or another.
That changed a little bit when I played Rise of the Ronin in 2024. That was my first Team Ninja game since Dead or Alive 3 and Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox. Despite some flaws in that game, the combat really blew me away. Enemies had all sorts of interesting attack patterns, and it had maybe my favorite parry system since Sekiro. That game made me realize that Team Ninja needed to be on my radar going forward. Completing Silksong last year also made me realize that I could beat more soulslikes if I had a bit more patience with them. Silksong taught me to take more breaks and not ram my head into a wall while getting increasingly more annoyed. I started doing sit-ups/push-ups in-between boss fights, or doing other small tasks after each loss to recenter my mind. I also discovered that it’s actually not the end of the world if I go to sleep after not beating a boss, because I will quickly pick back up on enemy attack patterns and timing the next day.
So when Nioh 3 was announced, and when it was revealed that it would have more of an open world structure, I can’t say I was “pumped,” but I was ready to actually give it a shot.
After getting through roughly eight hours of the demo, I can now say that I am officially pumped. I beat the demo on Monday and still went back to it on Tuesday to clean up some open world things I missed. Now, as I write this on Wednesday, I’m actually sad that I have to wait a few more days to dive in. Keep in mind, this game wasn’t even on my 25 most anticipated games of 2025 list. That’s how good this demo was for me.
If you are reading this, Nioh 3 is now officially out, and I am likely about to dive in HARD tonight and this weekend. Here are three impressions of the demo from a Nioh newbie explaining how I became a Nioh believer.
Combat Is Deep And Brutal
Admittedly, I didn’t immediately fall in love with the game. Nioh 3 kicks off with a linear level, and the combat felt good, but wasn’t wowing me all that much. As I said before, I came to Nioh 3 in part because I loved the combat in Rise of the Ronin so much, which is very parry heavy. So entering Nioh 3 without a parry was a massive bummer for me.
I also didn’t love the “style shift” element of the game out of the gate. Nioh 3 has two different ways to play. You have the samurai style and the ninja style. While there is more to it, the easiest way to summarize it is that the ninja is faster and far more mobile, and has some ranged attacks, while the samurai is slower and has less mobility, but hits way harder.
I wasn’t enjoying playing as the ninja, as it just didn’t fit my general playstyle with these games, and while I liked the samurai, the lack of movement combined with no parry ability also made that stance frustrating to use in spots. But regardless of that complaint, I was mostly sticking with samurai style. Unfortunately, the game forces you to switch styles often, as it is the main way to do counterattacks on the most powerful enemy attacks. I found an option that made it so you would only shift styles on these counters if you really pressed hard on the style shift button, but it still happens to me when I get too excited or frantic with trying to get my counterattack in. It’s very annoying to constantly have to switch back to my samurai style every time this happens. Perhaps with more time, I will find more value in the ninja style, but for now, I am not a massive fan and resent that I get forced into using it in spots.
I started coming around on the combat when I got to the first main boss of the demo. Despite my issues up to that point, I was really wowed by that fight. It was a creative boss, with a very nice variety of attack patterns that felt tough but fair. It was hard to overcome, but I always felt like I was inching closer with each attempt, and it felt great to finally come out on top.
That boss is also when I at least experimented a bit with the “ki burst,” which is a massive change from almost any action game with a stamina bar I have ever played. Simply, after doing different actions in the game, you can press a button timed with a certain animation to instantly restore the stamina you just used. Essentially, if you get adept at the ki burst, you don’t have to worry all that much about conserving stamina the way you do in most Souls games. This makes the pacing of Nioh 3 significantly faster than most other games in this genre, but it’s also very weird to adjust to. Even through eight hours of the demo, I’m only just starting to get better at remembering to use it, as it feels so unnatural within the flow of a fight. The ki burst almost feels like if someone told me I needed to touch my feet after I shoot a shot in basketball in order to be able to run back on defense. It doesn’t really make sense, but it also helps the combat here feel truly unlike anything else in the genre. For what it’s worth, I was able to get through the demo while still only using it in very limited spots, but I think the combat will truly reach another level once I master it.
My experience with combat also improved significantly after that first boss when, to my great surprise, I discovered that the game actually does have a parry type ability (called “deflect”), but it’s locked until after that fight and tucked into the skill tree for the samurai. Finally having this in my arsenal significantly improved my experience. The deflect system isn’t too powerful; it only blocks attacks and charges a special attack that the samurai has, but it has allowed me to mostly play the way that I want to. The game also has a more traditional parry that you can unlock later on, but it only works on human enemies. Regardless, it feels amazing every time that I use it.
Once I adjusted to most of these core mechanics, I really started to appreciate how much Team Ninja had cooked in so many regards with the combat. There are an insane amount of options with different skills and combo type attacks you can use, as well as many different ways that you can play with the styles. There are tons of really interesting enemies to deal with, and even some that almost feel like quick minibosses. The main boss of the demo is also fantastic, with many different attacks and mild variations on those attacks that really kept me on my toes. Despite the difficulty, I still thought it was incredibly fair. I had a blast taking it on.
The sound design and animations are also excellent. Slamming my giant Odachi sword onto a downed enemy never gets old, and there are some nasty execution animations that I really love. The game also has light stealth elements, which are always a nice way to kick off any encounter. Team Ninja was determined to create a challenging game that lets you play your way, and they seem to have easily succeeded in that. And I imagine as I start implementing more of the game’s mechanics into how I play, it will get even better.
A Bit Of Elden Ring, A Bit Of Rise of the Ronin… And A Bit Of Assassin’s Creed?
Regardless of the quality of the combat, the inclusion of an open world is another big reason why I decided to make the foray into Nioh 3 in the first place. Outside of just “getting good,” one of the main ways to deal with a difficult Soulslike when you are stuck on something is to go back, grind, get stronger, and then come back and try again. From what I’ve heard from some friends who love the first two Nioh games, replaying old missions was a standard way to grind in these games. This actually sounds a lot more appealing than backtracking through a bunch of areas the way I might in a Dark Souls game, but it still isn’t really how I want to play a game like this. I do not like replaying things in general, and grinding essentially goes against that ethos.
An open world within the Soulslike structure makes so much sense to me. In the vast majority of open world games, checking off every icon on the map becomes closer to an addiction than actually worthwhile. You are likely more than strong enough to beat most open world games while barely interacting with the side content, and in many of these games, the side content is vastly inferior to the main missions. With a Soulslike, that open world becomes vital on another level. Every extra level up or piece of gear could be badly needed against whatever is around that next corner.
I absolutely adored the organic exploration in Elden Ring. I loved that whenever I felt like I was having a hard time in an area, I could turn around and go in a different direction. But as amazing as the design was in that game, sometimes that exploration felt pretty fruitless. There was always a chance that I might not gain many runes during any particular side outing, as there was always a possibility of losing them. And plenty of the gear I’d find in various caves and such would not be anything that I’d end up using. I still loved exploring in that game, but I can’t say it was always rewarding.
That is not the case at all in Nioh 3. If you are exploring the open world in this game, you are pretty much guaranteed to get stronger. It’s almost impossible not to. This is because Nioh has an unbelievable amount of upgrade systems. Of course, you can level up as you gain experience, called “amrita,” as you’d expect. There is also tons of loot in the game, so you can constantly upgrade your equipment if you wish (and you can get rid of equipment you don’t want for more amrita). Additionally, there are several other systems that are linked with different open world tasks that can upgrade your character in unique ways. I felt great about literally everything I was doing because I knew every task would make me that much stronger.
I also really appreciate the way the map is designed. It feels a lot like Assassin’s Creed, but it’s smaller, denser, and allows for a bit more organic exploration. Essentially, each section of the map starts out with no details on it. As you explore and do a few tasks, you unlock a clearer image of the map for the section that you are in. After you continue to do more tasks and “level up” each section of the map, the game will finally show you all of the different icons that you can go to. Each area also has a level associated with enemies in it, which doesn’t scale with you the way Assassin’s Creed does. In my view, this system gives you the best of all worlds. There’s a bit of actual exploration, but after enough of that, the game tells you where else you can go. This also helps prevent “icon burnout,” which is so common in games like this, since the game doesn’t throw all of its icons at you at once.
It’s kind of crazy experiencing this open world after playing Rise of the Ronin. The open worlds in that game were huge, assaulted you with icons, yet still felt barren in a lot of ways. Nioh 3‘s open world design is tighter, way more dense, and way more rewarding. The open world is one of my favorite elements of this game, and I can’t help but feel that they learned a whole lot from their experience with Ronin in order to make it as good as it is.
A Little Team Ninja Nonsense
Unfortunately, I don’t feel that Team Ninja learned everything they could have from Rise of the Ronin (and their past games). I have a few nagging annoyances that mostly boil down to design decisions.
Much like Ronin (and past Nioh games, from what I understand), Nioh 3 has an insane amount of loot. You will constantly be picking up new equipment with everything you do. Most of this loot is useless. Luckily, you can disassemble it for amrita, so it’s always rewarding to find, but every hour or so I end up having to stop for 10 minutes to go through this insane amount of loot to see if anything is worthwhile. Each piece of equipment has basic attack/defense stats, but also different modifiers, and the game makes it annoyingly difficult to figure out what all of these modifiers are. Some are so long that you have to wait for the text to scroll across the screen to read it all. Some feel way too vague, and without understanding every system in the game, it’s not always super clear what they do. I really think less would be more here, as I don’t want to spend this much time in menus doing what almost amounts to menial tasks.
I also find it odd how the game rolls out all of its mechanics. As I mentioned earlier, you don’t unlock the deflect or parry moves until after the first boss, and you actually have to select them in the skill tree to get them. I feel like that’s an important mechanic, and it’s odd to gatekeep it even for a short time. The samurai style also has different stances you can switch to, which change different elements of how you attack, but this is also just plopped in the skill tree with minimal explanation. I’ve been doing OK without it, so I haven’t bothered putting any skill points towards unlocking this, as I’d rather put them towards things I know for a fact that I will use. But I feel like the way Nioh 3 rolls out some of its mechanics makes it really hard for me to engage with the game as deeply as I might want to. If I’m doing well with what I’m using, and already still trying to adjust to a few mechanics, it’s really difficult to motivate myself to unlock even more mechanics that I might not mesh with all that well. I really think there had to be a better way to roll this stuff out.
This criticism is kind of funny when my other main problem with the game involves the forced style switches that I talked about earlier. It’s weird how the game tries to shove this in your face, but then is opaque about some other important seeming mechanics. As I said, I’ve mostly found workarounds for this, and I do think as I continue the journey, I will likely start to incorporate the ninja more, as well as the different elements of the samurai style. But if I keep succeeding as I am, perhaps I will not. I’m not sure.
Despite these qualms, I still had one hell of a time with the Nioh 3 demo. Elden Ring is my favorite 3D Soulslike of all time, but Nioh 3 might actually have the goods to surpass it for me if it keeps up the pace it is on. It also could very well be the first 3D Soulslike I ever actually complete thanks to its brilliant structure. This might really have the goods, and I can’t wait to see what else this perilous journey will have in store for me when I boot it back up tonight.
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