Review – Nioh 3
Team Ninja has really been on a roll lately. With the releases of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, and while not directly developing Ninja Gaiden 4, they still were involved and advisors during development. Team Ninja games have always stood out with their great style, designs, combat and the Nioh series has been a favorite of the team here at Way Too Many Games since the first game. Nioh 2 was a nice step up in gameplay, but I did feel it wasn’t as engaging with its story compared to the first. Now, with Nioh 3 upon us, we are seeing perhaps the largest change to the overall design. Let’s see if it worked out.
Nioh 3 puts you in the roll of Yokugawa Takechiyo, who is about to be appointed the next shogun in the year 1622. Consumed by hatred of your success, your younger brother succumbs to the darkness inside him. Empowered by this sinister force he unleashes an army of yokai against you. The era of peace is over, Edo Castle overran with yokai, and the land looking like something from hell. With the help of his guardian spirit, Kusanagi, Takechiyo will have to transcend time to overcome this threat.
Meet Yokugawa Takechiyo.
Already the story of Nioh 3 is far more intriguing than Nioh 2. One of my biggest gripes with Nioh 2 is that I didn’t feel a connection with the character and the story. You were on this quest to control your Shiftling abilities, but on the path were being used and thrusted into other peoples issues and battles. Here, you’re part of the main story and conflict. While Takechiyo is still, mostly, a silent protagonist, there is still a connection and motive for what is going on and it makes it much more engaging from the start.
Besides the fact that you’re already invested in the main character much more than before, there are also plenty of historical figures you will be teaming up with to rid the land from power hungry commanders who have joined forces with yokai to take the place as shogun. Much like the other Nioh titles, there will be historical settings and figures included here. What really sets Nioh 3 apart from its predecessors, however, is how it tells its story and presents its world.
The time traveling actually feels well implemented here and serves the story well.
As I mentioned above, the main character is helped by his guardian spirit to transcend time. This means the game takes place during different time periods in the same land. While main locations will remain there as they have been, they are drastically different depending on when you visit them. It is an interesting way to change up the gameplay map to keep things fresh and not feel repetitive. They were able to make familiar locations feel completely new. Depending on the era, there will be new yokai as well. Each era has its own theme and dangers, and it keeps the game feeling fresh.
That being said, what I did find with the changes in this style is a bit of a double-edged sword. Since there is one big map per era you visit, that means there isn’t a ton of variety in overall locations right way. Not that there aren’t some different locales, but in the first map you won’t be visiting any snow or poison swamps, etc. Unlike the old games where you had to go back out to a menu every time you finished a mission, everything is seamless. Which is really great for the flow of the game, but that means you won’t be jumping between so many locations like the old games had you do.
The maps aren’t too large, but they are packed with things to collect and side missions to do.
When I first started I didn’t realize that there would be additional era’s or maps so I was clearing the entire first map doing everything and I was getting a bit burnt out with the lack of variety. Little did I know I should have just kept playing the main missions to unlock the next portion. You can always revisit the older era’s to collect the things you missed, so don’t worry about locking yourself out of anything. This also lead to me feeling like the game is a bit easier than the older games because I was overpowered for the recommended level of that region. However, reflecting on it, I feel like Nioh 3 is just overall a bit easier. I think this is due to the overwhelming amount of combat options and permanent buffs you can get on your character.
Since we are now getting into the combat, I think it’s safe to say I can skip the general talk about the combat flow and stances. That has largely remained unchanged and we are now on the third game. If you would like some deeper dives into the core combat experience of Nioh, I have the first and second game linked in the first paragraph. I will be mostly focusing on what is new or the changes that make an impact.
The ninja style Ninjutsu moves are clutch. Take this bomb, big guy!
Let’s start with the biggest one, Style Shift. Trained as a samurai by the swordsmanship instructor Yagyu Munenori and as a ninja by the legendary Hattori Hanzo, you are able to freely shift between these styles. This allows quick combat decisions depending on the enemies you’re fighting and the loadouts you have for each style. Burst Break Counter makes a return, but it is now tied to the Style Shift. When the enemy is about to hit you with their power attack, Style Shift to stagger them and lay into them.
Each style has its own move sets, armor, weapons, abilities, and skills. There aren’t any new weapons, but they are split between the two styles. Samurai has the katana, dual katana, spears, axes, odachi, switchglaives, and cestuses. While the Ninja style has, ninja swords, dual ninja swords, kusarigama, tonfa, hatchets, splitstaves, and talons. The samurai style is more of your traditional Nioh style where you can swap between high, medium, and low stances. You can build your Arts Proficiency, deflect, Ki Pulse, and all the standard stuff across the typical weapons. There isn’t much change here so this will be the familiar style that you know.
