The striking thing about Nioh 3, even compared to the first two games, is how many options you have in any given fight. A huge number of weapons, stances, and abilities to create a vast array of fast-paced attacks, and help you survive against devastating, powerful opponents.
Publisher Koei Tecmo recently gave me a chance to go hands-on and explore a new area of Nioh 3, complete with a pair of tough bosses to battle. Here’s everything I found, saw, and fought along the way.
Venturing through a corrupted city and a new time period
Nioh 3 puts you in the role of a Tokugawa Takechiyo, who’s on the precipice of becoming the next shogun of the Sengoku era, before their brother, Tokugawa Kunimatsu, kicks off a civil war to try to take over with an army of soldiers and strange yokai spirits. But Nioh 3 won’t just take you through different physical locations — you’ll travel to different time periods as you explore its expansive “open field” levels, as well. My preview took place in an occupied, corrupted Kyoto in the Bakumatsu period.
Like a lot of things in Nioh 3, the open field approach to its levels feels like a natural expansion of the series’ past ideas. You’ll still often fight and explore your way down paths that loop back on themselves with shortcuts, but levels are much larger, with side paths, hidden areas, and additional objectives — some of which are only accessible with the new jump ability. All that exploration provides players with options; if you run up against a battle that’s too tough, you can try somewhere else, often discovering opportunities to power up your character and earn additional rewards.