REVIEW: Nioh 3 expands the franchise with an open world and visceral combat.

After 6 years in development, the Team NINJA announced and now launched Nioh 3The new title maintains the essence of its predecessors, but this time focuses on an open world, guaranteeing more possibilities. In addition, it introduces some new combat mechanics, such as the new style. Ninja, which offers more agility. Want to know everything about what the new game brings and what it doesn't? Check out the new full review now!

History

The game's plot takes place in 1622 (Genna Era 8), at Edo Castle, on the eve of the appointment of Tokugawa Takechiyo like the new shogun. However, the protagonist's younger brother, Tokugawa KunimatsuWith a heart full of hatred and envy, he joins the Yokai and leads a horde of them in a conflict against his brother.

In this, our protagonist Takechiyo uses the power of his Guardian SpiritKusanagi to travel through space-time and achieve victory against Kunimatsu.

This story takes us to several different eras and periods of Japan, allowing us to interact with old acquaintances of the others. Nioh ...and new friends and enemies in the new title. The story is incredibly rich and a treat for anyone who enjoys Japanese history, but it requires thorough exploration and attention to detail to understand what's happening.

Gameplay

Different from one soulslike , the Elden Ring or even Lies of PThe game is much more fast-paced. Although it's in the same boat as the other games mentioned and has elements of a... soulslikeI consider the Nioh franchise to be much more of a... hack'n'slashAt various points the game feels much more like a devil may cry than Dark SoulsAnd that's good, after all, that's what makes the game authentic within its premise.

The main new feature of Nioh 3 These are the fighting styles. In addition to the already conventional ones. positions From the franchise, the combat is now divided into two: Samurai e NinjaThe style Samurai It's the classic style from previous games, allowing you to use various stances, focusing on heavier weapons, melee combat, and ki management. The style... Ninja is the way NarutoYou are agile, fast, have dozens of tools and ninjutsu to attack from a distance, and focus more on dodging than defending. This style also has an advantage when attacking from behind.

In the game, we face both humans and yokai, as they call the monsters. When playing as a Samurai, we have advantages against the Yokai, being able to use the Ki Pulse with the button R1 After the attacks, in addition to recovering some of your Ki, you also "expel" the Yokai back to their world.

As a Ninja, the advantages include a much lower Ki expenditure and the ability to use the Mistalso with the button R1 after attacks. This ability is excellent for escaping after a combo, especially when advancing on a powerful boss. It's a daring ability, but it works.

Each of the styles has its own weapons, and you can switch between them in real time using the button. R2This change also allows you to use the Impulsive Break (Parry special enemy attacks). So if you switch styles at the exact moment of the attack (when they get a red aura), you parry the attack and cause significant posture damage. It's a very interesting way to punish enemies in this game. A similar system already existed in... Nioh 2but without the change in style.

Hitting enemies also fills the martial arts bar e ninjutsu barThese bars are used to perform special attacks like Samurai, which help break the enemies' posture, and ninjutsu like Ninja, which can range from a simple shuriken to bombs and fireballs.

In exploration, Nioh 3 It's an open world and that's what it is. Elden Ring it went to the Dark SoulsTo make it easier to understand, the game's core gameplay is the same as the previous ones. Those who are already fans will recognize many things, including mechanics, weapons, items, and even a bit of... loreBut being an open world changes things a bit. I'll start with what bothered me.

In a soulslike , the Dark SoulsIn this game, things are more paced; you explore and search for items, encounter enemies and then bosses, and that's it. Nioh 3Now in an open world, things seem to have gotten a little out of control. The game has always followed a philosophy of giving LOTS of items. That is, it's normal in the franchise to collect repeated and similar items, only changing the level and rarity. This is okay in a linear game, but imagine this on an open-world scale where you pick up items every 5 meters? I thought it was a terrible decision and I dare say that an update improving at least the loot will be coming soon.

The problem isn't that you get too many items, but that there are too many similar items all the time, so your inventory becomes a mess and there comes a point where you can't tell what's good, what's bad, what's useful and what's not. The game has some settings to automatically clear lower rarity items, for example, but there are so many that this doesn't solve the problem.

It gives me the feeling that no item is really good, you know? It doesn't give you that satisfaction of exploring an area and getting a weapon that's only found there, for example. You go to a super difficult location, find a super unique chest, and get the most generic item in the world. After a while, you just get lazy about exploring.

And here I'm going to make the ungrateful comparison with Elden RingThere, the game sets the main objective, and the rest is left to the player to do according to their interest or need. Is there a lot of repetition there too? Yes, the caves become somewhat pointless after hours and hours of gameplay, but the loot system for an open world is much more balanced, and the game manages to better reward you for exploring a difficult or different location.

Side missions, on the other hand, always offer something more interesting and always make it clear what you're going to get. It was through them that I managed to find the coolest weapons in the game so far, as well as finding optional boss battles that are challenging and interesting, both in terms of the environment and the combat itself.

Because it's an open world, we no longer have the linear mission system of previous games. You are free to explore as you see fit, and as you encounter NPCs, new missions will appear. That's also where the... sanctuaries that function as Graça From Elden Ring, that is, they are checkpoints and also the hub for you to make improvements to your character, manage items, connect to co-op mode, among other things.

As you explore an area, you increase its exploration level and more details are added to the map, such as, for example, Kodamas, Sudamas, Sunekosuri e Chijiko which offer skill points and other improvements for our character.

Our character also features Guardian Spirits which grant special attacks and a powerful transformation similar to devil trigger from Devil May Cry. And as we progress through the story, we gain new spirits that will also help us in the exploration, whether to walk on walls, break walls, and even fly, albeit for a brief period.

We also have enemy bases to capture. They basically serve to give us... Amrita to improve the character's level. The system of Soul Essences de Nioh 2 It comes back here, but with additions, such as Omnio Boxwhich allows these invocations to be used in positions Yin e Yang, altering its properties.

Regarding the shrines, it's also worth mentioning that the game lets you fast travel to any of them from anywhere, as long as you've already activated it, meaning you've gotten very close to it. This is great and also makes exploration easier. And here's another compliment: the online mode. If you've ever played any Soulslike game... From SoftwareYou know that it's always a lot of bureaucracy to play this way.

Em Nioh 3The experience is on another level. You can either summon people willing to help you in the world and leave their marks on the scenery, or you can go to a sanctuary and activate cooperative mode, with or without a password, and connect with another person. When connected, the game lets you explore the open world without restrictions, face bosses, do missions, and even fast travel. All without having to constantly connect and disconnect with that person.

Finally, it's worth mentioning the boss battles. I really enjoyed most of them because of the challenge and also the way the battle is conducted. It's visually interesting, and there were rare times when I felt the game was too strict on the difficulty.

It's also worth mentioning that when playing in cooperative mode during story mode, being able to explore the map freely, the boss battles became very easy for the most part. However, asking a random person for help by touching their spirit on the ground seems to make things even more difficult.

Graphics and bugs

Nioh 3 It's an exclusive game for PlayStation 5 and PCs. The showmetech received a copy for the PS5 And the experience was quite interesting. I played the game always in performance mode, prioritizing FPS, and the game ran smoothly 99% of the time.

Aesthetically speaking, the characters are quite beautiful, with good textures on the clothes, and the facial expressions are of good quality, but it would be unfair to compare them to something like... Death Stranding 2 ou Ghost of YoteiFor example. It's a beautiful game, but it's not impressive in terms of graphics.

As for the art direction, it has its moments. Compared to others soulslikeas the Elden RingAlthough it has better graphics, I find Nioh 3 less interesting in its environments. Completely different worlds, I know, but aside from some things involving the Yokai, everything in the game world seems too basic. Considering that the game is quite fantastic in its concept, I think it could have been more daring.

However, it's worth mentioning that the character design, especially of the Yokai and bosses, is excellent. Not only in the details, but they are quite unique and perfectly convey the vibe of that universe.

As for bugs, I may have encountered a horse cosplaying as... Carpeado de The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt ...and ending up on a rooftop out of nowhere, but nothing that involved loss of progress or prevented me from advancing in the story. The game is all in... Brazilian Portuguese As far as the texts are concerned, then there are no problems understanding the items and the story.

Technical specifications (PC)

Resource	Minimum Requirement (1080p / 30fps)	Recommended Requirement (1080p / 60fps)
SO	11 64-bit Windows	11 64-bit Windows
Processor	Intel Core i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 with 6 cores/12 threads or better.	Intel Core i5-10600K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X with 6 cores/12 threads or better.
RAM memory	16GB in dual-channel	16GB in dual-channel
Video card	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 VRAM 6 GB or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (Rev. 2.0) VRAM 6 GB	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 3060 Ti VRAM 8 GB or AMD Radeon RX 6700 X VRAM 12 GB
Storage	125 GB available on SSD	125 GB available on SSD
DirectX	12 Version	12 Version
Additional Notes	SSD required, playable at 1080p at 30 FPS using the lightest settings (with upscaling). Frame generation is supported.	SSD required, playable at 1080p at 60 FPS using standard quality (with upscaling). Frame generation is supported.

A Team NINJA It emphasizes that installing the update is mandatory. 1.02 Before playing on PC, it fixes bugs and brings significant improvements to the game's stability.

The game is also not recommended for use with conventional HDDs. It was made and optimized to run on SSDs to take better advantage of the open-world map. Finally, Nioh 3 offers full support for graphics cards. RTX 50 series e RX 9000.

Availability price

Nioh 3 enough for PlayStation 5 e PC This Friday, February 6th. On consoles, it has a 6-month exclusivity period and should arrive on... Xbox in August. The suggested price for the game is currently... R$349,00 in the base version and can reach R$640 In the deluxe edition. Check it out:

• Nioh 3 on PSN: R$399
• Nioh 3 on Steam: R$349,00

Conclusion

Nioh 3 It's an excellent title for the start of 2026. It's a natural evolution of what... Team NINJA This has been the work being done in recent years and is also the result of what the industry has been betting on, especially with the open world concept.

I think there's still a lot of room for improvement regarding the exploration of this world, especially concerning the game's loot, in order to make it more interesting and avoid excessive repetition of items.

If you're already a fan of NiohHowever, for previous games, these complaints may not have as much impact, since these things already happen in them, but on a smaller scale. Now, for those new to the franchise, even though the studio is willing to deliver a good experience for everyone, I think it's worth waiting for a sale or even playing the first two games first to see if they're for you.

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reviewed by Luis Antonio Costa in 04 / 02 / 2026