Gaming: New Nioh 3 Review

Nioh 3 is everything I wanted from a sequel to Nioh 2, and yet, somehow so much more. One of the best soulslikes yet.

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What is it? An open-world soulslike overflowing with samurai, ninjas, and demons. Release date February 6, 2026Expect to pay $70 / £65Developer Team Ninja, Koei Tecmo GamesPublisher Koei TecmoReviewed on Ryzen 7 7700X, RTX 4080, 64GB RAMSteam Deck TBALink Official site

When internet denizens and online listicles debate the topic of the “best soulslikes,” I always come away disappointed at one glaring omission. There’s no denying that FromSoftware is the king of the genre, but as far as I’m concerned, Nioh 2 deserves a spot on the Mount Rushmore of soulslikes, nestled between Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s got its problems. Certain mechanics are a touch obtuse, and you’ll end up traipsing through the same maps at least three times to complete side quests, but that’s easy to handwave when its combat is a head above almost every other soulslike.

Still, given the improvements between Nioh and Nioh 2, I couldn’t help but feel optimistic about Nioh 3. This is Team Ninja’s third swing at perfecting its own specific formula of action-focused soulslike, and it was already so close with Nioh 2. So has it done it? Is Nioh 3 the consummate culmination of its vision?

Yes, but it’s also so much more than that. With this sequel, Team Ninja is giving FromSoftware a run for its money, with an open-world soulslike that I think I like even more than Elden Ring.

Before I get into what’s changed, let’s go over what’s stayed the same. Nioh 3 is still an action-forward take on a soulslike. There are 14 melee weapon types, and each comes with its own customisable skills and moves. Most of these weapon movesets are 1-for-1 recreations of the same ones in Nioh 2, with a few additions here and there. Don’t fix what ain’t broken.

This is the number one area where Nioh 3 has FromSoftware and other soulslike developers beat. Elden Ring's wide selection of unique weapons is great fun to experiment with, but Nioh 3’s limited pool of weapon types allows for a far more fine-tuned and in-depth approach to combat. Each has not one but three unique movesets, as well as customisable attacks to tweak it to your liking.

Beyond all the fun of mastery an

Source: PC Gamer