With Nioh 3, Crew Ninja has made a ‘masocore’ sport totally its personal.
I can perceive why Nioh 3 producer Fumihiko Yasuda and the group check with Nioh and their different tough-as-nails titles as ‘masocore’, in spite of everything, they is perhaps closely impressed by FromSoftware’s slate of monolithic motion video games, however they attempt to provide every sport a novel environment and really feel, together with mechanics that set them other than the pack. To this point, the outcomes have been combined.
Whereas I can’t complain concerning the core gameplay mechanics in Rise of the Ronin or Wo Lengthy: Fallen Dynasty, the previous took an excessive amount of inspiration from huge open worlds that didn’t go well with its gameplay, and the latter have stage design that took a nosedive previous a sure level. These video games now really feel like formidable experiments, and Nioh 3 has taken these classes to make one thing that feels totally distinctive.
In a post-Elden Ring world, having a big setting to discover looks like the following pure step, however once more, classes have been realized from Rise of the Ronin’s overwhelming measurement. In Nioh 3 you’ll cope with three overworlds – with some brief linear sections sprinkled between – however every of those three worlds feels neatly designed. You received’t be using on horseback by way of open fields towards an enemy encampment, however you simply may discover a base riddled with yokai nestled between buildings.
As an alternative of being an open world the place you’ll be able to go anyplace and do something, this one is linked by tight alleys and corridors. There are a number of spots the place you may be capable of sneakily bounce onto a roof and keep away from an enemy encounter, however for probably the most half, there are set routes – and alternate routes for eagle-eyed gamers – to funnel you thru areas, by way of fight encounters, enemy ambushes, and copious quantities of loot.
Making your manner by way of any given space usually feels nearer to transferring by way of the tightly designed ranges of the unique Darkish Souls, or one in every of Elden Ring’s legacy dungeons, versus fashionable open world video games. That’s no dangerous factor, and signifies that as a substitute of darting round a map to tick off aims, you might have a definite sense of transferring ahead towards some form of objective always.
It’s world design that’s impressed by its open world contemporaries, however put by way of the lens of Nioh’s gameplay, with something superfluous stripped away. Crew Ninja’s experiments have allowed it to refine precisely what makes Nioh nice, however that’s not all it’s realized whereas trying again.
Ninja Gaiden is having fun with a little bit of a renaissance for the time being, with Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, Ninja Gaiden 4, and Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound all releasing in a brief area of time to nice reception, and it was clearly on the minds of the group. The Nioh collection has at all times featured references to Ninja Gaiden – together with the Hayabusa household and the enduring Izuna Drop approach – however Nioh 3 takes issues a step additional and provides your participant character a full ninja moveset.
That’s Nioh 3’s massive innovation — it’s not the world, it’s the participant. Now you can swap between a Ninja and a Samurai fashion by urgent R2 at any time. A few of Nioh 2’s large weapon choice can solely be wielded whereas utilizing Ninja fashion in Nioh 3, and the 2 types primarily act as a very new character construct, with distinctive abilities, weapons, armor, and extra. You’re free to stay to at least one fashion for the whole sport should you actually wish to, however fashion switching can be utilized to Burst Break enemies, and a few foes are far simpler to take down as one fashion or the opposite.
Each types can entry the identical ranged weapons, however the Ninja fashion can’t Ki Pulse, deflect assaults, or change stances, as a substitute having access to Ninjutsu methods, together with several types of Shuriken stars and even short-term transformations. Ninjutsu methods don’t price Ki to make use of, to allow them to be spammed whereas making distance to maintain your opponent busy as you’re taking a breather.
“Even among the armor designs clearly evoke Ninja Gaiden’s legacy, and should you play it that manner, it might probably really feel extra like a Ninja Gaiden RPG.”
The Ninja fashion’s swift assaults make brief work of most simple enemies, and the Samurai’s deflect and Ki Pulse mechanics could make a participant with swift fingers really feel immortal towards any boss, however I ultimately discovered myself utilizing the Ninja fashion increasingly more throughout the course of the sport.
The cutthroat combos mixed with abilities like Mist make you are feeling extremely nimble – if a bit squishy – and the Ninjutsu abilities nearly at all times make brief work of human-like opponents like Masters and Mimics that may’t deal with having low Ki. Even among the armor designs clearly evoke Ninja Gaiden’s legacy, and should you play it that manner, it might probably really feel extra like a Ninja Gaiden RPG.
If it sounds just like the story has given option to the mechanics on this overview, that’s as a result of the sport performs out the identical manner. You’re Lord Takechiyo, rightful Shogun, however as is the way in which with these items, you might be betrayed on the final minute and end up thrown by way of time, tasked with destroying the evil crystals that harbor the evil power that makes individuals do evil issues.
You’ll encounter numerous warriors all through historical past, many with a Guardian Spirit by their facet, and you could cleanse the evil crystals from their spirits and return the timeline to regular. There’s additionally a magic mirror concerned. Unhappy to say that it’s hardly probably the most participating a part of the sport, however there are some very good cutscenes to get pleasure from alongside the way in which.
Whereas Nioh 3 does usually look fairly nice, it’s a bit disappointing to say that even on PS5 Professional, it might probably look a bit low-res in locations, with some body drops and stutters occurring afterward within the sport — and these are noticeable even should you’re geared up with a VRR-capable show. It’s actually not game-breaking or experience-ruining, however price mentioning. The sport additionally triggered my console to exhausting crash as soon as, forcing a reset by way of holding down the ability button, and I hope that situation can get patched ASAP so it doesn’t threat bricking a console.
When all the things is working as supposed, Nioh 3 is successful. It by no means feels prefer it wastes your time, with new, distinctive enemy encounters and objects hidden round seemingly each nook. It’s a sport that’ll have you ever up til late at evening checking only one extra nook and preventing yet another enemy — and if it’s actually testing your persistence, as much as three gamers can bounce right into a sport collectively in co-op to beat down bosses and clear by way of areas, and I think about that’ll be the popular option to play for some.
It felt like there have been different video games like Nioh and Rise of the Ronin, however there aren’t another video games fairly like Nioh 3. It has nice breadth and selection whereas nonetheless sustaining a core focus that by no means dilutes. It’s the most effective ‘masocore’ video games of the era, and even when it doesn’t hit the identical highs as FromSoftware’s flagship video games, it has lastly managed to set its personal course for the longer term.
