Nioh has developed into one of Koei Tecmo's most successful franchises, despite being relatively new. The third instalment improves upon the already excellent combat system and, for the first time, features much more open environments.
The Nioh series, developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo, has been a remarkable success. This dark fantasy action role-playing game features challenging, Souls-inspired combat and fast-paced hack-and-slash action against supernatural Yokai enemies. The first instalment, released in 2017, sold over four million copies on PC, PS4 and PS5 (Remastered). The second instalment surpassed three million sales on PC, PS4 and PS5 (Remastered). In May 2025, the franchise surpassed eight million sales. These are good omens for the third instalment, which builds on the strengths of its predecessors and opens up the world more, similar to Elden Ring — even if they call it an open field rather than an open world.
In Nioh 3, players take on the role of Tokugawa Takechiyo, who is set to become the next shogun during Japan's prosperous Edo period. Although the character is based on a historical figure, players can customise its appearance. Meanwhile, in the shadows, Takechiyo's younger brother, Tokugawa Kunimatsu, is consumed by jealousy towards his sibling. Empowered by a sinister force, Kunimatsu plots to overthrow Takechiyo, leading a horde of yokai and abruptly ending the era of peace, plunging Japan into chaos. Guided by the mysterious power of their Guardian Spirit, Kusanagi, Takechiyo transcends time to rescue the land and become shogun. While the story is not as cryptic as in From Software games, much remains vague and presented in a more indirect manner.
Nioh 3 © Koei Tecmo Games
The game takes place on a larger scale than any previous instalment in the series. It spans various eras and regions, including Edo Castle, the Totomi region during the Warring States period and Kyoto, the capital city during the Heian period. It also covers the Bakumatsu period for the first time in the franchise’s history. After an initial, fairly linear section, players enter larger, open areas where they have more freedom to approach challenging battles. Rather than strictly separate levels, there are now four extensive maps from different timelines, which feature main and side missions, as well as additional activities. These include a correspondingly large number of icons on the map, which can sometimes be overwhelming (not to mention the task of working through them). Players can free villages, explore the surroundings, eliminate enemy camps, and later attack fortresses with main bosses. The world design, or level design, is largely good, even in tighter spaces, and encourages alternative approaches and exploration, with some complex traversal sections.
Nioh 3 © Koei Tecmo Games
The fast-paced and challenging battles remain the highlight of this game, which teems with numbers, options and systems, offering an astonishing number of possibilities for developing a personal style. Each weapon has its own talent tree, through which players can unlock a variety of combat skills. Then there's an abundance of loot and many other systems. At least these layers of the combat system are unlocked gradually, which is an improvement on the previous game, but it can still seem overwhelming, even though it's a paradise for min-maxers. As in Soulslikes, players must first decipher and understand the boss's skills in order to counter them effectively, although the readability of the attacks could be improved. As usual for the series, many of the fights are challenging and tough. However, players have a powerful arsenal at their disposal, such as the Guardian Spirits, which play a more important role in Nioh 3, and the Living Artifact, which becomes available when the Amrita Gauge is full. Incidentally, there are also rudimentary stealth elements that offer a few more possibilities, albeit rather simple compared to those in Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Nioh 3 particularly stands out as it introduces two distinct combat styles, Samurai and Ninja, which players can switch between at any time during battle. The Samurai Style embodies Nioh's core, grounded combat experience and introduces the new Arts Proficiency system, which enhances Martial Arts abilities. Additionally, the new deflect mechanic enables players to block enemy attacks at the last moment, turning the tide of battle against formidable opponents. In contrast, the Ninja Style focuses on agility, enabling players to swiftly dodge and perform aerial attacks while using Ninjutsu techniques to attack from outside enemy range. Ninja Style also features the Mist technique, which leaves an afterimage after an attack to distract enemies momentarily, and the Evade technique, which allows players to narrowly avoid enemy strikes. It feels more like Team Ninja has served up a best-of compilation of its previous games in Nioh 3.
Nioh 3 © Koei Tecmo Games
However, the technical foundation is not quite as robust. The performance is better than Rise of the Ronin, especially on PC, but the hardware requirements for moderate to good graphics quality do not quite match the state of the art, despite the great animations and character models. The Katana Engine shows its limitations here. There is also room for improvement in the sound effects. Fortunately, there is a demo that allows you to check whether the PC is powerful enough for Nioh 3.
The game offers a multiplayer mode for up to three players online. For example, players can summon a Visitor for help in a boss fight or take part in Expeditions, which allow them to explore open fields and progress through the story together in the host world. However, there is no fully shared progress.
Nioh 3 has been published by Koei Tecmo Europe, a publisher of interactive entertainment software. The company is based in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, UK. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Koei Tecmo Holdings, which is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. Koei Tecmo is best known for its 'one versus thousands' Warriors series, Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive and Atelier series. Its divisions include AAA Games Studio (Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity), CWS Brains, Koei Tecmo Pictures, Kou Shibusawa, Koei Tecmo Books, Midas, Omega Force (Warriors series), Ruby Party, Team Ninja (Nioh, Ninja Gaiden) and Gust (Atelier).
Nioh 3 © Koei Tecmo Games
Koei Tecmo has a lot more in the pipeline for the first quarter of the year. These include the recently released expansion, Dynasty Warriors: Origins: Visions of the Four Warriors; Nioh 3; and the remake of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (also known as Project Zero 2: Crimson Butterfly in Europe), which is scheduled for release on 12 March 2026. However, the release of Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered, originally planned for 19 March 2026, has been postponed.
Nioh 3 was released on 6 February 2026 for the PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam. It includes Japanese and English voice-overs and text in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. The Standard Edition (€79.99) features the base game, while the Digital Deluxe Edition (€119.99) includes exclusive in-game items and a Season Pass with access to two future DLC releases. The physical box edition is being distributed by Bandai Namco Entertainment.
With a peak of 88,045 concurrent users on Steam, Nioh 3 had the strongest launch of any Koei Tecmo game on Valve's digital distribution platform to date. It surpassed the previous record holder, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (75,906), Dynasty Warriors: Origins (69,483), and well ahead of Nioh 2 (41,325).
Those who enjoy demanding and varied battles with a high level of difficulty will once again find that Nioh 3 is a great fit, even if it cannot shake off all of its legacy issues.
