If FromSoftware can do it, then Team Ninja believes it can too. Having established one of the best Dark Souls copycats in the Nioh series, the Japanese developer is chasing its own Elden Ring moment.

Nioh 3 isn’t quite that, but it still marks a new highlight for the franchise. This is all the best bits of the developer’s past attempts — the Nioh games, Rise of the Ronin, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty — rolled into one.

Whereas the first two titles were linear, mission-based affairs, the third expands to suit an open zone structure. Multiple maps spanning different locations and time periods allow you freedom to explore, level up, complete side quests, and eventually make your way to the main objective.

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It’s like if Elden Ring’s gigantic playspace was broken up and divided by load screens, then splattered with Ubisoft-style activity icons. This is a rather dated, stereotypical approach to open game design: you’ll clear out enemy camps, source new gear from chests, and find simple collectibles. Everything gets marked on the map once you get close, so there’s little in the way of true exploration or secrets.

Still, this is an evolution of the Nioh formula that works. The hardcore action the franchise has become known for is elevated by these basic distractions, providing new ways to test your skills or improve your build.

Some maps are open stretches of fields with villages and settlements to break them up, while others are proper built-up areas that’ll have you weaving in and out of streets, houses, and enemy bases. There’s also an overall theme to each zone, with one gripped by a freezing winter while another is crumbling away into the earth.

These maps are broken up by smaller, linear levels that progress the story, pleasing those who loved the design of the first two instalments. However, you can’t return to them, so Nioh 3 and its longevity live or die on those larger zones.

While lacking originality, it just about thrives.

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The game has the same hook as Elden Ring, just on a smaller scale: if you’re stuck, simply go somewhere else and return later, levelled up. Side quests and optional activities supply ways to upgrade your character, and thanks to the trademark Nioh loot system, you’ll constantly be earning better weapons and armour.

Nothing about the game’s structural stretch is particularly original; modern Soulslikes have all adopted the model, and the side activities do little to stand out. Nioh 3 still works in this setting, though, as its constant pursuit for better gear and upgrades makes those moments of over-familiarity worth it.

Fuelling the game’s wider scope is the returning Nioh combat system, which, this time, is split into two distinct styles: Samurai and Ninja. Your custom character always has access to them both, switching between them during battle to utilise their exclusive moves and benefits.

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Samurai continues the traditional Nioh experience, where managing your stamina bar and performing Ki Pulses is critical alongside blocks, parries, and hard-hitting weapons.

Ninja, on the other hand, is all about agility, deception, and fast attacks. Replacing the Ki Pulse move is a dodge that places a silhouette in your original position to trick the enemy — may they be yokai or human. You can use Ninjutsu items like bombs and shurikens, recharge your stamina through evasion, and more easily sneak about for stealth takedowns.

It’s important to invest in both combat styles because different situations and monsters demand a particular approach. With skill trees tied to the two combat styles and every weapon type in the game, there’s a serious amount of depth to explore as a whole. You could still get by just focusing on one, but to do so would essentially deny you half the combat system — there’s just that much to it.

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With a Guardian Spirit to flesh out your build with magical skills and a temporary, ultimate state called a Living Artifact, the title goes beyond standard sword swipes and hammer stomps to delight with a variety of abilities and attacks.

By improving upon the past two entries and other Team Ninja titles, Nioh 3 is the culmination of nearly a decade of work. You’ll struggle to find better melee action all year.

It’s also the most approachable the series has ever been. The general difficulty of Nioh 3 feels a touch below its predecessors; we were able to roll credits with only a few bosses giving us much trouble along the way. With AI companions and co-op features allowing help from friends, there are ways to mitigate the challenge of the roughly 45-hour campaign.

It’s still a brutal experience overall that’ll punish you for any lapses in concentration and mistakes, but with the open zones backing it, there are more ways of getting better. Nioh 3 feels considerably more accessible as a result.

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It all culminates in a very familiar title overall, yet expanded and enhanced in all the right ways. The intense action that’s got the Nioh series to a third entry remains the highlight, and its bigger maps deliver more ways to engage in it.

There is a time-jumping narrative supporting things, but it quickly becomes background noise to the fighting. Nioh 3 is all about building your character for the challenges ahead by clearing its open zone activities, finishing quests for loot, and overcoming boss encounters. The action is the point, and that’s where it’s at its best.

The game is mostly fit for purpose at launch, though patches after the fact will need to address glaring frame rate drops — even on PS5 Pro in Performance Mode. Especially when the screen is crowded with enemies, Nioh 3 suffers from hitches and a stuttery frame rate. It’s far from smooth, even when simply running around the environment.

Conclusion

Nioh 3 takes all the best bits from Team Ninja’s previous efforts to form its greatest action experience in a very long time. Its new open zone maps provide more ways than ever to engage with its sublime, intense combat system — even if the activities themselves are entirely unoriginal. This is a familiar feeling title for a fanbase that knows what it wants, for few franchises do hardcore action better. Nioh 3 is its latest triumph.