Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first thing Nioh 3 gets right is the feeling that you are not locked into one answer for every fight. Samurai and Ninja styles can be swapped instantly, and that makes a real difference when a hard enemy stops you cold. Samurai is the deliberate choice, built around stronger attacks, guarding or deflecting, and the familiar relief of a well-timed Ki Pulse. Ninja lets you lean into dodges, aerial movement, and Ninjutsu instead. The contrast is sharp enough that changing styles feels like changing your plan, not just toggling a stance.

The move from tightly directed missions to broad open fields gives that combat more room to breathe. You can travel through villages and rough countryside, run into bandits or wandering yokai, and decide whether to explore before taking on a dangerous Crucible. That pacing is a welcome change from being funneled straight from one combat arena to the next. Shrines remain your essential reset point for recovery and growth, so pushing farther out still carries the delicious tension of risking progress for another useful discovery.

Experimentation is the real reward, but it can become work if you hate inventory decisions. Separate equipment and skill growth for the two styles make specialized builds possible, while weapons, armor, soul cores, and Guardian Spirits add still more choices. You can shape Takechiyo around the approach that clicks for you, yet sorting through all those options may interrupt the momentum after a good run. If you liked the focused structure of Nioh, expect a looser, more exploratory rhythm here rather than the same mission-by-mission drive.

Co-op is a sensible release valve when a fight becomes a wall. Benevolent Graves let you spend Ochoko Cups to call in an AI companion, while Summon Visitor and Expeditions offer online help with other people. That does not replace learning how to manage Ki, spacing, and style changes, but it gives you options besides repeatedly slamming into the same obstacle alone. For a clear rundown of these systems, Team Ninja’s official Nioh 3 system guide is useful.

Graphics

Combat has a strong, rough-edged look when several fighters crowd around a towering yokai. In one open-field clash, a huge red-brown creature with long hair and a bright orange forehead eye rises above armored warriors, while a sword attack cuts a red crescent through the dry grass and throws fire along the ground. Gray rock ledges, green trees, and muted earth keep the monster and attack effects prominent, though overlapping bodies and flashes can make the center of a melee busy.

Story

You play Tokugawa Takechiyo, the customizable heir to the shogunate, as a yokai invasion threatens Japan. The premise gives the adventure a personal center: this is Takechiyo’s journey, not a story split between a created character and a separate hero who takes over the important moments.

Time travel carries Takechiyo through Edo, Sengoku, Heian, and Bakumatsu Japan in pursuit of a way to rescue the country. That wide historical route suits a series already comfortable mixing period conflict with supernatural threats. It also gives the open fields a stronger purpose than simple sightseeing, since each stretch of hostile ground belongs to a larger journey across eras.

The story hook is broad and direct, which works well for an action RPG that wants you thinking about the next dangerous encounter. You get a clear role, a national-scale threat, and a reason to keep moving through different periods. Come for the supernatural historical sweep, but expect the combat choices and character building to carry much of the game’s day-to-day pull.

Overall Experience

Nioh 3 is at its best when you hit a difficult encounter, realize your current approach is failing, and change something meaningful. Maybe you trade Samurai resilience for Ninja mobility, revisit your equipment, or explore elsewhere before returning with a clearer build. That loop makes frustration productive more often than not, because the game gives you several legitimate ways to prepare instead of demanding a single narrow solution.

The tradeoff is density. Open fields add welcome flexibility, and co-op can soften a punishing roadblock, but the layered growth systems ask you to pay attention. If comparing armor, soul cores, skills, and Guardian Spirits sounds exhausting, the frequent decisions may wear you down. If that sounds like the part where an action RPG starts getting good, Nioh 3 has plenty to dig into.

For returning fans, the broader exploration and dual-style combat make this feel like a confident expansion of the series rather than a simple repeat. For newcomers, it is a rewarding but demanding place to learn a combat system that values timing and adaptation. The payoff is worth it when you enjoy testing ideas, accepting a few losses, and finally finding the approach that turns a brutal fight in your favor.

Retro Replay Score

8.3/10