Nioh 3 ($69.99, reviewed on PC, also available on PS5) is an ambitious evolution of Team Ninja's action-RPG series. Its vast, interconnected maps deliver a surprisingly tight mission structure that doesn't feel bloated or aimless. New gameplay options—jumping, parrying, and a novice-friendly Ninja Style—nicely complement the series' classic samurai combat. Although I found the time-travel plot a bit schlocky, I loved the fantastical take on Japanese history. The downside? Nioh 3 runs well on the desktop, but struggles to maintain a consistent frame rate on the Steam Deck, and my favorite Nioh 2 weapons are oversimplified in the new Ninja Style combat option. Even so, Nioh 3 is a massive, compelling game with exciting action and a terrific presentation, making it an Editors' Choice winner for action-RPGs.

Story: A Tale as Old as Time

In Nioh 3, you play as Tokugawa Takechiyo, who's poised to ascend to the Tokugawa Shogunate. However, Takechiyo's envious younger brother, Kunimatsu, has other plans. Using the power of magical stones called Amrita, he leads an army of yokai to defeat Tokugawa and take the throne. A guardian spirit, Kusanagi, sends you on a time-traveling quest across Japan's Bakumatsu, Heian, Sengoku, and ancient periods to vanquish the evil that powers your brother.

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The story is presented through cinematic action scenes, with artistic 2D montages peppered in to expound upon key historical people, which is very much in line with the presentation in Nioh and Nioh 2. Like those games, Nioh 3 has an expansive encyclopedia filled with character information, including the cast, historical happenings, and, of course, the supernatural yokai that haunt the game world. I thoroughly enjoy Nioh 3's setting, and its transition to open-field maps feels like a natural evolution of the series.

What's New in Nioh 3?

The Nioh titles are a series of action-RPGs that combine technical combat with loot-driven builds. Though described as Souls-like in terms of genre, the only real similarity the Nioh titles have with FromSoftware's RPGs is the corpse run, where you dash to wherever your character died to collect lost experience.

Instead, Nioh 3 draws heavily from several other Team Ninja-developed titles. That includes Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, which features jumping and aerial attacks; Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, an RPG with a parry-like deflect ability; and Rise of the Ronin, a title with a sprawling open world and tight stealth mechanics. I like that Nioh 3 marries all those elements to create the series's most robust action yet.

New Gameplay Options: Samurai Style vs. Ninja Style

The biggest change is the addition of new combat styles that cater to different player types. In previous Nioh games, you attacked enemies using three fighting stances. Low stance dealt light damage, used less Ki (stamina), and featured strong evasion techniques. Mid stance dealt medium damage, but had better defense options and unique counters. High stance dealt heavy damage, but burned a lot of Ki. You had to switch stances depending on the given situation. In addition, you needed to master the Ki Pulse, a stamina-regenerating technique similar to Gears of War's Active Reload. I admit that it was a lot to unpack, but the combat was highly rewarding once I got the hang of the mechanics.

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That system returns in Nioh 3, but under what is now called the Samurai Style. It works the same way, with a few useful tweaks: You can now parry attacks with good timing, similar to Stranger of Paradise's deflect. With this, you can block aggressively and actually regenerate Ki rather than losing it, making it an incredible defensive boon. The timing is a bit tricky, depending on the enemy you're fighting. That said, I appreciate that it adds fresh combat depth, complementing Nioh's technical gameplay.

Nioh 3 introduces Ninja Style, which is distinct from the established Samurai Style. It lacks stances, deflects, and Ki Pulse mechanics; instead, Ninja Style uses less stamina and deals less damage overall. The upside? Your character possesses spectacular agility, letting you easily evade and counter incoming attacks or perform air combos. It's a streamlined, newcomer-friendly fighting style made for people who can't quite parse Samurai Style's nuances. Still, I made great use of Ninja Style, treating it as a fourth stance when I wanted mobility and aerial offense.

Weapons are divided by style, too. For example, hachets and talons are exclusive to Ninja Style and have been reworked to fit its more streamlined mechanics. They have a single moveset, with added aerial attacks and special finishers. They're nice for noobs, but I missed the complexity that stance-switching gave these weapons in previous Nioh titles.

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Missions, Secrets, and Exploration Abilities

Nioh 3 invites you to explore a vastly more open-ended map compared with Nioh 2. It is not a true open world, though. The massive maps are composed of beefy, stage-like zones, all interconnected to form four sprawling worlds. Each area feels dense enough to recall maps from earlier games, but the layout and space give Nioh 3 an impressive sense of scale. Nothing feels wasted or empty: there is always something to loot, an oddity to investigate, or an enemy to engage.

Quests, side missions, and activities sprinkle the game world. NPCs are happy to give you missions, most of which involve fighting. Some are much more involved than others. An NPC may want you to clear a camp to retrieve stolen medicine for his sick wife, while another tasks you with hunting a monster within a vast underground cave system. Enemy camps are strewn around the map, which you can clear for rewards, much like you do in Rise of the Ronin. Of course, there are also boss enemies that roam the map, which you can challenge for character-improving gear and loot.

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For a change of pace, you can search for Chijiko, cute weasel spirits disguised as floating balls that you shoot to earn new abilities. Lost Kodama spirits return, which you can find and send back to shrines for healing buffs. Scampuss, the rotund cat yokai, returns as well, guiding you to treasure caches. Nioh 3 also has martial arts masters scattered throughout the realms, which you can challenge to unlock new abilities for your various weapons and styles. There is a shocking amount of content to explore, and none of it feels like a slog. I was surprised to learn I had spent nearly 20 hours exploring the first map alone, and there were still secrets I couldn't access by the time the second area opened up.

Progressing through the story unlocks new guardian spirits that provide exploration abilities. For example, Enko let me wall-run, and Kurama Tengu let me kick-flip up walls, Ninja Gaiden style, to reach elevated secrets. These abilities encouraged me to backtrack to uncover secrets, making exploration all the more satisfying.

Unfortunately, these traversal abilities are highly situational: I could only use these abilities at Spirit Veins, designated by a golden aura. Unlike Ninja Gaiden 4, which lets you wall run along almost any wall, Nioh 3's movement abilities work more like keys, which is a bummer. I would love to see these added to my base traversal kit in future games.

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Minimum and Recommended PC Specs

To run the game at minimum specs, Nioh 3 requires a PC with at least an AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU; an AMD Ryzen 5 2600 or Intel i5-10400 CPU; 16GB RAM; and 125GB of SSD storage. You can expect 1080p/30fps gameplay with that setup. The recommended specs bump the GPU requirements to an AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT or Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, and the CPU to an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X or Intel i5-10600K. That combo targets 1080p/60fps gameplay.

My test PC, outfitted with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU, and 16GB of RAM, pushed beyond 1080p/30fps, reaching 60fps in less busy areas. I experienced texture pop-in much more often in Nioh 3 than in Nioh 2, especially when running through areas. It seems the game can't quite keep up when you quickly move between zones.

Nioh 3's Steam Deck performance wasn't particularly impressive. The game ran well under 30fps by default and suffered from annoying hitches. Even after tinkering with the lowest settings and enabling FSR 3, it still struggled to hit 30fps. Maybe it would run better on another handheld gaming PC or the upcoming Steam Machine. On the upside, Nioh 3 supports Steam Achievements, Steam Trading Cards, Family Sharing, and both gamepad and keyboard and mouse controls if you pick it up from Steam.