Team Ninja has never been shy about ambition, but Nioh 3 feels different. Developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, this third entry doesn’t just build on what came before, it rewrites the ceiling for what the studio is capable of. Honestly, nothing from them has hit this hard since Ninja Gaiden 2.
Coming off the back of Code Vein 2, which had its own identity issues, Nioh 3 lands like a breath of fresh air. It delivers on every promise made during its demo reveal last year and then some. You can feel years of accumulated lessons from Ninja Gaiden, Wo Long, and Rise of the Ronin all feeding into one cohesive package.
Combat That Finally Gets Out of Its Own Way
The biggest shift anyone will notice from the jump is that Nioh 3 no longer leans into punishing Souls-like difficulty. That might raise some eyebrows, but the result is a game that’s genuinely fun to play for extended stretches without the usual grind tax.
The difficulty sits in a sweet spot: side quests and optional content bring you naturally up to speed with main story bosses without ever forcing mindless farming sessions. It respects your time in a way the series hasn’t before.
Combat is built around two switchable classes, Samurai and Ninja, toggled with a single button press in a nod to Rise of the Ronin’s dual-style system. The Samurai class will feel immediately familiar to series veterans, with the stance-based weapon mechanics and deliberate rhythm intact. But the Ninja class is where things get genuinely surprising. Movement speeds up, the toolkit becomes more acrobatic and improvisational, and suddenly you’re playing something that channels classic Ninja Gaiden energy. The two styles complement each other well enough that swapping mid-fight becomes second nature.
Katana Engine Is Running on Borrowed Time
Let’s be real about the visuals. Koei Tecmo’s proprietary Katana Engine does the job, but it’s showing its age in noticeable ways. Texture fidelity and environmental detail are a tier below what PlayStation 5 exclusives can produce in 2026. The same observation has been made about FromSoftware’s Dragon Engine, you trade raw graphical horsepower for a development pipeline that lets teams ship games efficiently. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty launched only three years ago, so there’s clearly a case to be made for the trade-off.
What saves it entirely is the art direction. Nioh’s take on Japanese mythology has always been distinctive, and the third entry leans even harder into that visual identity. Alongside Capcom’s Onimusha series, it remains one of the most visually coherent takes on feudal Japan in gaming.
The Soundtrack Does Its Job, Nothing More
Sound design has never been where Team Ninja puts its energy, and Nioh 3 doesn’t change that pattern. The music matches the tone well enough and amplifies the right emotional beats during key moments, but it rarely demands your attention on its own terms. It’s competent background work rather than something you’d seek out on a playlist.
Three Eras, One Gripping Betrayal Arc
The story takes a more expansive approach than previous entries, spreading its action across three distinct periods of Japanese history. The protagonist, Tokugawa Takechiyo, is positioned as the future Shogun of the Edo period around 1622 CE, a rare case in the genre of a lead character with actual presence and defined personality rather than a blank avatar.
The central conflict is built around betrayal, with Takechiyo’s brother carrying a deep, consuming hatred for him that escalates the story toward some genuinely unexpected places. It won’t win awards for narrative sophistication and the lore can get dense, but it holds together better than expected and gives the action real emotional stakes.
The Peak of Everything Team Ninja Knows How to Do
Sixty hours in, having finished the main story, completed side quests, tracked down secrets, and worked through well over a thousand collectibles, Nioh 3 left little room for complaint. The combat is the best the series has ever offered, the world is large without feeling padded, and the dual-class system adds genuine replay value for players who want to experience the game from a different angle.
It’s rare that a studio manages to synthesize its entire back catalog into something that feels this cohesive. Nioh 3 is that game for Team Ninja, a title that justifies the wait and sets a bar that will be hard to clear next time around.
Final Score: 9.5/10
