“Nioh 3” final preview

I've experienced Nioh 3 first-hand on three separate occasions: the first was a limited-time demo that gave me five years or so to reorient myself and remember how to play Nioh. The second is the preview event Part of our IGN First coveragewhere I was able to delve deeper into the new Ninja mode and talk about some of the evolutions within the Nioh formula. On the third and probably last time before release, I told myself, “I’m just going to have fun with it.”

So when my time came, I tweaked my build to my liking, asked the Team Ninja community leader (who he aptly calls “The Master”) to teach me all the sick tech he knew, and then I started competing in my biggest pre-launch challenge to date: The Crucible. This is a new type of level with tougher enemies, and every time they attack you, they chip away at your max health until you fight back against them. Suffice to say, if my goal is to have fun, then mission accomplished.

My demo didn't start in the Crucible, so I was able to rise to the challenge by first walking through a twisted red-light district that seemed to have been transformed and twisted by evil monster forces. Team Ninja was very generous with our build, providing me with a range of premium gear and any weapon type of my choice. Wanting to try something new, I decided to use the Caestus as my main samurai weapon and a single katana as my ninja gear.

I fell in love with caestus immediately. There's something incredibly cathartic about draining an enemy of their stamina, and then when you carry out the execution, it's just aggressive blunt force trauma to the demon's face with a level of gore that rivals the brutality of Mortal Kombat. Not only that, but I also have a skill that allows me to sit there and focus all my stamina into a Falcon Punch-like attack that will obliterate any enemy standing in front of me. The bone-crunching sound effects and Team Ninja's usual smooth animation only enhance the satisfaction.

The other side of the coin is Solitaire in Ninja Mode, which is probably what you want to check out if you're a Ninja Gaiden fan. The big star of the weapon in my eyes is a move called Yan Zhan. If you yes As a die-hard Ninja Gaiden fan, you probably already know what that would be like. It's a super-fast dash attack that can go through enemies, and can even be upgraded to allow you to quickly go back and forth through the same enemy multiple times, much like Ryu's Feiyan. In a game with limited stamina and treacherous terrain, swallowing yourself off a cliff could result in instant death, but it's still an incredibly satisfying technique and a great way to start a fight.

The Red Light District itself is classic Nioh level design: lots of blocked paths lead you through an essentially linear design, there are a few optional forks that lead to some extra loot, and there are plenty of traps and enemy ambushes around every corner. Side note: Team Ninja President Fumihiko Yasuda sat down and watched me play for a while and was pleased with how slowly and carefully I entered each room, and more importantly, even though I was very careful, I still fell into one of the many traps set throughout the levels.

The level's boss is Shinsaku Takasugi, a samurai with a patronus, a gun, and a sword – and he makes full use of all three. Like most of the life-size Nioh 3 boss fights, this one is a tense and fast-paced one, and we found a sweet spot that's predictable enough to be able to recognize patterns, and there's enough variation in those patterns to make identifying their behavior satisfyingly challenging.

After defeating Shinsaku, the next area is one of the new openings I talked about in my last preview. This time around, though, we were allowed to take on the Crucible, which is basically the ultimate challenge in every open arena in Nioh 3. Entering the Crucible takes you to a hellish landscape where monsters are buffed to deal higher damage. In addition to this, if damaged while inside the Crucible, players will suffer Life Corruption, which will temporarily reduce their maximum health until they are able to deal damage or defeat the enemy. Death is another way to remove the corrosive effects of life, but is obviously not ideal. On the plus side, you'll be able to use the Living Artifact Transform more often while inside the Crucible, since the Amrita gauge fills up faster.

My main impression of Crucible that I played was basically that it was just like another standard linear Nioh level, only meaner. Destructive spike traps abound, lightning-twirling bladed demons make traversing certain paths feel like trying to navigate a busy street, and powerful enemies lurk in dangerous areas where a lapsed dodge could send you plummeting to your death.

Just like every time I play Nioh 3, when the time is up, I want to play more. Nioh 3 will become my favorite of the series to date, not only because of the major improvements to the combat through the separation of samurai and ninja modes, but also the massive addition of open field levels – each of which will include its own independent crucible. It's a challenge I'm eagerly looking forward to tackling through my own personal builds and progression, and I won't have to wait too long as Nioh 3 is set to release on PlayStation 5 and PC on February 6, 2026.