Nioh 3: Will you play as a samurai, a ninja or both? Exclusive Team Ninja Interview – IGN First

Nioh 3 (Soulslike during the Warring States Period) allows players to switch between two different combat styles by pressing a button. If you want to fight in a solid, solid way, use the samurai style; or use the ninja style for a quick and stylish battle.

While the standard approach might be to choose the style that best suits the enemies you face, the developers say you can still beat the entire game while sticking to it. According to them, their philosophy when creating games is not to force players to do so.

In our previous post, the developers explained that the Ninja style was added as “a new action that could be used as a major core work, which makes the player feel like the game has taken a step forward.” In this article, regular producer Fumihiko Yasuda and producer Kohei Shibata even explain the differences between Samurai and Ninja styles in further detail.

No enemies need a specific style

Please explain the two styles to players who will experience Nioh 3 for the first time. When is it best to switch between them?

Fumihiko Yasuda: In the Nioh series, we have been creating samurai moves throughout the process, and what we value most in that action is creating contrast between stillness and motion. Nioh is the first ninja champion with the Endurance (KI) system, and through the Samurai style, we carefully create a switching feel between stillness and action, defense and offense. In the ninja style, we have a ninja image in motion. They fight while constantly attacking and moving, and we want players to consider this when deciding when to use which style.

Kohei Shibata: As for when to switch between them, the samurai style has powerful guards and attacks, so you should use it when your opponent is heading. Ninja style is very maneuverable, so it should be used when quickly avoiding attacks or hovering behind enemies.

Interestingly, even if we as developers think at some point it would be better to fight with a samurai style, for example, players actually tested the game and might be the opposite. Sometimes you can fight well by doing this, so I think it ultimately depends on personal preference. That's why I'm going to say when you want to use the features of a given style, because you think this is best for you in battle, so I'll switch between them. If you strongly like a specific style, you can even go all out. There is a high degree of freedom there, so I think it's best to choose on your own when playing the game.

Yasuda: We never arbitrarily force players to improve using specific styles. In the Nioh series to date, even if you are a samurai, you are able to use Ninja or Onmyo technology, providing players with a wide variety of tools as they progress through the game. They are very tough games and we want players to overcome the challenges in any way they want. This also applies to this game, so we have canceled enemies that require a specific style.

That said, sometimes your ninja meter will be built when you fight as a samurai, allowing you to use the ninja technique by switching at the right time. You can then switch back to Samurai style as you want, but there are some of these systems that facilitate switching styles. Of course, you can shoot the game with just a samurai or ninja style, so you can play it as you like.

Sometimes, putting your skills or resources into a style makes it even more powerful. As game developers, we certainly want players to use two styles, but we are not trying to stop players from using only one style.

So, aren't you going to impose certain play styles on the players?

Yasuda: Ninja style will of course be more flexible when jumping and so on, so I think it's better to run around like a ninja when exploring the map. However, players are still free to run around as a samurai if they want. Both styles also have completely different devices so you can be professional in each device. For example, even with a low stance, you can experience more movement actions as a samurai, or use a ninja-style heavy weapon to perform more samurai-like actions. We see players creating many different builds during the Alpha demo. We believe that having both styles leads to this greater diversity, highlighting the various builds available.

When you look at the results of the Alpha demo, do you feel like you have successfully allowed players to make progress with whatever method they want?

Yasuda: The players are more skilled than we thought, so we were surprised at how they use the Ninja style. Watching people play makes me feel like what we hope is going on.

There were also samurai and ninja skills in previous games. Why did you decide to divide the skill tree into two different styles completely?

shibata: While there are differences in abilities and performance between Samurai and Ninja styles, we want to make it clear that you are able to build two types of characters. Once you get used to everyone, you start to understand what makes them unique and we think players will start to see the kind of samurai and ninja builds they want. We split the skill tree into two parts to create a clear distinction between the builds of each style.

Do you want to add the ability to switch between styles in combat that opens up new possibilities in gameplay?

shibata: We first added a styling system out of the desire to create new gameplay and combat feels. When we watched the players in the Alpha demo, we saw some people who often switched between the two. Seeing this makes me feel like what we do looks and feels different from the battles in previous games. For example, before becoming a ninja, you can move in and strike as a samurai, then pull back, or attack from a distance as a ninja, before appointing your opponent as a samurai. There are many different modes. We feel like we created the battle, which, in essence, can allow you to repeat and truly become a samurai or a ninja. We did so that players can switch between styles with the button press, and it does seem to feel good. Allowing this instant switch seems to open up many possibilities in this regard.

Yasuda: When we first implemented a switch between styles, it was actually a cooler, so you can't do it anytime, anywhere. But we did so that you can do the development team to study the game's action at any time.

Do you feel it is necessary to change the style conversion system from the Alpha demo?

shibata: We have users comment on the demo and although we do think it is necessary to make small tweaks and system improvements, we believe our large approach is good. What I found interesting is that in the Alpha Demo survey, these two questions “Do you like the Samurai/Ninja style?” received about the same percentage of positive responses. That was our goal, and it seemed we could hit it. We will continue to base feedback received from the Alpha demo until posting.

Do you find it difficult when balancing the two styles? Are you worried that one style is more powerful than the other?

shibata: To be honest, balancing them is difficult. It's like playing whack-a-mole at the beginning of development. We added the ninja style and people say it's too powerful. Then, when we try to change the samurai style, they say it's too powerful. If you're too weak with these adjustments, the game eventually seems to indicate that you're playing only one style.

Finally, our decision was to make sure each style has its own clear identity. The Samurai style has powerful, samurai-like attacks and defenses, while the Ninja style utilizes its mobility to dodge and use fog (a system that presses a button after an attack to create its own clone when moving) to move enemies. By focusing on these traits that make each appropriately powerful trait, we end up finding a solid balance. Adjusting the balance is not easy, but I think we are close to what we want it to look like in the end.

Wishlist

As far as my experience with gaming, I never felt like there was a way that was the only thing I needed. I'll say you succeeded.

shibata: When playing games, you may start to feel your mind changing. For example, you might think that the Samurai style is strong at the beginning, but if you are able to learn a specific technique, the Ninja may be powerful. We think players would love it if they explore their own way of building and playing their characters.

Different weapons can be used between the two styles. How did you decide what samurai can use and what can ninjas use?

Yasuda: While the Nioh series is about samurai, you have unusual weapons like Tonfa. Now that we have the ninja concept in this game, we have divided these weapons into samurai style and ninja style. How the action will be performed when you have a weapon that matches the style characteristics and can enable us to design in a way that makes sense to the player.

Both Samurai and Ninja styles can use dual volatile weapons, but the movements are very different between the two. How did you distinguish these dual combat styles?

shibata: For those weapons, we made them so that any style of them would make sense. The game is designed to fight against the samurai style frontal, so we focus on samurai-like action. Ninja style uses reverse grip on its weapons, so you walk around the way you expect the ninja to wield double sway.

Furthermore, the Ninja style looks significantly different from the scanning style, even compared to neutral animation. If you don't know which style you switch to, the game will be hard to play, so we've been working on how to portray ninja-like speed in combat sports.

During this month’s IGN, please note more exclusive Nioh 3 coverage, including us Exclusive Boss Battle Video and More details about Ninja style.

Yuichi Shigeta is a freelance writer for IGN Japan. This article is translated by KO Ransom.