Team Ninja is best known for a handful of series, including Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, and recently, Nioh. Over the last couple of years, they have honed their skills in creating action games set in various historical periods. The last couple of years have seen games like Rise of the Ronin and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty receive positive reviews. Before that, Team Ninja saw success with the release of Nioh, which was a surprise hit and spawned a series leading to the announcement of Nioh 3 at the recent State of Play, and a limited-time demo.
The Nioh 3 limited-time demo is free for PlayStation 5 and available to download at the time of this writing on the PlayStation Store. I quickly went to download it after the State of Play ended, as my curiosity was piqued. I have limited experience with the series, but it always looked interesting to me. After giving a demo a go, I have some mixed thoughts. I can say I had fun despite the issues, but it’s clear that this is still in active development, and hopefully, it will improve.
Following the Way of the Samurai and Ninja in the Nioh 3 Demo
The Nioh 3 Alpha demo throws you right into the character creator, but it’s limited to a handful of presets, so you won’t spend long here. After that, you are thrown into a tutorial explaining the basics of combat. The combat consists of quick and strong attacks, with defense consisting of dodging and blocking. Each move uses Ki (your stamina), and when you are out, you are open to attacks. After this, you get a tutorial explaining one of the game’s other mechanics, which I enjoyed, and that’s style switching.
The first style you learn is Samurai, which is closer to the previous Nioh titles. I found this slower, but I felt stronger while playing, and it was beneficial for defense. The other is Ninja style, which was great for faster movements and dodging attacks. You will switch between these frequently, and the game encourages you to do so. Each one excels at different things outside of their core playstyle, and you will see that the more you play. There are even attacks that can only be fully blocked and countered by style switching at the right time. This adds a lot to the combat, but it doesn’t end there.
There are a couple of notable differences between the styles. Samurai style has moves to recover ki faster and deal with enemy Yokai as well. It also has arts proficiency, which are powered-up moves that are charged up the more you attack or block. Ninja Style is the faster of the two and features moves designed solely for evading. It also features Ninjutsu, a variety of moves or actions that can be assigned to buttons. They can be long-range attacks or effects, and they replenish the more you attack. These are highly customizable, and it feels like I’m barely scratching the surface of what’s possible.
In and out of combat, your play style is very customizable. The demo features three weapon types for each style, and it looks like the final game will have more. Each weapon type also has different skill trees you can focus on to unlock more moves for each weapon. I tried all the weapon types present and didn’t feel strongly towards any of them. Granted, this could be limited to the demo, and we won’t know for a while.
The combat never fully clicked with me, but I was able to find ways to enjoy it. I originally intended to focus more on Ninja, but style switching was just fun. Combining both styles is not difficult, and it felt satisfying at times. Most enemies stopped being a challenge, though, and most of the big combat encounters just felt tedious. It doesn’t help that while some encounters feel satisfying, most of the time, combat doesn’t flow well for me. This never stopped me from playing, but I hope there are some serious balance adjustments during development.
The World and Yokai of Nioh 3
While I had some issues with the combat, one thing I enjoyed was the world. Nioh 3 has a massive world, and the demo provides a small section of the map for exploration. Immediately after the first mission, the world opens up to you, and you are free to play the game as you see fit. Although this is a demo and a small section of the full game, there is still a lot to do here. Outside of the story mission, I thoroughly explored the area and enjoyed my time. My favorite combat encounters were all ones I stumbled upon just exploring.
The more you explore an area, the more you complete it. I didn’t complete any sections, but I did a lot of the side content. I cleared out enemy camps, found side quests, guided Kodamas (one of the collectibles), and more. Some of it felt like busywork, but I still enjoyed doing it. It also feels like there is more to do as well, as I could probably load up the demo again and find a lot I haven’t done yet. While it was a bit overwhelming at the start, I quickly became engrossed, and I could see myself coming back to this depending on how the game unfolds.
Visually, I wasn’t too impressed with the world. Most of the environments felt flat, except for the Crucible, an area where Yokai are more powerful and the environment is treacherous. These will likely recur in the final game, but there was only one in the demo. If there is one thing I can praise, it’s the creature design. All the Yokai look great, from your companion to the monsters trying to kill you. All of them had unique designs, and I can’t praise the look of the final boss enough. Even if I skip the game, I’ll keep an eye out for an art book when it comes out next year.
A Very Impressive Demo
Even with all my problems, this is a great demo. While this is still in active development, the small slice played very well. The demo allows you to prioritize FPS or resolution, and it runs smoothly for the most part. I picked FPS and got no major dips or performance issues. This was all on a base PlayStation 5 as well, so I can’t say how it runs on a Pro. I also can’t say how prioritizing resolution looks because I wanted a stable frame rate more than anything. It’s honestly impressive, and I’m eager to see how the final game performs and looks.
I want to like Nioh 3, and the demo is very impressive. It offers a small section of the map but gives the player a lot to do. I had fun exploring the map and doing all the side content I found. It also ran well, and while I wasn’t impressed visually, I loved the creature design. Sadly, the combat never fully clicked with me, no matter how hard I tried. It came close a few times, and I could see myself enjoying it later. I hope the developers continue to improve the combat system and make some balance changes. The demo will stay live until June 18, and I still recommend trying it. I’m not sold yet, but I’m ready to be with some gameplay improvements.
