Nioh 3

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Nioh 3 is a single player and multiplayer hack and slash game. It was developed by KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. and was released on February 5, 2026. It received positive reviews from players.

In the third game in the dark samurai action RPG series Nioh, you will need to use both Samurai and Ninja combat styles in your battles against formidable yokai as you explore a thrilling open field.

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82%Audience ScoreBased on 5,986 reviews

story225 positive mentions

optimization396 negative mentions

Exceptional combat system with satisfying and deep melee gameplay, featuring the ability to switch between Samurai and Ninja styles both providing unique play experiences.
Open world design implemented as large connected zones with dense content, efficient fast travel, and rewarding exploration that complements the combat.
Significant quality-of-life improvements including seamless co-op, flexible respec options, and comprehensive gear customization that make the game accessible and engaging.

Severe performance and optimization issues on PC including frame rate instability, stuttering, high CPU usage, memory leaks, and crashing especially in later areas.
Heavy reuse of content from previous Nioh games resulting in low enemy variety and recycled bosses, which diminishes freshness of the experience.
The division of weapons and abilities between Samurai and Ninja styles restricts build variety and forces constant switching, which many players find clunky and unnecessary.

optimization
1,646 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
61%
24%
Nioh 3 suffers from widespread and severe optimization and performance issues, particularly on PC, with many players experiencing frequent stuttering, frame drops, crashes, and high CPU usage even on high-end hardware. While some users with top-tier setups report stable performance, the consensus is that the game is poorly optimized, causing the experience to be frustrating or nearly unplayable, especially in larger open-world areas and later game sections. Until significant performance patches are released, the game is generally not recommended for purchase on PC, though the core gameplay remains praised.
- “I then disabled gaming mode in my BIOS (it was set to auto by default), and my performance immediately became stable at 60 fps.”
- “The game has potential, but until optimization and stability are significantly improved, the experience feels unfinished and poorly optimized.”
- “Smooth gameplay and performance with some minor optimization issues; runs well after tweaking settings.”
- “The game is so poorly optimized that by default two entirely separate dynamic resolution systems are enabled at the same time--DLSS and in-engine--which is an objectively unhinged thing to do.”
- “Quite honestly, I don't know how they could fix the performance issues, as it's intrinsically linked to how the engine handles the work and CPU, it maxes out your CPU while your GPU sits at probably 30% utilization, and once the CPU is maxed, you'll start stuttering, lagging, and just having a nearly unplayable time, and it will only get worse the further you get into the game, and the more the open world expands.”
- “One of the most horribly optimized games I've ever played.”
story
1,366 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
75%
9%
The story in this game is widely regarded as weak, convoluted, or forgettable compared to its predecessors, with many noting it feels like a rehash of previous plots and is often overshadowed by the gameplay. The transition to a semi-open world format diluted narrative focus, making the story feel disjointed and less engaging, while mission-based structures from earlier games were preferred for cohesive storytelling. Overall, players largely agree that they play for the combat and exploration, with the story serving merely as a backdrop rather than a compelling motivator.
- “The story is intriguing, the combat is extremely fun, and the environments are beautifully made.”
- “Has it all, from the enjoyable straightforward story, absolute top tier side quests and collectible hunting, one of the best boss fights in terms of designs and overall variety in their stories, and hands down one of the best combat mechanics in any game.”
- “Nioh 3 is a fantastic game, I think it's the most complete nioh experience; the combat is amazing, fast and has great depth with all the weapon trees and skills for both ninja and samurai. You can switch styles on the go, allowing a variety of builds and strategies. The open world is great and fun to explore, boss fights are well designed, and the story, while not the main focus, is solid. A really enjoyable game if you like fast, responsive combat mixed with soulslike style and great open world.”
- “The story, what can I even say about the story, easily the worst one of the trilogy by a large margin. The story of Nioh 2 was positively riveting to me, I was actually invested, the bittersweet friendship between our protagonist and Tokichiro, there were so many endearing NPCs and side characters, and Nioh 3 just... I don't know... what the hell was this even?”
- “The story is the most nonsensical garbage I've ever seen.”
- “The story is utterly pointless and boring, practically the same story we saw in the previous Nioh games.”
gameplay
1,172 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
63%
2%
Nioh 3's gameplay is widely praised for its deep, fluid combat system and the innovative dual-style mechanic allowing seamless switching between samurai and ninja modes, each offering distinct playstyles and strategic variety. The game builds on its predecessors with refined mechanics such as a satisfying deflect/parry system, expanded weapon builds, and an open-world structure that supports engaging exploration, though some find the new mechanics complex or underdeveloped. Despite occasional technical and optimization issues reported, the gameplay loop is generally considered addictive, rewarding mastery without feeling unfair, making it a highlight that overshadows the weaker story and performance problems.
- “The ability to switch between samurai and ninja keeps the gameplay fresh and fun.”
- “The gameplay takes the cake but the whole game feels more geared for ninja mode as that's much less punishing for being aggressive.”
- “The gameplay loop is addictive, rewarding mastery without feeling unfair.”
- “I know it's a core mechanic of the game, but finding gear just isn't exciting when it's always the same item archetypes with slightly different stats, rather than something truly unique.”
- “The ninja style shift action which is the core mechanic this new entry is based around feels like an afterthought.”
- “With the newest iteration in the nioh series, team ninja really overcooked the meal by unnecessarily shoehorning the 'samurai' and 'shinobi' stances into the combat formula, resulting in a convoluted amalgamation of half of already existing weapon move lists and combat mechanics from previous titles now being split across 2 forms, to accommodate for 2 separate 'playstyles', while adding nothing new to either.”
graphics
572 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
66%
10%
The graphics in Nioh 3 receive mixed reviews, with many noting they are only a slight improvement over Nioh 2 and often feel dated, resembling late PS3 or early PS4-era quality. Despite a distinctive art style and some beautiful environments, the game suffers from inconsistent visuals, excessive visual clutter, and a lack of polish. Coupled with poor optimization and demanding performance requirements—even on high-end PCs—the graphics experience is often considered subpar relative to the hardware load, detracting from the overall presentation.
- “The graphics for Nioh 3 are crisp. They didn't do anything crazy with the art style and kept it true to the "Nioh feeling".”
- “Beautiful graphics and sound design.”
- “Nioh 3 boasts stunning visuals with a strong atmosphere of horror that creates an intense feeling of dread.”
- “The graphics and the optimization are subpar and the world needed a bit more love, but nonetheless, it's one of those unforgettable experiences.”
- “There is no reason that such mediocre visuals, not particularly large areas, and low enemy counts should be as demanding as they are; Nioh 3 has got to be the least efficient game ever made.”
- “The graphics look like a PS4 game and barely runs decently on a 4080, stuttering like crazy.”
music
157 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
52%
10%
The music in the game is generally regarded as good and fitting the intense, traditional Japanese aesthetic of the series, with some standout tracks and a few memorable boss themes. However, many reviewers note significant reuse of music from previous titles, leading to a sense of repetition and lack of new, memorable compositions. Additionally, some players criticized the sparse or silent ambience in many areas and repetitive looping of certain tracks, which dampened the overall audio experience.
- “The music is phenomenal, the combat is the best in the series, the bosses are even better somehow, ninja combat is fast and satisfying 20/10 video game I wish I could cut out my kidneys and donate them out of sheer respect.”
- “The game still has some really amazing climaxes, carried a lot by the OST which when it hits, god it hits so good, there are some fantastic tracks here that could've delivered a great emotional punch if the story was actually good enough to support those moments.”
- “The music is fantastic, perfectly complementing the game’s tone, and performance on PC is excellent—smooth, stable, and visually impressive.”
- “A big point I hate about this game is the laziness of the OST; so many songs have just been straight ripped out of previous games and placed in here, like WTF?”
- “The music constantly cutting in and out is giving me a headache and messing up my timing.”
- “At times there is just no music playing when exploring and the worst is the map 'final battle of edo' where the same loop of intense music (around 1:30 long) plays nonstop even during battlescrolls; I had to mute the game.”
grinding
106 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
2%
95%
Grinding in Nioh 3 remains a significant but somewhat streamlined aspect compared to previous entries, with improved quality-of-life features like universal skill points and easier respecs reducing some tedium. However, many players find the open-world exploration and repetitive farming, especially for specific gear drops and achievement completion, to be tedious and sometimes frustrating due to RNG-dependent loot and recycled enemies. Despite these grind-related drawbacks, the deep and rewarding combat system keeps the game engaging for those invested in optimizing their builds.
- “Switching a skill is as simple as opening the menu, selecting the slot, and confirming – no tedious respecs needed.”
- “There is no mastery system like 1 and 2, so there is no grinding really.”
- “The combat is smooth and more forgiving than Nioh 2 but I have been exploring every nook and cranny along my way which may, even though I'm not farming levels, cause me to be "overleveled" in some sense for certain encounters.”
- “Nioh 2 was such an insane grind and then if you wanted to switch weapons, then you're in for dozens of more hours farming skill points.”
- “In between the constant crashes and fps drops, you're just grinding the same 5 enemies recycled over and over literally from the first tutorial to the final level.”
- “The problem is the same as Nioh games always had; though loot drops often, finding what you want is random, and even boosting drop rates rarely helps unless you plan on farming for them.”
stability
79 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
52%
The game’s stability is highly variable, running smoothly and bug-free on many high-end systems but often plagued by crashes, freezes, and graphical glitches on others, especially during certain areas or on Linux. Optimization issues and bugs are common, leading to frequent troubleshooting and disrupted gameplay for some users, though patches and settings tweaks can improve the experience. Overall, stability depends heavily on hardware and platform, with many expressing hope for future fixes.
- “Firstly, it's nice to have a game that runs well, looks good and is bug free at release.”
- “The game runs great on my machine, which is getting on in years and if you can run Rise of the Ronin or any other recent open world game you should have no issues, the options to make this work for your machine are there and are really welcome.”
- “Performance-wise, the game runs great, 120 fps at 4k with DLSS (preset M) and frame generation x2 enabled.”
- “My playtime at the time of this review shows 9 hours but I think I only played for 3; the rest was spent troubleshooting performance issues on Linux.”
- “Constant crashes and stuttering; feels like I've spent more time troubleshooting than playing the game.”
- “Absolutely horrendous optimization; it freezes every hour at the bare minimum, and I've lost well over 3 or 4 hours of progress between the demo and release due to this issue.”
replayability
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
69%
7%
Replayability in this game is mixed: while build variety, combat depth, and mission-based replayability offer strong motivation for multiple playthroughs, the shift to an open-world format and lack of new content in NG+ reduce its lasting appeal compared to its predecessor, Nioh 2. Many users highlight that DLC and future updates may significantly enhance replay value, but currently, it feels less satisfying and more limited in replay options. Overall, while the game provides enjoyable combat and customization, its replay value is generally seen as lower than previous entries until more content is added.
- “This is one of those games you can easily sink hundreds to thousands of hours with in replay value, challenge options, build variety, and the ridiculous amount of moves and abilities you can stack together.”
- “At the end of the day the player has a lot of agency while playing the game and the replayability seems endless due to the build mechanics and the many options to "main" your way of fighting through the story.”
- “The replayability is insane.”
- “Replay value: compared to Nioh 1 and 2, it is quite poor.”
- “The open world kills almost all replayability compared to the mission-based system before, the story is predictable with no memorable moments, and magic doesn't even get its own skill tree anymore.”
- “Update: I finished NG+ and even though I understand it is too early to come up with conclusions since they'll likely add more NG+ content in future updates and DLC, I must say that, as expected, open world woes hit the replayability factor very hard since more than half of the main game is just doing checklist collectibles that we're not doing again, and the main replayable missions quantity is significantly lower than previous games and also being the easiest Nioh means that it is not as satisfying to explore gear builds.”
atmosphere
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
41%
7%
The atmosphere in the game is widely praised for its strong, immersive dark Japanese aesthetic, rich mythological tone, and visually diverse, detailed environments that evoke a powerful sense of dread and exploration. While some note occasional graphical issues, overly generic areas, or less cohesion compared to series predecessors and other Soulslikes, the overall art direction, environmental design, and soundtrack consistently create a compelling and engaging atmosphere that enhances both exploration and combat.
- “World/atmosphere: beautiful and visually diverse areas across different eras that look truly fantastic.”
- “Traditional Japanese instrumentation mixed with cinematic orchestration creates a powerful atmosphere that elevates both exploration and boss encounters.”
- “The environments are atmospheric and packed with detail, and the dark mythological tone fits the series perfectly.”
- “Watching your gear instantly swap while rolling looks ridiculous and kills the atmosphere the previous games nailed.”
- “Visually, it's ugly, it has some improved and more modern assets, but the locations and the atmosphere are absolutely generic and ugly-looking.”
- “The story, the characters, the level design and general atmosphere are all very much lacklustre.”
emotional
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
86%
14%
The emotional experience in Nioh 3 is mixed, with satisfying combat and some impactful musical moments but generally lacking the deep, heartfelt storytelling and character development that engaged players in previous entries. While gameplay and build variety provide fun and progression satisfaction, technical issues and a repetitive, less compelling narrative diminish the overall emotional impact. Fans of the series may still find enjoyment, but the game struggles to create a lasting emotional connection.
- “Satisfying combos, seamless transitions in attacks, build variety that could make most games cry, and bosses that make you want to cry mixed with some easy ones to feel good about progressing.”
- “Nioh 3 has a really wholesome story that kept me interested from start to finish.”
- “The story in Nioh 2 made me feel like I was on an epic adventure with great music and characters and tons of missions using environments to tell the story.”
- “Boring story, but super fun gameplay & meaningful exploration.”
- “Boring story.”
- “On top of that, the game is very repetitive, even more so than the other open-world 'souls' game Elden Ring; this is partly due to the terrible side quests and boring story.”
humor
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is often unintentional, stemming from awkward English voice acting and odd line delivery that occasionally feels AI-generated. Players find amusement in quirky design choices, nostalgic callbacks, and some genuinely funny enemy behaviors, though some jokes arise from the game's flaws and repetitive content. Overall, the humor provides occasional lighthearted moments amid a gameplay experience criticized for copy-paste elements and weak plot delivery.
- “The English dubbing is so bad that it's outright funny a lot of the time, with magic and soul cores feeling worse than before, and weapons locked to ninja feeling less fun.”
- “The game has some nice funny scenes or heartfelt moments that add charm.”
- “There are interesting and hilarious alternate history elements if you're familiar with Japanese history.”
character development
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
Character development in the game receives mixed feedback: while character and yokai designs are praised for their traditional Japanese aesthetic and visual detail, the story's focus on shifting timelines leads to weak narrative engagement and poorly developed, lifeless NPCs. Many players felt disconnected from the characters due to unclear motivations and lack of urgency, resulting in a diminished emotional investment despite deep gameplay and long playtime.
- “Combat, exploration, character development, hubs to explore, bosses, and a multitude of side activities make it easy to get into, and a single playthrough took me about 110 hours.”
- “They really put some effort into making this story, the surroundings, the character designs and even the outfits to get a real traditional Japanese feeling.”
- “Character design is superb as always, and I am still very adamant on the yokai designs being top tier.”
- “Despite all this, he still lacks in character development because the story revolves around switching timelines and switches its focus on characters from that timeline, this is except for:”
- “After the highlight of Nioh 2's story which was an absolutely amazing tale, I expected Nioh 3's story to be just as good or at the same point, I couldn't be more disappointed. I didn't care about any character or what was happening to them. The story initially tries to make it about a jealous brother who didn't get what he wanted and goes on a tantrum, meanwhile you barely even see this brother through the game so the urgency and character development isn't there at all. Every NPC feels lifeless due to poor motive and extremely poor voice acting. I had no idea what I was doing or why I was doing it, why I was going into the past and future, it's just so poorly explained and in all honesty I just couldn't care less what was going on.”
- “For some reason you can make completely different character designs for samurai and for ninja, but you cannot level their stats separately, limiting what weapons you can effectively use and what armor sets.”
monetization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
80%
Users appreciate that the game is free of microtransactions, offering a well-optimized, feature-complete experience without aggressive monetization. The ability to skip ads enhances enjoyment, contrasting with typical cash grab concerns in similar games.
- “Cash grab”
- “This game feels like a general improvement, especially with the ability to skip many ads.”
- “You should be playing this if you love single player action-packed samurai and ninja games with zero microtransactions, feature complete, and well optimized.”