While I ultimately recommend this, there's a number of questionable decisions that went into the design of Nioh 3 that makes it simultaneously a step forward and a step back for the series. I think it's worth playing, to be clear. I just see the ways it could have been better.
First and foremost, let's get the obvious out of the way. Team Ninja continues to prove why they are a best in class when it comes to designing combat mechanics. It's genuinely impressive the sheer breadth of options they're able to map onto a standard controller layout, with up to 4 weapon swaps spread out between two primary fighting styles (more on that in a moment), light attacks, heavy attacks, spells, stealth, stances, combo systems, timed parries... it's genuinely impressive. And once everything clicks for you, there's no Soulslike out there other than Nioh 2 that gives you the skill expression that this offers you.
But the cracks start to show early. Weapons are broken into two broad categories. Samurai style is Nioh as you know it - blocks, stances, the works. A new addition here is a Sekiro-style parry that feels like such a natural addition to the system that it should have been there all along. Ninja style is a new addition that focuses on faster, cheaper attacks, quickly recharging ninjitsu (they're just spells that scale off a different stat), massively increased damage from the rear, but *no* block (technically there is, but its awful and you should never use it), and *no* stance swaps. That means if you fell in love with splitstaff, hatchets, tonfas, or kusarigama? The movesets as you know them are gone. (It's not all bad - ninja tonfas are kind of amazing, and hatchets, while they feel very different, are also spectacular. I'm not a fan of the other 2).
Whatever. It's different, and even if some specific moves are gone, the core identity of each weapon is still there. The real problem, IMO, is the open world. And I get it, Elden Ring showed that you can make a Soulslike with an interesting open world. And at first, the open world in Nioh 3 feels great, but here's the secret - it's frontloaded as hell. The first area feels fun, and fresh, as you stumble across secrets, and moves, and bosses. And then you access the second open area and realize how much of that open world's formula was hidden behind the freshness of discovering things for the first time. And it quickly wears out its welcome because the world itself is not interesting to navigate and not interesting to explore. Nioh is at its best when you're exploring its combat mechanics, not its level design.
This comes to a head with NG+. You enter NG+ with everything already unlocked -- all the moves, all the fast travel points. The only thing that's interesting at this point is the bosses. A far cry from the end game from the other entries in the series - as I write this, there's no equivalent to the Underworld, Abyss, whatever you want to call it. And that's a damn shame.
So that's a lot of complaining. So why do I recommend it? It's simple. Despite all of that, Nioh 3's mechanical and combat design is still amazing, and that first playthrough is a blast. It just doesn't have the longevity of its predecessors.
