I’ve gone hands-on with Nioh 3 on three separate occasions at this point: The first was with the limited-time demo which was all about me just getting my bearings back and remembering how to play Nioh after five or so years away. The second was a preview event that was part of our IGN First coverage, where I was able to dig deeper into the new Ninja Mode and talk about some of the evolutions made in the Nioh formula. For this third, and presumably final time ahead of release, I told myself, “I’m just gonna have fun with it.”
And so, when my time began, I adjusted my build to my liking, asked the Team Ninja Community Lead – who appropriately goes by “Master,” – to teach me all of the sick tech that he knew, and I was off to the races to go up against the biggest challenge I’d faced thus far pre-release: A Crucible. It’s a new type of level that features extra tough enemies that chunk bits of your max life every time they hit you until you hit them back. Suffice it to say, if my goal was to have fun, well then, mission accomplished.
My demo didn’t begin in the Crucible, so I was able to work my way up to meet its challenge by first making my way through a warped Red Light District that had seemingly been transformed and twisted with evil Yokai power. Team Ninja was very generous with our builds, giving me a healthy collection of high-level gear with any weapon type of my choosing. Wanting to try something new, I decided on going with the Caestus as my main Samurai weapon and the single katana for my Ninja loadout.
I immediately fell in love with the caestus. There’s just something so incredibly cathartic about draining an enemy’s stamina, and then when you go in for the execution it’s just aggressive blunt force trauma on a demon’s face with a level of bloodsplatter that could rival a Mortal Kombat brutality. Not only that, but I also had a skill that allowed me to sit there and channel all of my stamina into a single Falcon Punch-like strike that would just obliterate whatever enemy happened to be standing in front of me. The bone-crunching sound effects and the usual Team Ninja animation smoothness only enhanced the satisfaction.
On the other side of the coin was the single katana in Ninja Mode, and if you’re a Ninja Gaiden fan, this is probably going to be the one you’re going to want to check out. The big star of the weapon in my eyes was a move called the Swallow Slash, and if you are a big Ninja Gaiden fan, you probably already know what that’s going to look like. It’s a super fast dashing attack that goes through enemies, and can even be upgraded to allow you to quickly move back and forth multiple times through the same enemy, just like Ryu’s Flying Swallow. It’s a bit riskier in a game with limited stamina and treacherous terrain that could lead to instant death if one were to Swallow Slash themselves off a cliff, but it is nonetheless an incredibly satisfying technique and a great way to start off a fight.
The Red Light District itself was classic Nioh level design: Lots of barred-off paths that funnel you through largely linear design, with a handful of optional forks that lead to some extra loot, with a healthy dose of traps and enemy ambushes lying around every corner. Side note: Team Ninja President Fumihiko Yasuda sat down to watch me play for a bit and got a kick out of how slowly and carefully I entered each room, and even more so when even despite all of my caution, I’d still fall for one of the many traps laid throughout the level.
The boss of the level was Takasugi Shinsaku, a Samurai armed with a Guardian Spirit, a gun, and a sword – and he made liberal use of all three. Like most human-sized Nioh 3 boss fights, it was a tense and fast-paced battle that finds that sweet spot of being just predictable enough to be able to identify patterns, with enough variation in those patterns to make the act of identifying them satisfyingly challenging.
After defeating Shinsaku, the next area was one of the new open-field levels that I talked about in my last preview. This time, though, we were allowed to challenge the Crucible, which is basically the ultimate challenge of each open field in Nioh 3. Entering the Crucible takes you to a hellish landscape where Yokai are all buffed to deal increased damage. In addition to that, if damage is taken while inside a Crucible, the player will be inflicted with Life Corrosion, which will temporarily reduce their max health until they’re able to deal damage or defeat enemies. Dying is another way to remove the effects of Life Corrosion, but obviously, not ideal. On the plus side, while inside a Crucible, you’ll be able to use your Living Artifact transformation more frequently, since the Amrita Gauge fills faster.
The main impression of the Crucible that I got to play through was basically that it was like another standard linear Nioh level, only meaner. Hugely damaging spike traps were everywhere, lightning fast spinning blade demons made running across certain paths feel like trying to weave through traffic on a busy street, and powerful foes waited in ambush in precarious areas where one errant dodge could lead to you falling to your death.
Just like every other time I’ve gotten to play Nioh 3, after my time was up, I was left wanting more. Nioh 3 is shaping up to be my favorite of the series to date, not only through its substantial improvements to combat thanks to the split of Samurai and Ninja Modes, but also with the massive addition of the open-field levels – each of which will include its own separate Crucible. It’s a challenge I eagerly anticipate taking on with my own personal build and progression, and one that I won’t have to wait terribly long for, as Nioh 3 releases on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on February 6, 2026.
