Gonzito
Gold Member
Are you on console? IQ on pc with DLSS4 is excellent
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Nioh 3 |OT| Oh Fuck, You're Gonna Make Me Burst Counter
Are you on console? IQ on pc with DLSS4 is excellent
Luipadre
Member
I cant even imagine niohs combat with all those effects without dlss4 lol
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
I´m auto equip only halfway through NG+ and it`s still too easy. Are we playing the same game?
Been asking myself the same question, but given that the long-time Nioh players on YT haven't remarked on it being particularly easy... really not sure what to think to be honest.
Especially as auto-equip is trash! It doesn't even recognize when gear effects are inactive due to not meeting the stat requirements.
draliko
Member
On pc with dlss4 and a 5070ti, some zone are simply not well made, they're confusing, it's hard to see where to go, probably iq isn't the right term more confusing presentation in some zones, sorry but not a native speaker so it's a bit hard to explain
draliko
Member
I don't auto equip, I try to comprehend the build and the combo, otherwise won't have sense to have all this options if we don't use themI´m auto equip only halfway through NG+ and it`s still too easy. Are we playing the same game?
The artful mincer
Member
Game is a big upgrade compared to Nioh 2 at least!
Overall I would say it looks solid I've heard some say it looks like a ps3 game which is ridiculous.
Hot5pur
Member
Looks like a marginal upgrade to me. Like I have to look at the label to see if it's NiOh2 or NiOh3 because they look so similar.
TN is severely behind in terms of visuals, probably by a generation. So maybe PS4 level visuals (I agree not PS3).
My bigger concern with their games is that they've been doing what FROMSOFT has been doing: remaking the same damn game for like a decade.
Wo Long, Rise of Ronin, Ni Oh 1, 2,3 - they all play and feel very similarly with occasional new gimmicks thrown in.
I suppose I might be in the minority but I'm getting a bit tired of Souls Slop.
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
I found two charms that gave me 10% bonus shuriken damage, stacked those for 20% on top of Ninjitsu skill at 600-700 and those things hit for great damage. Fought a bloodedge demon this morning and those shurikens were just eating away at its life. I think it takes a good understanding of the game for it to be easy. Just jumping in and knowing nothing about weapon/skill scaling and boosting skills with gear might find it difficult.
For as well off as I am now. I sure thought you could screw yourself out of enjoying the game. Learning more about how to boost your character made it incredibly fun.
For as well off as I am now. I sure thought you could screw yourself out of enjoying the game. Learning more about how to boost your character made it incredibly fun.
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The artful mincer
Member
Okay...difference between Nioh 2 and 3 is very obvious to me and then you consider its open world its a pretty big overall upgrade.
It's still a middle looking game compared to other games this generation.
Combat looks so smooth with all the effects and i never get tired of killing enemies, when they drop the amarita and the loot, its so satsifying
DeaconOfTheDank
Member
Gotta love this guy's off the cuff videos.
If you're on PC, I recommend using RenoDX for a better HDR experience. You can use the default settings, although I noticed that switching to the vanilla tonemapper over RenoDRT preserves a bit more detail in highlights.
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Disciple of MSSP
Gold Member
I just beat nioh and bout nioh 2. I'd 2 worth playing or is it more of the same?
Mr. PlayStation
Member
Around 50hours into Nioh 3, thoroughly captivated by it's wide linear world with shortcuts to unlock world design, almost every boss fight has been memorable. I must say this though, visually/frame rate wise they didn't hit the sweet spot in optimizations. Especially coming from Nioh 2 on PS5 which looked and ran much better in their 60fps modes than what I'm experiencing here in Nioh 3 on PS5 Pro. That's my only major gripe, part of me feels them releasing on PC day and date meant focusing more on PC optimization and less so on PS5 as it shows in the current retail release. The game could've looked and ran much better than it's running now. This was my same concern when I played the Alpha demo from last June 2025.
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Game's great, its basically Dark Souls 3 in that its quite self-consciously a greatest-hits package jammed full of call-backs to the previous games. The difference is DS3 felt like a contractual obligation whereas this feels like an actual evolution of the formula and a culmination of all the learnings from their previous titles.
The combat system is pretty amazing in how versatile it is; yes you can make the game way easier than previous instalments, but if you avoid the cheese techniques it'll test even the most experienced players. The remarkable part is that it doesn't tie you to a single approach - at any time, even mid fight you can switch.
I suspect the higher difficulties coming later in the year will narrow viable options, but even only counting the ng cycle there's an insane amount of replay value in trying out different builds and combat styles.
Its pretty much the ultimate combat sandbox.
The combat system is pretty amazing in how versatile it is; yes you can make the game way easier than previous instalments, but if you avoid the cheese techniques it'll test even the most experienced players. The remarkable part is that it doesn't tie you to a single approach - at any time, even mid fight you can switch.
I suspect the higher difficulties coming later in the year will narrow viable options, but even only counting the ng cycle there's an insane amount of replay value in trying out different builds and combat styles.
Its pretty much the ultimate combat sandbox.
SilentSpecter
Member
What are you even talking about? FromSoftware games are clearly very different from each other - Dark Souls plays and feels differently than Bloodborne, and then you've got Armored Core on top of that, with Sekiro being a completely separate thing altogether.
TheDarkPhantom
Member
Well, that was easy:
Before I get into the nitty gritty with my thoughts on Nioh 3 I will quote myself from the Khazan thread last year:
Now why start by invoking the FROM Gods? It's because they are the father of this glorious subgenre and every other dev has been playing catch up since. People also like to erroneously invoke their name when making certain comparisons. I believe one review of Nioh 3 said "they ALMOST had their Elden Ring moment". Let it be stated in clear and certain terms: Nioh 3 - a great videogame - isn't fit to even crawl in the shadow of Stormveil Castle, nevermind the entirety of ER's epic world.
That was certainly Nioh 3's intention though, the devs apeing FROM, going for their own "open-world moment" for the series. The thing I loved about the previous two games was how they set themselves *apart* from FROM, primarily in their mission based structure. When I played the demo of Nioh 3 a few months ago I immediately felt they lost a special something and the promise of these large, fully explorable environments simply wouldn't make up for it. I wish what I felt then didn't turn out to be true now.
One of the highlights of Nioh 2 was that each mission truly felt unique and it's own self-contained world. Each level had a beautiful visual variety, foggy graveyards with blooming red spider lilies, a burning village and temple in the dead of night, a winding mountain path at sunset, a flooded town, toxic caves, cheery blossoms blowing in the wind and on and on and on.
Nioh 3 has a much more uniform visual identity. You're in snow world and wherever you go 95% of it will look exactly the same. Now you're in corrupted Kyoto, 95% of the map will have this dark purple aesthetic and nothing else. It's a shame really and there wasn't a single location that inspired or made me say "wow". Moreover, Nioh 2 did something clever with it's side missions where you would replay a map but it would always be under new lighting/weather conditions, starting/ending at a different point making it all feel fresh again. Alas, that barely exists here, Khazan took that idea from Nioh 2 (along with many others) and ran with it.
Where Nioh 3 eclipses it's predecessor is undoubtedly in it's combat and the myriad options it gives the player to engage the enemy. I've already commented on the brilliance of the form shift system but it bears repeating. I mostly favoured the swift, evasive play style of the Ninja but both forms feel great with an ungodly amount of weaponry to experiment with, it is impossible to not find at least one weapon type you absolutely fall in love with but honestly it will most likely be multiple. Everything feels great and the way you fight can be super simple or fighting game levels of complex, the tools are all there, it's up to you. DualSense haptics do the battles a great service by making you feel the impact of each hit, combat truly sings.
Visually we have what looks like a PS4 game and not a late generation one either. While it's hyperbolic to say it looks like a PS3 game there *are* certain textures that are straight out of that generation which - at this point in time - really have no excuse for being there. Thankfully the game run flawlessly on my Pro and I can easily overlook average visual fidelity if the game is good. OST is OK, nothing particularly memorable except maybe the hub music but not even that comes close to some of the tracks you'd hear in some of the genres best games. That does bring up the question though, is this *really* still a Souls-like? The answer is not so clear.
A couple of pages back I wrote this feels more like a character action game and indeed that feeling persisted throughout. I said the game was ridiculously easy and indeed there are a whole bunch of posts in this thread saying the exact same thing. Actually, most calling it "piss easy". Nioh 3 loses any sort of tension, danger and feeling of overcoming all odds that are hallmarks of the genre and ever-present in the previous two titles. It does retain the other Souls tropes of resting to refill resources/respawn enemies, dropping Souls upon death, opening up shortcuts etc. As such, it sits as a sort of weird hybrid which isn't necessarily a *bad* thing but I personally prefer what was already established. Some might say it's hard to get the balance right because of the open-world nature. Funny, Elden Ring didn't have that problem...
Obnoxious amounts of loot are still here, I suppose I was playing my own self-inflicted Hard mode by only checking/changing gear every 10-15 hours (and *still* found it super easy). The enemy orb system makes a welcome return, essentially Nioh's version of summon spells, lots to have fun and experiment with. Guardian Spirits are always a good time though I remember Nioh 2 having more of them overall despite Nioh 3 ostensibly being a bigger game. There were a handful of cool boss battles but yet again [STARTING TO SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD, EVERYONE CAN FINISH THE SENTENCE FOR THEMSELVES] and enemy variety/recycling leaves a lot to be desired, there are literally *thousands* of yokai to draw from in classical Japanese texts so really the only explanation is dev laziness.
I enjoyed Nioh 3, I enjoyed it quite a lot but I'm always going to keep it real. Nioh 2 still holds the series' crown and although Nioh 3 is better than Wo Long I still expected more. I'm curious to see where the series goes from here. Story is another weak point and the fact is this mixing of real Japanese history with fantasy is starting to feel a bit stale. Whatever it is I will be there day 1 as I have with all previous titles, I just hope Team Ninja goes back to the drawing board and gives us something truly inspiring based on the solid combat foundations the series has set, I *want* to see them (and other devs) truly stand shoulder to shoulder with FROM's best, we just aren't there yet.
Before I get into the nitty gritty with my thoughts on Nioh 3 I will quote myself from the Khazan thread last year:
Now why start by invoking the FROM Gods? It's because they are the father of this glorious subgenre and every other dev has been playing catch up since. People also like to erroneously invoke their name when making certain comparisons. I believe one review of Nioh 3 said "they ALMOST had their Elden Ring moment". Let it be stated in clear and certain terms: Nioh 3 - a great videogame - isn't fit to even crawl in the shadow of Stormveil Castle, nevermind the entirety of ER's epic world.
That was certainly Nioh 3's intention though, the devs apeing FROM, going for their own "open-world moment" for the series. The thing I loved about the previous two games was how they set themselves *apart* from FROM, primarily in their mission based structure. When I played the demo of Nioh 3 a few months ago I immediately felt they lost a special something and the promise of these large, fully explorable environments simply wouldn't make up for it. I wish what I felt then didn't turn out to be true now.
One of the highlights of Nioh 2 was that each mission truly felt unique and it's own self-contained world. Each level had a beautiful visual variety, foggy graveyards with blooming red spider lilies, a burning village and temple in the dead of night, a winding mountain path at sunset, a flooded town, toxic caves, cheery blossoms blowing in the wind and on and on and on.
Nioh 3 has a much more uniform visual identity. You're in snow world and wherever you go 95% of it will look exactly the same. Now you're in corrupted Kyoto, 95% of the map will have this dark purple aesthetic and nothing else. It's a shame really and there wasn't a single location that inspired or made me say "wow". Moreover, Nioh 2 did something clever with it's side missions where you would replay a map but it would always be under new lighting/weather conditions, starting/ending at a different point making it all feel fresh again. Alas, that barely exists here, Khazan took that idea from Nioh 2 (along with many others) and ran with it.
Where Nioh 3 eclipses it's predecessor is undoubtedly in it's combat and the myriad options it gives the player to engage the enemy. I've already commented on the brilliance of the form shift system but it bears repeating. I mostly favoured the swift, evasive play style of the Ninja but both forms feel great with an ungodly amount of weaponry to experiment with, it is impossible to not find at least one weapon type you absolutely fall in love with but honestly it will most likely be multiple. Everything feels great and the way you fight can be super simple or fighting game levels of complex, the tools are all there, it's up to you. DualSense haptics do the battles a great service by making you feel the impact of each hit, combat truly sings.
Visually we have what looks like a PS4 game and not a late generation one either. While it's hyperbolic to say it looks like a PS3 game there *are* certain textures that are straight out of that generation which - at this point in time - really have no excuse for being there. Thankfully the game run flawlessly on my Pro and I can easily overlook average visual fidelity if the game is good. OST is OK, nothing particularly memorable except maybe the hub music but not even that comes close to some of the tracks you'd hear in some of the genres best games. That does bring up the question though, is this *really* still a Souls-like? The answer is not so clear.
A couple of pages back I wrote this feels more like a character action game and indeed that feeling persisted throughout. I said the game was ridiculously easy and indeed there are a whole bunch of posts in this thread saying the exact same thing. Actually, most calling it "piss easy". Nioh 3 loses any sort of tension, danger and feeling of overcoming all odds that are hallmarks of the genre and ever-present in the previous two titles. It does retain the other Souls tropes of resting to refill resources/respawn enemies, dropping Souls upon death, opening up shortcuts etc. As such, it sits as a sort of weird hybrid which isn't necessarily a *bad* thing but I personally prefer what was already established. Some might say it's hard to get the balance right because of the open-world nature. Funny, Elden Ring didn't have that problem...
Obnoxious amounts of loot are still here, I suppose I was playing my own self-inflicted Hard mode by only checking/changing gear every 10-15 hours (and *still* found it super easy). The enemy orb system makes a welcome return, essentially Nioh's version of summon spells, lots to have fun and experiment with. Guardian Spirits are always a good time though I remember Nioh 2 having more of them overall despite Nioh 3 ostensibly being a bigger game. There were a handful of cool boss battles but yet again [STARTING TO SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD, EVERYONE CAN FINISH THE SENTENCE FOR THEMSELVES] and enemy variety/recycling leaves a lot to be desired, there are literally *thousands* of yokai to draw from in classical Japanese texts so really the only explanation is dev laziness.
I enjoyed Nioh 3, I enjoyed it quite a lot but I'm always going to keep it real. Nioh 2 still holds the series' crown and although Nioh 3 is better than Wo Long I still expected more. I'm curious to see where the series goes from here. Story is another weak point and the fact is this mixing of real Japanese history with fantasy is starting to feel a bit stale. Whatever it is I will be there day 1 as I have with all previous titles, I just hope Team Ninja goes back to the drawing board and gives us something truly inspiring based on the solid combat foundations the series has set, I *want* to see them (and other devs) truly stand shoulder to shoulder with FROM's best, we just aren't there yet.
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Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Elden Ring's very good but its far from the flawless masterpiece that some people (*cough*) pretend it is.
Everyone uses the same cheese weapons making build variety far smaller than it initially seems. Fashion Souls remains the truth because basically armour's impact is fairly low.
The new stuff that ER brought to the Souls formula likewise is mainly cosmetic. Fighting on horseback seems like a cool idea, and looks cool, but outside of Radahn, and the stupid flame Golems in SOTE... meh.
Every time they add something to spice up the combat formula like perfume bottles, they start out OP and get nerfed back to the point of worthlessness, Same deal with the summons, basically there are like 3 that are actually worth a damn and of those Mimic Tear is by far the most prevalent.
Meanwhile, the same issues that have been apparent for a long time remain in effect. The lazy NG+ escalation, the multiple endings that are all basically the same and typically underwhelming, reliance on the same tropey character arcs recycled endlessly, as a substitute for actual story, etc.
Don't get me wrong, the execution is FROM's "secret sauce". They have absolutely nailed the grim-dark aesthetic and sense of place. Their art-direction is superb, and the resulting overall experience is greater than the sum of its parts. The concern remains though that in a gameplay sense the mechanical advancement from 2009's Demon Souls is remarkably small, in fact in terms of systemic complexity its been nothing but backtracking since DS2 tried a bunch of new things but got slated by purist fucktards in the " fan community" who were more concerned about level transitions being less geographically coherent than previous entries than new ideas being added to enrich the playing experience.
TN by comparison have shown more creative growth in the past 9 years than FROM have managed in well over a decade.
Everyone uses the same cheese weapons making build variety far smaller than it initially seems. Fashion Souls remains the truth because basically armour's impact is fairly low.
The new stuff that ER brought to the Souls formula likewise is mainly cosmetic. Fighting on horseback seems like a cool idea, and looks cool, but outside of Radahn, and the stupid flame Golems in SOTE... meh.
Every time they add something to spice up the combat formula like perfume bottles, they start out OP and get nerfed back to the point of worthlessness, Same deal with the summons, basically there are like 3 that are actually worth a damn and of those Mimic Tear is by far the most prevalent.
Meanwhile, the same issues that have been apparent for a long time remain in effect. The lazy NG+ escalation, the multiple endings that are all basically the same and typically underwhelming, reliance on the same tropey character arcs recycled endlessly, as a substitute for actual story, etc.
Don't get me wrong, the execution is FROM's "secret sauce". They have absolutely nailed the grim-dark aesthetic and sense of place. Their art-direction is superb, and the resulting overall experience is greater than the sum of its parts. The concern remains though that in a gameplay sense the mechanical advancement from 2009's Demon Souls is remarkably small, in fact in terms of systemic complexity its been nothing but backtracking since DS2 tried a bunch of new things but got slated by purist fucktards in the " fan community" who were more concerned about level transitions being less geographically coherent than previous entries than new ideas being added to enrich the playing experience.
TN by comparison have shown more creative growth in the past 9 years than FROM have managed in well over a decade.
The Cockatrice
I'm retarded?
That is absolutely not true at all. TN hasnt made a single good game since Nioh 2 and Nioh 3 is pretty much a more open version of it, with a different version of its combat, but still the same shit. Just because some people use cheese weapons in ER, which btw the same ppl also use the same cheese shit in Nioh games as well, doesnt make its combat any less enjoyable. From games go for the simple but efficient route, while TN goes for complex and efficient. Both are good at what they do best. More does not always mean better.
From has significantly evolved its art style over the years and you'd be a complete retarded to say otherwise. Their engine may be shit, but so is Nioh's. The difference is, considering the amazing art style From games have, even with its technical limitations, ER looks ages ahead compared to Nioh 3. TN needs to hire artists and level designers, because good combat cant always carry you.
I am in neither of camps, but there are more pluses in a From game than a TN game as of now, hence why the former is still more loved/popular than the latter.
Gandih42
Member
Nice write-up! I'm only about 15 hours into the game but my current impressions so far line up pretty well with what you're describing.Well, that was easy:
Before I get into the nitty gritty with my thoughts on Nioh 3 I will quote myself from the Khazan thread last year:
Now why start by invoking the FROM Gods? It's because they are the father of this glorious subgenre and every other dev has been playing catch up since. People also like to erroneously invoke their name when making certain comparisons. I believe one review of Nioh 3 said "they ALMOST had their Elden Ring moment". Let it be stated in clear and certain terms: Nioh 3 - a great videogame - isn't fit to even crawl in the shadow of Stormveil Castle, nevermind the entirety of ER's epic world.
That was certainly Nioh 3's intention though, the devs apeing FROM, going for their own "open-world moment" for the series. The thing I loved about the previous two games was how they set themselves *apart* from FROM, primarily in their mission based structure. When I played the demo of Nioh 3 a few months ago I immediately felt they lost a special something and the promise of these large, fully explorable environments simply wouldn't make up for it. I wish what I felt then didn't turn out to be true now.
One of the highlights of Nioh 2 was that each mission truly felt unique and it's own self-contained world. Each level had a beautiful visual variety, foggy graveyards with blooming red spider lilies, a burning village and temple in the dead of night, a winding mountain path at sunset, a flooded town, toxic caves, cheery blossoms blowing in the wind and on and on and on.
Nioh 3 has a much more uniform visual identity. You're in snow world and wherever you go 95% of it will look exactly the same. Now you're in corrupted Kyoto, 95% of the map will have this dark purple aesthetic and nothing else. It's a shame really and there wasn't a single location that inspired or made me say "wow". Moreover, Nioh 2 did something clever with it's side missions where you would replay a map but it would always be under new lighting/weather conditions, starting/ending at a different point making it all feel fresh again. Alas, that barely exists here, Khazan took that idea from Nioh 2 (along with many others) and ran with it.
Where Nioh 3 eclipses it's predecessor is undoubtedly in it's combat and the myriad options it gives the player to engage the enemy. I've already commented on the brilliance of the form shift system but it bears repeating. I mostly favoured the swift, evasive play style of the Ninja but both forms feel great with an ungodly amount of weaponry to experiment with, it is impossible to not find at least one weapon type you absolutely fall in love with but honestly it will most likely be multiple. Everything feels great and the way you fight can be super simple or fighting game levels of complex, the tools are all there, it's up to you. DualSense haptics do the battles a great service by making you feel the impact of each hit, combat truly sings.
Visually we have what looks like a PS4 game and not a late generation one either. While it's hyperbolic to say it looks like a PS3 game there *are* certain textures that are straight out of that generation which - at this point in time - really have no excuse for being there. Thankfully the game run flawlessly on my Pro and I can easily overlook average visual fidelity if the game is good. OST is OK, nothing particularly memorable except maybe the hub music but not even that comes close to some of the tracks you'd hear in some of the genres best games. That does bring up the question though, is this *really* still a Souls-like? The answer is not so clear.
A couple of pages back I wrote this feels more like a character action game and indeed that feeling persisted throughout. I said the game was ridiculously easy and indeed there are a whole bunch of posts in this thread saying the exact same thing. Actually, most calling it "piss easy". Nioh 3 loses any sort of tension, danger and feeling of overcoming all odds that are hallmarks of the genre and ever-present in the previous two titles. It does retain the other Souls tropes of resting to refill resources/respawn enemies, dropping Souls upon death, opening up shortcuts etc. As such, it sits as a sort of weird hybrid which isn't necessarily a *bad* thing but I personally prefer what was already established. Some might say it's hard to get the balance right because of the open-world nature. Funny, Elden Ring didn't have that problem...
Obnoxious amounts of loot are still here, I suppose I was playing my own self-inflicted Hard mode by only checking/changing gear every 10-15 hours (and *still* found it super easy). The enemy orb system makes a welcome return, essentially Nioh's version of summon spells, lots to have fun and experiment with. Guardian Spirits are always a good time though I remember Nioh 2 having more of them overall despite Nioh 3 ostensibly being a bigger game. There were a handful of cool boss battles but yet again [STARTING TO SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD, EVERYONE CAN FINISH THE SENTENCE FOR THEMSELVES] and enemy variety/recycling leaves a lot to be desired, there are literally *thousands* of yokai to draw from in classical Japanese texts so really the only explanation is dev laziness.
I enjoyed Nioh 3, I enjoyed it quite a lot but I'm always going to keep it real. Nioh 2 still holds the series' crown and although Nioh 3 is better than Wo Long I still expected more. I'm curious to see where the series goes from here. Story is another weak point and the fact is this mixing of real Japanese history with fantasy is starting to feel a bit stale. Whatever it is I will be there day 1 as I have with all previous titles, I just hope Team Ninja goes back to the drawing board and gives us something truly inspiring based on the solid combat foundations the series has set, I *want* to see them (and other devs) truly stand shoulder to shoulder with FROM's best, we just aren't there yet.
I am a bit more mixed on the open-field map vs. Nioh 1/2 missions (note: I'm still only on the first map). I spent 150 hours on Nioh 2 last year and finished WotN to get all DLC trophies but their levels on the whole did very little for me. I do think it was a step up from Nioh 1 and there are some definite highlights (the cherry blossom level where you fight Tokichiro, the temple hidden under water, the final mission of the final DLC etc.) but they really struggle to stand out for me overall. To be honest I'm not sure why because I can absolutely agree that they have a lot of variety (the weather stuff is really nice) - maybe its the visual style, the way you interact with the levels, how self-contained they are. But regardless, it did give the Nioh games a different character, which I really appreciated. In that sense, I would've also liked to see how much further Team Ninja could have taken that formula, by keeping a mission based structure.
I will give them some credit with the open-field in Nioh 3 so far though. While the first two regions of the first map where mostly uninspiring, going seamlessly from a small yokai-infested village, to fighting along a dilapidated coastline with small wrecked boats, to exploring a huge place of worship inside a creepy cave, was pretty cool. Another section I appreciated was a canyon crossed by a narrow bridge, followed by a winding mountain pass ending in a bandit camp with a minor boss fight, in a region that was much more green and lush than the ones before it. That does make me hopeful for the rest of the game and shows the potential of an open-field map (although obviously it didn't land for you). So far it felt like they are stringing together the traditional missions into contiguous regions, and if done well (maybe better than what was achieved in Nioh 3), I think that could be a strong and winning formula. At the very least I hope they don't go full open world and stick with a tighter and more contained and dense approach.
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NeverYouMind
Member
I have not dived into Nioh 3 proper but Wo Long and Strangers of Paradise easily eclipse Nioh 2 by endgame. I am playing through Nioh 2 again (dabbling in NG+ and last DLC submissions at present) and it feels more like busy work with RNG rather than action combat with strategy. For all the tools it gives the player only a handful are practical and ki/anima/ammo really limit what you can do until NG+. The gear upgrade systems are really ass backwards and individual gear perks are lacking.
Elden Ring's combat and balancing are subpar. It's dungeons range from shit to mediocre. A third of the zones have disgusting aesthetics and audio. A third are peak high fantasy but lack personality. The rest have forgettable aesthetics and audio. The enemy placement is really weird in that it acts as a spread that converges to impede rather than varying in a way that makes locations memorable. If anything I would say that From's art style and level design have devolved since Demon Souls. Only reason I managed to make it through Elden Ring is there was always the promise of a novel weapon or spell as a reward for exploring and I love having a fast mount with double jump.
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Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Incorrect, both Wo Long and Rise Of the Ronin were well received. So three good games plus Nioh 3 in 5 years. Remember Nioh 2's complete edition only arrived in Feb '21 when the year-long DLC cycle concluded.
As to the cheese factor, with TN's games the cheese rarely lasts through all game cycles and actually forces the player to know what they are doing to reach the actual endgame content.
Don't you sometimes wish FROM's games had actual endgame content, or NG+ cycles that did more than just nudge up the stat sliders ?
Its been fucking years since DS2 and Bloodborne where they actually tried to give you something to do after you reached the end of the "story" (you know the exact same story they've been using since 2009 !)
I praised FROM for their art style, so I'm not sure what you're trying to prove by bringing that into a critique about gameplay systems and content.
And you're right FROM's games are more popular, but that doesn't absolve them from reasonable criticism. The trouble is everybody is so busy hanging off Miyazaki's nuts for there to be any pressure for them to further flesh out what they've already achieved.
Like I said, the last time it felt like they were really trying to advance was DS2 back in 2014. I miss that version of FROM.
I really like both companies and their franchises, it just bugs me that noone ever seems to call one of them out on areas that need improvement in their releases!
Right now it seems FROM are only really interested in expanding into multi-player too... which doesn't fill me with enthusiasm.
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NeverYouMind
Member
I did not receive Wo Long well. It's systems were a bit obtuse and it was not until NG+ and DLC that I understood them. The first few missions are also some of the worst content in the game. The fidelity and performance were a big downgrade from Nioh 2 until Team Ninja patched in shader compilation and mod for turning off fog effects came out. It did not have a smooth rollout but I do love it now after DLC added so much.
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The Cockatrice
I'm retarded?
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Sekiro IMO is their best game. If FROM wants to go all in on multiplayer then they need to make their own version of Phantasy Star Online. Mission based, central hub, multiple mazelike maps and a great feedback loop with gear and weapon acquisition with increasingly better gear per difficulty level. Multiplayer parties optional.
Right now it's all about Risk of Rain and Extraction Shooter town with Nightreign and eventually Duskbloods.
What I really like in Nioh games is better drops and tougher enemies in each NG+ mode(Strong/Demon/Wise/Nioh) to really test your skills and mastery of the combat system. Which honestly until someone plays through and tackles Way/Dream of the Nioh tier difficulty I think it's a bit premature to complain about difficulty.
thief183
Member
I noticed that the new stuff starts appearing in the second half of the game, in any case I noticed around 15 new yokai, excluding bosses, it is not much but it is clear that the steam focused more on the map design than adding more enemies. Still having a blast.
The Cockatrice
I'm retarded?
The stutters are starting to annoying me more than my enjoyment of the game. Even with my PC easily surpassing 120 fps, when the game starts to load assets it starts to stutter nonstop when moving the camera. In certain locations assets keep reloading as you move the camera which makes the stutters appear again. What a fucking mess of an engine and it's insane they will never fix this crap. The visuals/performance alone are making me not recommend this. It overstays its welcome too long.
Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
I experience very little stutters. Did you lock your monitor's refresh rate to 120? It can help with the jittery camera.
The Cockatrice
I'm retarded?
They dont always happen, just in certain locations or if I play too long. Do I need to lower my refresh rate manually? Locked 120 fps is not enough?
mèx
Member
I haven't noticed any stutters while playing. Just some juddering due to the variable framerate not being handled properly.
How are you getting locked 120 FPS? I can't on a 7800X3D/5080 @ 2K DLSS quality. Changing settings doesn't help much, there are always some drops here and there and certain areas run below the target (around ~100 in some forest areas).
How are you getting locked 120 FPS? I can't on a 7800X3D/5080 @ 2K DLSS quality. Changing settings doesn't help much, there are always some drops here and there and certain areas run below the target (around ~100 in some forest areas).
SilentSpecter
Member
Exactly. I bought Nioh 3 just to see the same enemies from the previous games for like 95% of the playtime, and the amount of recycling here is insane.
You basically fight the same mobs almost until the very end, and even repeat the same bosses multiple times.
And it doesn't matter that you're level 140 when a basic skeleton from the early game hits just as hard in the endgame.
BTW If you're struggling with the difficulty, I honestly suggest going with the Ninja playstyle and focusing on Ninjutsu with Shrapnel Bomb /enhanced version and fire shuriken - it's basically easy mode.
Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
There's a setting called Dynamic FPS adjustment. It's on by default. Maybe try toggling it off and capping your monitor's refresh rate to 120Hz when playing. Yeah, it's annoying, but there's always weirdness with Team Ninja's PC ports.
The Cockatrice
I'm retarded?
Dynamic wont help, my framerate is by default at 150 without locks, so it's not that i can't sustain 120. Might be certain settings impacting it. I dunno. Im too late in the game now to start testing. I'll just deal with it until Im done, but I doubt ill ever touch it again. This game just made me crave replaying Nioh 2 more.
Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
That's the thing. Does your fps goes beyond 120? If yes, then you probably should cap your refresh rate, because it doesn't sound like the in-game cap works, which might lead to some weird issues as this game doesn't support variable refresh rate and acts funky when missing the target fps (yes, even above).
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The Cockatrice
I'm retarded?
What a mess. I'll see what I can do.
Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
I got the opposite problem with the difficulty. It's far too easy so far. Granted, I'm still fairly early into the game. Imagine my surprise when I saw Ryomen Sukuna return, only for it to go down in less than 2 minutes. In the previous game, he was difficult as hell for me.Exactly. I bought Nioh 3 just to see the same enemies from the previous games for like 95% of the playtime, and the amount of recycling here is insane.
You basically fight the same mobs almost until the very end, and even repeat the same bosses multiple times.
And it doesn't matter that you're level 140 when a basic skeleton from the early game hits just as hard in the endgame.
BTW If you're struggling with the difficulty, I honestly suggest going with the Ninja playstyle and focusing on Ninjutsu with Shrapnel Bomb /enhanced version and fire shuriken - it's basically easy mode.
I hear it gets harder later on though and as with Souls games and Nioh 1/2, the real challenges are in the DLC, but yeah, breezing through the game and only died twice to a dozen boss or so thus far.
Gonzito
Gold Member
Yep. For me the most egregious part is the enemy repetition. If you are going open world, bring some enemy variety and dont recycle all the enemies from past entries. Elden Ring had some repetition but they really added many different enemies and I never had this feeling of repeating the same fights over and over
RafterXL
Member
I doubt the open world had anything to do with trying to ape FROM game design. Nioh 3 is an evolution of what they've learned since making Nioh 2. Nioh 3 is a Nioh version of Rise of the Ronin, if anything.
2022-Nioh 2
Stranger of Paradise
2023-Wo Long
2024-Rise of the Ronin
2025-Ninja Gaiden 4
2026-Nioh 3
They literally have one of the best track records, and best turn around, in this entire industry. You're crazy.
There are no stutters in Nioh 3. You running a game that has to be hard locked in multiples of 60 at 150 fps, that's your problem. If you aren't using FG, cap it at 120. If you are using FG either switch to FSR FG because DLSS FG will cap your frame rate below the necessary 120, or turn OFF "Max Framerate" and turn ON "Vsync" in the Nvidia app or control panel.
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Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Hopefully, they make enough money with Nioh 3 to get a proper budget. Maybe they can update the engine or develop a new one (doubt it), but they will no doubt get a lot more money for their next project.
Nioh always felt held back from lacking enough funding.
SilentSpecter
Member
I agree - grab attacks are definitely overused. I even had a situation where the boss did it three times in a row.
SilentSpecter
Member
TheDarkPhantom
Member
Multiple reviews reference Elden Ring which is why I put it that way:
Nioh 3 review: Team Ninja almost gets it Elden Ring moment https://share.google/6yR0daOHzlRWUyfX1
Nioh 3's open world is incredibly formulaic compared to Elden Ring's, so I'm slightly embarrassed by how much I'm loving it | PC Gamer https://share.google/urYw08GrXsaJPtlfd
Either way we will never know if that was the primary inspiration or not but as I've said, the game is overall the lesser for it.
coachmcguirk91
Member
It is 100% an engine issue. I would love if they just remade Nioh 3 in a different engine, as a means to move on from Katana engine. Never going to happen though
Nioh 3 will feel very different after the expansions come out too
The Cockatrice
I'm retarded?
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CosmicComet
Member
I loved the first two games, especially two. But i didn't expect there to be a third one.
They even said shortly after the 2nd game that they were done with the series.
So I'm not even sure i want to get this one.
The gimmick of switching between samurai and ninja seems underwhelming when you could outfit yourself as either last time as well as transform into an oni.
The more open world does interest me though.
They even said shortly after the 2nd game that they were done with the series.
So I'm not even sure i want to get this one.
The gimmick of switching between samurai and ninja seems underwhelming when you could outfit yourself as either last time as well as transform into an oni.
The more open world does interest me though.
coachmcguirk91
Member
Ninja and Samurai play very different. Nioh 3 does a very good job of giving reason to use both
Guardian Spirit has replaced becoming an Oni