During today’s State of Play, Koei Tecmo and developer Team Ninja announced Nioh 3, the latest installment of our dark fantasy action RPG series taking place inside Japan’s historically turbulent Sengoku period.
To help celebrate the game’s announcement, we’re releasing a free limited-time demo of Nioh 3 exclusively on PlayStation 5, available today! Whether you’re a new warrior to the series or it’s your first time experiencing the deadly and deep combat that help make Team Ninja famous, we hope everyone enjoys the satisfaction of succeeding in the face of constant death.
Stand up against evil as the next Shogun
In Nioh 3, the protagonist is a young warrior poised to become the next Shogun. Why is he dedicated to battling against yokai? We’ll save those details for another day, but what we can tell you today is as the battles unfold, players will now be able to fight using two distinct combat styles: Samurai and Ninja.
The Samurai style provides a gameplay experience similar to previous Nioh titles. New actions such as Arts Proficiency, which enhances the power of martial arts, and Deflect, which allows players to block enemy attacks at the last moment have been added, helping create a series of intense and deadly face-to-face confrontations.
Meanwhile, the Ninja style excels in quick movements like dodging and aerial actions, giving ninjas the advantage of being able to attack from outside of the enemy’s range by utilizing a variety of “Ninjitsu” techniques according to the situation on the battlefield. Players have the ability to use techniques like Mist, which leaves a clone after an attack, and Evade, which allows for narrowly avoiding enemy strikes. Both techniques help players outmaneuver foes while delivering devastating speed attacks from behind.
Players will be able to switch between battle styles instantly at any time, playing in their preferred style in a storyline defined by the strong, the swift, and the wicked. Based on the tendencies of the enemies and stages, some players will prefer to switch seamlessly between Samurai and Ninja techniques, while others will choose to fight using only one style continuously based on the challenge ahead. Feel free to play with the style you like best as you battle some of the fiercest enemies we’ve created to date!
An open field full of challenges
Aside from the new battle styles, Nioh 3 also enables players to enjoy an open field that offers a new freedom of exploration to the unique tension and confrontations that have become a defining characteristic of the Nioh series. Experience unexpected encounters with formidable yokai, explore suspicious villages riddled in violent secrets, and take on the daunting challenges of The Crucible. Enjoy the thrilling, hostile new environments as you fight to survive the cursed kingdom!
Experience a tale of two swords today
The demo of Nioh 3 is available starting today and will be playable until June 18! This is not only your chance to get an early look at what we’ve been developing for the past few years, but we’d also appreciate your feedback and help as we attempt to fine-tune the game and create the definitive title in the Nioh series! After finishing the demo, please provide feedback through the survey on the official website to let us know your thoughts on the new battle styles, the open field, and any suggestions you have for improvement.
Team Ninja takes player feedback extremely seriously, and as we continue development on our biggest and boldest Nioh yet, we look forward to reading what you think about our latest game.
Additionally, we’ve included the character creation feature that was well-received in the previous title. Although it is still in development for the demo version, we hope you look forward to its completion, as we can’t wait to see the various types of heroes players will create in the demo and beyond.
Time to slay some yokai!
