Ninja Gaiden quickly became known as one of the hardest games on the NES, and this infamous challenge level was not lost in the original Xbox era. Team Ninja made a name for itself with the Ninja Gaiden reboot, offering players a difficult but more balanced experience compared to the NES days. Beyond Ninja Gaiden, Team Ninja has worked on countless other projects, including their own set of Soulslikes via the Nioh series.
7 Best Tips & Tricks in Nioh 3
Here are a few simple things you can do to change the way you play Nioh 3 while making the overall experience a little easier.
While the first two games focused on samurai experiences, Nioh 3 has a new class-like form called Ninja Style that allows players to have more Ninja Gaiden-like controls. For fans of the 3D Ninja Gaiden games, they may finally wish to pay attention.
The Weapon Variety
Going Beyond Ninja Swords
There was a good variety of weapons in the first two games, but Nioh 3 greatly expands the weapon variety. For the Ninja Style specifically, players can equip Kusarigamas and Tonfas, and the Ninja Gaiden games have also featured them, along with Switchglaives, which can turn into scythes, as part of the Samurai Style track. Each weapon has a basic and strong attack, with the strong attack being able to be charged up. For example, the Hatchets can be thrown when charged up, while players will stay in place and swing around their Kusarigama wildly for its charged attack.
Players can also learn new moves for each weapon with an expansive skill tree, which is more impressive than any of the skill trees in the Ninja Gaiden games. If players have a preferred weapon, it can even level up in Nioh 3 with Familiarity, which can increase its attack power at the master level, or even grant players new moves in some cases. Beyond melee weapons, players can also equip a secondary ranged weapon, like a bow or a gun, which Ninja Gaiden fans should also be familiar with. No matter what style of weapon players grab, they are going to be well-armed against the human and demon forces they run into.
Ninjutsu Moves
Use Spells And Tools Like Ryu
Beyond weapons, the mighty Ryu Hayabusa was also gifted with various magic spells and ninja tools in the Ninja Gaiden games. For Nioh 3’s Ninja Style, players can have four Ninjutsu spells or tools equipped at one time. For example, two starting moves include throwing shuriken and launching fireballs. Ninjutsu moves have limited uses in battle, but the nice thing about them is that they recharge the more players attack enemies, sort of like cooldowns in action RPGs.
What to Do First in Nioh 3?
Here are some of the things you should do to get the best start in Nioh 3.
For example, if players throw out all ten shuriken and then wail on some enemies for a while, they can refill their shuriken pouch to the full amount in no time. Strategically, it’s almost best to use up all Ninjutsu at the start of battle, so that players can get their recharge in during it. For normal battles, this may not be as useful, but for the many main and side bosses in Nioh 3, it will be. Samurai Style does not have an exact equivalent to Ninja Style’s Ninjutsu, which is why it will be many players’ preferred class.
The Speed Of Ninja Style
Zip, Dodge, And Counter On The Battlefield
Weapons, tools, and spells are all well and good, but they wouldn’t mean anything if the game supported typical slow-paced Soulslike controls. Thankfully, Ninja Style characters act like ninjas in other games in terms of maneuverability. Players can easily zip around the battlefield by using the R1 button on a PS5 controller, for example, to create ghost images after landing a few strikes. Samurai Style, on the other hand, lets players build Ki with R1 instead, which unleashes a power weapon move.
There’s also a dodge button in Ninja Style, and various skills in Nioh 3 can be unlocked to improve dodges with bonuses, including the reactive time and distance. Depending on the weight of equipment, players may move faster with different builds that do not adhere to typical Soulslike designs. Overall, though, Ninja Style characters will be quicker than even lightweight Samurai Style characters.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
Platform Like A Ninja Hero
More Than A Soulslike
The brutal action combat of the Ninja Gaiden games is what fans live for, but players will not strictly go from one battle to the next like in a roguelike. Another aspect of the Ninja Gaiden games that players love is the traversal platforming. A typical 3D entry can include dashing around, running on walls, grinding on rails, and more, and sometimes movement can be just as satisfying as the melee combat. While the open-field design of Nioh 3 doesn’t have as many tightly designed spaces to platform as rapidly as in a Ninja Gaiden title, there is plenty of platforming action fans can enjoy.
Players will start with a double jump that makes it easy to jump onto surfaces to scale up buildings. Finding a good rooftop to then strike from above or to kill enemies with a bow are solid strategies. Players will also learn Metroidvania-like maneuverability upgrades. With these upgrades, players can perform moves to reach secret areas called Spirit Veins. The first player's ability allows them to run on walls, which is again something Ninja Gaiden fans will be familiar with. Technically, all of the platforming moves can be used in Samurai Style too, but it just looks so much better with Ninja Style.
Living Artifacts Are Equivalent To Ultimate Techniques
Go Super Saiyan In Battle
Ryu and other characters could also use Ultimate Techniques in some of the Ninja Gaiden games, which were more powerful attacks. Nioh 3 has equivalents that are even cooler to use in both Ninja and Samurai Styles called Living Artifacts. Each class can equip specific sets of Guardian Spirits that will imbue them with bonuses and also give them a Living Artifact form to transform into once players hit a certain peak.
How To Unlock Skills And Increase Skill Capacity In Nioh 3
Gathering Memorandum and Secret Texts is the key to learning new skills in Nioh 3.
It’s sort of the equivalent of going Super Saiyan in the Dragon Ball Z anime, as Living Artifacts are immune to damage or stamina loss. That said, being attacked will drain the form’s duration faster. For example, Ninja Style can equip Enko, giving their Living Artifact form fiery powers. These forms are more powerful than anything found in a Ninja Gaiden game, giving players the power of demons for once.
Stealth And Exhausted Takedowns
Going In For Brutal Kills
Ninja Gaiden players are used to countering enemies as much as they are to being the ones attacking first, and Nioh players can counter too. Even if they plan to play the game mostly in Ninja Style, players should equip their Samurai Style build with the best equipment, because to counter an enemy, players can swap between forms to throw enemies off guard. Simply depleting an enemy’s stamina will also force them into an exhaustive state, and in this form, a red circle will form around them. That’s when players can pull off a stylish execution move, which may or may not kill the enemy on the spot.
These attacks are brutal and satisfying to watch, as each weapon will be different. The one thing that Ninja Gaiden games don’t have is significant stealth gameplay, which is odd since ninjas are made for sneaking around in games and other media. While Nioh 3 players don’t have a lot of stealth options equivalent to games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows or Ghost of Tsushima, they can pull off some critical strikes if they get close enough to enemies. It’s all about waiting for the target to turn red, like the exhaustion method.
