Like the first two games in the series, Nioh 3 can feel a little fiddly out of the box but is easily improved through a bit of settings snooping. If you're diving into Nioh 3, I strongly recommend adjusting a few settings for the controls and UI, if only to try them out and see how you like them compared to the defaults.
On page 1 of the controls sub-menu of the options page, for instance, you'll find an option to "configure controls," and within that you'll find different templates. You start with option A, and I would suggest giving option B a try. This makes martial arts and combo extenders easier to use by tying them to the left shoulder (guard) button, and the only trade-off in my opinion is getting used to activating spirit skills with the D-pad. See how you like it.
