Nioh 3 is a Soulslike, but that doesn't entirely do justice to Team Ninja's twitchy mix of samurai and ninja combat against some truly monstrous yokai. The Nioh series (and I include the underrated Wo-Long among those), feels as much of an evolutionary branch of Ninja Gaiden as it is inspired by FromSoftware's legendary Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.
The genre is dubbed "masocore" by Team Ninja, and trades the super fast power fantasy we loved in our Ninja Gaiden 4 review for action that's a bit more slower paced and considered. Though, barely slower. In Nioh 3 especially, the developer has refined its fighting systems – allowing you to not only hotswap weapons mid-combo, but also switch between being a samurai or a ninja the touch of a button. Hard-won fights boil down to quick exchanges of blows and parries as you turn enemy demons into mulch.
