Nioh 3 (PlayStation, PC, £64.99)

Verdict: Third time’s the charm

Rating:

The Nioh games have always been, for me, so nioh and yet so far.

Developed by Team Ninja, they transplant the punishingly difficult combat of Dark Souls to feudal Japan and add in some horrible folkloric monsters, which sounds great in theory. But they’re a little too coarse and clunky in practice. Until now.

Nioh 3 is, once again, another Dark Souls facsimile. Though — much like the makers of Dark Souls did with their 2022 masterpiece Elden Ring — it has expanded into a more open world. Instead of having your half-samurai, half-ninja character follow a straight path through a series of levels, he’s now much freer to roam and explore.

And it’s all just... better. Partially this is down to the open design. It’s fun to go a-wandering around this brutal landscape, not least because there always seems to be something to discover around the next corner. Another quest. Another meaningful upgrade. Another hellzone that needs ridding of demons.

But it’s also down to the improvements that Nioh 3 makes more generally. Its fights are much slicker and — since you can switch between those samurai and ninja powers at will — more enjoyable.

Its bosses are some of the most imaginative — and trickiest — the Soulslike genre has ever seen.

And it all runs so smoothly, even on the prettier graphics settings.

As for the story, it’s something about an heir to the shogunate hopping through time to... yadda, yadda, yadda. Not the best.

But let’s not be too fussy; the way of the warrior forbids it. For the first time in its nine-year history, Nioh is near to greatness.