This game comes from an era when the quality of games was measured not by the number of repetitive side quests or the size of the open world, but by the depth of character development and the variety of locations. The limited power of consoles at the time forced developers to work hard on their games so that not a single KB of data was wasted.

Hideo Kojima has always been the Dostoevsky of the Japanese game development world. For most unprepared players, this will be an arthouse action movie with cartoonish characters, each of whom is the embodiment of the word “stereotype” (a femme fatale spy, a Soviet soldier who dreams only of the greatness of the USSR, and a cool, brutal CIA agent), but those familiar with Kojima's work will buy a ticket to an unforgettable 10-15 hour anime adventure.

It's difficult for me to give an objective assessment of the gameplay, as this is not a remake, but rather a careful restoration using new technologies. In places, it's clunky with very stupid AI, and in places, it offers a unique experience that even now is found in only a handful of games. And most importantly, it's a corridor game. I'm tired of pointless open worlds and stupid grinding with leveling up.

If for some reason you are afraid to play this game, I dare you to give it a try. You may not like this game, or you may become a fan, but it will definitely not leave you indifferent. And that's the most important thing: games are art, and art should evoke emotions in people.

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"Do not borrow strength from others, do not rely on your own strength; let go of thoughts of the past and the future, and do not be consumed by everyday concerns - then the Great Way will open before you.” - a modern interpretation of an idea from Bushido: The Way of the Warrior.

Over my 10 years of loving Hidetaka Miyazaki’s games, I haven’t encountered a single souls-like project that truly clicked with me. All of them were good in their own way, but to me they felt like replicas of my favorite sneakers. Look nice? Sure. But why bother when the original exists? Nioh, however, became a rare exception. I fell in love with this series because it takes the well-tested souls formula and meaningfully modifies it, making the experience engaging even for seasoned players.

I’m a fan of the Japanese language and culture, so it was especially enjoyable to recognize characters inspired by folklore. At the same time, the game doesn’t try to turn its world into a layered cake where you have to spend hours reading item descriptions and watching dozens of lore videos just to understand the plot. Instead, the story is delivered directly through stylish cutscenes, characters, and explanations from your companions during the journey.
Do you need to play previous entries to understand this one? No. However, I would still recommend playing Nioh 2 later - you’ll recognize characters and events that are referenced here.

The foundation remains familiar: bonfires, level progression, builds, and challenging bosses. But the real differences lie in the details:
- Two playstyles: Shogun and Ninja. You can switch between them with a single button, allowing you to run two builds simultaneously. The Shogun focuses on different stances and Ki-powered attacks. The Ninja relies on tools: bombs, shuriken, smoke, and more. He also has a unique power that charges like an ultimate ability, which can be modified and upgraded.
- Builds and loot. The loot system is very reminiscent of Diablo or Monster Hunter. There’s a lot of it, it’s highly varied, and it comes with numerous stats and effects that, when combined, let you mow down bosses one after another.
Yes, you can play the classic way - blocking, parrying, and dodging - but that approach becomes boring and, by mid-game, even exhausting.
- Bosses. True to the genre, they are tough and diverse. What’s especially satisfying is that each boss has its own counter: a specific weapon, skill, or amulet. This creates a strong foundation for experimentation.

I’ve seen comments about technical issues, but I personally didn’t experience any major problems. With DLSS set to Quality and no Frame Generation at 1440p, I was getting around 129 FPS ( with DLAA and FrameGen x2 — roughly 95–100 FPS), which is already a win by today’s standards. And there are still plenty of patches and GPU driver updates ahead. I’d rate the technical state 4/5. It’s important to note that the game doesn’t revolutionize graphics, and RTX is essentially absent.

I can confidently recommend this game to fans of the genre. If you’ve never played anything like this before, the entry barrier may feel high — but the payoff is absolutely worth it.