Still rising…
Earlier this year, Nioh 3 captivated my time for countless hours. It's been my favorite gaming experience of the year so far. This is thanks to intuitive co-op tools that had me and two additional allies hacking and slashing our way through monstrous Yokai threats, all while travelling through time to save ancient Japan. It honestly felt like an open world Onimusha, given the types of demonic monsters you would face, and the setting the game takes place in.
So, having the chance to dive back in with Hell Rising, the first of two planned DLC expansions, I was eager to see what new adventures awaited me. However, after seeing this adventure through, I was honestly disappointed at the lack of genuinely new enemies and bosses, as the bulk of what you face off against are what you've already fought in the base game. While the new weapon is vastly interesting, and the new era you traverse is extremely well designed, Hell Rising feels undercooked and noticeably absent of the thrills and excitement of Nioh 3’s base game.
Now, at its core, Hell Rising is simply more Nioh 3, and given my fondness for the base game, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I did have a great time flying through it in co-op, but I was just expecting more, or battles and encounters that made me realize why Nioh 3 was such a special game to me. I simply didn't feel that here.
It doesn't help that the $20 USD price tag does feel a bit high for what is effectively a lot of asset reuse and a short campaign length of around 8 hours. However, that length is debatable given the variety of missable bosses that are present, should you only golden path it. That, and co-op can cause the length to fluctuate a great deal. My playthrough was just under seven hours, and that was across two sessions in the expeditions mode.
The new map is certainly worth the trip alone, and feels good to explore, but much of that feeling is due to the combat system and various builds that guide you through these plagued lands. In a lot of ways, this is the perfect example of style over substance, and it's made me even more cautious about the follow up to this DLC and what we can expect.
The DLC is front loaded with a skill check in the form of Yagyu Jubei. He is certainly there to test you as the expansion is certainly more difficult than the base game, by a lot. In fact, most bosses, if you are not well above the recommended level of 140 at the start of this adventure, will cleave your head off in one strike. This caused me to rethink my build, but even then, it still felt like far more of a steeper challenge than the Nioh 3 I played before. This will either be greatly welcomed by its player base who felt the game was too easy, or a bit too frustrating for those who only barely managed to scrape by. While there are builds that can melt anything in the game, build crafting isn't always the most played method of how players interact with these games.
Regardless, I enjoyed Hell Rising exactly the same way I did for the majority of the base game, and that is via its expeditions, a full three player co-op experience that has you pushing through the entirety of its contents with allies. While this can trivialize the difficulty and length of the adventure in most cases, it allows the fast-paced spectacle of what I love so much about this game to shine. Being downed doesn't mean game over, for as long as your revive gauge has some life in it, so do you. While Nioh 3 can certainly be played solo, that's not what I want personally from it, so your mileage will vary.
If I had to fault Nioh 3 with anything, it would be its lack of a memorable or even coherent storyline. Hell Rising, like the base game, has a story, but it’s largely just a series of nonsensical events to push you through the new time period and toward the Crucible, which is the exact format used in Nioh 3’s chapters in the base game.
While I get where they are going, the story, despite a twist I saw coming from the game's opening few hours, the story here just doesn't feel even good, or engaging at all. It feels like the most basic set up to what we can expect in the next DLC. It simply leaves with you more questions and even the ones you had leading up to the final battle, are never answered.
Hell Rising’s new zone takes place several decades after the events of the base game as Takechiyo, who has taken on the role of Shogun, must travel forward in time to this future Edo to follow a Yokai that was in their dreams. However, in this future Edo, the Crucible is back, and the Takechiyo of this era has been dead for years.
This has allowed the Yokai to run rampant, and the land is in turmoil like never before. You'll then need to forge bonds with new allies, such as Yagyu Jubei, who after your battle, will come to grips that you are indeed a younger version of the Takechiyo that he once knew. You'll also form a loose alliance with a Spaniard named Rodrigo, even if he is a tad too mysterious for his own good. It's hard not to look at him and know exactly why he is there.
After completing this DLC, I truly wondered just how much of the team was set aside to work on this, and what the budget was to produce two expansions. This could very well be while the DLC uses so many assets from Nioh 3 in the forms of enemies and bosses that we've already vanquished. I'm not too soured on this, but there is a level of disappointment that does linger, as frankly, I just wanted to dive back into Nioh 3 and experience something new. While I didn't quite get that, I certainly did still have a good time.
However, what is new to the game is the new weapon type that is available to both the Samurai and the Ninja styles. The Hoko Sword and Shield is shared between the classes, but its use is dramatically different between the Samurai and the Ninja. While players may be disappointed at just one weapon being added, the styles themselves almost make this feel like two unique experiences.
The Samurai Hoko and Shield is more focused on grounded, quick combat with chaining and aggressive shield rushes. The Hoko and Shield feels tighter and more focused under the use of the Samurai. The Shield Rush is a charge attack that allows you to barrel through enemy groups. Its use feels more built for close quarters, but also having that rush attack to close the gap gives it some versatility.
The Ninja version of the Hoko and Shield feels more agile and built for distance and aerial attacks. You have the ability to leap into the air and apply spear strikes and shield maneuvers to attack your foe. Combine that with the ability to shield toss, and you suddenly are an ancient Japanese version of Captain America. You can toss your shield out mid-combo as well, which makes for some interesting encounters. You can also surf on the shelf, allowing you to maneuver around groups of enemies.
Each style also has its skill tree to progress through, improving the techniques and abilities for the Hoko and Shield. This allows for new skills to be learned, and it really shows the versatility of adding one new weapon across two styles and having them play and function entirely different.
I actually liked this new weapon far more than I thought I was going to given I am rarely a sword and board character. While it won't be a permanent fixture for my Samurai, as I prefer to play Ninja, the Hoko and Shield almost reminded me of playing as Link in Hyrule Warriors, where I could shield surf through my enemies and then get down to business.
Also new is Tora Gozen, the new Guardian Spirit. While an interesting addition, its use is really only suitable for the new Hoko weapon type. They are a water-infused felina spirit that is similar to Nekomata. They serve as a counter-style specialist, which makes them perfect for the Hoko and Shield. And, as they are mostly a counter-focused spirit, their use is fairly limited with certain playstyles and lacks that big attack spectacle. Personally, they didn't gel with my overall playstyle, so I opted out of them fairly quickly.
The new map, which dates from the Keiran era in 1651, is a fairly sizable location that features bits and pieces of various biomes scattered about. It reminds me of some of the level design of Nioh 2 but set in the more open environments of Nioh 3, almost like a marriage between both games. From blood-soaked canals, remnants of the once proud Edo Castle, to the caverns deep below the surface, the map itself has a lot of variety, even with a similar color scheme used throughout as the Crucible lingers in the distance.
Now, if you are seeking a greater challenge, Hundred Demon Realm Picture Scrolls has been added as a new equipment category. Enemies will sometimes drop these as rare loot, but to equip these, you must win an automatically generated battle that is attached to that scroll. These battles can be replayed so you can randomly alter one of the scroll’s effects. These help with the need to grind and become stronger for the battles to come.
And speaking of challenge, New Game++ has been added, allowing you to venture even deeper into your builds. In this extreme difficulty mode, certain enemies will receive a curse buff that makes them far more formidable, but players who vanquish them will be rewarded with divine rarity items. This also allows players to further enhance their builds with divine rarity Grace set bonuses with even more powerful effects. And while the DLC does add several new armor sets, I was sort of disappointed to see the majority of them just being color variants of existing sets.
Nioh 3: Hell Rising is more Nioh 3, and if that is good enough for you, then you'll likely be set for enjoying this 8-10 hour expansion that provides a whole new location to explore, and a very versatile new weapon. While the new Guardian Spirit is not going to likely be part of your arsenal, it is the reuse of so many encounters that disappoints the most. Nioh 3 is a truly fantastic game, and while Hell Rising furthers my time with it, I remain cautious if my next trip with be looking to the future, or another trip down memory lane.
Developer - Koei Tecmo (Team Ninja)
Publisher - Koei Tecmo
Released - August 19th, 2026
Available On - PS5, PC
Rated - (M) - Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes, Violence, Users Interact, In-Game Purchase
Platform Reviewed - PS5
Review Access - A review code for Nioh 3: Hell Rising was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.