Nioh 3 sticks to its no-difficulty approach while expanding how players tackle combat. Here’s how Team Ninja avoids difficulty sliders and draws inspiration from Lies of P.
Nioh 3 Will Not Add Difficulty Settings
Challenge Is Addressed Through Player Freedom
Nioh 3 will once again ship without difficulty options, with director Masaki Fujita saying in an interview published February 5 that the series remains focused on how players overcome challenges through gameplay. Additionally, in a separate interview, Fujita also pointed to Lies of P as a major source of inspiration for Nioh 3’s boss and combat design.
In an interview with Eurogamer, Fujita made it clear that the team has "never considered adding difficulty settings to the Nioh series." He said Team Ninja views completing the game as a "unifying" experience, with Nioh 3 designed around giving players "more variations on strategies" to push through challenges rather than adjusting difficulty.
"The enjoyment and sense of accomplishment of being able to figure out on your own how to overcome a situation is what we see as one of the best parts of this series," Fujita said.
How Past Projects And External Influences Informed Nioh 3
Furthermore, in an email interview with PC Gamer, director Fujita said that Nioh 3 draws on lessons learned from Team Ninja’s recent projects, as well as influences outside the studio.
He said Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, released in 2023, helped clarify ideas for Team Ninja moving forward. While loot remains central to Nioh’s appeal, he explained that Wo Long highlighted the need to better control overall complexity. He also pointed to feedback that the relationship between Wo Long’s protagonist and and their counterpart in the Blindfolded Boy felt underdeveloped, which encouraged the team to "go into more depth" with character dynamics in Nioh 3.
Team Ninja also drew lessons from 2024’s Rise of the Ronin, which Fujita said helped inform the studio’s approach to exploration, side content, and overall world design. He noted that player feedback pointed to a desire for "more to enjoy in exploration" and additional sidequests, while the game itself showed them that there can be "a benefit to holding back on fantasy-like elements."
"As to how we used these learnings in this game, I'd like you to explore the open field of Nioh 3 and see for yourself," Fujita said.
Fujita also pointed to Lies of P, the Pinocchio-themed soulslike by Neowiz, as a notable outside influence on Nioh 3. He highlighted the visual creativity of the game’s boss designs and how Neowiz’s combat animations fully reflected those designs in action, which he said provided useful reference when shaping Nioh 3’s roster of yokai enemies.
"I really had a lot of fun in the battles against the bosses, who had a wide variety of designs," Fujita said. "In particular, the bosses’ attack actions made full use of their distinctive designs, so it was great stimulation in giving me inspiration when thinking about the yokai actions in Nioh."
Nioh 3 is set to release on February 6, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Steam. To stay up to date on the game, check our article below.
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We've never considered adding difficulty settings to Nioh
Team Ninja game director weighs in on difficulty options ahead of Nioh 3's launch
Nioh 3 director says Lies of P was a major source of inspiration while crafting the samurai soulslike's yokai bosses: 'It was great stimulation'
