Nioh 3 Might Be the PS5 Console Exclusive You Can’t Ignore in 2026

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Nioh’s combat is challenging and requires skillful timing and stamina control. As you learn to handle relentless attacks, your character grows stronger. Set against a beautiful and fantastical neon world, Nioh has become a major competitor to the famously difficult Souls games – and some even believe it surpasses them in terms of intense, demanding gameplay.

Team Ninja deliberately moved away from the guaranteed success they’d become known for with Nioh 3. Unlike many sequels that rely on small improvements and safe choices, they took a chance and dramatically changed their action RPG series. Nioh 3 mixes close-quarters combat with more open areas to explore, lets players heavily customize their characters, and introduces a bold new feature: the ability to switch between two distinct playstyles – the powerful Samurai and the nimble Ninja.

Look, even before everyone started comparing us to Nioh 3 and FromSoftware, Team Ninja was already doing its own thing. But they’re really pushing to evolve the Nioh series, making sure it stays fresh and doesn’t just fade away. Honestly, just doing ‘more of the same’ isn’t enough to stay relevant these days. Nioh throws a ton of challenges at you and expects you to learn, and it feels like Team Ninja is taking that same approach with the game itself – constantly adapting and improving.

PlayStation 5 is getting a sequel to one of its biggest hits since launch. The new game, Saros, developed by Housemarque, strongly resembles Returnal. While it shares the same third-person shooting, sci-fi setting, fast pace, and visual style as the original, Saros expands on those elements with new abilities, gadgets, and gameplay features designed to make progress feel quicker and smoother.

Like Nioh 3 and Saros, two upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusives for 2026 promise fast-paced, action-packed gameplay. Phantom Blade Zero, a martial arts adventure inspired by Wuxia stories, shares a similar feel and intensity with Nioh, and is quickly becoming one of PlayStation’s most hyped new titles thanks to its exciting combat and striking graphics.

Next up is Marvel’s Wolverine, where Insomniac Games is stepping away from the Spider-Man series to create a standalone adventure for Marvel’s second most popular hero. The game features intense, third-person combat with a lot of graphic violence, and it’s likely to be popular simply because of the studio’s strong track record – if players can handle the extreme gore, that is.

Games like Nioh 3, Saros, Phantom Blade Zero, and Marvel’s Wolverine suggest that the PlayStation 5 is becoming known for intense, third-person action. These games focus on skillful combat with swords, guns, and claws, offering exciting and visually stunning experiences. While it’s hard to pick a standout title, the game that truly lets you express your own style and skill might be the one that defines the PS5’s identity in 2026.

Each of these games lets you live out a power fantasy – Saros lets you be a skilled, agile explorer; Phantom Blade Zero focuses on incredible martial arts; and Marvel’s Wolverine lets you play as the iconic Wolverine. However, Nioh 3 stands out as the game where you can truly express yourself. While other games in the genre rely on complex systems, Nioh 3 is building its own identity through incredible freedom and customization. It’s designed to give you a level of control and authorship rarely seen in role-playing games. You’re not just playing a character (or two, as you can switch between forms) – you’re fundamentally building and shaping them beyond typical character creation. This is why it’s becoming one of the most anticipated PlayStation 5 exclusives of the year.

Despite its complex combat, Nioh 3 gives you a lot of freedom in how you defeat its challenging enemies and minibosses. You can choose to play as a Samurai or Ninja, but the game really encourages you to switch between them. You can change your style at any time, and perfectly timing a switch just as an enemy attacks lets you perform a powerful ‘burst counter’ – stunning them, dealing damage, and opening them up for more attacks.

Surprisingly, even with new abilities, weapons, and level designs, Nioh 3 remains as challenging as the first two games in the series. For example, the ‘burst counter’ move isn’t easy to pull off – it requires precise timing that changes depending on the enemy. While the levels are larger and offer some control over how difficult they are, they still feature tough enemies. This is especially true in the Crucible, a particularly difficult area at the end of each level where the difficulty really increases.

With Nioh 3, Team Ninja not only improved on what made the series successful, but also demonstrated its own growth as a studio. After the success of Nioh 2, the team attracted a lot of talented new developers. Plus, taking time to work on other projects allowed them to return to Nioh with fresh perspectives and enhanced skills, making them even more capable than before.

Team Ninja has truly mastered the art of deflection-based combat in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, building on what they learned with Nioh 3. Nioh 3 also features a more open, less restrictive world, taking inspiration from games like Rise of the Ronin and even a little from Elden Ring. Other developers, like Housemarque with Saros and Insomniac with their established franchises, are refining their own strengths. However, S-Game, the studio behind Phantom Blade Zero, is a newcomer making a striking first impression. Team Ninja, though, feels particularly driven. They’re at the peak of their abilities, pushing the boundaries of a genre that’s become quite crowded.

With Nioh 3, the series truly embraces its themes of perseverance and constant improvement. This installment doesn’t offer comfort or rely on familiar formulas; it challenges players to evolve, just like its developers did. Team Ninja’s bold decision to potentially redefine what Nioh is known for is a significant risk, and a daring one.

What truly sets Nioh 3 apart from other great games like Saros, Phantom Blade Zero, and Marvel’s Wolverine is its freedom. While those games are made with skill and dedication, Nioh 3 encourages you to find your own unique way to succeed. It challenges you to master complex systems, rewarding both careful planning and creative experimentation to overcome any obstacle.

As PlayStation enters its sixth year, 2026 could be a pivotal moment for the platform, with a strong focus on large-scale, story-driven action games. However, Nioh 3 seems best positioned to exemplify this new direction, not by simply offering better graphics or bigger challenges, but through meaningful player progression, improved gameplay, and genuine choices. It’s a game, a studio, and a player’s ability to evolve or be left behind.

Just so you know, the opinions in this article are the author’s own and don’t reflect the official stance of GamingBolt.

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2026-01-27 16:13