- Nioh 3 producer Kohei Shibata says Team Ninja has “never considered” adding easier modes to the series
- He explains that the difficulty is “one of the core series elements” that the studio doesn’t want to change
- Shibata adds that the difficulty and the strength of enemies in Nioh 3 will be the same
Nioh 3 producer Kohei Shibata has explained why the game will continue with the series’ long-standing single difficulty and won’t feature any easier modes.
Speaking in an interview with TechRadar Gaming, Shibata said that the Nioh series’ inherent challenge is a core feature that rewards players for their effort, which is why Team Ninja has never implemented additional modes to make the series easier.
“It’s something we’ve never considered for the Nioh series,” Shibata said. “One of the core series elements is really giving you that sense of accomplishment. That’s something that we really value for this game.”
Unlike the Nioh series, Team Ninja’s other action-role-playing games, like the Ninja Gaiden 4 and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, do offer multiple difficulty options; however, Shibata explained that this is because the studio wants to bring in a wide range of players for these titles in particular.
“In terms of Team Ninja in general, take Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. We’re attracting fans of that IP, so we want to make sure that it’s a game those fans can get into,” he said.
“And with the Ninja Gaiden series, we’ve always had the various difficulty levels there. So if it works for the series, it’s something that we do consider. But for the Nioh series, we’ve stuck with just a single difficulty level.”
But how difficult will Nioh 3 be in comparison to previous installments? According to the producer, enemies will be similar to the first two games, but the new stance switching mode, which lets players switch between samurai and ninja, will open up new ways of approaching combat.
“In terms of difficulty and the strength of enemies, I think that has remained the same [as the first two games]. But since there’s a lot more freedom this time, it gives players a lot more opportunities to find the best way to defeat these enemies,” Shibata said.
“For example, players can choose to only play as Samurai, or maybe they only want to play as Ninja, or they can switch between the two. But in terms of the base difficulty level, the way enemies are, that’s remained the same. It retains that high level of difficulty.”
Nioh 3 is scheduled to launch on February 6, 2026, for PS5 and PC.
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