Nioh 3 Developers Emphasize No Plans for Difficulty Settings, Highlighting the Joy of Mastery in Challenging Gameplay

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In a recent discussion, Nioh 3 director Masaki Fujita revealed that Team Ninja has never considered implementing difficulty settings in their challenging Soulslike games.

Team Ninja has built a reputation for crafting tough experiences. Long before Dark Souls made its mark, Ninja Gaiden was the benchmark for difficulty, so it’s no surprise that their Souls-inspired titles are even more demanding. Personally, I find the Nioh series to be more challenging than any of FromSoftware’s games, yet Team Ninja shares a similar philosophy regarding difficulty.

In an interview, Fujita was asked if the challenge level in Nioh games was set in stone. He responded, “We’ve never considered adding difficulty settings to the Nioh series.” While this might disappoint some players, Fujita believes that overcoming challenges leads to a greater sense of achievement, a sentiment echoed by FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki, who sees this as a fundamental aspect of the “Soulslike” experience.

Fujita elaborated, “The value of clearing the game is something that is unifying.” However, like Elden Ring, Nioh 3 offers a more flexible approach to gameplay, allowing players to explore and strengthen their characters before facing particularly tough challenges.

He added, “Since Nioh 3 has even more strategic options for completing the game compared to previous entries, our philosophy is not to adjust the difficulty when players struggle.” In fact, “The enjoyment and sense of accomplishment that comes from figuring out how to overcome obstacles on your own is one of the highlights of this series.”

Nioh 3 has received a higher Metacritic score than Nioh 2, but it still trails behind the original samurai Soulslike.