Lies of P’s Boss Battles Impress Nioh 3 Director, Sparking Ideas for Enhanced Encounters in His Own Game: “I Had a Blast”

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Having previously hailed Lies of P as the best Soulslike outside of FromSoftware’s realm, I find myself resonating with comments from Nioh 3 director Masaki Fujita. He mentions that the bosses in Neowiz’s Pinocchio-inspired game inspired him and Team Ninja to elevate their approach to the yokai boss fights in the third installment.

In a conversation with PC Gamer, Fujita shared that Team Ninja’s experiences since Nioh 2 have significantly shaped their vision for Nioh 3. You can see the influence of titles like Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Rise of the Ronin reflected in Nioh 3’s enhanced ninja combat, refined buildcrafting, and expansive open world. However, external influences also played a crucial role in guiding their creative direction.

“In addition to [Lies of P’s] solid action that requires careful use of guarding and evading, I really enjoyed the battles against the bosses, who showcased a wide variety of designs,” Fujita remarked. “The bosses’ attack patterns fully utilized their unique designs, providing great inspiration for the yokai actions in Nioh.”

Lies of P, along with its Overture DLC, boasts a plethora of unique bosses, many of which play on the mechanical puppet theme that characterizes its steampunk world. Players face off against machines and monsters of all shapes and sizes, unleashing a flurry of flashy, inventive attacks that creatively utilize bizarre weapons and appendages—elements that Nioh 3 aims to capture.

Some of the early bosses in Nioh 3 are just regular characters wielding weapons similar to yours, which are enjoyable in their own right, but soon you’ll find yourself battling a demon grandma wielding giant snakes. This is just the dungeon boss from the free demo, yet it stands out as one of the best bosses in Nioh history, in my opinion.

Overall, combat feels reminiscent of Nioh 2 but significantly improved, especially in terms of boss encounters, which now feature movements and attacks that are more stylish and clear. Many bosses from Nioh 2 tend to blend together in memory; however, the fights in Nioh 3 are notably more distinct. It seems we can credit Lies of P for some of that innovation.

Here are the Nioh 3 release times and dates for your region and platform.

Nioh 3 devs “never considered adding difficulty settings” to the notoriously brutal Soulslike games, because “one of the best parts” is mastering the challenge.

Rank	Player	Score	Time