There is something wonderfully cruel about the Nioh series. Just when you think you have finally understood its combat, mastered your favourite weapon and built a character capable of tearing through Yokai with confidence, Team Ninja finds another way to remind you that confidence is dangerous. Nioh 3: Hell Rising embraces that philosophy wholeheartedly, throwing players into a corrupted version of Edo where the familiar beauty of feudal Japan has been twisted into something genuinely nightmarish. It is an expansion that assumes you already know how to fight, then gleefully asks whether you are prepared to fight something even nastier.
Set in 1651 during the Keian era, Hell Rising takes us to an Edo that should represent peace and prosperity but has instead become a living nightmare. The Crucible has transformed the castle town into a battlefield where Yokai, human rebels and foreign alchemists are all fighting for survival and supremacy. Takechiyo finds himself at the centre of this chaos, surrounded by enemies who are stronger, stranger and considerably less inclined to give him time to breathe. It is classic Nioh territory, but there is a sense throughout Hell Rising that the developers have deliberately turned the pressure up another notch.
Welcome Back to Hell
The first thing that strikes you about Hell Rising is how comfortable it feels within the Nioh formula. That might sound like an odd compliment for a game designed to punish mistakes, but there is an unmistakable familiarity to the movement, combat rhythm and exploration. Every swing has weight, every dodge feels deliberate and every encounter demands that you pay attention rather than simply hammering the attack button until something dies. If you have spent time with Nioh 3, you will slip back into its rhythm remarkably quickly, although the new enemies have plenty of ways to knock that confidence straight back out of you.
Edo itself is a particularly effective setting. What should be a bustling centre of the shogunate has become a ruined, corrupted landscape filled with destruction and supernatural threats. The Crucible gives the environment an appropriately oppressive atmosphere, with ruined structures, dangerous pathways and hostile forces making even familiar-looking spaces feel unsafe. Team Ninja has always understood how to make Japanese historical settings feel simultaneously beautiful and threatening, and Hell Rising continues that tradition with considerable confidence.
The expansion also benefits from the verticality and interconnected nature of its environments. Exploration is rarely just about walking from one objective marker to another. There are paths to investigate, hidden areas to discover and enemies positioned to punish anyone who gets careless. The world encourages curiosity, but Nioh has never been a series that rewards curiosity without consequences.
The Hoko and Shield
The headline addition to the combat system is undoubtedly the new Hoko and Shield weapon combination. On paper, pairing a short spear with a shield might not sound revolutionary, but in practice it adds another wonderfully flexible option to an already ridiculously deep combat system. The spear gives you reach and speed, while the shield offers defensive opportunities that completely change the rhythm of an encounter.
What makes the weapon set particularly enjoyable is how it encourages you to switch between aggression and defence. You can use the spear to keep enemies at a comfortable distance before moving in for heavier attacks, then rely on the shield when something considerably larger decides your personal space no longer matters. There are also more unusual techniques, including throwing the shield, which adds a satisfying bit of spectacle to encounters.
The best thing about it is that the Hoko and Shield never feels like an obligatory addition. You can ignore it completely if you have already found the weapon combination that suits your playstyle, but if you are willing to experiment, there is a lot to discover. It offers another way of approaching combat rather than simply being another set of numbers to add to an already enormous arsenal.
Nobody Said It Would Be Easy
Of course, this is Nioh, so difficulty remains firmly at the centre of the experience. Hell Rising does not hold your hand, and some of its encounters can feel downright vicious. Enemies hit hard, openings can be deceptively brief, and familiar tactics do not always work against something new. The result is a combat system where victories feel earned rather than handed over.
One of the joys of Nioh has always been that losing does not necessarily feel like failure. More often than not, a defeat teaches you something. Perhaps you attacked too early, perhaps you failed to recognise an enemy’s pattern, or perhaps you became greedy when another strike simply was not necessary. Hell Rising understands the relationship between frustration and learning, and some of its best encounters are the ones that initially seem impossible.
Yagyu Jubei is a particularly memorable example. Fighting an opponent of that calibre is not simply a test of how much damage your character can inflict. It becomes a test of timing, patience, and your understanding of the combat system itself. There is a beautiful brutality to encounters like this, where eventually landing that perfect sequence of attacks feels less like winning a video game and more like finally solving an incredibly complicated puzzle.
Loot, Builds and the Endless Chase
If there is one thing that can keep Nioh players coming back long after the story is complete, it is loot. Hell Rising understands this perfectly and expands the endgame with the Hundred Demon Realms Picture Scrolls. These provide additional battles and modifiers, allowing players to chase better equipment while experimenting with different builds.
This is where the expansion starts to feel less like traditional downloadable content and more like another playground for dedicated players. You can tailor the effects of the Picture Scrolls, choose encounters, and experiment with equipment combinations in ways that reward a deeper understanding of the game’s systems. For casual players, it can be overwhelming. For the sort of person who enjoys spending far too long comparing equipment statistics, it is practically catnip.
The new Guardian Spirits, Martial Arts, skills, Ninjutsu and Onmyo Magic also give veterans plenty of reasons to revisit their builds. There is a wonderful sense of experimentation here because Nioh rarely makes you feel as though there is only one correct way to play. You can create something that suits your personal approach and then spend hours refining it.
Enlightened One’s Journey
For those who looked at the existing difficulty and thought, “That could be worse,” Hell Rising introduces the Enlightened One’s Journey. This is the sort of mode designed to make experienced players question their life choices.
The idea of enemies receiving random Curse buffs adds a delicious element of uncertainty. An encounter you might normally handle comfortably can suddenly become far more dangerous, forcing you to reassess your approach. The high risk comes with worthwhile rewards, including powerful Grace effects and rare equipment that can push already formidable builds even further.
It is an excellent addition because it gives the end game another layer beyond simply increasing enemy health and damage. Randomised threats encourage adaptability, which is exactly what a game like Nioh should be testing. You cannot simply memorise everything and expect victory. Sometimes you have to improvise, and that is where the combat feels at its best.
A Beautifully Broken Edo
Visually, Hell Rising continues to impress. The ruined Edo has a suitably oppressive atmosphere, with the Crucible’s influence making the environment feel almost diseased. Yokai designs remain wonderfully grotesque, while the character animations continue to deliver the kind of fluidity that makes every fight feel kinetic and physical.
There is also a sense of scale that works particularly well in the larger encounters. Battles can become chaotic very quickly, but the action remains readable enough that you can usually work out what killed you, which is important in a game this demanding. The sound design deserves equal praise, particularly the satisfying impact of weapons connecting with enemies and the atmospheric audio that accompanies the darker areas.
If there is a weakness, it is that Hell Rising occasionally leans a little too heavily on familiar encounters and enemy variations. Veterans may occasionally experience a sense of déjà vu, particularly when certain battles feel like they are stretching the content rather than offering something genuinely new. It is not enough to undermine the experience, but it does prevent the expansion from feeling quite as consistently fresh as its strongest moments.
The Verdict
Nioh 3: Hell Rising is the sort of expansion that knows exactly who it is for. This is not an invitation for newcomers to casually wander into the world of Nioh and see what all the fuss is about. It is a reward for players who have already invested time, learned the systems, and developed an appreciation for the wonderfully punishing relationship between failure and mastery.
The new Hoko and Shield combination is an excellent addition, while the Hundred Demon Realms Picture Scrolls provide plenty of reasons to keep experimenting long after the main content has been completed. The Enlightened One’s Journey is equally welcome for veterans who want another excuse to test the limits of their builds. Add new Guardian Spirits, Martial Arts, Ninjutsu, Onmyo Magic, and a suitably vicious collection of enemies, and you have an expansion that feels substantial rather than merely supplementary.
There are moments when the experience feels a little too familiar, and some encounters could have benefited from greater variety. Yet those complaints are relatively minor when measured against the sheer quality of the combat. Nioh 3 remains one of those rare action RPGs where learning how to play is almost as rewarding as becoming powerful, and Hell Rising understands that better than most expansions ever could.
For dedicated fans, this is essential material. It is tough, occasionally cruel, and sometimes downright exhausting, but when everything clicks and you carve through an enemy encounter using every trick you have learned, there are few games quite like it.
