Nioh 3: Hell Rising DLC Review – Half-Hearted

When we last took a look at Nioh 3 earlier this year, we quite enjoyed our time with it thanks to how its various interconnected mechanics like the magic system, open field level design, weapon variety, and boss fights all came together to form a compelling loot-based gameplay loop. However, even at the time, we noted that the title had a fair number of flaws when it came to things like enemy variety and story. Just over half a year later, developer Team Ninja and publisher Koei Tecmo have tried to alleviate these issues with the first major DLC for the soulslike action RPG: Hell Rising.

"When you take a closer look at exactly what you’re getting, the shine starts to fall off a bit."

Right off the bat, Hell Rising doesn’t quite feel like a compelling deal, since it doesn’t really add too much to the core of Nioh 3. Sure, the engaging gameplay remains, and there are a few new encounters as well as an entirely new weapon type. However, when you take a closer look at exactly what you’re getting, the shine starts to fall off a bit.

Let’s get this out of the way; Nioh 3: Hell Rising recycles quite a few things from the base game. Many of the “new” enemy types you’ll encounter are things you’ve already fought before, and eagle-eyed fans will be able to spot returning creatures like Nuribotoke and Jakotsu-Baba. While we’ve already faced off against these enemies in the base game, the DLC tries to freshen the encounters a bit by adding some extra hurdles, like surrounding them with more mobs that you also have to deal with.

Hell Rising is rife with enemies reused from the base game but there are a few additions here and there. A few yokai boss encounters return as well, like the Giant Toad and the Onmoraki. However, the vast majority of the bosses I encountered during my time with Hell Rising were largely humanoids, like Berenguela the Whimsical. These fights are certainly interesting, since they all tend to have fun movesets that you have to work around and are typically just as fast as you, if not even faster. However, what the human bosses offer in terms of pure gameplay tends to also contribute to the overwhelming feeling of Team Ninja not being at its creative best with boss design variations.

Regardless, I had some memorable experiences. One of my personal favorite boss encounters was one against a pair of ninjas and a Robust Spear Samurai. The fight against the three enemies was made interesting due to the fact that, while the two ninjas are working together, the Samurai is hostile to everyone present in the room. Add on that the claustrophobic boss arena, and it was a constant clash of blades and explosions going on all around me.

"Samurai and Ninja styles all get new martial options that revolve around the new weapon’s gameplay style"

One of the highlights of Hell Rising is the Hoko & Shield weapon archetype, which pairs a short spear with the defensive capabilities of the shield. Both Samurai and Ninja styles support the archetype, and while you can experiment with the moveset quite a bit, it largely comes down to some of the strong attacks being able to mitigate incoming damage from enemies. The closest comparison I can think of for this weapon is the Charge Blade from the Monster Hunter series, where certain moves end in a “Guard Point” that, when properly timed, can allow you to stay on the offensive while blocking damage without interrupting your combo. The Hoko & Shield similarly rewards aggressive gameplay, and in the hands of a truly skilled player, it will likely be a sight to behold.

Thankfully, you don’t have to get too far into Hell Rising to try the weapon out; you’ll get your hands on your first Hoko & Shield quite early on. Both Samurai and Ninja styles get new martial options that revolve around the new weapon’s gameplay style, with some boosting your damage with small pokes and giving your blocks a counter-attack in case you favor a more cautious play style. Fans of the pistol weapons also have plenty to look forward to thanks to the addition of ninjutsu techniques that enhance that style of gameplay. The best thing about these additions is just the sheer amount of options available to players going through the game now. Nioh 3’s buildcraft is definitely going to get a lot more interesting.

Speaking of Samurai and Ninja styles, even the new Hoko & Shield archetype offers some varying play styles between the two. While the Samurai style tends to stand its ground with the new weapon, especially when using the heavier attacks, the Ninja style is more focused on quick evasions that can be paired with the quick jabbing attacks of the Hoko & Shield to reposition yourself. The difference in playstyle between the two is quite stark even with the addition of just one weapon.

Ninja players get access to some fun new water-based elemental abilities, as well as boosts to status effects, and even new techniques that emphasize aerial movement, even allowing you to use items right after an aerial counter.

The story in Hell Rising is a major disappointment. Much like the base game, the narrative here doesn’t really do much to push you forward. Following the events of Nioh 3 where Takechiyo has been made the Shogun of Japan, the protagonist learns that the Crucible is coming back, and with it, all of the demonic forces that he already fought off. To stop this from happening, Takechiyo travels forward in time to Edo in 1651.

"The level itself makes the DLC’s story feel grander and more interesting than the actual writing."

We don’t really get much out of this narrative aside from the setup and the ending, and the story simply comes down to a series of new fights that Takechiyo must win in order to once more banish the Crucible. While you do meet a few new characters along the way, like the opening boss Yagyu Jubei, they don’t do much to push the story forward either, and even their colorful personalities that can often shine through in a few moments largely tend to fade into the background as you make your way through the world.

The DLC also makes a strange decision by ending things with a cliffhanger, which will likely get resolved when the second story expansion, Bloody Insurrection, comes out. All in all, things end on a low point with regards to the overall quality of the story. I was simply left wanting more once I completed the expansion.

Speaking of which, the new zone brought into the game with Hell Rising does a lot of the heavy lifting with regards to the quality of the DLC. You get a rather colorful open field to explore, and it isn’t strictly divided into distinct levels. The map is a large one, and there’s an impressive degree of variety present here, with the player getting to travel through villages that are filled with attractive colors, creepy underground levels, dense forests, and even strange libraries that reminded us of Bloodborne. An interesting note here is that the level itself makes the DLC’s story feel grander and more interesting than the actual writing. The pacing of the new zone is done quite well, starting off with a war-torn take on Edo’s castle before you move on to exploring more of the surrounding areas in your attempts to destroy the Crucible.

On the performance front, we ran the game on a PC equipped with an RTX 3080 Ti, a Ryzen 9 5950X, 32 GB of RAM, and an SSD. Even with every setting cranked up to the maximum, frame rates remained largely stable, with only occasional drops. Nioh 3 is one of 2026’s best-looking games, and Hell Rising continues that legacy.

Generally speaking, Hell Rising’s appeal depends on whether you were satisfied with the base game’s existing formula. If you loved Nioh 3, then Hell Rising is a great excuse to dive back into the game. If, however, you wanted more from the base game in terms of narrative and enemy variety, you’re out of luck here, since the DLC continues to deliver the same core experience. While the new zone itself is quite fantastic, and there’s plenty of fun to be had with the Hoko & Shield once you get used to its gameplay style, the lack of new yokai bosses and the abundance of humanoid encounters are certainly a disappointment.

To conclude, with a five-to-eight-hour runtime and a $20 price tag, Hell Rising simply doesn’t add enough to Nioh 3 to justify the cost for anyone other than die-hard fans of the base game.

This game was reviewed on PC.