Nioh 3 Boss Fights Took Inspiration from a Beloved 2023 Soulslike

Lies of P was one of the key influences on Nioh 3’s boss design, a senior Team Ninja official has said. The acknowledgement reflects the studio’s pragmatic development philosophy that impacted not just bosses but every other aspect of Nioh 3 as well.

Released on February 6, Nioh 3 debuted as one of the highest-rated games of 2026 so far. While its OpenCritic average score (85) and recommendation rate (93%) match those of Nioh 2, the title departs significantly from the series’ established formula. Team Ninja abandoned the mission-based structure of the first two entries in favor of open-world gameplay across multiple large, disconnected regions, while also overhauling the Ki economy and making substantial changes to combat, including style balancing and parrying mechanics. Its revised combat system emphasizes rapid style switching, with many boss encounters designed to test players’ proficiency with the mechanic.

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How Lies of P Bosses Influenced Nioh 3’s Yokai Movesets

In a recent interview with PC Gamer, director Masaki Fujita said the most meaningful outside influence on the Nioh 3 boss gallery was Lies of P, praising the 2023 title for its “solid action” that requires players to master both dodging and guarding. The industry veteran highlighted boss encounters as a standout element of the Pinocchio-inspired soulslike, saying he had “a lot of fun” overcoming its challenges and ultimately used that experience to inform his latest project. “The [Lies of P] bosses’ attack actions made full use of their distinctive designs,” Fujita said, pointing to that approach as a major influence on Nioh 3’s Yokai movesets.

What Nioh 3 Learned from Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

In addition to Lies of P, Fujita cited several of Team Ninja’s own titles as Nioh 3 influences. Those include Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, which—as he explains it—showed the studio that there is such a thing as excessive looting complexity and that itemization systems require careful management. As a result, Team Ninja sought to balance frequent rewards with a streamlined inventory system to reduce unnecessary menu navigation in Nioh 3. Fujita also said player feedback on Wo Long’s story influenced Nioh 3’s narrative approach. Some players felt the relationship between Wo Long’s protagonist and the Blindfolded Boy was insufficiently developed, prompting the studio to place greater emphasis on building and presenting central character relationships in Nioh 3.

The [Lies of P] bosses’ attack actions made full use of their distinctive designs, so it was great stimulation in giving me inspiration when thinking about the Yokai actions in Nioh.

Separately, Fujita said Rise of the Ronin helped Team Ninja calibrate Nioh 3’s open-world design after players asked for “more to enjoy in exploration” and more side quests, effectively pushing the studio to better pace optional content across its maps rather than leaving exploration feeling thin. He also argued that Rise of the Ronin showed there can be a creative upside to dialing back fantasy elements, which is a lesson Team Ninja carried into Nioh 3 as it balanced its supernatural identity with a clearer, more grounded baseline.

ChronoLogic

Flex your video game knowledge by putting these titles in release date order.

Nioh 3 is currently only available on the PlayStation 5 and PC. However, that’s unlikely to be the end of it. Publisher Koei Tecmo recently confirmed the Nioh 3 PS5 console exclusivity runs for only six months, raising the possibility of an Xbox version of the game materializing as early as August 2026. For reference, Rise of the Ronin spent just under 12 months as a timed PS5 console exclusive, though its circumstances were special in that Sony partially financed its development.