Koei Tecmo will release Hell Rising, the first major expansion for Nioh 3, on August 19. Rock Paper Shotgun reports it is the first of two DLCs included in the game's season pass, ahead of a second instalment called Bloody Insurrection, with the two telling a single continuous story.
The expansion moves the action to Edo — the former name of Tokyo — during the Keian era, which ran from 1648 to 1652. PC Gamer places the setting in 1651. The city is in ruins: Koei Tecmo's description has the former seat of shogunate authority "transformed into a hellish wasteland plagued by the gales of the Crucible," with yokai, human rebels and foreign alchemists fighting over what is left.
Our protagonist and appointed shogun, Takechiyo, journeys through time and is led to Edo in the future by an unknown yokai they met in their dreams.
From there, per the plot summary Rock Paper Shotgun cites, the death of the future Takechiyo has ended the era of peace and the Crucible has retaken Edo. Takechiyo works with the one-eyed swordsman Yagyu Jubei and a Spanish envoy named Rodrigo against a plot involving Spirit Stones and an enemy hostile to the shogunate.
New gear and a harder tier
Hell Rising adds a weapon combination, the hoko and shield, usable in both samurai and ninja styles. The hoko is a short spear; Koei Tecmo says the pairing covers "basic attacks like defending with the shield while attacking with the short spear" as well as tactical options such as throwing the shield at an enemy. New outfits inspired by the expansion's Spanish alchemists accompany it.
A new difficulty option, The Enlightened One's Journey, sits above the existing Shogun's Journey and must be unlocked by clearing it, according to PC Gamer. Rock Paper Shotgun describes it as high-risk, high-reward: certain enemies are randomly assigned curse buffs that make them considerably harder but guarantee drops of divine rarity. PC Gamer adds that the tier raises level caps and the caps on plus values through Soul Matching, and offers stronger equipment and additional Soul Cores.
The DLC also introduces the Hundred Demon Realms Picture Scrolls, which let players assemble custom fights and take them on alone or with others in multiplayer. Nioh 3 itself launched in February; PC Gamer scored it 90%, and Rock Paper Shotgun's reviewer awarded it a Bestest Best while noting performance problems at release.
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