Lies of P boss fights were so good they inspired Nioh 3's director to improve the bosses in his own Soulslike: "I really had a lot of fun"

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Nioh 3 noticeably improves on bosses, that's for sure

Two Nioh 3 warriors clash swords
(Image credit: Koei Tecmo)

Having once called Lies of P the best Soulslike ever made outside FromSoftware's walls, I find myself nodding along to comments from Nioh 3 director Masaki Fujita, who says the bosses in Neowiz's Pinocchio-inspired game pushed him and Team Ninja to do more with the third game's yokai boss fights.

Speaking with PC Gamer, Fujita notes that Team Ninja's own output since Nioh 2 has, of course, had a big impact on its vision for Nioh 3. You can see muscles trained with the likes of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Rise of the Ronin flexed in Nioh 3's expanded ninja combat, polished buildcrafting, and ambitious open world. But outside influences also provided some guiding stars, or at least some encouragement and direction.

Lies of P, together with its Overture DLC, features dozens of distinct bosses, with many riffing on the mechanical puppet motif that defines the steampunk setting. Machines and monsters of all shapes and sizes hit you with an array of flashy, inventive attacks that make clever use of bizarre weapons and appendages – and this, I gather, is what Nioh 3 was looking to capture.

Some early Nioh 3 bosses are regular old dudes with weapons just like yours – which are fun, too – but you're quickly thrown into the ring with a demon grandma dual-wielding giant snakes. This is just the dungeon boss of the area included in the free demo and it's still among the best (main game) bosses in Nioh history, for my money.

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

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