Nioh 3 becomes Team Ninja's best-looking, most polished and optimized game yet, but still suffers from camera issues

DSOGaming journalists continue testing new video game releases. This time their long arms reached the brutal Japanese soulslike Nioh 3. Testing was conducted using an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor, 32GB of DDR5 RAM at 6000MHz, and graphics cards including RX 6900XT, RX 7900XTX, RX 9070XT, RTX 2080Ti, RTX 3080, RTX 4090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5090.

Nioh 3 lacks a built-in benchmark tool, so testing for both GPU and CPU used an open-world area. The game requires a modern processor with at least six cores and threads to run properly. Tests showed a dual-core CPU couldn't run the game at all, while a quad-core CPU launched it with constant freezing. Smooth performance begins with a six-core processor, but achieving stable 120 FPS requires a CPU with eight cores and threads.

As for graphics cards, Nioh 3 doesn't demand a high-end GPU. Even an NVIDIA RTX 3080 delivers over 60 FPS at 1080p on maximum settings, so most players will be able to run the title without issues.

At 1440p on maximum settings, the top five graphics cards maintained stable 60 FPS. For native 4K on maximum settings, the only card capable of maintaining consistent 60 FPS is the NVIDIA RTX 5090. The RTX 4090 also provides smooth gameplay when using a G-Sync monitor.

The main issue with Nioh 3 is camera stuttering when the framerate isn't locked at 60 or 120 FPS. At locked 120 FPS, the camera moves smoothly, but at 110 FPS, noticeable jerking occurs during camera movement. The lower the framerate drops, the worse these stutters become. The game doesn't feel smooth when FPS fluctuates between 60 and 110 frames. Even locking the framerate at 110 FPS doesn't eliminate camera stuttering. The only solution is limiting the game to 60 frames, but even then the experience isn't as smooth as other titles with unlocked framerates.

Good news for NVIDIA RTX-50 series graphics card owners – DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Gen solves the camera stuttering problem. With DLSS 4 MFG X4, journalists achieved smooth camera movement with unlocked framerate. After 20 hours of gameplay, the experience proved excellent, so RTX-50 owners unwilling to limit their framerate to 60 frames will need to use MFG.

Here's what the publication wrote about the graphics:

Graphics-wise, this is Team Ninja's best-looking game. Nioh 3 doesn't look as impressive as other AAA games currently available, but it looks significantly better than all previous Team Ninja titles. Overall, this is the studio's most polished game to date. It's vastly superior to Rise of the Ronin. The only complaint about Nioh 3 is the camera panning stutters when framerate isn't locked at 60 or 120 FPS. This appears to be a serious engine issue. Nevertheless, playing Nioh 3 at 60 FPS doesn't require a high-end PC.

Nioh 3 launched on PC via Steam and PS5 on February 6.