Nioh 3 Demo: A Pleasant Surprise for My Old Gaming Rig

First Impressions: Surprisingly Smooth Gameplay

So, Nioh 3 just dropped a demo on Steam, and let me tell you, I was prepared for a rocky ride. After all, Team Ninja has a reputation for unleashing some not-so-great PC ports. I mean, just look at Rise of the Ronin—it was a total train wreck on launch, stuttering and crashing like it was auditioning for a slapstick comedy.

Even their previous title, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, was infamous for being a PC disaster. You’d think it was easier to make a stable game than it is to teach my dog to fetch. And don’t even get me started on Nioh 2, which was a less-than-stellar experience, to put it mildly. But this time? Things are looking up, my friends!

Demo Details: What Are You Working With?

After clocking some quality hours in the demo, I can safely proclaim that my old gaming laptop is holding its own! It’s running a lot smoother than I dared to hope. Let’s talk specs for a second, because if you’re wondering if your machine can handle this beauty, here’s the lowdown:

Minimum Requirements (1080p / 30fps on ‘very low’ settings):
Processor: Intel Core i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (6 cores / 12 threads or higher)
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB VRAM) or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6GB VRAM)
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 125 GB available space
Sound Card: 48000Hz 16bit Stereo

Recommended Requirements (1080p / 60fps on ‘standard’ settings):
Processor: Intel Core i5-10600K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (6 cores / 12 threads or higher)
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (8GB VRAM) or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12GB VRAM)
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 125 GB available space
Sound Card: 48000Hz 16bit Stereo

Now, I’m rocking a trusty RTX 3060 with 6GB of VRAM, a Ryzen 5 5600H, and 16GB of RAM. With my settings cranked down to ‘very low’, I’m pulling a pretty buttery 60 fps. I know, I know, playing on ‘very low’ sounds like a nightmare, but hey, it’s playable! But then again, once I escaped the tutorial jail and ventured into the open world, my fps occasionally dipped down to the forties. Yikes!

But don’t worry—Nioh 3 has got my back with its fancy frame generation support. By toggling on FSR 3, I managed to bump up my graphics to ‘low’ settings while keeping that fps at a steady 60. On ‘standard’, I was fluctuating between 55 and 60 fps, and honestly, that felt like a beautiful symphony of pixels.

For die-hard precision fans, this might raise some eyebrows. I didn’t experience any noticeable input lag during my demo adventures, but who knows? It could be a wild ride on release day.

Overall, I’m feeling pretty good about these results. Given that my rig was on the brink of retirement, I’m pleasantly surprised that Nioh 3 is even playable. This is the first time we’ve received a pre-release demo for a major Team Ninja game, and I’m all for it! So go ahead, give it a try—but remember to play past the tutorials and into the open world for that real experience!

Oh, and just for giggles, I decided to test Nioh 3 on my Steam Deck OLED. Spoiler alert: you definitely don’t want to be playing this masterpiece on there—it’s not pretty!