Bloodborne's influence on Soulslikes cannot be understated, with its frantic, high-octane movement bleeding over into FromSoftware's future games, such as Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring, pushing the combat loop to its absolute limits and inspiring other developers to do the same.
Lies of P is the most obvious example of Soulslike being inspired by Yornam's Lovecraftian horror spirits, sending Pinocchio hurtling into his own nightmares, but it proved such a huge success that other developers are now using it. this As an inspiration.
As reported by PC Gamer, Team Ninja's open-world triquel to the hit dark action samurai series, Nioh 3, learned a lot from Lies of Pi when it came to marrying the rhythmic boss fights and visual creativity and combat animations we've seen throughout Krat.
“Extra [Lies of P’s] Hard actions require careful use of protection and avoidance, I had a lot of fun fighting against bosses with a variety of designs,” said Nioh 3 director Masaki Fujita. “In particular, the bosses' attack actions made full use of their unique designs, so thinking about Nioh's actions was a great inspiration to inspire me.”
What Team Ninja Learned From Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Rise of the Ronin
Of course, Team Ninja has also learned from its own Soulslikes, having spent the last few years branching out beyond Nioh with Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Rise of the Ronin, noting that player feedback has prompted them to “go deeper” with character relationships and implement “more fun into exploration.”
“In terms of how we applied these learnings to this game, I want you to explore the open terrain of Nioh 3 and see for yourself,” Fujita teased, telling the team that Rise of the Ronin had the “advantage of leaving the fantasy-like elements behind.”
Nioh 3 is available now on PS5 and PC for $69.99. If you want to know more about the game, check out our interview with creator Kohei Shibata.
