Nioh 3's first DLC is £17 for even more recycled content

Six months ago, I called Nioh 3 a shameless corporate copy-paste job. The base game already charged £64.99 while recycling an absurd amount of Nioh 2, Wo Long and Rise of the Ronin, right down to entire environments, enemies and bosses. I also pointed out how strange it was that the first DLC was originally scheduled so far after launch, when previous Nioh games had expansions coming much faster.

Well, Hell Rising finally arrived on 19 August, slightly earlier than originally expected, and somehow Team Ninja has managed to make my original review look generous.

The DLC costs £16.99 on top of that £64.99 base game. Koei Tecmo advertises a new Keian-era open field, a new hoko and shield weapon, Martial Arts, Ninjutsu, Guardian Spirits, Soul Cores and the usual expansion additions. The actual player response, however, has been fucking brutal. On Steam, Hell Rising is currently sitting at Mostly Negative, with just 34% positive reviews.

And once again, the recurring complaint is recycled content.

Players are complaining about reused bosses and enemies, recoloured armour, recycled equipment and familiar environments, with even the new Keian map being criticised for heavily reusing the same Bakumatsu-style assets that already made the final part of the base game feel like somebody had dumped Rise of the Ronin into Nioh. Existing weapons have received relatively little new material, while the new higher difficulty apparently does far less to remix encounters than previous games did.

So after charging £65 for a sequel I already criticised for being assembled out of Team Ninja's recycling bin, Koei Tecmo wants another £17 for DLC filled with even more recycled content.

For £82 combined, you would think they could at least afford some new armour.

The funny part is that Hell Rising was supposed to be the opportunity to prove the base game was merely a thin starting point for the usual Nioh post-launch expansion. Instead, the first paid DLC has immediately been hammered by its own players for exactly the same thing I complained about in February.