Nioh 3's tutorial boss Yamagata Masakage is the hardest challenge in the game

Yamagata Masakage's got my number

Nioh 3 is the first game in the series to adopt an open-world approach, where you can explore pretty much wherever you like. There are some constraints to that, as each subregion within the game's four huge maps has enemies at specific power levels, so if you veer off the recommended path too early, you'll have your butt handed to you. Even so, it's the most freedom players have had in the series —not quite to the same degree as Soulsborne fans experienced with Elden Ring, but enough to mean Nioh 3 is heavily inspired by it.

This means that if you encounter a boss you can't quite beat, you can head elsewhere to level up some more before tackling them again. There's usually plenty of new ground to tread, so you don't need to keep farming the same enemies repeatedly to gain amrita, which is essentially XP. Problem is, Nioh 3 only opens up in this manner once you complete the tutorial, before giving you even more freedom once you've defeated Jakotsu-baba, the first crucible boss. They were a walk in the park, but the mandatory boss that came before? Yamagata Masakage, I have a bone to pick with you.

The tutorial in Nioh 3 introduces you to what feels like a hundred different mechanics and systems, all interacting with one another, in a very short timeframe. If you're a Nioh veteran, it'll no doubt all be familiar to you, but despite being relatively well-versed in the Soulslike genre, it was a lot. I only felt like I had a solid grip on how things work around 10-15 hours in. But Yamagata Masakage comes at the end of the short tutorial, and this fight is brutal. It got to the point where I messaged Polygon's deputy editor, Ari Notis, and explained I'd have to cede writing our Nioh 3 review if I couldn't get past him. Thankfully, I managed it eventually.

In retrospect, were I to face him again with my current knowledge of the game's combat, I'd probably walk him. But at that stage, when I was still learning how to time my Style Shift Burst Break moves and training my muscle memory to recover Ki after every attack, he was relentless. Since exploring elsewhere to level up wasn't an option, I had no choice but to keep knocking at his door, hoping the next run would be better than the last.

Despite being about seven-foot tall and built like a brick shithouse, Yamagata Masakage is just a normal bloke. His moves are predictable, he only has one weapon, and he's not capable of surprising you with a Dark Realm phase like some of the bosses you'll encounter later in the game. He does, however, deal a ton of damage and has what feels like infinite health. At this stage of the game, you only have a couple of martial arts and ninjutsu, so you're limited in your ability to diversify your attacks. Not to mention you're limited to three healing elixirs.

If you're in a similar boat, don't give up. Look up some guides on how to beat Yamagata Masakage because once you do and you can explore the Warring States period freely, Nioh 3 will click. I'm over 50 hours in now and not a single boss has given me as much grief as Masakage did, and it's a downright fantastic game that I'm immensely glad I stuck with.