Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019)

What a disappointment. If this is really what inspired Nine Sols, then Red Candle are to be commended. This... is not very good? I'm trying but I cannot see how this game has received such universal acclaim. Besides the terrible onboarding I mentioned in a previous status, I'm now having to deal with the stealth, which is not great.

Stealth in non-stealth games is always tricky but I don't understand what's it doing here.

First, it feels terrible. Enemy AI is not up to the task, sometimes being completely deaf and blind to an epic battle going on next to them behind a wall, or knowing exactly where you are even without line of sight (as seems to be the case with ranged enemies, who can follow you behind walls and shoot the wall precisely where you are). Tall grass hides you, but also blocks most of your sight, so it's hard to see where enemies are. The ceramic shards don't appear to actually distract enemies and I don't even know how to aim them. In summary, the stealth (at least in the early game) is just plain bad.

If stealth was just tacked-on and not necessary none of this would be a problem, but level design seems to encourage stealth at every turn. You've got elite enemies surrounded by minions, so the optimal strategy is to stealth kill all the minions and start the fight with the miniboss with a stealth attack. So after slowly and safely dealing with the minions, invariably you (or at least I) get killed by the general and you need to do the whole thing again --slow, tedious and not good-- before getting to the actual challenge.

All of this is so frustrating because I do want to engage with the combat system. What little I was able to see looks good and complex. The deathblow system seems to be a good way of dealing with bosses: if you prove that you master their attacks by parrying everything, then you basically bypass their health bar.

I might give it a couple more tries and if it doesn't click, then I guess this kind of game is just not for me.

After loving Nine Sols and reading everyone saying that it's like Sekiro I decided to play Sekiro. Just a few hours in and I don't know what are people drinking. It feels nothing like Nine Sols. Nine Sols combat is fast, agressive, instantly going from parry to attack to talisman. This is much slower and defensive, waiting for the enemy's openings. The timing of the parry also feels completely different. It's not bad, just... not what I expected.

Also, I'm suspecting that FromSoft's hand in design is overrated. From everyone saying how great they are, here I am, fighting the Chained Ogre with its absolutely bullshit grab attacks. You start the fight and get a prompt telling you about grab attacks and how to dodge them. "Ok", I think, "this miniboss is clearly here to tutorialise grab attacks". After countless attempts, I still don't understand grab attacks because whether I manage to dodge them seems to be complete random.

But then I google the bastard and everyone says that this is an intentionally bullshit fight that is trying to tell you to go to some place called Hirata.... What? How? How is a grab-heavy enemy after a gigantic grab tutorial is supposed signify that you shouldn't learn to avoid grabs and instead piss off somewhere else? The game has been pretty much linear at this point, btw, so I didn't even know that pissing off was a possibility.

Also... is it so unbelievable that after a deathblow I still want to fight the same enemy? Why do I lose my lock on?

I think I'm starting to get the hang of things now, 27 hours in 😂. The mini-bosses are starting to get a bit easier for me though they still require quite a few attempts. The Long Shadow Longswordsman dude took me maybe 15 tries (I didn't realize until I looked up some tips on the fight that his kick is actually a thrust that can be Mikiri countered), and Ashina Elite Jinzuke Saze only took me about 5 tries. I took out the Samurai General in Ashina Castle on the first attempt (after doing a stealth deathblow to steal his first dot without a fight). The Long-arm Centipede guy took me probably 15 tries as well (he basically only has one attack that does 10 strikes you need to time your deflections on well), he and longswordsman one I just mentioned were pretty frustrating due to the super small, confined space that the fight took place in, often allowing you to get pinned in a corner if you're trying to escape a barrage (I guess the lesson being: don't try to escape). I still need to go back and face Seven Ashina Spears (I skipped this one after a few attempts because you have to kill a few guys first to make sure they don't join in while facing the mini-boss) and I also skipped Snake Eyes Shirafuji after I started Sunken Valley a little too early and tried maybe 15 times to beat her (I think I took one dot from her once). I surprised myself by getting Genichiro's two dots on only my second attempt, but of course then he turns into his lightning-sword form, so I'm not done with that one yet.

So far a very fun and rewarding game.

This is probably some of the best gameplay FromSoft has ever made. Its incredibly tight and rewards excellence and mastery of the system.

It has an interesting world and tells a more direct story than what you would find in a Souls game. Although I love the vagueness of the Souls game narratives, it is nice to know what's going on without a format investigation lol.

This is one of those times where if I was rating games based on how objectively good they were, this would probably be a 5 / 5 but if I'm basing my rating on my own personal scale and personal enjoyment (which I am) then it falls a little short of that only because it lacks some of things I wish it had, namely some type of build variety to increase replayability and honestly as I get older and since I've injured my wrists (I told you this was a personal review) the wall of "git gud or go play something else" gets more and more intimidating. Where as Souls games I can always just get some higher numbers in game and compensate for a personally lacking. Despite those personal complaints though, still an incredible game and something I think a lot of people should try and tackle.

4 / 5 Stars

Many Souls parallels but also completely unique in terms of theming, RPG elements, and combat. Through the first 10 hours so far, still going through the brutal process of learning the ropes. Just finished off the Shinobi hunter in the Hirata Estate flashback. It feels a bit like I cheated since I used stealth to get rid of his first dot and then the Mikiri Counter made the second dot achievable after losing maybe 5 times to him before acquiring that skill.

Even after this much time in the game and spending a fair amount of time practicing with the training dude at the dilapidated temple, I still feel like I'm having trouble recognizing quickly enough when to deflect, jump, or sidestep, so much of the time I'm still panic pressing deflect or dodge and hoping I guessed correctly.

Anyone have tips on how to get better at this? Does the symbol that appears above your head give some clue or is it as simple as just pausing to look at the opponent's build-up?

I recently found out that I quit this game two boss fights away from the ending, by watching a speedrun. However I will not return, as towards the end the games structure has become similarly non-linear as with the Souls games. I have the patience to retry a boss over and over, but not when in the back of my head I know that there are other things in the game I could be doing right now. Maybe it’s a form of decision paralysis/fatigue?

I loved the game initially, when the game was linear. But after a certain boss the game splits into several paths, which was increasingly frustrating.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice comes very close to what I would call a "masterpiece". The genius boss design paired with the amazing-feeling combat makes this game very hard but also extremely fun to play! The beautiful levels that you go through in order to complete the story and find the secrets hidden in this world are a true feast for the eyes.

But it is also a VERY short game and doesn't have a lot of replay value after 2-3 playthroughs. This is a must-play if you like difficult games and japanese culture.

~110 hours played(15 playthroughs)

So i was in a marathon of finishing From software games after finishing elden ring and absolutely loving it. Then i finished ds3 and eventhough i didn't like it as much as elden ring it was still really really good.Then the next one i chose to play was sekiro.

Playing sekiro after playing souls games were a pain in the ass which i didnt know of. I kept on dodging and dying until i started watching some guides and learning deflect is one of the most important aspect in this game. Maybe becz of this quick shift, but sekiro was the toughest game i've played so far. People say it gets easier when u do second and third playthrough since u already learn most attack patterns.

Even after being really difficult i just couldnt stop playing.My god this is one of the most smoothest combat and gameplay i have ever seen...PERIOD. Once u understand how the deflect works its just sooo frickkin satisfying.

The bosses were exceptional and memorable for me.There were some characters that i absolutely loved. Also the endings were just THE BEST (Especially the shura ending). Sekiro is a very close to my fav souls game ever but i think i still have a bias towards elden ring since its my first souls game.But theres no point comparing these two....absolute legendary. <3

So I'm a bit late to the party but i finished sekiro finally! and as a huge Fromsoftware Fan i have to say: I'M DISAPPOINTED! never ever i felt more frustrated when playing a game! but let's see why

1. Graphics & Soundtrack:

Graphics are...whatever like any Fromsoftware game but they lack the details and jaw dropping moments that some other titles had but this is very subjective i guess.

i never liked the looks of this game and in that regard i much prefer Ghost of Tsushima. the music is a huge disappointment for me. as a person who regularly listens to Fromsoftware music and they're a part of my routine while lifting weights, i have to say i didn't enjoy a single track in this game except for Demon of Hatred's theme. i think both Nioh 2 & Ghost of Tsushima did a much better job in this regard.

1. level design:

you have great exploration tools and you can run faster than other Soulsborne games but Exploration in this game feels so so so Not rewarding! for example in souls games you may get a new weapon, a spell or a set of armor but in this game you get consumables 99% of the time.

you don't even stumble upon puzzles that require exploration or using your brain. you simply go from A to B in order to beat bosses. it feels alot like a Boss-rush game.

shortcuts are rare and abundance of Sculpture's Idols makes the exploration feel without any sort of tension. while playing dark souls or bloodborne the players is always in danger but in sekiro you can simply jump and run to the next checkpoint which isn't far away. that may sound easier but trust me sekiro is not easier it's harder in many places but soulless and boring in many other places. people complained that dark souls 3 had too many bonfires well sekiro is even more generous in that regard which is worsened by the fact that no enemy can catch you because you can run so fast and you can use grappling hook.

speaking of grappling hook, it could've been used more specially in combat but it's use is limited to certain bosses and even in those fights it'ss rarely used which is a shame. grappling hook isn't always reliable while exploration and using it can sometimes be deceiving and you may fall because it's not communicated well whether you can use grappling hook at a certain situation and distance or not

1. enemy variety:

sekiro has limited enemy variety compared to Bloodborne, Dark souls 1, dark souls 3 and elden ring. 99% of the time you're fighting the samy humanoid enemies with terrible A.i that teach you nothing about the combat and killing them isn't rewarding either the same way exploration isn't that much rewarding in this game so you may as well skip every single enemy in this game if they're not a boss or mini boss

1. Mini Bosses:

they're a part of why sekiro is hard but not in a good way why? a) because some of them are downright awful to fight and have BS gimmicks that force you to use consumables which are actually expensive to get like divine confetti mini bosses such as the headless and schiemien warriors are all in this category b) some of mini bosses are surrounded by many enemies which you need to take them down one by one with Mediocre stealth mechanics of sekiro. if you failed guess what? try all over again and have fun! c) some mini bosses actually hit harder than bosses in the same area so the difficulty is weird. you may die while killing the mini boss yet the actual boss fight of the same area is much more reasonable i won't deny that some mini bosses are actually very good though.

1. gameplay & combat system:

i have huge problems with the combat system in this game because i never liked katana in soulsborne games (i hate their movesets) and I'm a greatsword user so for me a tiny weapon that deals tiny amounts of damage is extremely boring. but katana's in dark souls 3 and elden ring have some cool moves you can use by holding L2 but the katana in sekiro has just R1 so your basic attacks are just boring R1 spams you can perform some cool moves such as high monk or ichimonji and by holding L1 and R1 but they are extremely situational and don't worth the risk in a extreamly fast paced combat.

if sekiro is a fast-paced action title then it is extremely one note and limited because of Okami's limited moveset comparing to other action titles such as bayonetta or any DMC game.

if sekiro is a Action_rpg title then it is still so limited compared to other action rpgs like monster hunter, Nioh or other soulsborne games and worst of all: the weapon you get is by definition Mediocre in every way. it's not weighty, it doesn't have cool & satisfying moves and it doesn't have varied moveset. some other nitpicks:

a) the camera in this game sucks like every other miyazaki game but here it feels worse because the combat is too fast.

b) lock on system in this game sucks like any other miyazaki game but here it feels worse because sekiro's combat is designed for 1 on 1 situations

c) the stealth is Mediocre at best and stealth abilities you get are boring at best.

D) your character gets staggered alot even if your posture bar isn't broken (Okami rises his hand in a stupid way) and you don't get i-frames when you're lying on the ground after being staggered so you may get staggered and suffer two hits and die just by one combo it's not fun when a fast paced action game takes the control out of your hands and tells you to slowly watch your own death

C) dodging or whatever it's called, doesn't give you enough i-frames so you can't i-frame through enemy attacks. now you may say "just block" but in some bosses such as Demon of hatred, you need to dodge so enjoy dodging with sekiro's terrible dodge system. the game also is terrible at teaching the player what they should do that's why it takes a long time to Click for most players why? because regular mobs are too easy and don't teach you anything and you can cheese mini bosses using fire crackers and prosthetic tools (which oddly is encouraged to be used) so basically you don't learn anything about this game unless you face a humanoid boss that requires using parry system and even then you should encourage yourself not to use any prosthetic tools in order to learn the rhythm.

the game does a terrible job at telling what to do when enemies do a certain moves when an enemy is used thrust attacks, you get the same kanji sign as they use swipe attack or lightning attack or grab attack so you have like half a second to react to an attack sign and that sign is the same for most special attacks! so you need to look at the actual enemy after seeing the Kanji sign but the combat is so fast that it's not easy to do and even then, the timing for some mechanics like makiri counter is not always consistent.

what should've been done is: each attack used different colours of kanji sign. most of my deaths in this game was because i wasn't fast Enough to respond or i was doing the wrong thing for example using makiri counter while facing a swipe attack because i was in panic mode. if the game could use better signs and tells then gamers with slower reaction times like me could enjoy the game more but what's done is done and I've finished the game and have no plans to replay this torture this maybe a factor why i felt frustrated while playing sekiro.

the game wasn't usually fun for me and i was always mad unlike any other miyazaki's title. i usually don't get upset when i die in dark souls or bloodborne but my deaths in sekiro were 10X more painful and annoying some may ask "if you don't enjoy it then why you bother to finish it" sekiro and other hard games are a challenging tool for me so I'm motivated to beat every hard game i stumble upon eventhough I'm a terrible slow gamer but the most important thing for me is my enjoyment while defeating a hard game and sekiro wasn't as enjoyable as most other hard games that i beat

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice on FromSoftwaren yritys tehdä peli, joka uhraa Souls-pelien roolipelimekaniikkoja toiminnallisuuden nimissä. Yritys on erittäin onnistunut.

Pääpiirteittäin Sekirossa on paljon samaa kuin muissa FromSoftwaren Souls-henkisissä peleissä: haaste, checkpointit, huolimattomuudesa rankaisu... Tuttua ja toimivaksi todettua tavaraa. Taistelusysteemin osalta poiketaankin sitten jo enemmän. Pelissä on vain yksi ase (ja liuta toissijaisia apuvälineitä), jonka kanssa vastustajat kohdataan. Asetta tulee käyttää tietenkin hyökkäämiseen, mutta oikein ajoitettu torjuminen on Sekirossa avain onnistumisiin. Kun torjuntoja saa tarpeeksi tiheään tahtiin kasaan, vihun puolustus hetkellisesti murenee ja häneen voi iskeä kuolettavan iskun – oli elkkupalkki täysi tai ei. Parryamista on tietenkin ollut FromSoftwarella aiemminkin, mutta missään sitä ei ole tehty yhtä tyydyttäväksi kuin Sekirossa. Tyydyttävyyttä lisää entisestään se, että lopparit ovat erittäin hyvin tehtyjä. Etenkin Elden Ringin palleinpoljennan jälkeen oli hieno löytää monia vaikeita mutta silti reiluja ja opittavia bosseja. Huonoja bosseja ei oikein itselle tule mieleen kuin vapaaehtoiset Headlessit, joiden tappaminen on puuduttavaa paristakin syystä.

Pelimaailman tutkimiseen on tuotu myös paljon kikkaa käytettäväksi. Sekiron nimikkopäähenkilö osaa nimittäin hypätä, tehdä seinähyppyjä, tarttua jyrkänteiden reunoihin, kumartua piileskelemään ruohikkoon sekä suihkia menemään hämähäkkimiesmäisesti hook shottinsa kanssa. Tutkittavat miljööt ovat nättejä ja hyödyntävät hahmon monipuolisen movesetin vertikaalista ulottuvuutta hyvin, mutta ovat ehkä hieman unohdettavia. Mieleenpainuvia maamerkkejä tai rakennelmia ei ole samalla tapaa kuin esimerkiksi Dark Soulseissa.

Tarinankin puolesta pelissä mennään hieman eri polkuja kuin muissa FromSoftwaren peleissä. Tarinaa eteenvievää dialogia on enemmän, päähenkilö ei ole mykkä ja rivivihollistenkin syntyjä syviä pääsee ajoittain salakuuntelemaan. Itse tarina on puolestaan tekijöilleen aika tyypillinen uudelleensyntymistä ja vallan korruptiota käsittelevä kokonaisuus, mutta tässäkin on tuttuun tapaan tuotu vaikuttamisen mahdollisuuksia eri loppuratkaisujen muodossa.

Visuaalisesti peli on hyvin samaa tasoa Dark Souls 3:n kanssa eikä hirveästi häviä myöhemmälle Elden Ringillekään. Itse pelasin pelin Xbox One -version Series X:lla, joten pääsin nauttimaan tasaisesta ja sulavasta 60fps ruudunpäivityksestä. FromSoftwaren musiikit eivät jostain syystä ikinä jää mieleeni, mutta äänisuunnittelusta tulee taas antaa kiitosta, sillä esimerkiksi taistelun äänet ja miekkojen kalahdukset onnistuneissa parryissä ovat harvinaisen tyydyttävää kuultavaa.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice on kauttaaltaan varsin tasavahvaa ja vakuuttavaa tavaraa. Pelin aluksi tuntui siltä, että voiko tästä yhden aseen parryfestivaalista tykätä yhtä paljon kuin Fromin muista build- ja asemahdollisuuksia hersyvistä peleistä. Lopussa epäilystä ei enää ollut: Sekiro on FromSoftwarea parhaimmillaan ja harvinaisen vahva näyttö osaamisesta toimintapainotteisempienkin pelien saralla.

I am quitting at Genichiro Ashina. I have been against him for 2 weeks, and I am not improving. I tolerated boss fights in Dark Souls and Bloodborne in order to spend time in the worlds, but Sekiro is more bosses than world. Failing to internalise the timing in Sekiro, I experienced the game as brief interludes of exploration bracketed by long grinds, either directly against a boss, or indirectly against skill points for that boss.

I suspect that aphantasia places an upper bound on my ability to process moving image. I am not sensitive to frame rates, and happily play 30 fps content, but it is probably hindering my ability to process the cues in the animation. So, my experience may not be representative.

Having died a lot, I think Sekiro is the least successful From Software title with respect to death. Since you cannot escape bosses, each unsuccessful attempt is a guaranteed loss of progression. Almost as an apology, there is no real consequences besides a sort of busy work to bank winnings. For example, if close to a full skill point, it is prudent to grind the mobs in the area to secure the skill point, before going against the boss. I often did the same in Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but I still experienced perilous treks back to the site of my last death. To really underscore this loss of stakes, the game makes the unusual decision to taunt you for failure with yet another scorecard, but you can ignore even this, as the antidote is plentiful.

Gameplay: 4/5 Story: 3.5/5 Presentation: 4.5/5

Basis:

Story= plot progression, intrigue, characters, world

Gameplay= Mechanics, gameplay options (freedom), repetition, goals, difficulty

Presentation= graphics, animation, environment/character design, Art direction, Script, music

Another solid game created by From Software. Amazing boss fights and a diverse world to explore with many varying dangers. The combat system is solid, but it has a bit of a learning curve even for Bloodborne and Souls fans. It was nice to feel powerful after struggling at the beginning learning timing and controls. Near the end the game gets quite difficult again. There were times where I felt required to grind for XP, to get abilities later in the game, but the grinding is not near as long as Dark Souls can be.

Highly recommend for those looking for a good action combat focused game, as well as fans of Dark Souls and Bloodborne.

I had planned to go though a bunch of games in my 2 weeks off school but then i made the mistake of starting this and it sucked me in. I'm always a bit cautious around souls games because of the fanbase and their "get gud" attitudes which actively work against what the game is saying and how enjoyable it can be and while there still some of that this time around ive had the foresight to AVOID THAT SHIT LIKE THE PLAAUUGEEEEEEE.

Going in i didnt expect to like it as much as a i did, thinking id be indifferent to it through most of my playthrough but then at some point it hit me that i keep thinking about it when im not playing, and wanna go back in and defeat that ONE enemy thats giving me trouble or the ONE area i wanna finish and little by little i beat it. I'm glad they actually gave the game a story this time around because while piecing it all together through notes and lore has its own charm, i prefer a nice crafted story or atleast A story, Dark souls 2 as opposed to DS 1, and this game definitely has a bit of both, a story to motivate even if you dont want to look further and a whole feast if you do.

Gameplay-wise i will admit it took me a bit to get the hang of, ive never been one to use parries, block or glock had been my respective souls strategies and starting off it felt hopeless and like i was banging my head against a wall (i swear i think the first miniboss killed me like 20 times before i got him) but keeping at it, trying to slowly learn the timings and planning how to deal with groups of foes to avoid getting overwhelmed added a fun and more engaging experience, a lil bit of strategy never hurts! And defeating a boss without having to use a single healing item cause you parried his absolute SHIT LMAO GET FUCKED SMARUAAAIIIIIII BIINNCCHHHHHH felt deeply satisfying.

I do have some qualms about the final optional boss along with the real final boss, cause parts of their mechanics really sit hard on the fence of "Very hard to deal with" and "Absolute bullshit put in to make it hard for the sake of hard" but overall i thought the presentation and mechanics of the game were solid. Im glad to have seen it all the way through and will probably go into NG+ and spiderman THWIP some more grapple points.