Sekiro was released today on the 22nd of March 2019, and it is an entirely new game from From Software that is known for their previous games like Demons' Souls, Dark Souls series and Bloodborne.
I am very surprised to not see a topic on this game already, since a lot of people were very hyped about a new From Software game.
My take on it so far is: This is not a souls game. In fact, it's more like Nioh that Dark Souls but make no mistake, the game IS CHALLENGING.
The combat flows superbly, favoring fluidity of exchanging blows with your opponent(s). You have parries, side steps, and jumps at your disposal and the enemies have leg sweeps, thrusts and tackles/grabs to spice up your encounters with them, aside from the normal flurry of attacks in a set number of patterns. You get a red warning sign when the enemy is charging up a particularly nasty attack, but its from their posture and tells that you have to figure out yourself which particular attack they will do.
Although you no longer allocate stats and don't get new weapons, that does not mean that the core gameplay is not there. It's just streamlined. You collect prayer beads from boss mobs (that do not respawn AFAIK) and you spend 4 at a time to upgrade your vitality which is your health and your posture, which is basically poise. You might think only wielding a katana can get boring, which I admit it does a bit, but to spice things up you have throwing weapons like shurikens, fists full of ashes and special techniques (moves) to spice things up in between slashes and thrusts.
Gourds work like Estus flasks and you got some basic cleanse fire/poison etc. items along with candy that buffs your defenses or attack power.
You can swim in water now and falling off a building or a cliff while swinging does not have a follow up of "YOU DIED" screen, which makes the experience very pleasant. Speaking of swinging, it makes the environment feel so vibrant, with various ways of approaching the enemy. Drop down on them from rooftops, sneak up behind them, charge in with your katana there are a lot of ways of dealing with trash mobs. The way you approach your objectives can vary depending on your playstyle.
Now what happens when you (inevitably) die? No more souls to collect/lose, right? Right. The only real way to die is to be killed (twice in a row) by the enemies. Once when you die, you get a chance to resurrect on spot with half the XP points intact, and at 1/2 hp. This game mechanic has a significant cooldown that can be used once per map, or you can refresh it by praying at a buddha statue which is a bonfire now. Just like in DkS3 you have the option to warp right from the start of the game to the places you've visited and back to your central hub. For killing enemies you gain some XP points that as far as I know can only be spent on special skills and techniques for your character that is a shinobi (think: ninja). The game has teased me that I could get back the lost XP from the first death back somehow, although I have not figured out how quite yet. 2nd death you lose your XP points for good. But death is no longer as punishing, and no more corpse runs to pick up souls.
Now I think I've been ranting long enough about all of this by myself so let me put my closing thoughts this way: This is not Dark Souls, don't expect it to be. This title shows how much From Software has matured as a game making company from their Demons' Souls days. The mechanics are solid, fluid and streamlined, but demanding and challenging. The game is not as punishing anymore with the needless deaths due to drowning or falling off a cliff, and needing to collect lost souls. The game focuses more on the user experience and enjoyment factor without beating you with a stick over the head for every little mishap. It brings the challenge in very technical fights rather than the environment.
I hope Ghosts of Tsushima and Nioh 2 are really pushing themselves after seeing Sekiro, I absolutely love the (sub-? hyper-specific?) genre and all three of these have so much potential.
I'm kicking myself for not making time to pick up a copy and play it myself after not being able to make time to play Kingdom Hearts 3 or DMC 5. Can't wait to see how Code Vein a.k.a. Anime Dark Souls turns out either.
Man I go to youtube and watch people like LobosJr or FightinCowboy play this game and I see them fight enemies they can make this shit look so cool. Like hit, deflect, deflect, hit, jump to avoid leg sweep, mid-air hit, block etc. They can create such a cienamtic flow in combat that it looks like choreography between their character and the enemy. Meanwhile here I am flailing like a monkey with fire ants up my ass, doing poking thrusts and jumping back, only daring to deflect only the most basic of enemies. Yari monks and longswordmen routinely fuck up my day when I run into them, and I cry myself to sleep if I can't do stealth takedowns on them.
On March 23 2019 09:28 GTR wrote: ghosts of tsushima and nioh 2 have a big target to achieve with how well sekiro has been received
Definitely. Honestly after playing Sekiro Nioh's gameplay feels obsolete.
I wouldn't say obsolete but... unrefined. This game shows that its better to focus on a smaller number of things, but get it right rather than doing many things but only doing them well. Its a well oiled machine, where all the cogs are working in harmony, like a swiss watch, this game.
On March 23 2019 21:42 Latham wrote: Man I go to youtube and watch people like LobosJr or FightinCowboy play this game and I see them fight enemies they can make this shit look so cool. Like hit, deflect, deflect, hit, jump to avoid leg sweep, mid-air hit, block etc. They can create such a cienamtic flow in combat that it looks like choreography between their character and the enemy. Meanwhile here I am flailing like a monkey with fire ants up my ass, doing poking thrusts and jumping back, only daring to deflect only the most basic of enemies. Yari monks and longswordmen routinely fuck up my day when I run into them, and I cry myself to sleep if I can't do stealth takedowns on them.
On March 23 2019 09:28 GTR wrote: ghosts of tsushima and nioh 2 have a big target to achieve with how well sekiro has been received
Definitely. Honestly after playing Sekiro Nioh's gameplay feels obsolete.
I wouldn't say obsolete but... unrefined. This game shows that its better to focus on a smaller number of things, but get it right rather than doing many things but only doing them well. Its a well oiled machine, where all the cogs are working in harmony, like a swiss watch, this game.
Unrefined is the perfect word for it to me. I hope Nioh 2 has a lot of the same, especially Nioh's unique "stance" combat system, but heavily refined and turned up to 11 (or 12 depending on what you thought of Nioh).
Though, what does start to feel obsolete to me now are skill trees. On one hand, I'll always love skill trees and personally feel like they're a timeless thing in almost any genre of video game; on the other hand, I don't feel like they can have a similar style of bog standard skill trees in the next game (next From Software game or Nioh 2 or Ghosts of Tsushima) and get anyone excited, and I'd might be a bit disappointed if any do have them. I could say the genre or setting or certain themes and tropes could get tired very quickly, but I'm doubtful of that happening soon (unless the next games are all flops, of course).
Otherwise, I can't wait to see what everyone does. All the teams are capable of standing out from any crowd, I hope they all push each other forward now that they're all in the same space. Gosh, I'm just excited tbh, gotta turn my hype down before I set myself up for disappointment.
The game is fantastic and I am sure after sinking many many hours the map won't feel some confusing. Feels like Dark Souls 1 except 4 times bigger. It's insane and I think im in love
I may or may not have beaten the Shichimen Warrior without knowing that I needed confetti. It may or may not have been a 20 minute boss fight of dodging purple balls.
The game is really interesting. I'm glad at the differences and departure from the typical Souls formula, and also surprised that my bad habits aren't carrying over or hurting me. It really keeps you on your toes, but when it works it feels so great. When compared to Nioh and such like folks have said, less is sometimes more, and it feels pure and visceral, free flowing. Fast but methodical.
Right now the only issue I'm having is bosses/minibosses. I don't mean that referring to difficulty, but I never feel like I'm doing them correctly. Whenever a fight feels like it's going well I feel like I'm cheesing it somehow, either by opening with an ambush attack or getting into some endless loop or kiting them around with terrain or something. When doing the fight "proper" I don't feel rewarded enough? Or that it would take forever? But maybe that's correct, it's not like it's making the fights "harder", just way longer, which makes me feel like I'm missing something. Example: + Show Spoiler +
On Lady Butterfly, you can get her into this rhythm of you attack 2-3 times until she parries, then you parry her kick follow up, attack 2-3 times again, she parries, you parry, repeat repeat. Obviously this doesn't work if she decides to jump around or something, but against the wall it doesn't seem like she ever jumped out, idk if it was a coincidence or just the AI. You can also "trap" her in this situation in phase 2 before she ever summons the adds. But it's so painfully slow that it doesn't feel correct? It's just strange. And the amount of posture damage she does with a couple attacks is pretty serious compared to the tiny amount of chip you're doing, like it's not always sustainable to block/parry it out, but if you jump away or back off they'll start recovering their own posture. I remember feeling similarly about the Drunkard too. The posture damage is so low that I never felt like I was learning anything or doing anything tricky or correctly, but eventually that tiny posture chip will give you the deathblow, as long as you never ever stop. But yeah, the bosses have just felt a bit weird so far, not that I've done a ton of them to be fair, but confusing and disappointing compared to the rest of the game. In a way where it feels like I'm missing something important, not that they're too hard or too dull.
Lady Butterfly made the game feel so wuxia in such a fantastic way despite the fight feeling a tad bit awkward. I think I like how little posture and chip damage the bosses take (after only fighting two) coupled with their sometimes explosive attacks against your posture/health. For me, it added a certain pace to the boss fights that Dark Souls was lacking, and an almost attrition war mini-game with your posture and chip damage versus theirs.
What I think made it feel a little awkward was how many "loops" (parrying, attacking, dodging/countering a perilous attack) I went through in each phase, though that was only on a few attempts since, for me, most of the time the boss AI seemed to do a pretty good job breaking up those loops (Lady Butterfly's "wuxia bullshit" jumping attacks).
*Speaking of wuxia bullshit, I hope there's a lot more that I can do as the game progresses.
This guy destroyed me... so many times I didn't bother to count. If you block him, he deals staggering amounts of damage to your posture, and deflecting his thrusts with Mikiri counter did little damage to his posture, not to mention it is also extremely dangerous to do so because he likes to do a follow up right after breaking out of your Mikiri counter. I actually cheese'd him hard. On the steps there is a ledge leading to the temple and you can hang from them. The melee AI can't deal with it and you can make swiss cheese out of his ankles and knees. Only boss I had to cheese so far.
This boss is very demanding mechanically, testing you on everything you've learnt so far in Sekiro. He is the gate keeper. He is the one who tells you to GIT GUD SCRUB. Your deflects have to be on point, your posture management has to be on point, you have to balance your aggressiveness with patience, knowing when to strike and when to defend. He does it all, tackles, sweeps, thrusts, shoots a ranged weapon. Way of Tomoe is a gimmick sadly that is only there to force you to use Reverse Lightning...
This lil cuck is the big brother of the smaller cuck you fight in past memories to get the Raven feather prosthetic limb thingy. Twice the HP bar, twice the cucking power. Very demanding skill-wise and mechanically. BUT you can manage by doding to the left of him and hitting once and doding again to soft stunlock him. Some abilities like Nightjar martial art from the prosthetic limb can help immensely with the fight. Or you can cheese the fucker with flamethrower or spear.
This boy rides a horse and seems VERY intimidating... until you stand your ground focus on your deflects and just grapple to him when he trots away on his mighty steed. He WILL wear himself down fairly quickly with his own attacks being deflected. 2nd phase he gets a bit more aggressive and a bigger move set, but now I suggest to use Firecrackers to soft stunlock him on his horse. The animal hates them very much. But do keep deflecting his spear.
This beast is annoying but not much else. Do whatever you need to do to dodge or deflect his first charge at you and then stay on his ass. Do not let him run away from you, hit once or twice and change position or follow him and stay on that Wagyu Steak's backside. If you find yourself in front of him and his horns, firecracker and go back to the ass part. Do not try to use all 15/16 charges at once thinking you can stunlock him to death. spoiler: you can't. Use them only to reposition and you'll do fine.
This guy, I love this guy. You literally only have to do 2 things in this fight. 1) Aggro him. Do not move your left stick any more. 2) Spam Left button to spam reflects, and I mean SPAM. S.P.A.M. Only focus on doing that. Nothing else, no cheeky-breeky "Ima get 1 hit in before he seathes again" no "ima de-agrro and try to take 1 HP orb stealthilly" Aggro. Stand in 1 spot. Reflect spam. This fight takes maybe 20 seconds.
Another easy fight. Just spam deflect on his flurry of claw attacks and do the occasional jump+kick when he does the leg sweep. He'll ruin his own posture in a minute of this.
Overall helpful tips: This game is very open and after Blazing Bull you can practically go anywhere you want. When you get the bell, go do Hirata Estates as far as you can, you'll get more prosthetic gears and the bosses aren't all that challenging. Breath of Life: Light is a SUPER good skill that gives you back a good chunk of life back upon a successful execution on bosses and plebs alike. Great sustain for running through a zone. Mikiri counter is a 1-point wonder, and Shinobi eyes to a lesser extent is also a very good investment. Once you get Ashina arts, Ichimonji sword strike is a nice skill to pick up because it deals good posture damage. After that Ascending/Descending Carp are amazing and Flowing Water is also very nice. Ashina Cross is an acquired taste for later. From Prostethics tree aim for Chasing Slice and Fang and Blade. Fang and Blade is SUPER useful for more posture damage with the axe. Nightjar slash can make some of the more agile bosses easy peasy giving you a soft stunlock upon repetition.
If you feel weak and would like to do some faring either for money or for XP to buy skills: 1) Hirata Estates Bamboo Slope waypoint. Kill the plebs just outside the gate (5 of them) then turn around and go up the slope until you meet fat boy. Super good money and XP/minute early on. 34XP for each pleb. 2)Mid game Ashina Castle Antechamber. You can stealth kill like 3 samurai almost immediately and fight 4 more. Then 3 Tengu nightjar ninjas if you feel cocky. Rinse and repeat. 79XP per samurai or monk. Do this or Mt. Sengu monks. 3)Late(r) game, Sunken Valley Gun Fort. Big plebs you stealth are 298 XP each, smaller plebs are 160XP. Not to mention all the gold.
Well, some of the skills are definitely cooler and a bigger deal than I expected lol. Good tips in the post above (haven't watched the videos), the Ashina skills are great. Wish I had picked a few of them up BEFORE the boss fight I was discussing in my last post. The magic of nonlinearity in these games; now I'll know better for next playthrough lol.
I'm up to the bull but haven't fought him yet. Compared to the end of the Hirata Estate, going back to the "main" progression has been a breeze so far.
Is there a "point" to ringing the bell, as far as progression or whatever, or is it basically just hard mode like the description implies?
Also are you supposed to fight the Headless just before the bell? Or do you need to come back later with a way to deal with the curse/slow effects
On March 27 2019 00:46 Duka08 wrote: Well, some of the skills are definitely cooler and a bigger deal than I expected lol. Good tips in the post above (haven't watched the videos), the Ashina skills are great. Wish I had picked a few of them up BEFORE the boss fight I was discussing in my last post. The magic of nonlinearity in these games; now I'll know better for next playthrough lol.
I'm up to the bull but haven't fought him yet. Compared to the end of the Hirata Estate, going back to the "main" progression has been a breeze so far.
Is there a "point" to ringing the bell, as far as progression or whatever, or is it basically just hard mode like the description implies?
Also are you supposed to fight the Headless just before the bell? Or do you need to come back later with a way to deal with the curse/slow effects
Divine Confetti seems to be the only effective way of fighting the headless. You don't probably get enough of it through normal play (given how many attempts bosses usually take) so I ended up farming some.
I've heard that ringing bell makes enemies drop more items, so good when you are farming stuff.
I am having a very good time with this game and I enjoy all smaller bosses with their own fighting styles. My main complaint is several of them require me to traverse areas with enemies, or work my way around the edge. It is the one hold over from the souls games that I could do without. The fights with the mini-bosses are so good, I don't want much of a delay between my attempts. I just want to get back to the high of getting close to the finishing blow and trying to figure out if this is the moment to throw ash in their face.
And seriously, fuck fighting anyone near a wall or whatever. Just lock the camera or something if there are no environmental hazards.
It's neither IMHO. You can find new skills (few skill trees to chose from) or acquire them with skill points, and they can make a big difference, but there's no simple leveling up stats like in Dark Souls to be more sturdy for example. You can boost your vitality/attack with rare items or temporarily with "candies", but no matter how many skill you get, if you can't use them and fight properly you'll get wrecked.
There are also different "prosthetic" tools available, each with bunch of upgrades that also change dramastically how each tool behaves. So upgrades/char development makes sense, is somewhat a necessity (unless you're crazy ;P) but it's not the DS style of "I will get 40 Vitality and hide behind tower shield and be unbreakable".
There are play styles and ways to build out your character, but there are no "builds" you are locked into. You equip moves for your sword and they all have uses. It is a more organic system that works off of understandable rules in the world. Big dudes are slow and easy to light on fire. People with spears and thrusting weapons fall prey to that bad ass counter. Small, fast characters that jump alot can be knocked out of sky with throwing stars. Be just because those rules exist doesn't mean other things are not useful. The ax that breaks shields is also super good at dealing posture damage. The firecrackers are just good. Lighting people on fire is cool. So it is about how you want to build out your ninja and what weapons you prefer.
But it is still a souls game(except you don't dodge. Seriously, just don't dodge. Just block everything if you are getting dumped on) where there is poison, fire and other status effects. It just doesn't have the stats you can raise.
EPT![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/B72fjuU.jpg)
