Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Reviews

  • SolaceCreedSolaceCreed701,770
    25 Mar 2019
    3 6 3
    Sekiro is a very interesting title. It blends in to its new world and beautiful landscapes the feel of Bloodborne's combat, whilst mixing it up slightly.

    A lot of complaints have been that it's too hard (especially on social media), however, it is a bit easier than Bloodborne and significantly easier than Dark Souls 2. The new element is Sekiro, isn't just pitching you against fantastical monsters and enemies and hoping to find the flaws in their combat to exploit. In fact, it has multiple bosses and minibosses that sometimes require you to backtrack to complete another part of the game to progress further in the main story. It's a clever combination that the game uses to further flesh out the backstory.

    The first example of this, is about forty five minutes in to the game. A huge angry Ogre blocks your path. Now, there are multiple paths to defeat him. Using the Bloodborne tactic of just avoiding attacks and striking when it lumbers back to its feet. This does come with the slightly dangerous thing that one mistake will end up with you being thrown over a cliff and not even having the option to respawn. The clever way of doing it (to this moment this is the furthest I've got to beating him) is togo back to the dilapidate temple with the necklace the old lady gave you mid way through your journey and completing the flashback mission, whoch in turn gives you the tools to defeat the Ogre.

    It's worth a mention that if you come across a boss and you struggle to beat him, it may be worth stealthily going passed them where possible, as sometimes, you do find a buff or weapon that'll help you to defeat them.

    Graphically it is georgous. It's a totally different situation to the dark and dingey corners of Bloodborne, the world is bright and full of colour for the most part. The Japanese aesthetic feels more authentic than that of say Nioh, it's a wonderful game to look at and the themes of the Shinobi match to it's surroundings.

    I mentioned combat earlier, combat it sort of an evolution of From Software's games. Blocking at the right point, causes a parry to occur, on weaker enemies this opens them straight up to an execution. Meaning you can quite easily farm certain points for more coins, that you can trade for powers at shrines (via the Shinobi prosthetic you unlock early on) and also for secrets from select NPCs. Which often give you a heads up about your past or sometimes about the surrounding area.

    The difference within bosses is that you have to pay attention, you can't just hope for the best. The best tactic is to avoid a bosses attacks and start to wear down their vitality before you can start blocking and countering their attacks. There's also different ways to do that. Pressing L1 in perfect timing to block. Now, on weaker enemies and bosses you've worn down, you can hit R1 to commit to an execution. On bosses however, it's probably better to hit X or Square to counter attack and wewr them down more, as a poorly timed execution will normally result in you seeing "You Died".

    All in all, it is an excellent game, and I can't wait to see what else this game has in store for me.
    4.0
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    SolaceCreedThat was kind of my point, that this is easier than the souls games smile
    Posted by SolaceCreed on 28 Apr 19 at 20:43
    OneWingd_Ange1_I'm finding it harder than Bloodborne right now. I played Bloodborne which is my first Souls game and I 100% it. But Sekiro is so much faster and harder.
    Posted by OneWingd_Ange1_ on 28 Mar 22 at 17:45
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