Sekiro is one of those games that takes time to learn, and until you have played it, you won’t really understand what I am talking about. If you are not a fan of the Souls series, then it might be a hit or miss for you depending on your taste in games. Sekiro is not an easy game and some consider it to be one of the hardest to beat, but that is what makes it a great game. If you want to, give it a try, but is you want more information, then here are all the aspects that make it a great game that is worth your time.
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The combat
The combat is very different from any other game that I have played because you must do everything perfectly or else you will be punished for it. For example, if you start attacking an enemy and then he starts to swing the sword directly at you, at the right moment, you must hit the block button and you will parry the attack. It seems easy but when there are 10 hits in 3 seconds, you have to be very precise about how you do everything. There is a new thing in the game and it is Posture. If you can successfully fill the enemy’s Posture bar, you can deathblow him.
This is very helpful because you don’t always need to get the enemy’s health down to kill them. Also, implementing dodging and jumping into your attacks will help as well because you want to be as safe as possible when attacking an enemy. Deathblows can be used on an enemy that does not see you so a lot of stealth comes into play to take an enemy down in one shot or drop mini-boss health by half before the fight. Combat is the main factor that you have to learn or you will have a bad time.
The world design
The world design is absolutely amazing with the Japanese buildings and all the different areas you can go to. From a Japanese Castle to a Monastery in the mountains, there is just soo much to explore. Even when I beat the game, I was still finding more and more secrets and I could not seem to get enough of it. When I beat the game, I didn’t want it to be over because of how much fun it is.
Basically, the worlds have the same design ad a Dark Souls area would but it is Japanese and you can move a lot more fluidly through it with your grapple hook. Later in the game, you can even go underwater and fight enemies there. Soo much has been put into the worlds of this game and I absolutely love it, I would recommend playing the game just from the exploration in this game.
The upgrade/skill system
The upgrade system is actually not that big, but it is very enjoyable to upgrade everything you can. When you kill an enemy, they have a chance to drop material, which in turn you can use to upgrade your prosthetics and state. Prayer Beads allow you to increase your Vitality and Posture so that you have more health, and Memories from bosses allow you to upgrade the damage of your sword.
You can also receive Sen and Experience from defeating any enemy in the game and you can use the Experience for Skill Points. Skill Points allow you to unlock new abilities line new attacks and even increasing your loot rate. Everything you can get in the game helps you in upping your chance to have something better later on so make sure you save as much stuff as you can because you will need it in the future. The system is much different from Dark Souls, but that is good because you don’t want to copy something else.
The unique and challenging bosses/mini-bosses
There are soo many boss enemies in the game, that I can’t even count them. Yes, there are the main bosses, but there are also tons of optional mini-bosses that you can defeat. Each one of them gives you a good item and it is definitely worth taking the time to defeat all of them. There are a bunch of them that are not optional, but a majority of them are. Most of them give you Prayer Beads which are needed to increase health so it is very important to defeat as many as you can in your first playthrough if you want to get all the Achievements.
The main bosses in the game are absolutely amazing. Yes, I was stuck on most of them for a long period of time, but I did not die for stupid reasons. When I did die, I knew the exact reason I died and I would try to improve in that area. The bosses and the game, in general, is a huge learning curve. Once you figure out how everything works, you can breeze through the game like nothing. Also, if you want to do a lot of stuff, do it on your first playthrough so that it makes everything easier for you later on.
The replayability
The best part of the game is the possibility of NG+. Once you beat the game once, you can start the game again with all your Prosthetics, Skills, Health, Posture, and items. The only thing it changes is the difficulty of the game. Yes, it is harder than your last run, but will that stop you from overcoming all obstacles and beating it again. You can even make the game harder by giving Kuru’s Charm to Kuru and ringing the Demon Bell. Then you will have a hard time getting through the game. The harder the difficulty, the more a person learns so if you want to just put the hardest difficulty on and try to get through it.
The unique mechanics
The way you play the game is different from any other game I have played. Yes, it does feel like a Dark Souls game, but it is played completely different from anything I have seen. The different attacks you can do combined with the swiftness of your character makes for some different gameplay altogether. Ultimately, everything in this game is different but that is what makes a game stand out from the others. It feels similar to other FromSoftware titles, but at the same time, it feels very distant.
The best thing for you to do is go into the game open-minded. It is almost better not to have played any Souls game before you play this one because it is an entirely different playstyle. I would highly recommend you play this title because you will have a blast getting through all the bosses when you are finally finished.
The prosthetics
Prosthetics are probably one of the best parts of this game because there are soo many different ones to use. There are only 10 Prosthetics in the game, but there are a ton of upgrades for each of them. From Shurikens to Flamethrowers, there are endless possibilities with these. Every time I play the game, I figure out something new to do with a certain one that helps me through the game a lot quicker. You can also implement the tools into your combat because a lot of the are weapons. The Firecrackers are especially helpful to stop the enemy from attacking for a few seconds. You just have to learn to adapt and use what you have.
If you want to know about all the Prosthetics, go to my other article about just the Prosthetics: https://gamevoyagers.com/sekiro-shadows-die-twice-guide-to-prosthetic-tools/
Conclusion
In conclusion, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a great game that only people with patience and want a challenge will enjoy. I know when I first started playing, I was very confused and I took it very slowly. Once I finally beat the game and I restarted, I knew exactly what I needed to do and everything seemed a lot easier, even though it is harder than the last playthrough. Even if you don’t get better at it, you still probably had fun with the game. If you have not played it, I would highly recommend you pick up the title and play it today because it helped me a lot with patience and trying to overcome a very hard obstacle.