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Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice


BZL8
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So is From Software going soft or are they luring me in a false sense of security. Because so far I don't see the extreme difficulty. 

Granted the Shinobi Hunter ritually humiliated me some times and I did have to make the occasional tactical retreat but I can't say I ''died, died and died again''. No mook ever killed me and my only deaths(aside that one fall from a kliff) were from the first miniboss and then the ninja hunter. 

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It doesn't start out too bad, although new players will struggle initially, but as a veteran of the Souls series and Bloodborne I find this much harder since being cautious is enough to get you far in those games (even so in Bloodborne). Here, you need to be aggressive.

I'm not used to everything yet but most people's consensus has been this game is more difficult so far.

Edited by Tryhard
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Perhaps avoiding From Software game like the plague due to their reputation paid off for me then. I hear a lot of veterans having a hard time adjusting from dodging to parrying.

The stealth mechanic makes the game somewhat easier for me. In an optional area some miniboss boss(guarding the Raven skill) killed me with one combo. I'm certain I was supposed to master some sort of pattern but I just revived, jumped off the cliff and returned so I could sneak up on the poor sod and stab him in the back. Kinda makes me feel dirty. 

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That guy is a bastard in a straight up fight. I think he also respawns, so I'm not sure he counts as a mini boss.

Stealth does make things a lot easier when you can use it.

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Beat it.

's good. Really don't know how I'd rate it next to the Souls games, or even if it'd be appropriate to. I think I'd give it like an 8-8.5/10 overall, though. 

Fun fact: My first save corrupted about 20 hours in, a little over halfway through the game, and I struggled a bunch in that first playthrough. My second playthrough I managed to blow through, and I don't think any of the bosses ever took more than 5 attempts afterward. Even the optional endgame bosses went down pretty quickly with proper prep. 

Edited by Slumber
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I saw an interesting take on what Miyazaki had said before regarding From's future games.

https://medium.com/@atlasmoniz/on-from-softwares-three-projects-924395012bc1

I kinda almost expect that there has been some game that is being worked on that is more similar to Bloodborne or Souls that may take a while to come out that has been on the backburner. That, or a new Armored Core.

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9 hours ago, Tryhard said:

I saw an interesting take on what Miyazaki had said before regarding From's future games.

https://medium.com/@atlasmoniz/on-from-softwares-three-projects-924395012bc1

I kinda almost expect that there has been some game that is being worked on that is more similar to Bloodborne or Souls that may take a while to come out that has been on the backburner. That, or a new Armored Core.

Miyazaki has said that Armored Core isn't dead so I wouldn't be surprised to see that come up at some point. Maybe at E3. Or maybe that's when we'll the "Not really but kinda" Souls RPG. With Sekiro being essentially a reboot to "Tenchu" with Souls elements, I'm interested to see what they'll do with other games in their established franchises, now that From is a big studio with tons of hype behind it.

I still think the dream From project would be a Souls-styled Berserk game. You can tell Miyazaki has been dying to make a Berserk game with how many references he puts in his games.

Edited by Slumber
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Lady Butterfly frustrates me. I mastered her close combat mechanics, how to parry her, get behind her and attack her when she's open, so logically I should be able to beat her, but for some reason its not happening. I handle her first phase like a pro, avoid her illusions in the second but then her unblockable magic slowly chips away at me until one mistake does me in. 

Not helped by the fact I did practically beat her one time. She was down at her last sliver of health. I only needed to dodge the red charge attack and counter attack like always, except in the last possible second she replaced her red charge attack for a red throw attack despite not once having used a throw attack in any of the last four matches I had with her. So I lost to a move she literally just took out of her ass to steal my victory from me. 

And ever since then I'm so frustrated her first phase doesn't go as perfectly as it once did anymore. 

Edit: Well I did beat her fairly easier after adding an additional step to my ''routine''. Still deserved that victory two tries before I actually got it though.

Edited by Etrurian emperor
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Here are my thoughts on Sekiro:

  • This is currently my personal best game of 2019 in my opinion.
  • I consider it to be the hardest of all the FromSoft games I've played (Dark Souls I, Bloodborne). That might change if I get used to Sekiro's gameplay.
  • Sekiro doesn't play like a Soulsborne, but From and Miyazaki's signature philosophy (Brutal difficulty, learning from death, etc.) that has defined Soulsborne games remains very much intact in Sekiro.
  • Playing Sekiro like a Soulsborne will let the enemies mop the floor with you. You have to remain aggressive, but not too aggressive. Kind of problematic for me because I am used to combat in Soulsborne.
  • Not a personal fan of the Dragonrot.
  • I died five times to Kawarada (the first mini-boss encountered) before I got the best of him. 
  • Combat is hard, but extremely satisfying (as is the case for From).
  • Love the stealth mechanics (Allows and encourages creative approaches in already incredibly well-designed levels).
  • Miscellaneous Questions and Thoughts:
    • Who would win in a duel: Sekiro or Ryoma? 
    • Should I pick up Nioh? 
    • Speaking of Soulsborne, I wonder how Code Vein is turning out. 
    • I don't know at this point if Sekiro unseats Bloodborne as my favorite From game.
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2 hours ago, BZL8 said:

 

  • Who would win in a duel: Sekiro or Ryoma? 
  • Should I pick up Nioh? 
  • Sekiro
  • Yes
Edited by Slumber
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Nioh is very good. A lot of Souls fans have a stick up their ass about it for some reason but it's a very good game nonetheless. I appreciate the loot system considering Diablo II is my GOAT.

13 hours ago, BZL8 said:

Here are my thoughts on Sekiro:

  • I consider it to be the hardest of all the FromSoft games I've played (Dark Souls I, Bloodborne). That might change if I get used to Sekiro's gameplay.
  • Playing Sekiro like a Soulsborne will let the enemies mop the floor with you. You have to remain aggressive, but not too aggressive. Kind of problematic for me because I am used to combat in Soulsborne.
  • Not a personal fan of the Dragonrot.

I do think the game is the hardest From game from a mechanics standpoint, but it does become easier when you realise you need to be highly aggressive and you can kill stuff fast - don't let minibosses a chance to regain posture - if you're on them at all times and parry/deflect their attacks without getting hit, they won't have a chance to reduce that posture bar. Although attacking and letting them deflect seems to be less effective then just letting them attack, deflecting and then hitting them a few times after their combos are done.

Dragonrot reminds me of the World Tendency mechanics from Demon's Souls. I heard one streamer mention that one of the developers said that it would also spawn in the equivalent of black phantoms i.e tougher enemies that were present in Demon's Souls, but I haven't seen that and it looks as though that was false information.

Edited by Tryhard
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From what I hear the transition to Sekiro is difficult from Souls players because everyone is used to dodging attacks due to iframes. Sekiro is more of a "block and parry" style of play.

When I played Souls games regularly (beat Dark Souls and vanilla DS II) I was a typical "Sword & Shield" guy and just blocked stuff (never got the hang of parries), so if I ever get around to getting Sekiro the transition shouldn't be that difficult for me.

I'm loving what I've seen it thus far from various Youtube videos and Twitch streams. I am worried about death penalties (since Unseen Aid is not as reliable as going back to "recover lost Souls"), but I suppose that is what grinding is for.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It took me several days longer than it should but I finally defeated Genichiro. He's probably the strongest enemy I've met so far and I most definitely wasn't amused when I finally beat him only to get greeted by an additional boss phase that swiftly killed me. And no checkpoint either which I felt ridiculously unfair given how powerful the first phase is. But surprisingly the second boss fight ended up easier than the first due to him being such a glass canon. 

Edited by Etrurian emperor
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4 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

It took me several days longer than it should but I finally defeated Genichiro. He's probably the strongest enemy I've met so far and I most definitely wasn't amused when I finally beat him only to get greeted by an additional boss phase that swiftly killed me. And no checkpoint either which I felt ridiculously unfair given how powerful the first phase is. But surprisingly the second boss fight ended up easier than the first due to him being such a glass canon. 

Sekiro's very heavily about learning the enemy's attacks.

Genichiro, and a lot of other bosses, telegraph moves very obviously. The two things that can make Genichiro a pain are him mixing up his follow-up to his jumping stab in his second phase, and his jumping bow attack, which is almost always an instant kill if it hits you.

Human bosses in general have pretty similar movesets, and it becomes easier the more you play the game. It's actually one of the bigger complaints I have about the game.

But yes, his third phase is pretty easy compared to phase 2. Especially once you get used to Lightning Reversal.

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9 hours ago, Slumber said:

Sekiro's very heavily about learning the enemy's attacks.

Genichiro, and a lot of other bosses, telegraph moves very obviously. The two things that can make Genichiro a pain are him mixing up his follow-up to his jumping stab in his second phase, and his jumping bow attack, which is almost always an instant kill if it hits you.

Human bosses in general have pretty similar movesets, and it becomes easier the more you play the game. It's actually one of the bigger complaints I have about the game.

But yes, his third phase is pretty easy compared to phase 2. Especially once you get used to Lightning Reversal.

I did end up making the perfect counterstrategy by starting to get intimately familiar with the jerks move. My biggest problem tends to be that he does a combo, either arrow shot hell or just + thrust when I was already in an attack animation. 

The graphics took a little downgrade after the boss fight. Sekiro had a neat little art design with the color orange being included by the setting sun and the Autumn leaves. The sunset is now removed by a kinda ugly fog which makes the game more average looking than it should. That said the temple does look gorgeous.

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Haven't been able to play Sekiro for some time because of being busy IRL, but the "you cheated not only the game’" meme the game produced due to its difficulty-accessibility debate is glorious.

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5 hours ago, BZL8 said:

Haven't been able to play Sekiro for some time because of being busy IRL, but the "you cheated not only the game’" meme the game produced due to its difficulty-accessibility debate is glorious.

https://youtu.be/Uk-MpCC4PH0

Always fun.

Edited by Tryhard
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