Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

[Sulphur]

I liked reading about your trials and tribulations. They kind of mirror my own, with the key difference being I have the attention span of a neurotic goldfish and glommed onto another game and then another one and eventually forgot to get back to Sekiro.

For what it's worth, in my journeys on the internet I've seen many people consider Owl (father) one of the most difficult fights in the game, so don't let the showboaters who've most likely studied the game's mechanics under a microscope get you down.

I agree with everything you've written, and I want to add that it's probably From's most tactile game, which is a key driver in my enjoyment of its combat and compulsion to keep playing. The slash and clang of it, the flying sparks every time you parry, it's perfectly calibrated to feel satisfying, and it's almost like an illicit drug in how good it feels when you pull it off well.

[twisty]

Well, this is pretty much just my echo chamber now

I've enjoyed reading these updates as well. In fact, it has motivated me to dedicate some time to try and push through the first part sooner rather than later, when I finally get some time to play this on the PS4.

Storywise I was confused as usual. I watched some lore videos and was surprised at how much depth and detail they put in, but most of it wasn't very apparent without someone pointing it out, which makes me think that From is maybe better at worldbuilding than they are storytelling. And some of the sidequests I would never have figured out without the wiki or maybe after five or six playthroughs, so that's a strike against. But consulting the wiki is tradition with these games, so I didn't mind too much. I just wish they'd make it a bit easier to discover some of it on your own.

The depth of storytelling in their games can be astonishing. It was one of the main reasons that, apart from getting better at combat, I enjoyed BloodBorne more the second time than the first time I played it (and to some extent, the third time as well). There are just so many layers of interwoven links across so many of its characters and backstory, that would be nearly impossible to get across on a single playthrough.

[Aja]

I agree with everything you've written, and I want to add that it's probably From's most tactile game, which is a key driver in my enjoyment of its combat and compulsion to keep playing. The slash and clang of it, the flying sparks every time you parry, it's perfectly calibrated to feel satisfying, and it's almost like an illicit drug in how good it feels when you pull it off well.

It is addictive. I'm becoming a little bit obsessed with it. Incidentally, I've also been trying to learn Clair De Lune on the piano, and I find my brain is in the same zone when I'm working on getting a specific passage down as it is when trying to learn a Sekiro boss moveset. So I've convinced myself that getting better at Sekiro is good for my mental fitness in the same way as playing piano, and that way I feel a bit less guilty spending so much time on it. I'm back at the final boss in NG+ (it's pretty easy to just sprint past all the enemies when you already have all the items), and he's still really challenging although I beat my nemesis father on my first try, which was a huge rush. I'm not normally an outwardly excited person, but I've definitely cheered myself each time I finished that fight.

[Aja]

Whew, playing this game without Kuro's charm is a huge rush. I'm on NG+4 and it feels like my first run again. The biggest difference is that without the charm you take damage when blocking unless you get a perfect deflect, so it's forcing me to learn the deflect timings better, and, failing that, use way more items. So far the hardest parts have been the first Owl and the true Corrupted Monk, who both just have so much posture that it feels hopeless, and the amount they take from you when you get hit is huge. For the latter especially I couldn't get the perfect timing after a few hours of playing, so I ended up cheesing the second phase (perfectly legitimate, though), and piling on sugars and bundled statues for the third. Oh well. On the plus side, the Owl (father) fight is so burned into my brain that I managed it in two tries without much difficulty. That's my favourite fight in the game, and I'm looking forward to the boss rush mode so I can play around with it and try different techniques. Sekiro is the first game I've played where I actually want to just fight the bosses over and over.

[Aja]

Also, any Sekiro fan should watch this (minor spoilers throughout):

[twisty]

I still haven't played much of it yet but that video was pure awesomeness.

[Aja]

Yeah, my favourite part is at the end when he’s parry spamming to the beat.

[Sulphur]

That video is glorious.

[Aja]

I DID IT — I finished the game charmless and with the demon bell additional hardships. Last boss took me a few weeks practicing off and on, but it was a fun process. I had to study some Sekiro masters to get some of the timing down. And the weird thing is, I still want to go back and play it again. Sekiro might be my favourite game of this gen.

[SirLord Best]

Well done Aja! I think I'll get back to this game eventually...

P.S. loved the video!