Sekiro - Review @ DSOGaming

DSOGaming has reviewed the action adventure Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice:

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Review

First off, this review is spoiler-free, apart from the introduction. The screenshots are mostly from the first area, and I've tried to avoid even the tiniest reveal past the start of the game. Please go on and read without fear of something being spoiled for you. I've made sure of this.

I will confess it from the very beginning, I died more than twice! I have no clue how many times I died (there's no in-game counter like in Dark Souls 2), but my death count was probably well over a hundred times. This was just my first play-through.
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Not an RPG, Pausing
Sekiro features no classes, armors, weapons, or anything of the kind. There is only one armor and one sword which you will use through the whole game, and there are only two stats: vitality/posture and attack power. These stats are leveled up mostly by defeating bosses.

Therefore, this is not an RPG. This is a clear-cut third-person action/adventure game. However, there is still much to explore, secrets to find, and items to collect.

A bit random, but since Sekiro is strictly single-player, there is pause -actual pause. No more dying because someone is calling or ringing the door bell or trying to chat with you. Thank you FromSoftware, very much appreciated.
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Conclusion: I Loved It!
All in all I had so much fun with this game. I've been waiting for a good triple-A ninja game since Tenchu. Sekiro delivers intense sword-clashing combat and the feeling of being a real bad-ass ninja.

Combat never felt so rewarding for me, and almost every new encounter has taught me something new that helped me along the way. I find this reward of personal growth more satisfying than some sword or trinket I might not ever use.

This game is without a doubt not for everyone. The lack of classes, armor, weapons, and online play will keep some people away. However, if you're open to something new and have much patience for precision-timing games, your efforts will be rewarded.

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More information.

I've played and enjoyed all the souls games up to this point. I'm skipping Sekiro though. After reading a lot of reviews (both user and "professional") as well as watching a lot of videos, this one has "jumped the shark" for me.

Sekiro appears to be the "Spellbreaker" (see the NOTES section on the Wikipedia page) of souls games - with the difficulty ratcheted up to satisfy those who craved more difficulty in their prior games. I'm an older gamer and my hand-eye coordination isn't what it used to be and from what I can tell it seems like this game would just be a huge frustration for me.

For those who can enjoy this game, I'm happy for you and hopefully it will be successful enough for them to make sequels.

Skipping as well but for loot, stats and lack of build path reasons

A real samurai RPG would be most welcome.

Capt. Huggy Face said:

A real samurai RPG would be most welcome.

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https://www.gog.com/game/way_of_the_samurai_3_deluxe_edition
https://www.gog.com/game/way_of_the_samurai_4

Regarding Sekiro, I have not yet played it but looking forward to - the comment on difficulty I guess is associated with the introduction of a new fighting system different to the Souls games. Probably is a matter of getting used to as people did for the Souls games.

I like Sekiro a lot. Combat mechanics are fresh and fun. I wouldnt say its much different from souls games. Basics of the combat are still same. Atack, dodge, block, parry. Of course different mechanics emphasize different aspects.

Sekiro gives you more options how to respond to different attacks, which is something one has to get used to. Having to push different buttons when enemy makes thrust attack, different to avoid horizontal swipe and in the meantime make those perfect blocks to damage enemy stance might be challenging.

In souls game generally any incoming blow can be avoided by invincible roll and enemy can be chipped piece by piece as there is no stance mechanic in your way. I would say Sekiro has more aggressive combat. But that impression might also depend on the way how one plays the souls games.

In past I was always carefully hidden behind large shield chipping off enemies piece by piece. Bloodborne and Sekiro tought me differently. And souls games actually respond to change of approach. Its possible and it works.

As I went through more then half of Sekiro I started to miss statistics and different weapons. I returned to DS3, which I never finished and started new gameplay. I cheesed through 3/4 of the game. I even killed several bosses on first try without summons. That was new to me. Maybe Ill finish the game this time. Oh, but there are DLCs this time around ...

But there is a stamina mechanic in your way in Dark Souls. You can't dodge roll more than a few times without leaving yourself exposed to any enemy with speed. So while there is no stance mechanic the game is about managing stamina. I think people are exaggerating with the flippant "roll to win" comments. Perhaps you are just really good at Dark Souls? But I think you are right Sekiro is more aggressive.

You are right stamina strongly limits player in souls games and rolling cannot be overused. Rolling, blocking, attacking, all depends on stamina and without stamina management you will get nowhere.

It was not my intention to question combat mechanics of souls games in general. As a full package they are clever, deeep and interconnected in multiple ways with statistics, equipment, environment, etc.

But somehow I dont like high efectivity of rolling mechanic. I think it is too often more efficient and easier to use then parry/block mechanic throughout all 3 souls games. I imagine how it would be if this aspect was designed in different fashion.

If you can consistently parry my hat off to you. It gets me consistently killed. My play style is really timed blocking. I spend as much time as possible with my guard down to preserve stamina for counter attacking. I try not to roll unless desperate. I suppose light armor dexterity builds are in a better position than me to roll more though. What I *don't* like about Sekiro is the concept of minimal damage breaking their guard. Damage is damage to a body part regardless of posture. The whole thing seems to be about killing moves.

DS3 is very generous with stamina and I can roll many times with a dexterity build, low weight armour and fog ring (make you disappear while rolling without any hits), unlike DS2.

But yes Souls games do give you a wide array of options and builds to deal with enemies and bosses (you can go naked with a great shield with high stability, low stamina drain and roll).

One alternative which I like is in Mount & Blade Warband, where shields take damage and break rather than inflect stamina penalty with no rolling option.

Timed blocking is perfectly viable strategy. I just think rolling is too often more efficient. Rolling through damage takes just a bit of stamina and plenty remains to deal damage. Blocking on the other side is quite stamina hungry. That has impact on damage output and influences overall time necessary to kill opponent. And longer combat increases chance of that critical mistake which can make you loose the fight.

And instead of balancing this somehow, the game allows rolling with heavy shields and weapons and in heavy armor. It even supports it providing means to make such strategy less statistic hungry (Havel ring, etc.).

Yes the Havel ring is overpowered. Haven't run across the equivalent yet in #2. I have medium armor and a light heavy shield plus Claymore. I have to plan my counter attacks because they are stamina sapping. Its a good balance between agility and power. My shield has good stability but I still have to drop my guard at every opportunity.

A game that can be dealt within two applied week ends is considered the new template for difficulty.

Disdain for gaming at its best.

Is games difficulty measured by its lenght these days? Or possibly by speedrun lenght? Or do you suggest it should be? And who considers it as new template for difficulty? Someone mentioned it here? Eh, questions, questions ...

First Souls game I'm skipping. I adored DS 1&3 and LOVED Bloodborne. I never finished any of them.

I got pretty far in them though. Many attempts, many different builds. I explored alone, discovered things as I went. I also read guides, watched videos. In the end, these games require something that I'm unable to give to video games. It's something that I don't hear often related to them. But I've discovered what that essential thing is, in my opinion.

Discipline. They are not grinds or even "grindy." They are tough but doable. But in the end, discipline is what these games demand. Tough, unflinching discipline. It's like learning a musical instrument. It's not "hard" to sing or play the flute, or the guitar or a piano. It's EXTREMELY hard to sing or play those things well, and EXCEEDINGLY hard to play an entire piece of music from beginning to end—perfectly. Or at least perfectly enough. From beginning to end, playing a musical piece is about discipline.

Not that the fights are all scripted in such a way that there's only one way to accomplish them. It's more akin to Jazz music, where improvisation, timing and rearrangement of parts and even completely different ways of covering a tune or a song or a symphony is OK and will do the job. But it all requires DISCIPLINE to do it correctly. Many boss fights are meant to take a long time, not because they are HP sponges only, but because you need to use tactics and patience to kill them.

I'm just not a disciplined enough gamer to devote the time and discipline to beat them all. I admire the hell out of these games, but I just don't have the drive to finish them. I don't have the drive to be even a semi-accomplished musician either. That's what these games require, discipline and drive.

……

I also don't consider these games to be RPGs. They share some systems with RPGs, but they are really more action games. All that is OK with me, and this topic usually opens a can of ugly worms. But it grinds my gears that pretty much any game with swords or magic is labeled an RPG these days.

I think label "action rpg" suits DS games pretty well. Sekiro, on the other hand, is much more "action" then "RPG" in my eyes. While DS formula is still there, it is mixed in different way.

As if there was no action in other RPG, especially when players scream for socalled RPGs to be about combat.

Andrew23 said:

Is games difficulty measured by its lenght these days?

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No. As anything, it is measured by the ease to overcome.
And when a non dedicated to pattern based combat gamer does it in that amount of time, it is a bad sign.

Or possibly by speedrun lenght?

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Neither. When speedrunners manage to hit close to what will be the world record within the week after release, it is a bad sign.

Or do you suggest it should be? And who considers it as new template for difficulty? Someone mentioned it here? Eh, questions, questions …

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Obviously not. And nobody mentioned it, except those who mentioned it.

ChienAboyeur said:

As if there was no action in other RPG, especially when players scream for socalled RPGs to be about combat.

No. As anything, it is measured by the ease to overcome.
And when a non dedicated to pattern based combat gamer does it in that amount of time, it is a bad sign.

Neither. When speedrunners manage to hit close to what will be the world record within the week after release, it is a bad sign.

Obviously not. And nobody mentioned it, except those who mentioned it.

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General statements. Based on what? Fabricated statistics? Feelings from your social bubble? I would be more interested to discuss your personal experience with the game. But whatever.

Based on: speedruns/fastruns do not exist on live twitch streams. No $ without stalling.

Andrew23 said:

General statements. Based on what? Fabricated statistics? Feelings from your social bubble? I would be more interested to discuss your personal experience with the game. But whatever.

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Personal experience was already alluded, complemented by streamers'experience, as wished by this forum.