Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (new From Software game)

[Wunderbar]

The system is forgiving because parry is the same button of block, but the skill ceiling is high because you can be much more efficient by timing parries. By spamming you will miss a lot of windows to fill enemies posture, thus killing them slower. If you are good you can fill enemy posture lighting fast with consecutive timed parries.

yeah, but in the end it's just rhythmic clicking.
While in Dark Souls you have multiple weapons with different movesets and different types of damage (strike, thrust, magic, fire, etc), have rings with special effects, armor sets with different types of protection, magic, buffs (and not just +dmg sugars), you have to manage stamina and keep an eye on surroundings. The only new thing Sekiro brought was vertical movement via grappling hook.

 

[Sentinel]

buffs (and not just +dmg sugars)

weapon buffs in souls are literally just +dmg bonuses. Before you go on about elemental weaknesses, they also exist in sekiro.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Ha ha, I almost beat Owl on my first try (tiny sliver of second health bar left), now I can't even get one health bar off of him.

I think that's enough ninja-ing for one night.

 

[sullynathan]

Ha ha, I almost beat Owl on my first try (tiny sliver of second health bar left), now I can't even get one health bar off of him.

I think that's enough ninja-ing for one night.

Almost beat him first but beat him 3rd try.

Yes, L1 parry spam is actually viable

 

[Momock]

yeah, but in the end it's just rhythmic clicking.
While in Dark Souls you have multiple weapons with different movesets and different types of damage (strike, thrust, magic, fire, etc), have rings with special effects, armor sets with different types of protection, magic, buffs (and not just +dmg sugars), you have to manage stamina and keep an eye on surroundings. The only new thing Sekiro brought was vertical movement via grappling hook.

LOL?

The only thing you have to do in Dark Souls is rolling through danger with your bullshit invincibility and manage your stamina, that's it. In Sekiro at least you have to read what the enemy is doing to dodge the right way. I hope that they will keep iframes out in all their future games.

 

[TheImplodingVoice]

Ha ha, I almost beat Owl on my first try (tiny sliver of second health bar left), now I can't even get one health bar off of him.

I think that's enough ninja-ing for one night.

Be strong Shinobi. You can do it!

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Be strong Shinobi. You can do it!

Woke up this morning and took another stab (heh). Took a few more tries but I got him.

Owl is a strange boss. He's big, has huge reach, and hits like a truck, but is also super fast and recovers posture very easily. Also never uses counterable moves like thrusts or sweeps. Deflecting seemed to do nothing and he just destroys you if you get hit. Most of his combos stun you or throw you down, even if you still have posture.

It's like he's breaking the game's underlying rules. Most enemies who hit hard recover posture slowly, while those who are fast can be deflected. Owl has essentially no weaknesses.

My problem was I was going toe-to-toe with him. Eventually I just ran around in a circle and poked him whenever his back was turned. Why would I think you could actually sword fight an enemy in this sword fighting game? So silly of me.

 

[cvv]

My problem was I was going toe-to-toe with him. Eventually I just ran around in a circle and poked him

Maybe that was your problem? All my troubles with hard bosses were always solved when I decided to go toe-to-toe with them, instead of running or jumping around. The only issue with Owl (basic, not Father) is he's doing MASSIVE posture damage if you miss a parry but if you get your posture broken it's usually not a big problem, most of the time you can recover and jump away before he can hit you.

The Father version is a completely different tale, it's the most difficult fight in the game IMO. He punishes you fucking HARD for going toe-to-toe with him. The fight is almost as long as the Sword Saint and you have to keep 100% focus the entire time and watch for his shenanigans.

I got the Sword Saint. It took me 6 hours but I got him. I've never beaten Owl Father fairly. I only did it him with a cheat, where I lowered his posture health (I think) because the fight was too long and I couldn't keep my concentration. Then I got him first try.

 

[TheImplodingVoice]

Be strong Shinobi. You can do it!

Woke up this morning and took another stab (heh). Took a few more tries but I got him.

Owl is a strange boss. He's big, has huge reach, and hits like a truck, but is also super fast and recovers posture very easily. Also never uses counterable moves like thrusts or sweeps. Deflecting seemed to do nothing and he just destroys you if you get hit. Most of his combos stun you or throw you down, even if you still have posture.

It's like he's breaking the game's underlying rules. Most enemies who hit hard recover posture slowly, while those who are fast can be deflected. Owl has essentially no weaknesses.

My problem was I was going toe-to-toe with him. Eventually I just ran around in a circle and poked him whenever his back was turned. Why would I think you could actually sword fight an enemy in this sword fighting game? So silly of me.

For his size he is really fast. Especially when you managed to put some distance between you and him and he closes that gap so damn quick. Which fight is your favourite so far? Lady Butterfly kicked my ass so bad at the start because I was trying to play it like Dark Souls / Bloodborne. But once it clicked how I need to play the joy of kicking the shit out of her was awesome. Owl was tough and also a fun fight. The whole game is full of fun fights. Except if you're a games journalist or someone that uses reddit or any other sites. Then you bitch and moan for an easy mode.

 

[cvv]

My favourite fights are the True Monk and the Guardian Ape, easily. The True Monk is juuust right in my sweet spot difficulty-wise and the Ape is just a straight up blast.

 

[TheImplodingVoice]

My favourite fights are the True Monk and the Guardian Ape, easily. The True Monk is juuust right in my sweet spot difficulty-wise and the Ape is just a straight up blast.

Did you do the fight against the 2 headless apes as well? That was also fun. But the true corrupted monk was tough as well. But also a very fun fight. I think the only fight I didn't enjoy was sword saint. But kicking has ass finally was very rewarding

 

[IceyD]

i was on this fight (last boss) for like a week, finally the game just sort of handed it to me

https://streamable.com/lgaqg

 

[Grampy_Bone]

For his size he is really fast. Especially when you managed to put some distance between you and him and he closes that gap so damn quick. Which fight is your favourite so far? Lady Butterfly kicked my ass so bad at the start because I was trying to play it like Dark Souls / Bloodborne. But once it clicked how I need to play the joy of kicking the shit out of her was awesome. Owl was tough and also a fun fight. The whole game is full of fun fights. Except if you're a games journalist or someone that uses reddit or any other sites. Then you bitch and moan for an easy mode.

So with Owl I guess I was using the "cheese" strat.

I looked up some videos and what other people did was dodge more tactically, wait for one combo, block one hit and dodge through the second to hit him. They still ran around his heal bomb and overhead strike to poke him in the back like me so idk how my strat was much different, I just didn't risk that one dodge. I did have some luck testing out combat arts against him but nothing was reliable enough.

Funnest boss so far was Genichiro, probably because after a couple tries getting him down to his third health bar I beat him on the first try with a lightning counter, which felt super badass. I like when the game gives you those high risk high reward openings.

Corrupted monk was fine, she was tripping me up with her sweep/thrust shenanigans but once I learned all her deflect timings it was fine. Guardian/Headless ape was not bad, just learning the deflects, plus you can block the terror scream with the umbrella and even counter with force wave. With lady butterfly the game tells you "here try this dodge-attack." So I tried it and it basically wrecked her, she only got me once on the second phase with her minion spam.

This is dumb but when my wife is in the room and I'm playing this, when I jump around and grapple I make silly ninja sounds like "hai ya, woo-ha!" in a high-pitched voice. So now I'm in the fountainhead and there's these weird enemies that make those sounds and it made my day.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Maybe that was your problem?

No, it really wasn't. When I tried trading attacks with him I couldn't get past the first health bar.

It seems to be a matter of learning which exact attacks to parry and which ones to dodge, but as you say you need complete focus and can't make very many mistakes. Maybe I could do it with more practice but it was late and I had been playing all day. When I fought him it really felt like the game was telling me not to try to actually stand up to him, he just hits so hard and breaks you every 2-3 strikes.

Most enemies who are vulnerable to deflects give you a pretty obvious opening with a very clear "oh noes I am off balance" animation after the deflect, and Owl just never does that.

 

[Sentinel]

You're focusing too much on the HP bar. Focus on their posture bar instead.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

The only thing you have to do in Dark Souls is rolling through danger with your bullshit invincibility and manage your stamina, that's it. In Sekiro at least you have to read what the enemy is doing to dodge the right way.

As oposed to Sekiro where you just have to manage your posture and be on the look out for the big red kanji when it's time to dodge.
Besides you do have to read your oponents in DS.

 

[TheImplodingVoice]

You're focusing too much on the HP bar. Focus on their posture bar instead.

I learned really quickly that the posture bar is the real health bar

 

[Grampy_Bone]

You're focusing too much on the HP bar. Focus on their posture bar instead.

Huh? Owl's posture recovers instantly. By the time his health is low enough for it to stick he's almost dead. That was one my gripes, that his posture bar doesn't matter like with other bosses.

FWIW I'm talking about the first (mandatory) Owl fight, not the other hidden one.

Maybe we're just talking terminology, whether you remove a health bar with posture damage or regular damage you're still removing a health bar. The red pips have to go for the boss to die. That's what I was talking about with other bosses.

 

[Ivan]

Guardian Ape was the most literal "jaw drop" moment I've ever had in gaming. Thank you Miyazaki

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Hey so is it possible to get all the tools to max on one run or is it like "titanite slabs"? What's the best tools out of the final tier? I mostly use the shuriken in standard gameplay so I'll probably go for that at least.

 

[Multidirectional]

Firecrackers is the best tool and it doesn't even have highest tier upgrade. Besides that I use Shuriken and sometimes Flame Vent for settiing some enemies on fire. And no you cannot upgrade them all in one playthrough, highest tier upgrade material is too rare.

I also refuse to play without this nowadays:
https://www.nexusmods.com/sekiro/mods/103
+1 max spirit emblem capacity per tool upgrade. Doesn't make the game too easy in my opinion but you get more freedom to experiment with tools/ninjutsus/combat arts and also makes tool upgrades more exciting. Doesn't apply to upgrades retroactively though, need a fresh game to get those bonuses. Default max capacity is utter bullshit, wouldn't want to play with it now.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Yeah, the whole spirit emblem thing is pretty half baked. I assumed the upgrades would give you 3-5 each, lol, nope.

Making me buy/stockpile them is dumb, just refill it to max on every rest, who ever runs out? Or replace the whole thing with a spirit/mana bar that refills when you do deathblows or give it it's own gourd. Some way to recover mid-boss without sacrificing health; spirit emblems are nice but don't seem worth health.

 

[cvv]

Making me buy/stockpile them is dumb, just refill it to max on every rest, who ever runs out?

Noone ever runs out unless you're a Youtuber doing a prosthetics-only challenge run. Tools are nice in a few rare cases and never necessary. Which makes the entire upgrade mat hunt pointless. That plus consumables being mostly weak and useless too, at least compared to DS resins, makes for the most dismal shiney collecting experience in any FromSoft game or any aRPG, really. This is my only real beef with Sekiro.

Oh and there are too many goddamn bonfires again. Oh and NPC quests are mostly bunk too. But that's it.

 

[Sentinel]

There's one thing Sekiro did accidentally right, and that's the optional encounters - the Headless - giving worthless rewards. Those guys are annoying as fuck to fight. Glad I know there's no point doing it so I can ignore them in future runs.

 

[cvv]

Btw the Awards made me get back to the game. I wasn't planning on it so soon, usually with replays I wait before I forget most of the content, but I was weak.

Muscle memory was still there, breezed through the outskirts (ogre gave me trouble, motherfucker is annoying without oil and fire) and breezed through Hirata. I needed about 5 tries for the Lady, for some reason I kept whittling down her health down to zero, instead of just slash her a few times and then focus on posture. When I pulled my head out of my arse she was ezy pezy. But the purple prick utterly pushed my shit in, I used to be able to deal with them quite easily, forgot how. Gotta come back later.

I forgot how great the game feels. The movement, the sounds, the vibe...melts my heart.