Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (new From Software game)

https://kotaku.com/an-easy-mode-has-never-ruined-a-game-1833757865

Kotaku is going nuts. Who wants to tell them that if they can't even beat a game which a 45 year old man can beat they don't deserve to play it!

 

Sekiro already does that

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by putting in optional ways to make the game harder

 

They're much easier with live sunbros, it's only the NPCs that can make things much harder.

In all Souls games I've never beaten Nameless, Friede, Midir and Gael on my own, mainly because I wasn't enjoying DS3 much and wanted to get those annoying encounters over with.

 

Um, we are talking about making the game easier tho?

 

Uh-huh.

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Eh, multiplayer in a game with a set character and no build variety is dumb. Nobody asks for online help in Ninja Gaiden, because people realize it's a niche game for a specific audience.

 

Yes, I was pointing out From's tendency to put poison areas in their games. I wasn't complaining about it. Why should I be bothered by one tiny poison room? You can stop crying now.

 

Either read what you're reacting to or gtfo. Nobody's talking about multiplayer or Ninja Gaiden.

 

You probably misunderstoood me, I meant I'm pretty sure DS games themselves are easier, with or without summons. But I was talking about DS1/2 specifically, I have not finished DSIII because I got bored with it at the time. I think I was just Souls'd out back then from playing hundreds of hours of DS1/2 without any significant break. I will come back to it eventually.

 

Hey captain autismo. Not only did you talk about summons, you specifically mention live sunbros.

I swear to god, Multidirectional and CVV turn this thread post by post into retard central.

 

Shush, calm damn boy. I will keep in mind how sensitive you are next time I talk about poison areas. It's 2019, after all.

 

I specifically mentioned there's sadly only one NPC that helps you in Sekiro you dumb multiplayer ninja gaiden dildo. Next time calm your tits and read shit before you go on an edgy rant.

 

But the game has tools to make it much easier! You can use memories and beads to become stronger, use the prosthetics (each boss is weak to one or two and the firecrackers are OP), use the healing items like rice (I'm bad so near the end I often used rice and divine grass to beat a boss) and throw ash at them for one or two free hits which works against most guys.

I made much use of this easy mode since I don't like having to practice a boss for too long.

 

Summons wasn't even the most dramatic example of how far you could trivialize the games.

^tanking 4kings as a.. SL1. r1 spam spam span drink estus spam spam span drink estus POISE FOR DAYYYYYYZU
This video would look even more funky on a proper levelled build for the area with tower shield and high vitality.
DS1's itemization in particular was pretty much a highly easy mode built-in. Most people who called that game difficult just chose to ignore the ways of the WALKING IRON FORTRESS.
And then there was the fact that you could fortify bonfires till getting like 20 estus to chug.

BECOME UUUUUUUUNSTOPPPAAAAAAABBBBBBLLEEEEEEE
I would never recommend that sort of build for a new player who actually wants to experience the best from the game, but if someone's really bad at it and want to see it to the end or just wants to experience an alternative build, this is it, this is as far from twitchy, reactive as it gets.

People dramatically overestimate the impact of not having a 100% damage block early game and tend to pick shitty useless low stability shields when try out more turtle-ish play just because they have 100% damage blocking when something like the Eagle shield would work better on a fight like Ornstein and Smough (assuming the player doesn't have the strength for Havel shield or made the Greatshield of Artorias from Sif's soul by the time they reach O&S), use armor that's too heavy to fast roll in but not powerful enough to absorb damage (like the Knight set when you still have low stats) and this tends to give them the wrong impression that tanking certain type of bosses isn't viable.
Even Manus can be tanked.

Dodge button : O-P-T-I-O-N-A-L

Comments like these :

Are just rose tainted glasses on a first souls game, blind play experience. DS1 is not, in fact, harder than anything that came after, on a purely objective standpoint. Because completing DS1 is something a cripple with very little reaction timing could do.
Like, literally the most casual of gamers can complete DS1 so long as they're made aware of the game mechanics and use the proper items. Tower shields, actually heavy armor and not the useless starter knight set, a focus on vit/end/str.

 

This is why DS1 is so good though. Reflexes optional, you can use your brian instead.

I managed to kill the high monkor (thank you speed runners for discovering the almost frame perfect manouvers required to deathblow her first two phases in 10 seconds).

The fountainhead is... actually a really good area. Like actually really good, wish it weren't hidden so deep into the game. The enemies are interesting, even if a bit silly (fuuuutbooooool) and are mechanically different from the ones in the rest of the game. Stealth actually makes sense as a game mechanic, instead of pseudo-larp option. Even the minibosses are reasonable(so far anyway)!

Doesn't quite make up for the boringness of just about every other level though.

 

I wouldn't say levels are boring, they are good but From sure didn't outdo themselves. Stuff like Mt. Kongo or Bodhisattva Valley - visually awesome but not the pinnacle of complexity. Remind me more of the Dragon Aerie than anything else. Another Blighttown or Undead Burg they are not. Plus an idol every few steps, as if we can't have a real chad game in 2019 anymore... A bit disappointing.

 

Well, Mist Noble was a truly satisfying fight! Down in like 3 seconds. I guess I done git gud after all!

 

If there wasnt an Idol up every bosses arse I probably would have quit already.

 

The game is not ugly, but it's never really as awe inspiring as the height of soulsborne, nor is it as creepy. It's just not particularly evocative atmosphere wise for me. I felt awe when I saw locations like Anor Londo or Drangleic Castle. Catacombs and their darkness and ease of falling induced stress. Places like Irithyll Dungeon or Yahar'Gul achieve a height of creepiness that Ashina's dungeon or depths really can't. And it's not like Sekiro wasn't trying, despite its Sengoku Japan setting, considering the presence of those undead looking things you need to kill twice, people who attack you with their centipedes, those things that attack you from the walls in the cavern inhabited by the giant serpent, the insanity of the people in Mibu village etc. It's just pretty lame and the mechanics of the game encouraging you to feel safe at all time and jumping from roof to roof and branches doesn't help. The constant use of soundtrack during exploration despite the soundtrack being pretty.. average? wasn't particularly bright either for atmosphere.

Overall, it's the first From software game that thoroughly failed to attract my attention during exploration, for the whole duration of the game.

 

I'm not even talking about stuff like an idol right next to the Demon, that doesn't bother me too much. I hate pointless 5 minutes runs to bosses too. But the sheer number...why for example sticking to the retarded DS3 trend of leaving a bonfire after every boss encounter? It's fucking dumb and it cheapens exploration, diminishes tension and ruins the feeling that safe harbors are rare.

 

Also thinking back to the game the side quests were terrible. Simple, straightforward and unrewarding. What a missed opportunity to have a questline for, say, Jinza or Kotaro where you first help them and then you can summon them or some such. But instead you get some fruit and a res statue. Lame.

 

especially since they set one before every boss the one after is just not needed. Also, since the normal mobs (with a few exceptions) are very easy compared to mini and normal bosses most idols are not needed. They are nice if you want to farm one particular area of 1-2 rooms but then what would you actually have to farm for.

It feels a bit like they have things int he game that are just there because thats what from did for he last few games, like quests that arent very rewarding this time around, skilltrees that arent very useful but at least its a hint of rpg, exhausting bossfights because thats expected and a camera that kills you more often than the bosses themselves.

 

I do like having idols close to the bosses (except there not really being one that close to the top of the castle, despite at least two bosses being there), but their frequency during exploration is too high. Feels like you rarely go 5 minutes before seeing the next one.

I think a large part of the problem is there's just very little loot the game can hand out for exploring. Soulsborne had weapons, armor, lore, money, crafting materials, and many different consumables. Sekiro has money and... consumables, but tbh finding ceramic shards and piles of ash doesn't really feel rewarding, and to me, neither did the buff sugars or mibu balloons. Cash is nice ofc, but there's not enough crafting materials to avoid farming either way, so what does it really matter if you find half or all of it, when the difference in required farming time is so small?

 

At first I didn't think too much of it because of the amount of new mini boss encounters filled with adds in the early game areas, but it becomes glaringly obvious by the time you reach fountainhead that they did go overboard with idols. Fountainhead has so, so, so many idols in close proximity without any justification for them it's insane. It was a missed opportunity to wear down the player a little, that area doesn't have a huge concentration of mini boss and its area boss is not something anyone should die from. Considering how fast you travel throughout the map when you know the layout.. it's just excessive. Ashina Castle, Senpou and Sunken Valley also suffer from this to an extent, but fountainhead is like.. Great Sakura, Palace Grounds, Feeding Grounds, Near Pot Noble and Sanctuary are pretty much the same location. The list of idols makes Fountainhead look more than it is.

 

is the dojo not reactivatable?

 

All the idols also make most of the shortcuts completely pointless (the one connecting temple Main Hall with the Inner Sanctum, or the Dilapidated Temple with the Kuro's Room and a few others).