Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (new From Software game)

[karoliner]

 

[Damned Registrations]

Why in the wide world of fuck would Activision not want more Sekiro content to be released? I don't understand.

the IP belongs to FromSW).

 

[Black Angel]

3.8 million copies as of June 30th... they deserve it. More good singleplayer games getting recognition is a good thing to rub off the face of that fucktwat blue checkmark on twatter who spout some nonsense about singleplayer games not selling.

Why in the wide world of fuck would Activision not want more Sekiro content to be released? I don't understand.

Like toro pointed out, the IP belongs to Fromsoft (which is a good thing, since Dark Souls belong to Bamco, while Demon's Souls and Bloodborne belong to Sony, AFAIK). While I sincerely hoped for at least 1 DLC (we have so much shit teased in the base game), I can respect Fromsoft deciding that what we got is all they can offer, and not making us pay more for separate DLC (even though I also personally wouldn't mind to pay extra for to support their future endeavors).

If they're actually keeping it under the hood, and turns out a DLC in size of Witcher 3's Blood and Wine/Underrail's Expedition, though....

 

[vortex]

3.8 million copies as of June 30th... they deserve it.

If they're actually keeping it under the hood, and turns out a DLC in size of Witcher 3's Blood and Wine/Underrail's Expedition, though....

3.8 million is not considered very much by today's standards, mind you.

DLC ain't gonna happen cause they're full on board for Elden Ring which they said it's theirs biggest thing. And they're probably making Bloodborne 2 for PS5 launch.

 

[Black Angel]

3.8 million is not considered very much by today's standards, mind you.

If it's AAA's tier like Bethesda, Ubisoft, EA, etc etc standard, then yeah, I guess. I don't know what category Fromsoft fall into, though. However, the very fact that they announce it means it's, suffice to say, beyond their expectation, as Kadokawa admitted in the article:

Kadokawa, From Software’s parent company, confirmed that the game sold 3.8 million copies as of June 30th, which is an excellent result for a brand new IP.

New IP is also the keyword here. In an era where there's shitloads of remakes, remasters, and [insert name/genre here]-like, fresh new stuff that is ALSO good is, well, refreshing.

DLC ain't gonna happen cause they're full on board for Elden Ring which they said it's theirs biggest thing. And they're probably making Bloodborne 2 for PS5 launch.

Yeah, I think you're right. I'm indeed excited to see how they'll adapt what they've learned and implemented in Sekiro with their intended emphasize on RPG mechanics.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

What if Sekiro is just a plot of Japanese government to promote Tokyo Paralympic 2020?

 

[cvv]

No DLC? With those bigger single-player games that's almost unheard of nowadays. Usually when devs go for a less lucrative single-player game they at least try to sell the same assets two or three times over. Japs are weird.

 

[vortex]

Maybe they'll announce something at Gamescom. Elden Ring will be screened secretly.

 

[mogwaimon]

While I would like to have more places to go in Sekiro I think I'm far more pleased with the fact that no DLC = we got a complete game at launch for once that doesn't feel like it was left incomplete on purpose to sell DLC later on.

 

[Squid]

No DLC? With those bigger single-player games that's almost unheard of nowadays.

How I felt about the new God of War. Figured those locked away realms were going to be sold at some point.

The funny thing is, is that these type of games normally have more worthwhile DLC. Not always but at least it is usually more to do for your money unlike skins and emotes or different game mode bullshit.

 

[cvv]

How I felt about the new God of War. Figured those locked away realms were going to be sold at some point.

Yeah, GoW is even weirder, considering the success. Did they explicitly say they wouldn't make a DLC? They could be working on one.

The funny thing is, is that these type of games normally have more worthwhile DLC. Not always but at least it is usually more to do for your money unlike skins and emotes or different game mode bullshit.

Sure but it's still just using the same chunk of assets and engine multiple times over. It's a huge waste NOT to do that, it's basically leaving money on the table. With blockbusters like GoW or Sekiro we're talking millions of dollars of unclaimed profit per DLC.

 

[Black Angel]

What if Sekiro is just a plot of Japanese government to promote Tokyo Paralympic 2020?

And in turn, Tokyo Paralympic 2020 is a plot of Araki to promoto Jojo's part 7, arguably the best Jojo for a lot of people, if not the majority. Sekiro = Jojo reference confirmed.

 

[Squid]

Yeah, GoW is even weirder, considering the success. Did they explicitly say they wouldn't make a DLC? They could be working on one.

I think they were planning on one but Corey Balrog was aiming to make it too large in scale so they stopped him or something. I'm not entirely sure.

And I get that it's reused assets and the same engine. I don't have a problem with that as long as it's good. But yeah, that's a lot of easier money to be made just being left there.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

What if Sekiro is just a plot of Japanese government to promote Tokyo Paralympic 2020?

And in turn, Tokyo Paralympic 2020 is a plot of Araki to promoto Jojo's part 7, arguably the best Jojo for a lot of people, if not the majority. Sekiro = Jojo reference confirmed.

And the Olympiad will be opened by Hatsune Miku.
Meaning that Miura will be dancing in the first row.
And the people will ask Miura how it is that he has such killer moves.
And Miura will say: Git Gud

And the circle will be completed!

 

[sullynathan]

If they're not making DLC, it isn't because the game isn't successful, it's because they have other shit to do. More successful games than Sekiro already followed that path

 

[Ventidius]

So I finally went and got this. I'm liking it much more than I expected. In particular, I was pleasantly surprised about the fact that there are still plenty of venues for character progression: skill trees, Prosthetic Tools, gourd, vitality, and posture upgrades, etc. This, and the fact that there still seems to be a relative non-linearity to the level design (at least so far, in some of the early areas), means that the exploration is still fun, though clearly this aspect had been de-emphasized in relation to the Souls series. I'm also digging the combat and the emphasis on aggression and timing, it actually feels like a natural evolution of Bloodborne's system and it fits the the game's theme very well.

That said, the stealth could have used some work, it is very exploitable due to the poor AI and the mobility gap between the player and the enemies. It is more reminiscent of the Arkham games than of something competent like MGSV. Of course, no one expects the stealth to be top notch, but the exploitability hurts the difficulty outside of the boss battles. I hope the game does something to make the levels and regular enemies more challenging later on (I just beat Enshin.)

Anyway, the game is really good at making you feel like a badass ninja and I like what they did with the Sengoku setting: it doesn't feel as hackneyed as I expected, or even at all. Good stuff, overall.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

The stealth is fine. It's meant to be "exploitable", everything that isn't a boss or a miniboss (which are a shit ton, by the way) is meant to be dealt with in a quick string of chained stealth kills, when you learn the ideal pattern across each area.
In the same way i nthe Arkham games a single goon is supposed to represent a trivial threat and are only large mobs and special encounters that can give you some troubles.

You are also somewhat wrong about the "multiple venues of character progression". With some extra grinding you basically can get everything in a single playthrough (let's make it one and half), both in terms of skills and special tools.
Then again you can also speedrun across the entire game in less than a hour if you are genuinely good, so there's that for trying something resembling multiple builds.

 

[Ventidius]

After beating Genichiro, I have to say, the boss design is really good in this game. This applies to mini-bosses as well. The more 'standard' bosses like Genichiro and Lady Butterfly seem to take the route of DS3 and especially its DLC, with the use of multiple phases, but IMO improves it through the faster and more dynamic combat system which allows you to cut them down quickly if you play aggresively and know how to keep the pressure up on their posture.

That said, even the 'gimmick' bosses have been surprisingly good so far. The Gyoubu Oniwa and Blazing Bull fights were genuinely fun and a nice change of pace. They introduce variety and are definitely an improvement from the sort of gimmick bosses of previous From games.

Some of the optional mini-bosses like the Headless were pretty interesting too, and it was pretty cool to get a useful and unique item like Ako's Spiritfall after defeating it. In fact, I like that about this game: beating bosses gets you unique rewards and upgrades that you wouldn't be able to get from normal enemies. Makes beating them all the more satisfying.

While it seems clear to me that From has shifted the emphasis from levels to bosses in their approach to creating challenge (a process that started in DS3,) I did find Ashina Castle rather interesting as a level, with plenty of different routes and sub-areas to explore, plus fast enemies stationed on the rooftops to keep up the pressure.

I've really been pleasantly surprised by this game, as I didn't come into it with particularly high expectations. It's turning out to be quite the fun ninja simulator.

 

[Alphard]

The level design is good but the setting is uninteresting for me. I'm glad with Elden ring they will return to European setting.
Those pagodas/towers/fortresses look all the same to me

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

I feel my blood boiling!


Let's start with the bad:

- The inexcusable flaw of Sekiro is camera. Only Genchiro and Isshin killed me more time than the camera. The game requires perfection from the player, yet camera is as far away from perfection as it can. It goes crazy when you are next to the wall. It makes some objects close to the camera semitransparent, however it leaves other objects that are just slightly not close enough to camera, like leafs on the tree which are blocking the view.
- I don't like that the actions can be queued, it makes the system less responsive which is contrary to what From Software was trying to archive.
- I don't like that when you run away from enemy with a lock on them, you turn your back at them while you still are in their range.
- I think that using Estus should be quicker. Technically retreating to heal can be considered a part of tactical layer of the game, but practically it breaks the pace.
-Putting chained ogre at the start of the game was a mistake. He is an enemy you fight best by jumping away from him, which can teach you bat habits for the future (which happened to me, only grandpa Isshin was able to correct this ). There should be a centipede in his place.
- I have no problem with some content reusing, however I think that Sekiro have overdid it.
- I hate looting in this game. You collect tons of trash. I also think that one use consumables don't work in the game like Sekiro. Losing to the boss, should give you back all consumables you used on him.
- I disliked terror mechanic. It felt cheap.


However the good surpasses the bad in the game:

- I loved the difficulty. When I played Dark Souls for the first time, I killed most bosses on my first or second try. Rarely I felt really challenged. In Sekiro I was dying a lot. Genchiro killed me dozens of times before I got him. There is a feeling of warm in one body when you defeat challenging boss in Sekiro. Sometimes you even let yourself killed in the last stretch of the fight from this excitement I wasn't using parry in DS through, so maybe my inexperience is where this feeling of a game being tough comes from.
-Lady Butterfly, Genchiro, Isshin, Gyobu, O Rin. Those boss battles are phenomenal, some of the best in Soulsborne series.
- I like that you have to use, parry, dodge and jump to protect yourself from enemy attacks. Great improvement from dodging Olympics from previous games.
- I love the setting. Just walking around Sengoku era castle is fun in itself.
- Cling, Clang, Cling, Clang, Clang, Cling
- Whole combat system feels really responsive and there is a lot of excitement in how fast paced it is.
- I liked the slightly more straightforward than usual story. It was fun to realize who the Tengu was. I also very liked Isshin, I think it's due to the excellent voice actor.
- I like how you need to kill other bosses to become stronger for the boss you are stuck on. No grinding in this game.
- I like how when you fight Emma in Shura ending, Emma sword is without hilt. Samurai were storing their swords in wood sheaths, without hilts when they weren't needing it at the moment.
- The git good is strong with this one. I started a new run just right after the first one, and I defeated Genchiro on the third try (nearly got him on the second), Gyobu nearly died at the first try and Butterfly died on the fourth. I deflected (with some jumping) the first general you meet in the game to death.
- It really felt like I was playing a shinobi in the game. Liked how encounter design is all about finding the best way to start the combat/ eliminating most troublesome enemies beforehand.


Overall, the game is excellent. I want to play Sekiro 2.

 

[Black Angel]

- The inexcusable flaw of Sekiro is camera. Only Genchiro and Isshin killed me more time than the camera. The game requires perfection from the player, yet camera is as far away from perfection as it can. It goes crazy when you are next to the wall. It makes some objects close to the camera semitransparent, however it leaves other objects that are just slightly not close enough to camera, like leafs on the tree which are blocking the view.

While I agree with your points in general, I actually felt like the camera in Sekiro received significant improvements over previous games. In previous games, when dodging enemies there are often times when the locked-on camera is broken because I dodged past rushing enemies. Here in Sekiro it doesn't happen, or at least it happens but VERY rarely, as in I've only experienced broken camera lock-on like once or twice. I also think that this is thanks to not having enemies 10 times the size of the playable character. But heck, even Demon of Hatred won't broke the camera lock-on when he use his rush attack.

Having said that, as From Software games per se, the camera does kills you occasionally, mainly when you get cornered to a wall or whatever. Which is why fighting enemies and bosses like Lone Shadow Swordsman and the first Ashina Elite can be quite obnoxious because of how restricted and claustrophobic the arena is. However, in cases of enemies like Genichiro and Isshin there are plenty of space to create some distance and thus prevent you from getting cornered.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

Well..... I had my camera block broken by Butterfly going behind pillars and Isshin going behind a rock. I am also sure the Demon of Hated managed to break my lock a few times.

 

[Black Angel]

Well..... I had my camera block broken by Butterfly going behind pillars and Isshin going behind a rock. I am also sure the Demon of Hated managed to break my lock a few times.

How much points did you invest into LCK when being born?

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

I wanted to count all attribute points I got, so I resigned them all until I got 1 point in everything. However I lost focus and I clicked "born" button without assigning them back.

And here I am.

 

[toro]