Finally got around to this, got it on sale on the PS store. Haven't played a game this simultaneously aggravating and addicting since the original NA release of DMC3. Haven't yelled Bullshit! and Fuck Ooooff! at the screen this much since the arcade days. And while there is some questionable design here, I know that failure is 98% my fault, my brain having trouble wrapping itself around mechanics and enemy behavior.
The game seems designed to punish any habits you may form. Trying to be aggressive and beat the enemy down? Take this hyper-armor, bitch. Think you're just gonna stand there and deflect everything? Here's an instant Perilous you don't have time to react to because you're too close (and sometimes because you can't see because of the camera). Wanna play pussy and dodge? Enjoy more tracking than a VHS tape.
I still don't really grasp the step dodge, I get hit the vast majority of times I try to evade an attack. Am I supposed to dodge to the side, back, towards? I know it's not as powerful as the BB dodge, but it seems to be nearly useless for anything that isn't a heavy vertical attack/have insane tracking. But at the end of the day, I know it's me and that other people are out there dodging every attack that can be dodged.
My last reeming came from Lone Shadow Longsword. Probably took me at least 15 attempts, most ending with me getting raped in a corner or against the wall, the last thing I saw being a red kanji filling up most of the screen. The nigga just keeps going! Couldn't even get enough space to heal half the time. The encounter really shows you how tight your deflecting skills are, because his kicks and combos will push your posture to breaking if you are imprecise, which apparently I was. And I'm still crap at distinguishing between multiple perilous attacks up close, I often get caught using the wrong counter measure, or I panic and hit the wrong button.
But when you finally beat someone, they then seem very obvious and easy.
FromSoft/Muh'zaki level design continues to impress. I was expecting a more linear game, and maybe it is in terms of story route, but there are plenty of paths within areas. In fact I'm often overwhelmed with the amount of directions I can go at some points.
Art direction is majestic. This is one of the most sumptuous depictions of Japanese feudal era and folklore/fantasy of all time. FS are master character and environmental artists at this point, and Sekiro may be their high watermark. It's the epitome of what's beautiful and cool with the theme and setting, just like they did with Bloodborne. Their color choices are amazing, like master painter level.
I've seen a lot of people on the internet criticizing this game for not having "builds", or good character progression, etc.....
IT ISN'T THAT KIND OF FUCKING GAME, retards. What don't you fucking understand?! And that kind of game was never promised. They didn't say this was going to be Koga Souls. This is their character action game, so to speak. You can criticize it by that standard for it's lack of weapon selection, but since I remember a time when action games only gave you one kind of main weapon, it doesn't bother me one bit. All games don't have to follow the same designs standards, philosophies, or specs. What a boring world that would be. I think calling all these games "Souls" or "Souls-like" does them a disservice in that way, just because Miyazaki likes to repeat certain elements in his games, which a lot of developers do hello.
Weren't you one of the people shitting on Sekiro for "QTE gameplay"? Or am I confusing you with someone else?
