Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (new From Software game)

[Ivan]

hesitation is da feet

 

[Multidirectional]

Fuck the sword saint cunt...

By this point I can regularly get past phase 1 and 2, but the third phase is wrecking me so far... He just spams that spear/gun bullshit non-stop. Also the way he recovers his posture in 0.1 seconds is retarded, as is the fucking field of battle. The dumbass flowers make it harder to see what the fuck he is doing, especially since many of the attacks come from the ground. He pulled that spear out of his ass, and thats where many of the attacks come from as well.

If you can regularly do phase 1 and 2 you'll get him very soon no doubt. Third phase gives you opportunity for lightning reversal, no? That made it the easiest phase for me.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

No, I meant 1st phase - Genichiro, 2nd phase sword version of Isshin.

 

[Tyranicon]

Fuck the sword saint cunt...

By this point I can regularly get past phase 1 and 2, but the third phase is wrecking me so far... He just spams that spear/gun bullshit non-stop. Also the way he recovers his posture in 0.1 seconds is retarded, as is the fucking field of battle. The dumbass flowers make it harder to see what the fuck he is doing, especially since many of the attacks come from the ground. He pulled that spear out of his ass, and thats where many of the attacks come from as well.

I tried to cheese him using different combinations of tools and sword arts, but I only beat him the old school way: by memorizing the shit out of his attack patterns.

It was one of the greatest cathartic moments I've had in gaming, comparable to breaking open the bronze sphere or whatever in PS:T.

When I finally beat him, it was an immaculate display of swordsmanship, just two dudes duking it out.

I spent more time on this fucker than Orphan of Kos and Nameless King combined.

 

[Multidirectional]

I was stuck on Lady Butterfly the longest, took me about a week to kill her. I was at my most noob then, trying to dodge/jump from most attacks like a moron. And even when I decided not to play that way anymore my muscle memory still kept fucking me over. Hundreds of hours of Souls games prepared me real well for Sekiro, what can I say..

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Yeah, Sword Saint fight is hard... What makes it hard is the 4 phases. So it's like, if 3rd phase was 1st, you could quickly get enough reps in to memorize all the patterns. But because it's third, you have to get past Genichiro and Sword version first, and even though I can regularly do that now, one of them still gets me every once in a while, so for every 3-4 runs, I only get to 3rd phase once, which slows down the whole process. 4 phase bosses are fucking annoying...

 

[MasPingon]

Fuck the sword saint cunt...

Wait till you meet Owl.That bastard makes good people little whiny bitches.

 

[Lyric Suite]

So i launched the game. Does Elden Ring uses this game's engine? Visuals seem somewhat similar, kinda pastel looking like Elden Ring as opposed to just glossy like DS3.

BTW what's happening welp i press roll and nothing happens.

 

[Multidirectional]

BTW what's happening welp i press roll and nothing happens.

UNPLAYABLE!

Fuck the sword saint cunt...

Wait till you meet Owl.That bastard makes good people little whiny bitches.

You mean the second Owl fight? I actually find that easier than first one, because he's not spamming heal blockers and poison. I hate that crap.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

No rolls in Sekiro thank god, it's all deflecting (parry), jumping and side step dodging special attacks. And some additional skills you will pick up later.

 

[Tyranicon]

BTW what's happening welp i press roll and nothing happens.

UNPLAYABLE!

Fuck the sword saint cunt...

Wait till you meet Owl.That bastard makes good people little whiny bitches.

You mean the second Owl fight? I actually find that easier than first one, because he's not spamming heal blockers and poison. I hate that crap.

I found Second Owl vastly easier than SS Ishin but I keep hearing that the two fights are comparable. People must have very different playing styles.

 

[Multidirectional]

I found Second Owl vastly easier than SS Ishin but I keep hearing that the two fights are comparable. People must have very different playing styles.

Yeah I would say he's easier. A lot less phases to go through, for one.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Well, finally took his 3rd phase down for the first time. What a cunt... His 4th phase promptly wrecked me in 4 seconds. I was looking for lightning tells to jump and reflext, but then he hit me with 3 regular attacks from 3 miles away, and finished me off with the lightning when I was posture broken.

 

[Multidirectional]

So, still think Genichiro is one of the hardest bosses?

 

[Visperas]

Sekiro is sooo good. What are the chances FS make Sekiro 2 next?

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

So, still think Genichiro is one of the hardest bosses?

He kinda is. Saint Cunt is in a league of his own, but from the others I beat, Genichiro, Butterfly, Owl, Apes were all pretty tough for the time.

 

[MajorMace]

Sekiro is sooo good. What are the chances FS make Sekiro 2 next?

There's probably more chances for them to make original titles. Right now they're hyping the reboot of their mecha series, their communication on the matter revolving around how it'll be closer to their new formula and more fitting for their current audience tastes.
I doubt a Sekiro-like, as in a resolutely action-oriented title, is even considered right now. They might as well make a Bloodborne II for the PS5, since there's unfortunately apparently no way Sony drops the exclusivity on it (or Demon's Souls). Fuck Sony.

It feels like Miyazaki is retiring soon. Or leaving some space for other designers at FromSoft. The studio grew steadily and considerably during the last decade after all. It's ought to either change or go into a sad automatic mode of production on the long run though.

 

[cruel]

Porky, remember to check the second Owl fight, it's quite fun. Also very difficult, but less annoying (faster) than Isshin.

Sent from my KB2005 using Tapatalk

 

[Ivan]

So, still think Genichiro is one of the hardest bosses?

He kinda is. Saint Cunt is in a league of his own, but from the others I beat, Genichiro, Butterfly, Owl, Apes were all pretty tough for the time.

Genichiro and Father Gascoigne are the best "gatekeeper" bosses

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Well, after 3-4 days of getting my shit pushed in by this asshole, Porkmeister finally ends Sword Saint Isshin:



Imho the hardest boss in any From Software game that I've played (Dark Souls 1-3, Elden Ring, Sekiro). The shit that makes him annoying af:

- 4 phases, each with its own moveset (3-4 share some stuff)
- Phase 3-4, the moveset is just insane, he is literally like a fucking helicopter flea
- fuck timing lightning jumps
- the super-insanely fast regenerating posture and super high health pool, plus high damage, every hit takes more than half my health
- some attacks have almost no animations, you are going purely by timing, can't see shit
- the field of motherfucking flowers somewhat obscures his attacks in 3rd/4th phase, as does the ground, since he is able to twirl the spear through the ground (just like he pulled it out of his ass)

Anyone reading this who hasn't beaten him yet, and who will pull out hair in the future, here's my advice on how to beat his stank ass:

1. Genichiro - This one is the easiest, stay on him aggresively, run behind him when he is doing the mortal blade attack, otherwise exchange hits and deflects until his posture goes down. Deflect arrow shots too. He has a super long attack chain, that one starts with 2 fast attacks, and then a slow rotating attack. Step dodge back out of range during the slow attack, if you deflect the entire chain it will drain your posture in most cases, and then possibly kill you. Mikiri counter his thrusts (one is really slow developing), and jump over the sweeps.

2. Sword Saint sword phase - This one is relatively easy too (although not when you first face him). It's all about staying aggressive and dealing with his speed. When he tries to do the Iaitsu quick-draw from sheath, his sheath/crossguard will flash once. Wait for when it flashes the 2nd time, and then immediately deflect twice. If he tries to to move to your right with a perilous attack, quickly hit him twice to prevent it. Get a feel for deflecting his normal attacks, they are very fast but fairly predictable. Mikiri counter when he thrusts. Use the Iron Umbrella for his wind attacks, best prosthetic attachment for this boss fight imo.

3. Sword Saint spear/gun/sword phase - This phase was ridiculously hard for me. He just throws so much bullshit at you, it can overwhelm. I was dying a lot until I realized a few things that helped me start owning him:
a. Use iron umbrella prosthesis to block his wind attack, it covers a huge area and you might not be able to run out of it.
b. With him having so many crazy attacks, the natural instinct is to play defensive. But you cannot. You will lose every single time because his shit cannot be handled defensively, there's too much it. In particular, his posture recovers very fast, so if you step back, he is back to zero damage. You have to stay very aggressive.
c. It's best to attack him in 2 attack combos. 1 attack doesn't do enough damage but also it doesn't stagger him. 2 consecutive attacks, especially if they hit his head, will stagger him and temporarily stop his bullshit attack spam. More than 2 will result in him getting you back, so stay at 2. Also note that when under attack, he often jumps back and hits out with spear, so always do 2 attacks and immediately look to deflect if necessary.
d. He has a 6 hit bullshit combo where he basically goes at you like a helicopter. You will probably not be able to deflect these 6 attacks, and if any land, they will also often stunlock you and leave you dead. So as soon as you feel this combo of shit coming, deflect the first 1-2 and RUN out of there.
e. Healing against him is kinda like suicide, because he is literally programmed to jump on you when you use an item. Of course sometimes you still need to heal, so try to gain some distance, then quickly heal, then prepare to deflect as he lands on you immediately after.


4. Sword Saint lightning phase - This one is basically phase 3 except he now has lightning also and some additional wind attacks. Sounds bad, but basically just learn the lightning reflect jump timing, it's a bit tricky, but once you got it, it makes this phase a lot easier than the third, since you can stun him and do extra damage with the reflect. And again, stay aggressive.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

I think Sekiro will be my last From Software game. At this point I have completed all the ones on the PC (DaS 1-3, ER, and now Sekiro). I really don't like the direction the company has been headed in.

DaS1 was my favorite game of theirs, an interesting layered world, and a lot of stuff going on besides boss fights. And while boss fights were tough, they were reasonably tough. Now with ER and Sekiro and DaS3, they are just going more and more full retard on bosses. 4 phases, spazzy movesets, etc. I don't really want to play games anymore where you gotta run the same fight for days to get gud. Games are supposed to be entertainment, not this bullshit. Not that Miyazaki would know, since he himself claimed his games are too hard for him to play. So he is basically churning out sadistic stuff for us morons, and people keep lapping it up. Oh well, I've had enough.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Sekiro is sooo good. What are the chances FS make Sekiro 2 next?

There's probably more chances for them to make original titles. Right now they're hyping the reboot of their mecha series, their communication on the matter revolving around how it'll be closer to their new formula and more fitting for their current audience tastes.
I doubt a Sekiro-like, as in a resolutely action-oriented title, is even considered right now. They might as well make a Bloodborne II for the PS5, since there's unfortunately apparently no way Sony drops the exclusivity on it (or Demon's Souls). Fuck Sony.

It feels like Miyazaki is retiring soon. Or leaving some space for other designers at FromSoft. The studio grew steadily and considerably during the last decade after all. It's ought to either change or go into a sad automatic mode of production on the long run though.

I saw an Activision logo when i loaded the game what if the reason they aren't making a sequel is that because they don't have the rights, same with Sony probably?

 

[MajorMace]

I think Sekiro will be my last From Software game. At this point I have completed all the ones on the PC (DaS 1-3, ER, and now Sekiro). I really don't like the direction the company has been headed in.

DaS1 was my favorite game of theirs, an interesting layered world, and a lot of stuff going on besides boss fights. And while boss fights were tough, they were reasonably tough. Now with ER and Sekiro and DaS3, they are just going more and more full retard on bosses. 4 phases, spazzy movesets, etc. I don't really want to play games anymore where you gotta run the same fight for days to get gud. Games are supposed to be entertainment, not this bullshit. Not that Miyazaki would know, since he himself claimed his games are too hard for him to play. So he is basically churning out sadistic stuff for us morons, and people keep lapping it up. Oh well, I've had enough.

Sekiro has this effect on people.
More seriously, you're right, and I can't blame you for not knowing this since you only played the ones available on pc, but this evolution towards hardcore boss fights (as an attempt to fulfill their audience expectations in terms of "super duper hard content for big boys") was already visible back then, at DaS release.

There's a niche of people who played demon's souls back in 2008 and some of them expressed themselves on the web, I remember vividly, to share their disappointment about Dark Souls. Not only because of the art direction (game got a glowup, tone shifted a little towards high fantasy) but also because its boss design was radically different.

In DeS, every boss has some clear weakness. Some are more visible than others, which lead players back then to deem Flamelurker and the Maneaters as pretty hardcore (and these are a big part of the reason Dark Souls baseline was "Prepare to Die") but the idea never was for you to attempt to fight them mano a mano anymore than to fight Leechmonger knees high in his leechmongering or the Tower knight under volleys of crossbow bolts. Yet a surprising amount of people wouldn't raise their fire resistance against Flamelurker, or try and drop the poise and shield approach against his ceaseless assaults, or try and brute force the maneaters without making use of their flying downtime and voila : the reputation of FromSoft bosses being super duper tough fights was settled in the mind of a lot of players and expectations evolved towards this design end and never really lifted.

Which is stupid because it has to end. You can't design more and more demanding fights in terms of reflex and memorisation without them falling in the realm of absurdity at some point.

I'm not surprised Miyazaki claimed he can't beat his own games now. I said Sekiro is fantastic and I believe it is, but I haven't finished it either. Sekiro for me is divided in two parts : the game itself, amazing, and then two specific moments during its progression : the first Genichiro fight and the boss rush at the end.
I quickly got good enough to feel comfortable cleaning the game itself. The first Genichiro fight though took me 50 excruciating tries. I still remember the pain. What to make of a game featuring the three monkeys puzzle, the valley of sniping gunners, the headless ape encounter when you are required to beat demanding parts such as its final bossrush ?
And it's worth pondering because FromSoft never truly departed from their roots. Aforementioned 3 monkeys puzzle is typical original boss design from them. More of a puzzle than a fight. A nice break in pacing. A new framework for the player to tinker with his options etc.
It must sound silly but I don't think finishing a game is a necessity to claim to have played it extensively, or to bear an honest judgement on it. Whatever the reason. I never finished Fallout 3, Skyrim, Twitcher 3 also. But since it wasn't a difficulty summit which made me drop off there, nobody minds if I review these based on my unachieved journey. But in FromSoft cases, due to this phagocyting reputation their games acquired when it comes to overcoming challenges, a great and frankly unnecessary deal of shame comes with failing to do so.
Yet I'll claim it : you can never complete Sekiro and still play what it has to offer. And what it has to offer remains for the most of it accessible and enjoyable. It's worth playing through even if you don't manage to deliver the required amount of skill and/or luck to see its actual ending.
Playing Elden Ring made me less pessimistic about this also. The game's approach is such that you can technically see most of the game without enduring anything close to the Sekiro boss rush. All and all, despite this whole rant, and despite the fact FromSoft could have simply never gone down this rabbit hole, I still think they're doing a good job at making their games more accessible. And it's a good thing. They champion principles of game design that, ten years ago, were down the gutter among triple A devs.

I saw an Activision logo when i loaded the game what if the reason they aren't making a sequel is that because they don't have the rights, same with Sony probably?

That's possible. I didn't know Activision chipped in on Sekiro. Rare moment of sanity in their offices I guess.

 

[Deflowerer]

Tenchu's publishing rights used to be with Activision in West the very least, so I am pretty sure the whole Activision involvement came because initially it was supposed to be a Tenchu reboot before they realized it's its own thing.

 

[Lyric Suite]

You never finished Fallout 3 and Skyrim because those games were colossal piles of shit. Can't speak about Witcher 3 as i never looked at it.