From Software makes games that make you wanna pull your own eyes out in a fit of rage. This is a fact and anyone who’s played Bloodborne or Dark Souls will know this feeling well. If this is you, you may or may not be surprised to hear that the company’s latest title, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, is just as difficult.
[jwplayer ufxzSg8Y]
I got to play through a small part of the game for about half an hour today and let me tell you folks: it kicked my ass incredibly hard. Before I got my hands on Sekiro, the impression I got from various gameplay clips was that it was gonna be a slightly less difficult, but no less entertaining slasher for an audience who favours their sanity. Wrong. So, so wrong.
Sekiro is set in late 1500s Japan, which is drenched in “perpetual conflict,” as you can probably see in its exceedingly bloody trailers. It’s a blend of stealth, ninja-style moves, intense combat, and dying a lot, but you probably knew to expect the latter given its maker’s previous releases.
I played through a relatively short section featuring two boss-like enemies and a few cronies scattered throughout. The cronies were a piece of piss and many of them I was able to take down in just a few swings of my sword, which I gotta admit, was satisfying as hell, especially when I was able to nail a successful death-from-above move.
The meatier enemies, however, fucked me up so good. In fact, they killed me so many times in the short space of time I had with the game, I probably spent more time staring at a death screen than actually playing. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I suck at these kinds of games – and it took me a little bit to get used to the controls – but my suspicion that Sekiro is crazy difficult was also confirmed by a pal I ran into on my way out who messaged me after his session saying that he too was rumbled. Not only that, I’m told no one has been able to finish off the first boss guy yet, so, yeah, it’s pretty hard.
Sekiro’s difficulty stems primarily from timing. If you don’t attack or block at precisely the right moment, you’ll be eaten alive, and it’s not the slightest bit forgiving, either. The great majority of my deaths were simply a result of my own poor timing but given a longer period to learn a little more, I’m confident I could, uh, not die so goddamn much at the very least.
Where it can be forgiving, however, is in its death mechanic, which allows you to resurrect yourself the first time you die. This is great if you’ve whittled down an enemy’s health a lot and just need to land a few more hits to finish him off. If you die a second time, you go back to the nearest checkpoint with a single resurrection available again.
While combat is certainly a tough trot, at least in the beginning, getting around is pretty fun. Armed with a grappling hook, you’re free to pull yourself onto rooves, trees, and other miscellaneous ledges to either avoid enemies or rain cold steal onto their unsuspecting noggins.
After failing to bring down the first boss-like guy, I was told I could skip past him by simply running away, so I did, tagging a checkpoint along the way. But here’s the thing: the second area was even harder than the first.
I was able to slay a few of cronies, but beyond them was an enormous troll with a penchant for wrestling moves. I died so many times either from being straight-up bodyslammed or just suplexed into the ground. It was grim as hell.
Needless to say, my half an hour ended with me accomplishing next to nothing. In other words, Sekiro is very much a From Software title and if that’s something you’re into, you’re gonna love it.
