Sekiro Shadows Died for First Impressions

[Dirty Hipsters]

So I've gotten better at the combat and have been starting to enjoy the game more. I think the turning point for me was finally getting 5 heals allowing me to actually make mistakes in combat and still recover. In the early game I tried to avoid combat as much as possible because only having 1 or 2 heals just isn't enough when trying to explore the levels, but that meant that I couldn't get good at the combat if I was actively avoiding it. Now that I have a decent amount of healing I feel like I can actually get into combat and that has allowed me to actually practice and get better while still making progress.

Honestly, I think just starting the player off with 3 flasks instead of 1 probably would make a world of difference in how quickly people are able to adapt to the new combat system.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I'm having a pretty rough time with it. I guess my main problem is trying to play it like it's Dark Souls or Bloodborne but I just can't wrap my head around the combat. Mostly because I feel like everything is killing me far too quickly to actually learn it. But then, maybe it just doesn't play to my strengths. As far as I can tell it's all about immediately recognizing the enemies attack and then timing the parry correctly but I'm just far too slow for that.

And it annoys me because I reckon that it just needs to click for me but it doesn't.

You can actually just spam the block button to trigger deflects. I have the same problem with certain enemies where it's a bit hard to judge when an attack will land, and so I just kinda tap block as a precaution. It's not 100% accurate, but it's helped me out quite a bit. Same with the mikiri counter.

The game also gives you misinformation like saying deflects and mikiri counter should be performed as the attacks land, which is just plain wrong as you can't wait that long. IIRC, the game tells you to dodge from grabs when fighting the chained ogre but jumping works better IMO.

Honestly, I think just starting the player off with 3 flasks instead of 1 probably would make a world of difference in how quickly people are able to adapt to the new combat system.

How dare you try to implement an Easy mode in this perfectly tuned masterpiece by the gaming gods know as From Software!!! Not every game has to be for you, there's plenty of other games for you, you should play those games instead of trying to ruin this gift bestowed upon us hardcore gamers. [/sarcasm]

 

[Casual Shinji]

The game also gives you misinformation like saying deflects and mikiri counter should be performed as the attacks land, which is just plain wrong as you can't wait that long. IIRC, the game tells you to dodge from grabs when fighting the chained ogre but jumping works better IMO.

That's because the Chained Ogre fight is a bit badly designed. Dodging should work perfectly fine, yet the ogre will just fucking home in on you past a certain threshold, eventhough he moves slow enough that you should still be able to dodge out of his way. I've had a bunch of moments where me dodging caused the orge model to do an almost 90 degree turn in mid-air just so his grab could connect. A lot of enemies have this.. I would almost like to say cheat, but with the Chained Ogre it's very apparent.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I'm having a pretty rough time with it. I guess my main problem is trying to play it like it's Dark Souls or Bloodborne but I just can't wrap my head around the combat. Mostly because I feel like everything is killing me far too quickly to actually learn it. But then, maybe it just doesn't play to my strengths. As far as I can tell it's all about immediately recognizing the enemies attack and then timing the parry correctly but I'm just far too slow for that.

And it annoys me because I reckon that it just needs to click for me but it doesn't.

Same. This is the first time I'm starting to be genuinely put off by the difficulty in a fromsoft game. It's as fast as Bloodborne (maybe even faster), but without the plentiful healing items and ability to recover by hitting enemies. It has as few healing items at the start as Dark Souls 2 except you can't even buy them, and blocking simply isn't a viable strategy.

And I really struggle with how the game expects me to play it. Is this a stealth game or an action game? Does the game want me to be sneaky or aggressive? There's all this mobility, space to move around, being able to hug walls and shit, but as soon as I stealth kill my first enemy everyone within 5 miles homes in on my position like I just let off a signal flare. I'm really starting to get sick of that string section kicking in every time I try to be sneaky because the protagonist is a huge drama queen and every stealth kill has to be accompanied by a "thunk" sound effect and blood spatter like it's going out of style. So stealth doesn't work.

Try to be aggressive in combat, moving between enemies and such? Well, there's no i-frames, healing items are very restricted, the combat system is incredibly badly suited for fighting even 2 enemies at once and even mook enemies have insanely high damage output, and sometimes stunlock you for reasons I've yet to comprehend. So being aggressive doesn't work.

Try to be slow and methodical, learn the ins and outs of the combat system one step at a time, using counters and learning movesets? Well, the mook enemies are far too weak to ever bother doing that, but they still deal far too much damage to ever risk trying to learn properly. Then there's the minibosses, who will decimate you in less than 5 seconds. I've still yet to understand how the mikiri counter is supposed to work. I spent at least half an hour trying to get past that fucking spear guy, but he's fucking impossible. Any failed attempt to get the counter timing right will be rewarded with another 5 minute trek back to the fucker, dealing with the same enemies all over again. Not to mention his moveset seems to be fucking massive. Not that I'd know, I can't last 10 seconds with the guy to get a better idea.

What am I missing here? I've yet to watch any tips and such because for once I wanted to experience a fromsoft game completely blind. So far it's not working.

 

[CritialGaming]

So a bit of clarification I've learned about Dragonrot.

Dragonrot does NOT kill NPC's. Instead it merely prevents you from doing their questlines until you cure them of the dragonrot. Since this is a souls game in which npc quests are obscure anyway, this doesn't affect many players I feel. Especially when cure items are easy to get and use.

As a result I no longer feel this mechanic is punishing in anyway and is more of an inconvenience if anything.

Yeah it has a lot less impact than initially implied, especially because NPC questlines are for the most part just window dressing in this game. You don't really get any important items from them and anything you would miss ends up in the charity box thing for a higher price. I don't even think it has any impact on getting any of the endings.

I've seen streamers do a no death run and there isn't even an achievement for not dying or ever spreading any dragonrot. It's just a waste of a mechanic imo.

Before you were complaining that it was too punishing, but now that it isn?t it?s a waste? You said yourself it?s just meant to be an inconvenience more than anything, which should be enough in a game where player death and resurrection is a prevailing theme.

 

[CritialGaming]

The game also gives you misinformation like saying deflects and mikiri counter should be performed as the attacks land, which is just plain wrong as you can't wait that long. IIRC, the game tells you to dodge from grabs when fighting the chained ogre but jumping works better IMO.

That's because the Chained Ogre fight is a bit badly designed. Dodging should work perfectly fine, yet the ogre will just fucking home in on you past a certain threshold, eventhough he moves slow enough that you should still be able to dodge out of his way. I've had a bunch of moments where me dodging caused the orge model to do an almost 90 degree turn in mid-air just so his grab could connect. A lot of enemies have this.. I would almost like to say cheat, but with the Chained Ogre it's very apparent.

It took me about 8-10 tries but I only noticed the severe tracking a couple of times out of all my dodges. You literally have to dodge to the side/behind as the ogre is about to grab you. The tracking is more pronounced in this game than SoulsBorne because it?s not meant to be easy or easy to abuse. You have more mobility in general now so it?s a pretty moot issue.

 

[Casual Shinji]

It took me about 8-10 tries but I only noticed the severe tracking a couple of times out of all my dodges. You literally have to dodge to the side/behind as the ogre is about to grab you. The tracking is more pronounced in this game than SoulsBorne because it?s not meant to be easy or easy to abuse. You have more mobility in general now so it?s a pretty moot issue.

The problem is that you're going to time your dodges based on the enemy's wind-up animation. If the orge is setting himself up to jump toward me, accompanied by the sound cue, me dodging to the side outside of his reach shouldn't just have him home in on me anyway. It comes across as the game suddenly breaking its own rules. Same with the belltroll; his animation is very lumbering, this includes him raising the bell to catch you, but then as he brings it down he suddenly zips toward you covering 10 feet in a micro second.

The animation feels inconsistent in these moments, so judging and consequently fighting these enemies make the rules feel equally inconsistent.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

It took me about 8-10 tries but I only noticed the severe tracking a couple of times out of all my dodges. You literally have to dodge to the side/behind as the ogre is about to grab you. The tracking is more pronounced in this game than SoulsBorne because it?s not meant to be easy or easy to abuse. You have more mobility in general now so it?s a pretty moot issue.

The problem is that you're going to time your dodges based on the enemy's wind-up animation. If the orge is setting himself up to jump toward me, accompanied by the sound cue, me dodging to the side outside of his reach shouldn't just have him home in on me anyway. It comes across as the game suddenly breaking its own rules. Same with the belltroll; his animation is very lumbering, this includes him raising the bell to catch you, but then as he brings it down he suddenly zips toward you covering 10 feet in a micro second.

The animation feels inconsistent in these moments, so judging and consequently fighting these enemies make the rules feel equally inconsistent.

Yeah, the bell guy's grab especially feels bullshit. I can be outside of the bell when it lands, and then get teleported inside because the edge of the bell hit my pinky toe, so now I get to be inside the bell even though MY ENTIRE BODY was outside of the bell when it landed.

The grab attacks seriously need some tuning in this game.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I'm having a pretty rough time with it. I guess my main problem is trying to play it like it's Dark Souls or Bloodborne but I just can't wrap my head around the combat. Mostly because I feel like everything is killing me far too quickly to actually learn it. But then, maybe it just doesn't play to my strengths. As far as I can tell it's all about immediately recognizing the enemies attack and then timing the parry correctly but I'm just far too slow for that.

And it annoys me because I reckon that it just needs to click for me but it doesn't.

Same. This is the first time I'm starting to be genuinely put off by the difficulty in a fromsoft game. It's as fast as Bloodborne (maybe even faster), but without the plentiful healing items and ability to recover by hitting enemies. It has as few healing items at the start as Dark Souls 2 except you can't even buy them, and blocking simply isn't a viable strategy.

And I really struggle with how the game expects me to play it. Is this a stealth game or an action game? Does the game want me to be sneaky or aggressive? There's all this mobility, space to move around, being able to hug walls and shit, but as soon as I stealth kill my first enemy everyone within 5 miles homes in on my position like I just let off a signal flare. I'm really starting to get sick of that string section kicking in every time I try to be sneaky because the protagonist is a huge drama queen and every stealth kill has to be accompanied by a "thunk" sound effect and blood spatter like it's going out of style. So stealth doesn't work.

Try to be aggressive in combat, moving between enemies and such? Well, there's no i-frames, healing items are very restricted, the combat system is incredibly badly suited for fighting even 2 enemies at once and even mook enemies have insanely high damage output, and sometimes stunlock you for reasons I've yet to comprehend. So being aggressive doesn't work.

Try to be slow and methodical, learn the ins and outs of the combat system one step at a time, using counters and learning movesets? Well, the mook enemies are far too weak to ever bother doing that, but they still deal far too much damage to ever risk trying to learn properly. Then there's the minibosses, who will decimate you in less than 5 seconds. I've still yet to understand how the mikiri counter is supposed to work. I spent at least half an hour trying to get past that fucking spear guy, but he's fucking impossible. Any failed attempt to get the counter timing right will be rewarded with another 5 minute trek back to the fucker, dealing with the same enemies all over again. Not to mention his moveset seems to be fucking massive. Not that I'd know, I can't last 10 seconds with the guy to get a better idea.

What am I missing here? I've yet to watch any tips and such because for once I wanted to experience a fromsoft game completely blind. So far it's not working.

I've found the stealth to actually be really forgiving, maybe even too much so at times. Just remember to crouch immediately after getting the stealth kill. The stealth kill animation takes you out of the crouch, and crouching makes you MUCH harder for the enemies to see. It probably cuts their detection distance by more than half.

It seems like the game really wants you to use hit and run tactics and just abuse your mobility to go where enemies can't. Take high ground as much as possible, jump off into the water if you're being overwhelmed, climb a wall, whatever you need to do to reset enemies if too many of them are coming at you, especially in the early game.

Funny enough, the spear guy you're having trouble with is technically optional. The area past him has an NPC who tells you where you need to go to make progress, but I found the area I needed to go much earlier so the entire path past spear guy is unnecessary if you explore.

The mikiri counter is one of the best moves in the game, and feels a lot more forgiving to me than trying to counter thrusts with the normal counter (plus coming from Souls, dodging just feels more intuitive). When using the mikiri counter I've found that the easiest way to get it to work is to back off from the spear user and when they try to do a thrust they'll run at you. Just as they are done winding up and start thrusting forward you should dodge forward into the attack, it'll give you the biggest window for the counter.

Don't feel bad if you feel like you aren't "getting" the combat. I got through 2 main bosses and probably 10 mini-bosses before the combat actually clicked with me and I felt like I knew that I was supposed to be doing.

 

[EvilRoy]

23 hours to completion. I have finished the game with the "good" ending and once the combat clicked, everything else kinda feel into place with the exception of a couple of insanely hard roadblocks. Ultimately, the game works, though it just does require you adjust to how it wants you to play it. No brute forcing this is ever gonna work, you have to master the combat or give up. No inbetween.

Oh god there are ending types? Do I have to do shit for that, because I've seriously just been havin fun with it and that means really minimizing beer sessions with people back at the camp. I gotta turn off Japanese language - left it on because they said it was the default and I wanted to respect the original vision, but I read so much faster than their slow ass speech cycles it makes interaction a huge pain.

So a bit of clarification I've learned about Dragonrot.

Dragonrot does NOT kill NPC's. Instead it merely prevents you from doing their questlines until you cure them of the dragonrot. Since this is a souls game in which npc quests are obscure anyway, this doesn't affect many players I feel. Especially when cure items are easy to get and use.

As a result I no longer feel this mechanic is punishing in anyway and is more of an inconvenience if anything.

Yeah it has a lot less impact than initially implied, especially because NPC questlines are for the most part just window dressing in this game. You don't really get any important items from them and anything you would miss ends up in the charity box thing for a higher price. I don't even think it has any impact on getting any of the endings.

I've seen streamers do a no death run and there isn't even an achievement for not dying or ever spreading any dragonrot. It's just a waste of a mechanic imo.

Before you were complaining that it was too punishing, but now that it isn?t it?s a waste? You said yourself it?s just meant to be an inconvenience more than anything, which should be enough in a game where player death and resurrection is a prevailing theme.

I think its a problem, and an inconvenience, but in the wrong direction. Why are we holding story progression hostage based on player deaths in a game where beyond the unavoidable "you did the thing" discussions the player doesn't really really have a pile to do with the individual stories happening. I question DS2's decision to slowly drain max hp as you die over and over, but at least that's a game mechanic that directly effects the player due to something that the player had direct control over (barring horseshit grab jank). I just feel that if they wanted the player success/fail rate to frame into the game, it should be done in a way that actually involves me as the player and the stuff that I do in game, rather than being a weird guilt-trippy side thing effecting stuff that I don't really understand at my stage of the game.

 

[CritialGaming]

Before you were complaining that it was too punishing, but now that it isn?t it?s a waste? You said yourself it?s just meant to be an inconvenience more than anything, which should be enough in a game where player death and resurrection is a prevailing theme.

Yeah that was before I understood the mechanic fully. It was too early in the game for us to totally know what would happen with dragonrot. And it was implied through the game that the NPC's would die from the player struggling on a boss or section. As people have figured out the game, it came to light that NPC's never die and the only thing that happens is that you cannot continue NPC's quests if they have rot.

This started as a first impressions after all, and that was the first impression of the mechanic.

 

[CritialGaming]

Before you were complaining that it was too punishing, but now that it isn?t it?s a waste? You said yourself it?s just meant to be an inconvenience more than anything, which should be enough in a game where player death and resurrection is a prevailing theme.

Yeah that was before I understood the mechanic fully. It was too early in the game for us to totally know what would happen with dragonrot. And it was implied through the game that the NPC's would die from the player struggling on a boss or section. As people have figured out the game, it came to light that NPC's never die and the only thing that happens is that you cannot continue NPC's quests if they have rot.

This started as a first impressions after all, and that was the first impression of the mechanic.

I think it?s a better trade off personally. In SoulsBorne, the combat was more forgiving but NPCs could die without warning. Pretty much the opposite for Sekiro, which alleviates some of the burden to focus on learning the combat.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Same. This is the first time I'm starting to be genuinely put off by the difficulty in a fromsoft game. It's as fast as Bloodborne (maybe even faster), but without the plentiful healing items and ability to recover by hitting enemies. It has as few healing items at the start as Dark Souls 2 except you can't even buy them, and blocking simply isn't a viable strategy.

And I really struggle with how the game expects me to play it. Is this a stealth game or an action game? Does the game want me to be sneaky or aggressive? There's all this mobility, space to move around, being able to hug walls and shit, but as soon as I stealth kill my first enemy everyone within 5 miles homes in on my position like I just let off a signal flare. I'm really starting to get sick of that string section kicking in every time I try to be sneaky because the protagonist is a huge drama queen and every stealth kill has to be accompanied by a "thunk" sound effect and blood spatter like it's going out of style. So stealth doesn't work.

Try to be aggressive in combat, moving between enemies and such? Well, there's no i-frames, healing items are very restricted, the combat system is incredibly badly suited for fighting even 2 enemies at once and even mook enemies have insanely high damage output, and sometimes stunlock you for reasons I've yet to comprehend. So being aggressive doesn't work.

Try to be slow and methodical, learn the ins and outs of the combat system one step at a time, using counters and learning movesets? Well, the mook enemies are far too weak to ever bother doing that, but they still deal far too much damage to ever risk trying to learn properly. Then there's the minibosses, who will decimate you in less than 5 seconds. I've still yet to understand how the mikiri counter is supposed to work. I spent at least half an hour trying to get past that fucking spear guy, but he's fucking impossible. Any failed attempt to get the counter timing right will be rewarded with another 5 minute trek back to the fucker, dealing with the same enemies all over again. Not to mention his moveset seems to be fucking massive. Not that I'd know, I can't last 10 seconds with the guy to get a better idea.

What am I missing here? I've yet to watch any tips and such because for once I wanted to experience a fromsoft game completely blind. So far it's not working.

I think it did actually click for me now, so here's some advice:

You may think that if you want to dodge an attack you are supposed to use the dodge button. You fool. You absolute moron. In about 9 out of 10 cases it's much better to jump instead. This goes especially for sweeping attacks where jumping on an enemy might give you an advantage.

I'm pretty sure the only thing the dodge button is actually good for is the mikiri counter against thrust attacks which you wanna buy as early as possible. If the enemy has a spear, this is what you want to use

It may sound cheap and it's been mentioned here before but if you can't predict an enemies pattern... you know, mashing block is usually a pretty safe option.

So much for the defense, here's,s the offense. And this may sound a bit complicated.

First of all, you're a ninja. You can use stealth. By all means, do so. A lot of bosses and minibosses have smaller enemies around them that you can kill before engaging the actual boss.

Now, here's the most important thing. The game's all about recognizing openings and punishing them. Madame Butterfly will probably teach you that the hard way, there are very specific windows where you can land an attack and once you know them the fight's trivial. Don't think too much about getting a longer combo off the ground or about quickly whittling down their posture, just get a hit in whenever you can and the rest will work out on its own.

And once it clicks the game is honestly very rewarding. If you know a bosses pattern and you can deflect everything they throw at you and then beat the shit out of them you'll feel like a badass.

Actually learning patterns and movesets is more important than it is in Dark Souls or Bloodborne because knowing how to react to specific attacks and how to counter them best is pretty much the core of the combat. Not avoiding them and wailing at the enemy in-between like in Soulsborne but actually countering them. You got the block/parry, the jump and the mikiri and with those you can turn almost any attack back around on the enemy

What I think makes the game so frustrating is how little health you have and I think at least early on it might have eased you into the game a bit better if you could tank a few hits so that you can learn enemy patterns without starting over dozens of times. But it is what it is. And it is pretty manageable once you're starting to get it.

 

[Fappy]

I'm pretty sure the only thing the dodge button is actually good for is the mikiri counter against thrust attacks which you wanna buy as early as possible. If the enemy has a spear, this is what you want to use

Dodging is actually very useful, but only when utilized properly. In general, yes, jumping to get space is a safer option but also doesn't allow you to counter attack after avoiding the enemy (unless they were performing a sweep in which case you should be jumping anyway). Jumping is best used when trying to escape where as dodging is generally for avoiding hits that wouldn't allow for counter attacks if you were to block/deflect them (usually these are highly telegraphed "heavy" attacks). Dodges are particularly useful against laggy vertical attacks which often leaves the enemy vulnerable for a couple seconds (strafe dodge), or short range attacks (back dodge -> counter attack).

It all just comes down to learning enemy attack patterns at the end of the day. A good example of fight in which dodging is OP is actually the chained ogre. Most people new to the game try to dodge away from him, but that usually results in getting grabbed or drop kicked in the face. Naturally you think jumping is the best option, and it probably is by design in this instance, but in practice dodging to his left or right as he begins an action works 99% of the time and allows you to get 1-3 safe hits on him as he recovers.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Well, it did finally click for me, and I have to say the game is pretty fucking sweet once it does. Would have been even sweeter if the game didn't outright LIE about certain mechanics and as such force the player to either quit, go mad or watch a tips video. "Counter when an attack connects" my fat sweaty ass.

The game creates the same sense of wonder I had when playing through Dark Souls 2 for the first time. The feeling of "does this game even have an endpoint?" Just today I discovered like two dozen new shrines, 6 new areas, minibosses, the list goes on. As of right now the game feels fackin' huge and I have no idea how far into it I am. Not since Dark Souls 1 has a fromsoft game had such a dizzying amount of different paths to take and locations to visit at the same time. When it's at its best the game really makes you feel like a meganinja, since you die from 3 or 4 hits, yet take down mooks by the dozens without breaking a sweat.

Some problems still:

1. The ability to recover HP with deathblows should be one of the first upgrades, if not outright straight implemented from the word go. It gives the player so much more longevity in exploration than trying to squeeze by with the stupidly small amount of health items you get.
2. The fromsoft tracking problem is worse than fucking ever. I must have spent 3 hours trying to beat the "ten spears of whatever" wanker, because he apparently can turn his direction in mid-air or run in a circle and still build up enough momentum to knock down 70% of my health with one strike. It's fucking ridiculous and definitely unfair.
3. This is just a minor quibble, but the scenery so far is pretty damn repetitive. You can look at a snowy mega-shogun castle in the mountains for so long before it becomes white noise. Luckily I just found the temple where the color scheme finally shifts to gorgeous autumnal colours.

 

[jademunky]

Fucking terrifying snake monster!!!!!

No NO NONOnononNOnoNO!


Ahem.

Just loving it. From's attention to lore and level design, new style of gameplay that feels like Assassin's Creed mixed with Tenchu but also a Souls game.

Love the vertical level design. Not sure how I feel about the boss ratio of dudes to monsters being so heavily weighted towards dudes but maybe that will change in the endgame, I'm not finished yet.

 

[TheFinish]

Beat it, now going through New Game+ (which is a complete breeze, practice does indeed make perfect). Favorite From Software for me, by far. I just love the combat/stealth/exploration. It's like if you took Furi's combat and put it in an updated Tenchu framework. Just great. Will probably be the first From game I Plat.

I just cringe every time I see a youtuber with english VO. This really is a game where it needs to be in japanese. If only to get the best battle shouts out of your enemies.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I still wish you could turn off all the Souls elements because all they do is waste your time, accomplishing nothing else.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

This game is a mixed bag. When it's in exploration mode it's phenomenal, creating a sense of danger and adventure I haven't felt since Dark Souls 1. Especially once I got out of Ashina castle the environments have been just breathtaking. The village was especially haunting.

But then I get to a boss, and I'm on the verge of quitting. I'll just say it: this game is not fair. In the sense that the bosses simply don't play by the same rules as the player. Sekiro's attacks will be interrupted if someone as much as coughs at him, but that Ashina wanker can just fall back from attacks no sweat. Some of them also have way too much health, taking any and all enjoyment out of the fight and turning it into a prolonged chore. And I especially hate how this game forces you to learn the bosses: die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, until you've learned all responses. There's no careful approach possible; blocking only makes things worse, trying to stay at a distance is impossible, dodging is super risky and unreliable and every attack any boss has slices at least 50% off your health bar when it connects, forcing you to wear down a healing item. And since they're so limited you can only hold out for so long before dying.

I'm at the Guardian Ape boss, and it's among the fucking worst in the series. Difficult for all the wrong reasons: unreliable camera combined with insanely erratic movement patterns, that MOTHERFUCKING SHITSUCKING TRACKING, and grab attacks that give a 0,5 second window to avoid or have 80% of your health taken, and the clusterfuck is complete. I just figured out that the fastest strategy is to just constantly chase his ass, attack whenever possible, cross your fingers and hope for the best. I can't believe we're still dealing with this camera shit after 5 soulsborne games.

And they also pulled the Ancient Dragon shit again. Well motherfucking excuuuuuuse me for ignoring a completely nondescript window out of which I saw only empty sky, that had nothing around it or anything else indicating that the main goal I was working towards was just a few steps away after jumping out of it. I can't remember any indication even saying that the Heir was atop Ashina Castle. And nothing in the areas I found before it (like, I dunno, literally every other place you could go to) had any indications or hints about where I was supposed to go or why. Fuck your gatekeeping bullshit Fromsoft.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

This game is a mixed bag. When it's in exploration mode it's phenomenal, creating a sense of danger and adventure I haven't felt since Dark Souls 1. Especially once I got out of Ashina castle the environments have been just breathtaking. The village was especially haunting.

But then I get to a boss, and I'm on the verge of quitting. I'll just say it: this game is not fair. In the sense that the bosses simply don't play by the same rules as the player. Sekiro's attacks will be interrupted if someone as much as coughs at him, but that Ashina wanker can just fall back from attacks no sweat. Some of them also have way too much health, taking any and all enjoyment out of the fight and turning it into a prolonged chore. And I especially hate how this game forces you to learn the bosses: die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, until you've learned all responses. There's no careful approach possible; blocking only makes things worse, trying to stay at a distance is impossible, dodging is super risky and unreliable and every attack any boss has slices at least 50% off your health bar when it connects, forcing you to wear down a healing item. And since they're so limited you can only hold out for so long before dying.

I'm at the Guardian Ape boss, and it's among the fucking worst in the series. Difficult for all the wrong reasons: unreliable camera combined with insanely erratic movement patterns, that MOTHERFUCKING SHITSUCKING TRACKING, and grab attacks that give a 0,5 second window to avoid or have 80% of your health taken, and the clusterfuck is complete. I just figured out that the fastest strategy is to just constantly chase his ass, attack whenever possible, cross your fingers and hope for the best. I can't believe we're still dealing with this camera shit after 5 soulsborne games.

And they also pulled the Ancient Dragon shit again. Well motherfucking excuuuuuuse me for ignoring a completely nondescript window out of which I saw only empty sky, that had nothing around it or anything else indicating that the main goal I was working towards was just a few steps away after jumping out of it. I can't remember any indication even saying that the Heir was atop Ashina Castle. And nothing in the areas I found before it (like, I dunno, literally every other place you could go to) had any indications or hints about where I was supposed to go or why. Fuck your gatekeeping bullshit Fromsoft.

Eh, bosses really aren't that bad. I honestly had more trouble with many of the mini-bosses than I did the bosses. Bosses don't seem to do as high damage as mini-bosses on normal attacks. A thrust or sweep is still going to do half your life, but you can take 5 or 6 normal slashes an survive. Hell, I'm terrible at jumping the sweeps and ate pretty much every single one in the Genichiro boss fight and still almost managed to beat him first try because the damage on all the other attacks isn't very high, and you can block pretty much everything he does.

Also, blocking when you don't know what to do is totally a viable strategy. Sure, you're probably going to get guard-broken, but that's actually not a big deal. Most enemies don't know how to capitalize on the posture break state, and that includes bosses. I have yet to have a boss try to death-blow me. If a boss starts up an attack string and you're not prepared just block. You'll be able to start hitting parries mid-combo and while it probably won't be enough to posture break unless you perfect parry the whole combo, you won't take damage and it'll still do some heavy posture damage to the boss which you'll be able to capitalize on.

I think my biggest problem with the boss fights is the fact that so many of them lie to you about how much health the boss has. You should just always assume that the boss has an extra "secret" health bar and you should ration your heals accordingly, because the game is a huge liar. Yeah, camera is pretty ass, but I've gotten used to it after 5 other From Software games. It's not as bad here as it is in bloodborne, because at least in this game most of the bosses aren't ludicrously huge. There's a few boss fights through where it is definitely a problem. I also wish that the grappling hook could be used in more of the boss fights.