The Must Have Title For Any Gamer
One of FromSoftware’s most recent titles “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice” has received mixed opinions in the gaming community, many of which seem to focus on how hard the game is. However, amongst the controversy of whether the game is “too hard”, the redeeming and often revolutionary aspects and mechanics of the game are sadly overlooked.
I have put countless hours into this game, and consider it to be one of the best and most enjoyable games I have had the opportunity to play. The fluid, responsive and, at times, realistic combat system is a breath of fresh air within the action adventure genre. Unlike other recent titles of the genre, such as God of War, you must think tactically and adjust your style accordingly to each opponent type, rather than just spamming the attack command. ‘Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’ combat operates on a block and parry format, which has to be timed in a very small frame window in order for you to break your enemies’ “posture”. The challenging nature of the combat system, combined with the low health system provides a harsh and unforgiving learning curve, providing even greater satisfaction as you witness yourself improve, really allowing you to connect with the protagonist.
Being set in ancient Japan, you are presented with a truly extraordinary and beautiful world to explore. Running this game with the highest graphics available to you is highly recommended, this aspect alone is enough to make anyone want to traverse this world.
In this world you will come across a diverse range of enemies, some humanoid and others… well, not so humanoid.
As mentioned earlier, each enemy type has a unique style of combat that you have to adapt to. This becomes most prominent with the different bosses of the game. Each boss provides a completely new challenge from the last, to which you will have to combine new learnt techniques and weapons collected in order to defeat them. Quite often, each new boss will provide you with the necessary skills to progress through the game, for example one of the first mini bosses you encounter will ensure you become familiar with blocking and evading techniques, which are the very fundamental techniques you will need for the upcoming challenges.
If you are thinking of buying this game, be prepared to die, a lot. but the satisfaction you will feel for overcoming the challenges of this amazing game, combined with its engaging story arc and near flawless combat system, will soon have you singing its praises and begging for DLC.
