This game is almost perfect. It's another Fromsoft title but I can't in good faith compare it to the other games as it plays so differently. My first time playing this game was rough because I was trying to play it like Dark Souls; Genichiro taught me real quick it wasn't gonna be like any of those games. Sekiro has the best sword combat I have ever played. The level of mastery you can display against each of these incredible bosses is awe-inspiring and has me coming back just to experience them all over again. The story is very serviceable with 4 very distinct endings. A lot of the NPCs can end up being bosses and if you make the wrong choice, you can cut the game a bit short as I did on my first playthrough. This gave me incentive to play it again even if it was a bit annoying to cut my playthrough short by selecting another ending. On replay getting to refight bosses that initially gave me trouble and just flawlessly defeating them through raw skill is unmatched. There's probably about 2 main bosses you could consider 'bad' and the rest are pretty much flawless. If you love a challenge and are a fan of the games setting/style, you should absolutely give this one a try.

For all that Dark Souls is touted as "tough but fair" (which it definitely isn't) Sekiro actually lives up to that description, perhaps because it deviates in key ways from the Souls formula. Where Dark Souls focuses on fantasy lore and dreadful exploration, Sekiro emphasizes stealth and high-energy, high-accuracy combat. Although the low-fantasy historical setting doesn't appeal to me, the levels are evocative and intricately designed. Sekiro's razor sharp encounter design repeatedly capitalizes on the emotional rollercoaster from "this is definitely impossible" to "I have achieved the impossible!" In terms of the apparent goals of the work Sekiro might be a perfect game. At the very least, I think it perfectly captures the "ninja warrior" experience while avoiding cumbersome realism or an overpowered protagonist.

Sekiro is yet another masterpiece developed by FromSoftware. Its atmosphere and stellar combat make it well deserving of GOTY.

Sekiro tells possibly FromSoft's least ambiguous story to date. You are tasked with protecting the divine child and ending immortality. This leads into a beautfiul tale that features sacrifice, moral decisions, and portrays what one is willing to do for their homeland. Finding out more details about the lore through sharing drinks with NPC's is also a fantastic touch and a great way to add lore into the game.

Sekiro has combat that is unparalleled by any game I have played. The flow state you achieve when playing it is like no other. Almost every single boss is amazingly designed to feel like a rhythmic dance where one mistake can cost you your health bar. Outside of combat, however, traversal leaves me wanting more. Exploration isn't rewarded as much as other FromSoft games due to the lack of spells and weapons in the game. Enemies also don't pose much of a threat since almost all of them can be sneak killed, grappled around, or just ran past to the next idol. This makes the areas between bosses feel far worse than other games.

Sekiro has areas that are very distinct from eachother and beautifully designed. The look of the divine realm and final boss arena are just two examples of how incredible the art direction of this game is. The sound design is also great, but the tracks never take the forefront as much as they do in other games with such a big emphasis on boss battles.

Sekiro's replayability comes from you the player mastering it's combat system. You can get the new game + feeling of demolishing early bosses on a new save file since your skills as a player have improved so much and not necessarily your stats. Sekiro doesn't have build or weapon variety like other FromSoft games but it makes up for this by offering many different ways to increase the difficulty in subsequent playthroughs such as the demon bell or not accepting the charm. You can sadly only experience slowly mastering the combat and then replaying it to see how far you have came once.

Overall, Sekiro is a fantastic game with the best combat in any game I have played. It has a strong narrative and good options to obtain extra lore. It's art direction is incredible but it leaves a little to be desired in terms of replayability and rewards for exploration.
( 92/100 )