Generally speaking I don't really think my takes on Sekiro are at all controversial, nor are they novel or even new, so I'll just go ahead and start this the same way I started this most recent playthrough:
I originally gave Sekiro a try back in March 2019, shortly after its release, because I was so enamored with From Software taking a step away from their signature grimdark high western fantasy look that I didn't care what the game would actually play like. For some reason or another (I likely just wasn't focused on it, trying to juggle a billion games like I normally do) I dropped off it, seemingly never to return...but hey, I guess playthroughs also die twice. What awaited me, nearly four years after its initial release, was a truly engaging and fun ninja romp that (surprisingly) basically never left me furious.
There's a core reason for that, too. Despite feeling like Sekiro is pretty unforgiving, there's a significant clarity to what's getting you at any given time. Tried to deflect a grab? Tried to jump a stab attack? Tried to fight 3 ass-kicking monks because you think you're above ninja rules? Get back in line, baby! Sekiro makes no pretense about making you play the game the way it wants you to -- even though you can definitely get around that and there's some pretty clear cheese strats even for bosses -- and its encounter design is incredibly rigid but not in a way that feels personally grating. It's all patterns, guard routines, quick kills and shortcuts, and figuring out how to either take an encounter head on or circumvent conflict is an incredibly rewarding experience best highlighted by (at minimum) a second playthrough of the main game.
Thankfully, there's much to see outside of an organic first play. Areas I didn't know existed, skills to be bought, and much more that you wouldn't get on the first go-around, including multiple endings drove me to a second playthrough only a day removed from my triumphant first clear. It's surprisingly well-paced from a narrative perspective, too, and much more forward about story's place in the overall package than FromSoft's typical fare (compare to the DS series' excellent reliance on environmental storytelling).
I think the only thing that didn't really leave an impression on me was the game's music. I totally understand that the vibe skews theatrical, and instrumentation aligns itself perfectly with the aesthetic, but it's just not the kind of OST I'd listen to on its own and I feel like that factors in somehow. Really though, if that's all that I can say even veering negative I think it's pretty fair to say this game is every bit as good as people seem to say it is.
I originally gave Sekiro a try back in March 2019, shortly after its release, because I was so enamored with From Software taking a step away from their signature grimdark high western fantasy look that I didn't care what the game would actually play like. For some reason or another (I likely just wasn't focused on it, trying to juggle a billion games like I normally do) I dropped off it, seemingly never to return...but hey, I guess playthroughs also die twice. What awaited me, nearly four years after its initial release, was a truly engaging and fun ninja romp that (surprisingly) basically never left me furious.
There's a core reason for that, too. Despite feeling like Sekiro is pretty unforgiving, there's a significant clarity to what's getting you at any given time. Tried to deflect a grab? Tried to jump a stab attack? Tried to fight 3 ass-kicking monks because you think you're above ninja rules? Get back in line, baby! Sekiro makes no pretense about making you play the game the way it wants you to -- even though you can definitely get around that and there's some pretty clear cheese strats even for bosses -- and its encounter design is incredibly rigid but not in a way that feels personally grating. It's all patterns, guard routines, quick kills and shortcuts, and figuring out how to either take an encounter head on or circumvent conflict is an incredibly rewarding experience best highlighted by (at minimum) a second playthrough of the main game.
Thankfully, there's much to see outside of an organic first play. Areas I didn't know existed, skills to be bought, and much more that you wouldn't get on the first go-around, including multiple endings drove me to a second playthrough only a day removed from my triumphant first clear. It's surprisingly well-paced from a narrative perspective, too, and much more forward about story's place in the overall package than FromSoft's typical fare (compare to the DS series' excellent reliance on environmental storytelling).
I think the only thing that didn't really leave an impression on me was the game's music. I totally understand that the vibe skews theatrical, and instrumentation aligns itself perfectly with the aesthetic, but it's just not the kind of OST I'd listen to on its own and I feel like that factors in somehow. Really though, if that's all that I can say even veering negative I think it's pretty fair to say this game is every bit as good as people seem to say it is.