I have to wonder what this game feels like to players who aren't Souls vets. So many of its decisions are fueled by its relentless attempts to counter the mindset and playstyle Dark Souls teaches its players. The final boss even says to your face: "Hesitation is defeat," clearly stating the mechanical thesis of the game. You attack, attack, and attack while deflecting sometimes...other options like running away, blocking, and dodging are niche mechanics for very few situations, and if you use them in general combat you WILL have a hard time.

This took me quite a while to complete. It's hard to tell due to the amount of idle time, but I think Sekiro took me about as long as my first run through Dark Souls.

I do feel somewhat limited in the intelligent things I can say about this, because so much of what's floating in my head is comparisons to Souls and what makes those the greatest pieces of art in existence. I still don't feel ready to fully tackle those, and that sort of leaves Sekiro hanging as well. Oh well, for now I'll leave it at nearly every element of this game being the most brilliant thing I've ever seen.

Played on Linux via Proton.