a game of tension, tension, tension, and release
in Dark Souls, the tension builds from the players exploring the world, scared to make a misstep because of the fear of losing all that they've just worked to gather to become stronger. as the game goes on, the player becomes a little more fearless. you can just run past everything to the bonfire. you don't care about dying as much because you know you can reclaim your souls. even bosses become relaxing once you've memorized every possible pattern. it's like playing a song you know by heart.
so much of sekiro is an inversion of this. in the overworld, now YOU are the beast that descends from unseen places and one-shots your enemy. you have unlimited stamina to outrun any foe, you have a grappling hook that allows you to reach places that others can't, you have a huge toolbox to get through every encounter. stalking your prey doesn't ratchet up the tension, it's all in the clashing of swords.
with Dark Souls, if you got hit, it was a fundamental mistake: you shouldn't have been standing there, you should have rolled, you should have known better. with Bloodborne it evolved: it's okay to get hit now and again because you can just get it right back if you're aggressive enough. but in Sekiro it reaches it's peak: YES, you WANT to get hit, but you just have to make sure you're getting hit the best that you can.
often times, the fastest, safest, and, sometimes, only way to victory is to stay on your opponent, give them no breathing room, get hit and deflect perfectly, capitalize on openings. coming from being a Bloodborne-first (and obsessed) player, i struggled a lot with staying so close. at first it is terrifying to just sit and wait to get hit, throttling the shoulder button out-of-sync to try and desperately avoid what's coming at you. as time goes on, you feel the familiar boss rhythms like other FromSoft games. you lock into the groove of your opponent. the tension is still there, it just shifts to become anticipation.
the game has some of my favorite moments in all of the post-DS FromSoft. it's playful and macabre all at the same time. also, if you just go for Vitality kills most of the time because you're a bimbo like me, YOU ARE VALID
in Dark Souls, the tension builds from the players exploring the world, scared to make a misstep because of the fear of losing all that they've just worked to gather to become stronger. as the game goes on, the player becomes a little more fearless. you can just run past everything to the bonfire. you don't care about dying as much because you know you can reclaim your souls. even bosses become relaxing once you've memorized every possible pattern. it's like playing a song you know by heart.
so much of sekiro is an inversion of this. in the overworld, now YOU are the beast that descends from unseen places and one-shots your enemy. you have unlimited stamina to outrun any foe, you have a grappling hook that allows you to reach places that others can't, you have a huge toolbox to get through every encounter. stalking your prey doesn't ratchet up the tension, it's all in the clashing of swords.
with Dark Souls, if you got hit, it was a fundamental mistake: you shouldn't have been standing there, you should have rolled, you should have known better. with Bloodborne it evolved: it's okay to get hit now and again because you can just get it right back if you're aggressive enough. but in Sekiro it reaches it's peak: YES, you WANT to get hit, but you just have to make sure you're getting hit the best that you can.
often times, the fastest, safest, and, sometimes, only way to victory is to stay on your opponent, give them no breathing room, get hit and deflect perfectly, capitalize on openings. coming from being a Bloodborne-first (and obsessed) player, i struggled a lot with staying so close. at first it is terrifying to just sit and wait to get hit, throttling the shoulder button out-of-sync to try and desperately avoid what's coming at you. as time goes on, you feel the familiar boss rhythms like other FromSoft games. you lock into the groove of your opponent. the tension is still there, it just shifts to become anticipation.
the game has some of my favorite moments in all of the post-DS FromSoft. it's playful and macabre all at the same time. also, if you just go for Vitality kills most of the time because you're a bimbo like me, YOU ARE VALID