Sekiro was not the game I wanted or the game that I expected it to be. It was recommended to me by a friend of mine, who had played and loved this game in a very deep way. I had told him about my love for Dark Souls, to which he responded with, "yeah, dude, but Sekiro's way better."

Every online space surrounding this game is obsessed with comparing this game to From Software's other titles, but I feel that this is not a fair assessment of the game. Because I had gone into this experience expecting something akin to Dark Souls, I ended up being disappointed by the game on some level. Sekiro is nothing like Dark Souls, straight up. They share extremely minor system mechanics, but the broad strokes of the gameplay couldn't be more different.

Dark Souls is an RPG first, and an action game second. Many obstancles in the game can be overcome by buffing yourself up with new weapons or stats. Sekiro is an action game through and through. Combat in Sekiro is absolutely electric. Battling bosses and mastering their patterns is very satisfying. If this game was simply fighting bosses, it would be nearly perfect.

However, I feel that Sekiro falters when it comes to exploring the space between the bosses. I felt utterly disinterested in tackling any of this game's side content, which I imagine was in part due to my obsession with tackling the game's bosses. I found traversal to be awkward at times, and the various locations of the game, namely Ashina Castle and the Sunken Valley to be frustrating and unfun to engage with.

I think, at the end of the day, Sekiro is not really a game for me. That being said, it's impossible to ignore the obvious genius exhibited throughout this game. If there's ever a Sekiro 2, I would be interested to see how From Software improves upon the weaker parts of this game.