In the midst of the ending of the warring states era of Japan, a time of intense struggles and conflicts, of subterfuges and heroes, where both history and myth were in the making, From Software and Hidetaka Miyazaki bring us another bleak depiction of the conclusion of such age. This is no surprise as, since the Souls series, they made their standard to work with stories set during, or shortly after, the demise of what was once a great and powerful entity, only to be now being ruined by excess, misfortune and human faults.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice sets to portray the land of the Ashina clan, shortly after the end of a major conflict during the Sengoku jidai, the aforementioned Japan warring states era, but to anyone with a mild interest in the matter should be known that there was nothing left of the land nor the clan once the era was over. The game begins showing Isshin Ashina, the faction leader, obtaining a huge victory for himself and his clan, but as the player get control over the protagonist actions, we are immediately treated to a sad look over his domain. Despite, or probably because of, his victory, Isshin brought on himself the attention of the central government of Japan, always in fear of any daimyo gaining power as they might become exceptionally threatening in the power struggle going on at the time. Over the course of the game this situation will only exacerbate, as the conflict between the Ashina and the government will bring further ruin to the former clan, slowly erasing any of its member from history.
Thus, we are presented to one of the central themes of Sekiro: the cycling shifts in history, between one power to another, in a seemingly never ending spiral where everything comes full circle and begin anew, repeating itself over and over again. This is mostly and directly symbolized by the main character’s, known solely as Wolf, ability to resurrect after death, one of the main features of the game, but it is also shown by the many references to immortality, rebirth and ascension scattered thorough the story. As it is bursting with references and themes borrowed from the Buddhist mythos and Japanese folklore, it is only natural that Sekiro would tackle leitmotifs such as the cycle of death and rebirth, and the underlying essence of escape from the mortal coils and sins to achieve a higher state of being, of purification almost.
In the context of the story, the journey towards purification for the main character and his protégé and master, Kuro, last descendant of the extinct Hirata family, is filled with references to self-sacrifice and how to achieve liberation from their roles in the sad history of the Sengoku era by means of death. Directly in contrast with this view, there is Genichiro Ashina, heir to the clan name and willing to sink to any low possible to avoid the Ashina demise and save its land from ruin; and those lows will go very, very deep over the course of the game. What is this conflict between two opposed morality if not the same contrast between the inevitable conclusion of the Age of Fire, a time of deceit and conflict, and the eerie vision of an Age of Dark, which sure sounds undesirable in its bleakness representation of death, but is it really so much worse than a never-ending state of lies and suffering?
The players should decide for themselves, there are enough endings and viewpoints among all the different characters to develop a personal standpoint on the matter.
Gameplay-wise, Sekiro takes the quickness of Bloodborne and turns up the notch. A lot. Whilst Bloodborne incentivised the player to be constantly near enemies to attack, recover life and stagger for delicious critical hits, Sekiro gives the player one of the most intuitive and rewarding parry mechanic to ever be conceived. Just like in real sword fights between blade masters, Sekiro doesn’t play on the clunkier balance between hit and run, but rather block and counterattack. The enemies – particularly bosses – health bars are going to look massive and impossible to reduce to zero, if not for the possibility to play along with this mechanic of parry and counterattacking to reduce the enemies’ posture, so to strike a fatal blow. The genius behind this is how that can be achieved when the enemy still has over half of its health bar, with enough focus and precision in the movements. Sekiro highly rewards patience and perfect reflexes and, whilst the enemies hit hard, since the parrying is very lenient on the frames and the blocking can nullify almost all damages, it is far more accessible than a first blind run on Dark Souls.
The setting of the decayed Ashina and its environs are varied but beautifully interconnected, and it really looks like traveling through an organic territory which includes cities, castles, mountain paths, temples and so on. It is a very linear scenario, it rarely presents to the players tricky mazes or multiple choices as to where to go next, yet as it plays more as an action title than a dungeon crawler RPG it never feels like is lacking for content or variety. The enemy placing might be one of the best in the series, with the right balance between isolated opponents and large groups of mobs, which can both be dispatched with ease and intuition using both one’s prowess with the sword or with the engaging – albeit underdeveloped – stealth mechanic, which allows to act like a true shinobi, by striking deathly blows from the shadows, run away and instil fear and confusion in the enemies.
Bosses have, for the most part, anthropomorphic features, as to maximize the use of the sword mechanics and fit the setting, but there will be some interesting fantastic designs of folkloristic creatures to roam the land of Ashina. Most of these bosses will prove quite challenging and each of them presents in some way a new step to the learning curve, always fairly rising and requiring at each turn for the players to have mastered some aspect of the abilities and skills the game has to offer. These abilities may include passive boosts or actual techniques to utilize against enemies with particular movesets and resistances.
The musical score sees the return of Kitamura Yuka, already a veteran on previous From’s titles such as Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3, and it proves again a rightful choice as the atmosphere of the medieval Japan is perfectly conveyed by her tunes, played with traditional Japanese instruments, full of mystery and nostalgic melodies. The tracks are somewhat less noticeable and memorable than previous examples in other games, yet they will undoubtedly play the right atmosphere for the players immersion in the game.
Some of the downsides of the game can include the lack of real replay value, since there are not many different builds to experiment with, even considering all the different abilities at hands, since by the end of the first playthrough the players will have obtained almost all of them with enough care and the most overpowered and useful are clear the moment one tries them for the first time. Bayonetta it is not. The Dragonrot mechanic is also very downplayed and useless on the long run, except for being a somewhat hint that the player is sucking too much at the game all at once and various lore implications. The camera works better than in previous games but it will still lead the players to many moments where no possible divine help could have saved them from being brutally massacred in a corner with no escape.
Sekiro will certainly prove a delightful experience for any From fan in love with their style of show-don’t-tell storytelling and subtle worldbuilding, as well as the grim depiction of the dread of humankind. And if that won’t suit any personal preferences, the rewarding combat system is going to prove an immensely immersive and fun challenge for any who want to feel the thrill of handling a blade as it is meant to be handled.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice sets to portray the land of the Ashina clan, shortly after the end of a major conflict during the Sengoku jidai, the aforementioned Japan warring states era, but to anyone with a mild interest in the matter should be known that there was nothing left of the land nor the clan once the era was over. The game begins showing Isshin Ashina, the faction leader, obtaining a huge victory for himself and his clan, but as the player get control over the protagonist actions, we are immediately treated to a sad look over his domain. Despite, or probably because of, his victory, Isshin brought on himself the attention of the central government of Japan, always in fear of any daimyo gaining power as they might become exceptionally threatening in the power struggle going on at the time. Over the course of the game this situation will only exacerbate, as the conflict between the Ashina and the government will bring further ruin to the former clan, slowly erasing any of its member from history.
Thus, we are presented to one of the central themes of Sekiro: the cycling shifts in history, between one power to another, in a seemingly never ending spiral where everything comes full circle and begin anew, repeating itself over and over again. This is mostly and directly symbolized by the main character’s, known solely as Wolf, ability to resurrect after death, one of the main features of the game, but it is also shown by the many references to immortality, rebirth and ascension scattered thorough the story. As it is bursting with references and themes borrowed from the Buddhist mythos and Japanese folklore, it is only natural that Sekiro would tackle leitmotifs such as the cycle of death and rebirth, and the underlying essence of escape from the mortal coils and sins to achieve a higher state of being, of purification almost.
In the context of the story, the journey towards purification for the main character and his protégé and master, Kuro, last descendant of the extinct Hirata family, is filled with references to self-sacrifice and how to achieve liberation from their roles in the sad history of the Sengoku era by means of death. Directly in contrast with this view, there is Genichiro Ashina, heir to the clan name and willing to sink to any low possible to avoid the Ashina demise and save its land from ruin; and those lows will go very, very deep over the course of the game. What is this conflict between two opposed morality if not the same contrast between the inevitable conclusion of the Age of Fire, a time of deceit and conflict, and the eerie vision of an Age of Dark, which sure sounds undesirable in its bleakness representation of death, but is it really so much worse than a never-ending state of lies and suffering?
The players should decide for themselves, there are enough endings and viewpoints among all the different characters to develop a personal standpoint on the matter.
Gameplay-wise, Sekiro takes the quickness of Bloodborne and turns up the notch. A lot. Whilst Bloodborne incentivised the player to be constantly near enemies to attack, recover life and stagger for delicious critical hits, Sekiro gives the player one of the most intuitive and rewarding parry mechanic to ever be conceived. Just like in real sword fights between blade masters, Sekiro doesn’t play on the clunkier balance between hit and run, but rather block and counterattack. The enemies – particularly bosses – health bars are going to look massive and impossible to reduce to zero, if not for the possibility to play along with this mechanic of parry and counterattacking to reduce the enemies’ posture, so to strike a fatal blow. The genius behind this is how that can be achieved when the enemy still has over half of its health bar, with enough focus and precision in the movements. Sekiro highly rewards patience and perfect reflexes and, whilst the enemies hit hard, since the parrying is very lenient on the frames and the blocking can nullify almost all damages, it is far more accessible than a first blind run on Dark Souls.
The setting of the decayed Ashina and its environs are varied but beautifully interconnected, and it really looks like traveling through an organic territory which includes cities, castles, mountain paths, temples and so on. It is a very linear scenario, it rarely presents to the players tricky mazes or multiple choices as to where to go next, yet as it plays more as an action title than a dungeon crawler RPG it never feels like is lacking for content or variety. The enemy placing might be one of the best in the series, with the right balance between isolated opponents and large groups of mobs, which can both be dispatched with ease and intuition using both one’s prowess with the sword or with the engaging – albeit underdeveloped – stealth mechanic, which allows to act like a true shinobi, by striking deathly blows from the shadows, run away and instil fear and confusion in the enemies.
Bosses have, for the most part, anthropomorphic features, as to maximize the use of the sword mechanics and fit the setting, but there will be some interesting fantastic designs of folkloristic creatures to roam the land of Ashina. Most of these bosses will prove quite challenging and each of them presents in some way a new step to the learning curve, always fairly rising and requiring at each turn for the players to have mastered some aspect of the abilities and skills the game has to offer. These abilities may include passive boosts or actual techniques to utilize against enemies with particular movesets and resistances.
The musical score sees the return of Kitamura Yuka, already a veteran on previous From’s titles such as Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3, and it proves again a rightful choice as the atmosphere of the medieval Japan is perfectly conveyed by her tunes, played with traditional Japanese instruments, full of mystery and nostalgic melodies. The tracks are somewhat less noticeable and memorable than previous examples in other games, yet they will undoubtedly play the right atmosphere for the players immersion in the game.
Some of the downsides of the game can include the lack of real replay value, since there are not many different builds to experiment with, even considering all the different abilities at hands, since by the end of the first playthrough the players will have obtained almost all of them with enough care and the most overpowered and useful are clear the moment one tries them for the first time. Bayonetta it is not. The Dragonrot mechanic is also very downplayed and useless on the long run, except for being a somewhat hint that the player is sucking too much at the game all at once and various lore implications. The camera works better than in previous games but it will still lead the players to many moments where no possible divine help could have saved them from being brutally massacred in a corner with no escape.
Sekiro will certainly prove a delightful experience for any From fan in love with their style of show-don’t-tell storytelling and subtle worldbuilding, as well as the grim depiction of the dread of humankind. And if that won’t suit any personal preferences, the rewarding combat system is going to prove an immensely immersive and fun challenge for any who want to feel the thrill of handling a blade as it is meant to be handled.