SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE 💀

[WarpZone]

On PS4 I’ve had two blue screen crashes in 40 hours (when teleporting). The only other game where I’ve seen this is Bloodborne (two crashes in the final area).

Looking at PSN trophies for the bosses I’ve defeated, I was shocked to see the percentages as high as they are given all the talk about the game shutting players out – about 1 in 2 accounts have completed Lady Butterfly, over 1 in 3 have cleared Genichiro, and just under a third for Guardian Ape (though it’s hard to compare to older games like Bloodborne where PSN sales distort percentages of players that seriously gave the game a shot).

[Rudie]

Souls games have always had a surprisingly high completion ratio. For all the complaining for a long time 1-2-BB had 50% on last bosses.

[HOBO]

I beat this game on Monday. I was stuck on the last boss for a long time. Then I came back and steamrolled it, and NG+ up until Genichiro, and also spent some time on a fresh first playthrough, where I just made absolute mincemeat of every single encounter that had me in tears the first time through.

It felt very good and reaffirmed my suspicion that most folks will come around and see that this game isn’t that absurdly hard (much like the Souls games) but also I don’t blame anyone for bailing on it cuz it takes some fuckin’ time to learn this shit. I also checked the trophies afterwards and was surprised by how the completion rate was. There’s lotsa talk about how every game should have multiple difficulties and blah blah blah but I seriously think A) who gives a shit, there’s lots of stuff I wish I could do and play but I’m never gonna be good enough/willing to put in the time to actually do it and B) would be against From’s best interests cuz the rep for “extreme” difficulty is probably the biggest draw their games have.

Anyway I was gonna replay it a few times but then I saw the resale price is tanking so I dumped it on eBay and Sekiro is now out of my life. I miss it dearly. Now what do I do with my free time? Read a book? Watch films? Play other games? Fuck that. This was the first entertainment I loved in what feels like forever.

[Alterity]

You know there’s probably gonna be DLC, right

From makes some very worthwhile DLC

[isfet]

had a dream last night that it was discovered if you connected the Nintendo Switch NES Controller while playing Sekiro, a second player could join in as Haohmaru from Samurai Shodown.

[dylan]

wow the speedrun for this has gotten wild good

[meauxdal]

just made it to genichiro atop ashina castle - that second form is pretty brutal! mostly because my nerves are shot at that point and i haven’t been able to successfully reflect the lightning attacks back at him. REALLY good fight though

i’m up to part 20 in my let’s play, so i’m pretty proud of myself for sticking to my original ideas for how i was going to play the game

[Chevluh]

I was actually really surprised by the second form, because for me it’s actually massively easier than the earlier part. All patterns are much more clearly telegraphed and very dodgeable.

[meauxdal]

that’s good news because i dunked on his first form in only my second attempt! such a satisfying clash of blades!!!

[vikram]

yes i didn’t bother with reflecting the lightning, instead just sprinting and jumping to avoid it, try to get as close to him and to his flank as possible. he has no armor so the hits you get on him do a lot of damage. it went pretty fast once i figured out the lightning dodge.

[anothersphere]

From the handful of other lit attacks later on, one’s very easy but reflecting the others never seemed as doable as Gen.

The first boss of the Shura route has an understated and tricky moveset, I felt after a handful of runs just as easy as other smaller sized encounters. That last boss though has some mean edge to a few attacks, the kind you think you clear/move in to punish and get thwacked with a “just there” hit box.

[sponkmonkey]

A.C.O.B. (Always count on Buddha)

[Rudie]

I have died more times to the camera than anything else.

[Dracko]

Obscene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=718PxQar3q0

[Chevluh]

Could you guys please use spoiler tags on late game boss discussion and videos? I’d definitely have liked to be surprised by the discovery of having to fight that one but the embed title already gives it away.

EDIT: Thank you!

[jodeaux]

Beat Genichiro in about 10-15 tries and had a good time with minimal gnashing of teeth. I’m starting to think that if you keep up to date with your prayer beads then each boss is calibrated correctly for you. I think that’s really the key to enjoying the game; just make sure you have all the available prayer beads for whichever boss you’re taking on and the game will not give you too hard of a time.

[anothersphere]

Aw yeah, Mike Kob! Used to watch his God Hand videos all the time.

Owl (Father) is neck and neck with Sword Saint Isshin as my hardest boss. Actually I think it’s kinda more difficult given the narrower arena, but I’d gotten a lot better with constant aggressive by then.

Feel like I could pull of that challenge in good time given some practice…just minus the “no damage”. Crazy good timing and zen mode required

[VastleCania]

I’m super done with this game and I regret buying it. Playing it puts me in a bad mood even when it doesn’t crash, and I’m tired of playing games that put me in a bad mood. From games are not for me, it turns out.

[wourme]

From games are not for me, it turns out.

Before writing them off completely, you might try a co-op game of The Adventures of Cookie and Cream. I enjoyed that one, and although it’s been years I imagine it holds up. The airplane part is tough, though.

I might try Sekiro one day when it’s cheap (and likely quit early on upon encountering a difficult boss), but I’d rather watch someone else play it. When I was in middle school, I had a friend who was very good at video games. I’d stay overnight and watch him play through the entirety of Zelda 2, TMNT, or Robowarrior. This seems like a good candidate for that sort of experience.

[ferrets]

even King’s Field and Shadow Tower???