Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Thank you for making a dedicated thread, ryO!

Is the Japanese title really “We Will Endure?” I wish they had used that for our version. That’s way more badass, in my opinion.

Also, just a warning for fellow viewers: The video gets kind of spoilery at the end. Tread carefully.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Skeleton said:
Also, just a warning for fellow viewers: The video gets kind of spoilery at the end. Tread carefully.

Spoilers for Sekiro or another From game..?
 
http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/08/20/gamescom-2018-sekiro-release-date-and-collectors-edition-announced

Soo ... we know when it's coming out and how's collector's edition going to look like. I'm buying the standard edition, but this looks pretty neat.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/08/20/gamescom-2018-sekiro-release-date-and-collectors-edition-announced said:
sekiro_collectors_edition.jpg

latest
Dark_Souls_II_Kansikuva.jpg
220px-Bloodborne_Cover_Wallpaper.jpgjpg


I see what they did there... and I like it! Looking forward to March 22nd. :guts:
 
Some more Sekiro: SDT gameplay from the recent Gamescom demo event:

Here's Marcus (ENB) with some commentary in addition to the footage.
Also Vaati with just 21 minutes of silent gameplay.

I recommend watching both if you have the time because it really shows the multitude of angles this game can be approached from.
 
This game looks dope ... and hard. I like it. I like this second boss on the bridge, it reminds me of big guys with swords from Bleach, anime I've used to like xD
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Indeed it does look good. I only watched enough gameplay to confirm it was indeed the new Souls (the camera, basic movement, and flask chugging all checked out =) despite the sales pitch that it's not just another Souls. Otherwise, I rather just experience it for myself.
 
Some people were pretty worried about this game because of Activision but to be honest, from the trailer and gameplay, it looks very promising. I really love the "Souls" games from FromSoftware and i also love old japan and samurais so it looks like a game for me :ubik:
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
The gameplay pretty much looks exactly like what you'd expect from the next step in the Souls/Bloodborne lineage, so nothing is going to dissuade me. It's just a matter of if I go for the PC or PS4 version. Steam teased me with q pre-order offer yesterday, but my PC and video card are pretty up there in years, Nioh ran like shit on it, so I might be better off just grabbing the safe bet and getting the most out of that PS4 investment anyway. Longterm I can always buy it on sale for PC later if I just want to have it on there "forever" (not like I replay all these games anyway).
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
So I got a PS4 copy (and an HDMI to DVI converter for my monitor) but really only played the tutorial area last night, think Undead Asylum. It obviously didn't grab me yet that I was able to quit so soon but it had a lot of potential. Like Bloodborne when it came to speed and offensive aggression, this is basically Souls boiled down more to strategy, technique and execution. Weaklings you can still bumrush and attack spam to death, that's actually what you SHOULD do rather than give them an opening, but it's going to be harder to cheat the big boys. I got frustrated and killed several times by the first tough enemy, and of course had to keep killing the 7 enemies before him each time I lost. I actually had a terrible run up to him, got hit several times and had to waste my healing potion, on my ultimately victorious attempt. It was either a case of bad rehearsal, great show or I just really had to focus without the flask, er, gourd. My favorite part of the experience was how I moved from relaxed in my recliner to sitting on the floor directly in front of the TV by the time I beat the guy. Haven't had to get serious like that in a while. :guts:

What I didn't like was some of the modern window dressing, storytelling, prompts, or yellow markings to show where you can climb, etc. It's the kind of stuff you see in every big game these days, which if not part of the ascetic charm of the Souls games was at least representative of it. I'm sure everyone will blame Activision for taking the soul out of Souls despite these practical additions merely beeing the norm among major developers these days; SOULD OUT! =)
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
That all sounds good to me. The videos I've seen make it look like a Souls game with a lot more maneuverability, and more importantly, where the objective isn't to just nip the heels of every big enemy, but instead be forced to actively engage them. That's an improvement after 3 straight games of rolling between buff dudes' ankles.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
That all sounds good to me. The videos I've seen make it look like a Souls game with a lot more maneuverability

Yes and no, for all the jumping and grappling, which is very cool moving around the world, when you get down to it with the big boys I'm still just circling, dodging, blocking, parrying, attacking. I'm still feeling that old, familiar frustration, but even moreso really because I haven't yet adjusted to the changes. It's early though, I'm definitely not used to the controls and still find myself doing counter-intuitive things, so we'll see how it feels when I get used to it. Bloodborne was less of a learning curve.

Walter said:
and more importantly, where the objective isn't to just nip the heels of every big enemy, but instead be forced to actively engage them.

Again, Bloodborne; how's that going? :carcus:

Walter said:
That's an improvement after 3 straight games of rolling between buff dudes' ankles.

Well, it's three straight if the Dark Souls games is specifically what you've been playing (in my mind the series' line of succession is DeS, DS, BB, and now Sekiro). Also, that's only one way to play those games, and my concern with Sekiro is that in trying to eliminate that they may have streamlined and limited other forms of engagement TOO much in the process. We'll see though, my guess is still that there's a lot more layers to this onion and I'll hopefully be in frustrated awe by the end.

I should also disclose that I'm getting my ass kicked pretty bad by enemies like
The Chained Ogre (hold dodge to run around him and make beating him much easier; might just be the way to play in general).
Same Souls process where you get better, regress, master, win. But right now I HATE it sometimes! :mozgus: :ganishka:
 
I actually don't think this is all that similar to Souls. They really tried to make a different game this time around and it's immediately obvious you have to play it differently as well. The only things that carry over in my opinion are the characteristic FromSoftware design elements (level design, NPCs, items and descriptions, look and feel), everything else from combat and combat scenarios, story, mobility (jumping, jumping over attacks, on and off of enemies, climbing, swimming, hanging off of ledges, using vantage points, stealth, eavesdropping) are in retrospect, an entirely different set of mechanics. It's easy to oversimplify it.

Speaking of combat, I absolutely love what they did with it. They capitalized on the lack of shields in Japanese martial arts to create a purely sword based combat system and I think they made it work beautifully. There is a notion of realism to it that I really like, in that you don't just hack away at an enemy's lifebar, each encounter is an intense and fast chain of both offensive and defensive exchanges which end up in a fatal strike. In concept, that's not unlike how actual sword fighting would play out. In addition to that, it looks good, gives the game a personal and distinctive dynamic and most importantly it's challenging, in a different way than Souls.

Also Griffith, a great thing about this game is that you can play however you want and approach situations accordingly, it was after all a pretty big selling point. Using stealth and high places to spot enemies and take them out one by one might prove faster and a lot more satisfying, potentially solving your frustration issues. While the trash mobs are easy to rush down by themselves, they get especially dangerous when grouping up on you, more so than in previous FS games. You can try to deal with everything simplistically, by just attacking, running around and dodging, and you can get quite good at it eventually, but that's not what it all boils down to.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Bleac said:
I actually don't think this is all that similar to Souls. They really tried to make a different game this time around and it's immediately obvious you have to play it differently as well. The only things that carry over in my opinion are the characteristic FromSoftware design elements (level design, NPCs, items and descriptions, look and feel), everything else from combat and combat scenarios, story, mobility (jumping, jumping over attacks, on and off of enemies, climbing, swimming, hanging off of ledges, using vantage points, stealth, eavesdropping) are in retrospect, an entirely different set of mechanics. It's easy to oversimplify it.

I hardly recognized it myself because of the changed names, added standard movement mechanics and the different colored menus. :slan:

Bleac said:
Also Griffith, a great thing about this game is that you can play however you want and approach situations accordingly, it was after all a pretty big selling point.

It's a pretty typical selling point, I'll see how much value it actually holds as I play. I did do a DS3 run once where I was basically invisible to all enemies until I attacked, and sometimes still was after, so there was always other ways to play if you got bored.

Bleac said:
Using stealth and high places to spot enemies and take them out one by one might prove faster and a lot more satisfying, potentially solving your frustration issues. While the trash mobs are easy to rush down by themselves, they get especially dangerous when grouping up on you, more so than in previous FS games.

I would disagree there thus far, I've been pretty sloppy with mobs and not faced much consequence. So far it's just the tougher enemies requiring multiple deathblows that necessitate more than blunt force or even just an overly-aggressive style. Frankly, a lot of them are annoying. I appreciate the game is basically forcing you to play good defense, but you could always do that before too. Anyway, it's fun and I see great potential to really take Souls combat to the next level, but the jury is still out (I still fear it's changes will feel more constrictive to a certain style than freeing).

I just got the Shinobi Axe to play with and was very happy to see Trick Weapons essentially make their return (I don't liked that it's in the opposite hand of the button used though). This is getting more interesting! :guts:
 
Griffith said:
Anyway, it's fun and I see great potential to really take Souls combat to the next level, but the jury is still out (I still fear it's changes will feel more constrictive to a certain style than freeing).

The exclusion of armour sets, weapons and other RPG elements is already bound to make it feel more constrictive. Fortunately, the game knows what it wants to be and the developers knew what they set out to do. Testament to the fact that this is nothing like Souls at its core. The freedom is mainly in how you choose to kill your enemies given a strict number of means, but even that will get old. The truth is you're not supposed to pile hundreds of hours in this game. It's meant to be a well crafted linear experience, and based on community feedback it seems to have succeeded in its goal.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Bleac said:
The exclusion of armour sets, weapons and other RPG elements is already bound to make it feel more constrictive.

It's actually got more RPG elements than I expected with the stat points, skill trees, and prosthetic weapon upgrades. I thought it was going to be more SL1/BL4 style.

Bleac said:
Testament to the fact that this is nothing like Souls at its core.

Right, I can see now it's more of a Bloodborne/Nioh clone. :carcus:

Bleac said:
The freedom is mainly in how you choose to kill your enemies given a strict number of means, but even that will get old.

I like the stealth kills, especially from high places, but it seems like there's a bit of an explicit philosophy that you figure out and use the right tool for the right job than just do as you will. I just hope in their attempt to elevate Souls-style combat with more specific nuances that they don't inadvertently lose the essence of what made it so appealing in the first place.

Bleac said:
The truth is you're not supposed to pile hundreds of hours in this game. It's meant to be a well crafted linear experience, and based on community feedback it seems to have succeeded in its goal.

Well, I was kind of hoping it would be more wide open and engrossing like its predecessors, but we'll see. Maybe it will be more that way to me, though so far the story is pretty standard and still leaves me cold, especially following the awesome homespun mythologies of Dark Souls and Bloodborne. But it's only been out a couple of days so I'm holding off on the definitive retrospectives of it and its place in the series' history, for now I'm just enjoying it. =)
 
I've been having a ton of fun with this game. It personally reminds me of a lot of how I'd play Dishonored bur from third person, mixed with a bit of Bloodborne.

It absolutely has the souls DNA. But, while all those games have the same parenthood, this really is the brother of the series that fucked off and did its own thing. Until I see Patches and the Moonlight Greatsword, I'm not sure how connected this will really be (I joke!). I'm only probably about 8 hours in it or so though.

Most of it has been pretty easy so far. It's typically pretty simple to stealth kill. Yet, as usual, there'll pop up a monster of some type that will remind you that you suck at the game and don't know shit. Those learning curves once learned will give you an edge up on the game until you repeat this process on the next thing that kicks your ass.

So far the drunk asshole and Lady Butterfly have been a bit rough. I'm pretty choked at the drunk jackass, since I nearly killed him at one point and he managed to somehow lose agro (I wasn't even stealthing!) inside the house and came back at me with full health. I was not pleased. At all.

Cool game though. I'm really hoping it'll do what Bloodborne did later in the game and really open up the world to some amazing sights and mythology.
 
Griffith said:
Right, I can see now it's more of a Bloodborne/Nioh clone.

Personally i prefer Bloodborne than DS trilogy. I'm 40h in Sekiro and so far, i love it. Moving so fast, parry every move and dueling with ennemies feels refine and thrilling. The setting is obviously amazing and i feel like Fromsoft find a pleasing balance between world building and tell a story, The verticality is refreshing and i don't feel any loss in term of exploration and progression.

I strongly advise to play on PC (60 fps and more if you mod it, zero framerate issue).
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Tabris said:
I've been having a ton of fun with this game. It personally reminds me of a lot of how I'd play Dishonored bur from third person, mixed with a bit of Bloodborne.

It absolutely has the souls DNA. But, while all those games have the same parenthood, this really is the brother of the series that fucked off and did its own thing. Until I see Patches and the Moonlight Greatsword, I'm not sure how connected this will really be (I joke!).

It's definitely more like Bloodborne because of the speed, but surprisingly it reminds me most of Nioh, and not just because of the setting but a lot of the mechanics and skill options. It's hard to say if this is complete coincidence, like this was just a logical evolution and Nioh got there first, or if FromSoft took some notes on that interpretation of their work.

Tabris said:
Most of it has been pretty easy so far. It's typically pretty simple to stealth kill. Yet, as usual, there'll pop up a monster of some type that will remind you that you suck at the game and don't know shit. Those learning curves once learned will give you an edge up on the game until you repeat this process on the next thing that kicks your ass.

Yeah, so far I'd say the low level enemies and mobs are easier to handle than in Souls, but the mini-bosses and up are a pain in the ass. It's like every big fight is some minor variation of Maria now. I think I started getting the hang of it last night and took out all the bosses and mini-bosses in my way so far (used every trick in the book for one general; lots of ash in the face =).

Tabris said:
So far the drunk asshole and Lady Butterfly have been a bit rough. I'm pretty choked at the drunk jackass, since I nearly killed him at one point and he managed to somehow lose agro (I wasn't even stealthing!) inside the house and came back at me with full health. I was not pleased. At all.

The Shinobi (Cheesy) Way: Stealth kill all his goons, run away and and repeat as necessary, then stealth hit him for one deathblow, run to summon the samurai in the swamp to make the next deathblow a piece of cake.

Tabris said:
Cool game though. I'm really hoping it'll do what Bloodborne did later in the game and really open up the world to some amazing sights and mythology.

I hope so, but I'm not holding my breath because that was immediately engrossing and only got crazier. This is pretty standard fare to start, I'm not crazy about the kid and your motives, and there's already plenty of now thrice re-branded Souls concepts (Dragonrot!). Hope I'm wrong though, I'd be a bit shocked if things didn't get a little bit weirder before it's over, though it doesn't have to be a stealth Bloodborne prequel or anything. =)

ryOtoha said:
Personally i prefer Bloodborne than DS trilogy.

The Dark Souls games are basically Demon's Souls and Bloodborne clones to be sold multi-platform. :carcus:

Dark Souls II is a copy of a copy. :ganishka:
 
Griffith said:
The Shinobi (Cheesy) Way: Stealth kill all his goons, run away and and repeat as necessary, then stealth hit him for one deathblow, run to summon the samurai in the swamp to make the next deathblow a piece of cake.

This is exactly what I did hah! Though it's pretty easy to quickly slaughter all the guys at once avoiding drunken fuckface. With a good deathblow and the dude to tank, he was a cakewalk.

He's a pure nuisance otherwise.
 
Griffith said:
It's actually got more RPG elements than I expected with the stat points, skill trees, and prosthetic weapon upgrades. I thought it was going to be more SL1/BL4 style.

Eh, it's still limited as far as RPGs go, and I think that is in order to have the player spend as little time as possible in the menus and instead focus on the world, story and the skill based aspects of the elevated combat system.

Griffith said:
Right, I can see now it's more of a Bloodborne/Nioh clone. :carcus:

This statement causes me great turmoil. :void:

Griffith said:
I like the stealth kills, especially from high places, but it seems like there's a bit of an explicit philosophy that you figure out and use the right tool for the right job than just do as you will.

I mean, just because there is a most optimal way to play a game doesn't mean you have to play it that way. The problem with free will in video games in general is pretty much always the same, you're bound by the mechanical constraints of said game.

Griffith said:
I just hope in their attempt to elevate Souls-style combat with more specific nuances that they don't inadvertently lose the essence of what made it so appealing in the first place.

The combat in Souls is fundamentally pretty simple. You have many weapon classes with individual movesets and animations that give you an illusory sense of freedom, but in reality it's all a very grounded system that comes down to 2 pivotal things: spacing and timing. The real freedom in Souls comes from the range of playstyles and builds, but that's where the RPG elements and numbers come in and combat design leaves the equation.

Sekiro seems to have done the opposite. It ditched playstyles and builds to make a better fundamental combat experience. I think it did a pretty damn good job; and don't get me wrong, Souls combat is great, one of the most defining of its genre, I just want to make sure you don't mistake its appeal for something else entirely.
 
Top Bottom