Playable for the first time, FromSoftware’s ninja-action death frenzy Sekiro was the 2018 Tokyo Game Show’s hottest ticket. Sekiro sets out its threat in the subtitle: Shadows Die Twice.
On the subject of death, we were reminded of a story by Pulitzer-winner Annie Proulx, in which she sees a goat after a family visit, representing the inevitability of mortality. Sekiro does a similar thing, but instead of driving past a goat, you are disembowelled a thousand times by men with swords. We suppose there are two ways to make the same point.
Sekiro was in high demand at the Game Show, and even after starting about fifth in the queue and running (for real) straight to Sony’s booth, our 15 minutes on the game took pretty much two hours.
“Sekiro” means “lone wolf”, and you play as a ninja in ancient Japan. But we were no lone wolf going in, as we befriended two other writers in the queue, who reminisced about dying repeatedly in Dark Souls, Sekiro’s smash-hit ancestor. Expectations of killer difficulty had been set.
As seen in trailers, Sekiro looks smart and modern, if not jaw-dropping. Animations are clean and fast, although we occasionally found ourselves watching in dread as our character yawned to his feet without the urgency to be expected when dismemberment is very much on the cards.
The booth staffers – all young women in Sony blue and leggings – would offer gentle clarification if you misunderstood the controls and applaud cutely when you eviscerated someone. The encouragement was welcome, as everyone who played received a jolly good murdering.
The much-anticipated grappling hook mechanic is basic but not a gimmick. There‘s no freedom with it – you see a green circle appear on part of the scenery, point the camera vaguely at it and hit R2. When the circle is out of range, it’s grey. No circle; no grapple. The placement of green circles seemed arbitrary – the gables of some old wooden structures, but not others; the heaving, looming branches of some snow-covered trees but not others. (The branch you can mount bows and sheds its snow when you land – a pretty bit of peacocking for this opening scene.) What grappling does do is prompt you to look for new vantage points and lines of attack, and it makes aerial assassinations satisfyingly available. You’re no Bionic Commando, but it changes your relationship with the world.
Combat is intuitive: lock on to enemies, dodge, parry, and strike, toying, feeling for the right time to serve death. The minions are easy, bloody kills, but if you screw it up then they can be lethal when they hit. The ones in the opening scene were sneakupable from bushes or above or behind and could be removed from existence quite mercilessly, to orangey-red ceremony. These stealth attacks are not going to get old quickly.
The first section of the demo led to a tough general patrolling the gates to the citadel. A couple of notes here: 1) we assume this was only the first section of the demo; 2) we assume the gates were to a citadel and not to, say, a chocolate factory or a theme park. The general killed us over and over and over and over and over again, so beyond him, for us, lie mere assumptions.
We were warned by the staffer as we approached the general that he was “mechya tsutyoi”. She realised she had spoken in Japanese and quickly corrected: “mechya strong”. “Mechya” we were left to translate ourselves. We're guessing that in English it begins with an 'F'.
Leaving the booth, one of our new friends quipped, “‘Shadows Die Twice’? More like ‘Shadows Die Like 20 Times’!” Hurr-hurr, we laughed along. If only it had just been 20.
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to cut through FromSoftware’s latest? Are you impressed with what you’ve seen of Sekiro so far? Sharpen your blade in the comments section below.
Comments 26
I wasn't sure when it was first announced (mainly because I was still secretly hoping for Bloodborne 2), but the more I hear about Sekiro the more excited I become for it.
@get2sammyb I think it's to do with the pace. I love dark souls but at times it feels so sluggish especially when compared to bloodborne.
Got excited when I first saw the top image, thought it was Ghost of Tshushima lol
Its funny we get 3 feudal Japan games thrown at us. And I bet all 3 of them will be great!
And also I found funny they said meccha tsuyoi, because that is actually Kansai dialect, not Tokyo/Kanto.
It's hard challenging, fair and rewarding like nioh or hard cheap, unfair and b💩 like DarkSouls and Bloodborne?
This sounds pretty good. Hope it’s on the level of Bloodborne
Hype! I can’t wait to play this.
@Arcade_tokyo Do you think it’ll be as good as Bloodborne? ThGs my expectation so far.
I'm honestly getting tired of hard games. But that won't stop me from getting and playing this. lol
@GKO900 seems fair from the 15 mins I got. I got destroyed, but felt like I made progress every attempt. There is depth to the combat and room to win gracefully, not just by thumping at people. Looks good.
@Jaz007 it’s different but satisfying. If you’re looking forward to it then you won’t be disappointed.
Are you sure that first image isn't from Ghost of Tsushima?
I don't like hard games really BUT From Software have a way of making their games seem fair that others really struggle with. So I'm down.
All I need is an Easy difficulty level, like God of War.
pleb like me can't handle difficult gameplay...
I haven't seen anywhere if this has multiplayer like other from software games. I really like how it works in DS and BB.
@LaNooch1978 I think my biggest gripe with the FromSoftware games is the combat to me it feels like the character is way too heavy, sluggish and clunky at times and with enemies that are really fast it really doesn't feel fair to me, compared to Nioh with is fast pace combat system with the stances it's really night and day
@Arcade_Tokyo Really nice to know that the combat system has some depth, it really looks promising hopefully Activision won't ruin the game with micro transactions 😝
@doctommaso. how many hard games are there.come on playa.stop complaining.dont be a big baby.i been playing video games since 1981.since i was 4 years old.and im the best.i welcome hard video games.you should welcome it also.word up son
@playstation1995
don't be like that please.
let people play the way they want.
and good on you for playing from such a young age,but that hardly makes you the best ever.
@ellsworth004 This has no multiplayer elements at all, single player only.
Sounds really good form all the reports I've read and watched. Roll on next March.
@playstation1995 Haha, I am kind of a big baby, actually! But yeah, I mean I enjoy hard games, but lately it's all I play. Spider-Man was a nice break from that — even on the hardest difficulty, it was pretty much a breeze. In any case, I am looking forward to Sekiro.
@playstation1995 actually I'm the best ever. Word up son. AP and the skins gonna win it all!!
I played and beat the Immortal with no help, pre existing knowledge or guides, Sekiro will be a walk in a park on a sunny day compared to that hellish nightmare of a game.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immortal_(video_game)
@malbhet Kudos, that game was pretty nuts from what I remember.
@whywai88 No such thing as difficulty in these games. Sure, they could neuter the AI and make enemies deal less damage, but it would ruin the experience. Danger is a central theme, and the high reward for high risk gameplay is what makes the games so powerfully fun. An easy mode makes it a different kind of game, one not in line with their vision, which is to use stiff challenge to teach the player to play better. Souls fan jerks toss around "git gud" as an insult, but it truly is core to what the games are designed to push you to do. If that's not your thing, it just might not be for you.
@ellsworth004. nah im the best .pittsburgh Steelers Superbowl champions 2018.word up son
@NoxAeturnus @whywai88 Yeah I think an "easy" difficulty or something would be pointless. However, I do believe most From games could be just 15% easier and be as good or (likely) better an experience. And I'm someone who has beaten them all and loved From more than any other developer, ever since King's Field in early 1996.
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