90%PC

Perfect combat mechanics, amazing bosses, needed DLC

Top 5 Bosses:
- Isshin, The Sword Saint
- Genichiro Ashina
- True Corrupted Monk
- Great Shinobi Owl
- Guardian Ape/Headless Ape

85%PC

not as good as dark souls 3 but still good.

70%PC

I like this game, the combat is fun, but it definitely has it's souls bullshit mechanics that I don't enjoy.

Now this game is difficult, terribly so. It's the most difficult modern game out there that I played and I played a bunch of souls games. You get swarmed by enemies here. Sometimes it's so ridiculous it feels like you're getting zerg rushed. Among the group of enemies there will be tanks that you can't take down fast, ranged enemies that will snipe you from afar and of course a bunch of weaker enemies, except by the end of the game these weaker enemies are mini bosses by themselves who can take you out while you're blinking (fuck spear guys and assassins). To deal with this you can be methodical and stealthy and take down the enemies one by one. The problem with the stealth approach is that it takes a long time to sneak around, and if you mess up you will get swarmed and die. You die very fast in this game, a few hits and it's over. Although most trash mobs die fast as well.

The scarlet rot mechanic sucks and I really don't understand the point of it. You get punished for dying too much, which is as expected as the morning sun rising. I will not get into the boss fights because some bosses are very fun to fight and some are just straight up torture mixed with bullshit. Lady butterfly is a good fight except for her stupid projectiles, demon of hatred has too much AOE, the duo headless ape fight I just couldn't handle in how unfun it was. The rule of thumb here if it's a human opponent and it's a 1v1 duel, it will be fun. You just focus and learn the mechanics and timings and soldier through it. Only problem are the few ambiguous attacks where it's difficult to determine which kind of move it will be because the stance is not as pronounced as it could be.

Now the combat is the best part of the game. Honestly, I don't know why FromSoftware and other companies don't focus on this type of combat style and further refine it. Only other game that comes to mind with similar combat is Metal Gear Revengeance, which is also great, and perhaps DMC, although DMC is way more arcade like. The combat style if very free flowing, where you can jump out, dodge, side step or parry attacks, which all depends on what you think is best for the situation. Parrying feels orgasmic and stabbing a boss through with your sword after breaking his stance is just awesome.

Level design is good, but a bit confusing to navigate through. Especially in places like the sunken valley, where the level design is very vertical. The problem with verticality is that you're given a grapple, but you can only grapple to certain fixed objects in the game. This makes it frustrating when you're standing in front of a wall, but you're not allowed to grapple to anything so you have to go around. This feels very limiting, but limitations have to be in place I guess. The map itself is not huge and loops around on itself with the center point being Ashina Castle, and everything else sort of branching out out of it, so you will be revisiting the location constantly.

Another great part of the game is actually the story and the setting. I sort of cared about the young prince, although it feels weird to be so devoted to a child who hasn't proven anything yet and his only value is being of royal blood. But wolf and Emma being so loyal and devoted warmed my heart. The whole twist of the sculptor being the demon of hatred, and even possibly you from the future (however that works with the timeline) is awesome. Then there's your foster father Owl leading a band of misfits in order to secure Kuros divine blood . There's some lore sprinkled here and there FromSoft style, so you best watch a lore video that explains it succinctly if you're interested in it. The boss introductions are great as well, not Elden Ring level, but the glock saint coming out of Genichiros body after being summoned from hell is awesome. The divine dragon fight is a cool gimmick and looks pretty visually. The Giant Snake constantly chasing you and stalking the valley is awesome, the giant carp fish is cool (although fuck the lighting spewing mini boss in that palace area).

All in all, it's an awesome combat game, which is extremely difficult. So if you want to experience pain and then learn to parry it, so that you can go on forums and call other people scrubs and tell them to git gud, it's the perfect game for you.

100%PlayStation 4

The most fun combat system from all of the FromSoftware games. Iconic boses and locations. Very high difficulty level but always fair. To be honest only one boss fight won't fit for me in the game - the demon of hatred. Replayed 4 times at this point and have a blast every god damn time.

90%PC

2019 GOTY

90%PC

better than any other soulslike/soulsborn

100%PC

Sekiro does not ask you to be correct, it asks only that you be perfect. The intended way to play is a hair off from being speedrunning.

I think that the themes of the story are well expressed and substantial.

I appreciate that the narrative and world slowly gets more fantastical as the game goes on, changing even old locations to match.

This game proves that you can have a voiced, fixed-personality, self-serious character that aids the narrative but still gives opportunity for player expression.

There are fewer meaningful resources than the other Souls games, which oddly makes me more willing to use them. "Less is more", and only the mechanics you actually need are present.

Because of its unique combat focus, combat encounters are able to play very differently from one another, leading to some surprising moments.

The only things I really did not like are the few bosses which are basically Dark Souls 3 bosses and the forced stealth with instant death.

This is perhaps the only FromSoftware title I can see myself coming back to practice and sharpen myself on.

95%PlayStation 4

Amazing game! As a soulsborne veteran kinda easy but also hard to get into. Needed some mental adjustment, but as soon as it clicked I got hooked.

I got the ‚best‘ ending ‚Dragon’s Homecoming‘ and did everything I could except for the second Hirata level because I missed the bell.

90%Xbox One

My favorite fromsoft game so far. Once it clicks, it clicks. Badass bosses and fighting mechanics. The only reason it didn’t get a 100 is because it is pretty easy to get lost without a guide.

80%PC

A serious test of your concentration, and reflexes.

Good
- the fights can be frustrating but after you beat it, it feels satisfying. When I finally beat the game, it felt like a long journey finally complete.
- have to be careful when to heal. Keeps the tension up even when you are half health, even if you have a bunch of healing items.
- I like how the saving is done. It prevents save scumming to retain XP and money.
- the posture and health battle mechanic is clever. It forces the player to parry, and learn the pattern and timing of the enemy's moves, instead of just blocking forever. The game rewards you for parrying successfully. A fight can be over fast if you are good at it. Long and stressful if you are bad at it. Hence, it rewards skill, which is great.
- Enemies and bosses are unique. Each boss encounter threw something interesting your way. Every fight was a new challenge.
- The visual style is really cool, if you like historical Japan/Asia. The design of the enemies and allies were interesting too. Involving spirits and mythical creatures was a nice touch.

Bad
- the respawn points for a boss fight should be right before the Boss encounter. Having the spawn point so far back just causes unnecessary travel time. Every death you are guaranteed a death screen, a loading screen, and walking to the boss fight. These three things add up. It may only take about 30 seconds in total, but when you die 30 or 50 times it adds up to a lot of unnecessary time loss.
- skills in the skill tree could have used a video or gameplay sample before the player decides if they want it or not. XP is precious in the game cause you can lose it so easily. Knowing exactly what you're spending it on is important. Text explanation simply isn't detailed enough.
- the respawn points annoyed me so much I decided to use a trainer to just practice the boss fight, before taking it on for real.
- the grappling points on the trees against the Guardian Ape boss was very finicky. I would be trying to grapple the monkey but end up grappling the tree.
- lock on can be finicky sometimes too, especially against lady butterfly. If the poles break your line of sight with her for too long, you lose the lock on. Or if she goes too far away, the lock on will also disappear.
- the camera can feel wonky sometimes
- items being used up after a lost battle made me not want to use them in case I needed them for a hard boss fight. In the end I didn't use any buff items because of that reason. Losing money and XP is one thing, but losing items after a boss fight is kind of annoying. Perhaps there could have been a better way they could have done this, while still retaining the difficulty.
- it was really hard to get much of the extra skills because I kept losing XP from losing boss battles. I decided to farm XP off of weak enemies. This took forever. This felt inevitable because I had to go back to the boss fights over and over to learn the patterns. Unless your second playthrough or you have prior experience with the game, there's just almost no way you can build up a much XP. Hence most of the skills will be out of your reach. Luckily almost none of the skills are mandatory to win the game, it just makes it a bit easier.

80%PC

Played in 2024.
My first From Software game.

I loved it, but it's definitively not for everyone, as the game is utterly unforgiving.
Combat and infiltration are great. Game looks gorgeous and some bosses are memorable.

On the downside, the camera can lead you to an early death, and I found the game is not doing an amazing job at teaching you all the subtleties of combat (I got the hang of it around the middle of the main quest).

100%PlayStation 4

Hesitação é derrota

90%PC

9/10

95%PC

Very clean and satisfying gameplay; kind of a low skill ceiling once you get used to the gameplay but really fun to 100% nevertheless

100%PC

PLIN PLIN PLIN PLIN

100%PC

Easily one of the best games that I've played

100%PC

First playthrough - garbage
Second playthrough - okay, i think i get it
Third playthrough - I AM THE MOST POWERFUL SWORDSMAN IN THE WORLD
Fourth playthrough - victory lap

60%PlayStation 5

Story: 4
The story in Sekiro is pretty confusing. You almost have to watch YouTube videos to figure out what’s going on. The game doesn’t do a great job explaining the motivations behind events or guiding you to the different endings in any way. The plot feels disjointed and hard to follow just by playing the game.

Gameplay: 7
The combat mechanics are unique and the parry system is definitely interesting, but it has its flaws. The ‘perilous’ attacks can be frustrating because the game doesn’t differentiate between them, making it unnecessarily hard to react in time. Some boss fights are cool and challenging, but others feel more tedious than rewarding. The progression system is also a letdown, with penalties for dying that discourage experimenting with new skills.

Music & Audio: 5
The music is pretty forgettable. It’s there, but it doesn’t really add much to the atmosphere or enhance the scenes. It just kind of fills the background without making a lasting impression.

Design & Visuals: 6
Visually, the game is just okay. Besides the Fountainhead Palace, the environments are mostly dull and repetitive. They lack the vibrancy and appeal of other games like Ghost of Tsushima or Elden Ring. The character design and animations are decent, but nothing really stands out.

Replayability: 4
There’s not much reason to replay Sekiro. The game doesn’t offer anything new in NG+ or beyond. No secret locations, build variations, or significant use of new skills and prosthetic tools. Apart from achievement hunting, there’s little incentive to dive back in.

Technical Issues & Bugs: 6
I didn't experience any bugs. My major gripe is that the game doesn’t auto-pause when your controller disconnects, which is really annoying for an offline game.

Overall Score: 6/10
Overall, Sekiro doesn’t really live up to the hype. While the combat mechanics are unique, they can be frustrating and the rest of the game feels pretty average. The story is hard to follow, the characters lack depth, and the environments are nothing special. Some boss fights are fun, but others are just tedious. The progression system is punishing in a way that doesn’t feel rewarding. It’s a game that’s hard to recommend and one I probably won’t go back to. It has its moments, but overall, it falls flat in too many areas.

65%PC

fuck this game and boring bosses

100%PC

+Fokin awesome.
-The camera is pure bullshit for a game this fast.

100%PlayStation 4

GOAT: best fromsoft ever combat is the funnest and the learning curve is amarzing a must play 10/10

90%PC

If Fromsoft games were Smash games, Elden Ring is Ultimate and Sekiro is Melee. The combat is so fucking smooth and satisfying. You are rewarded for aggression and staying in the opponent's face. The more I found myself just saying "fuck it" and running into the big ass boss, the easier the fight was. Movement feels good, if not janky some times trying to climb. Parrying and getting the dance down with bosses was sick. I didn't fuck with beast bosses at the start because it was just hit and run, and it kinda remained that way with beast bosses throughout. I just had learn how to fight them.

That's the summary of the whole game. Just learn how to parry/dodge Enemy Attack 1, punish, learn when the enemy parries, learn what they do after they parry, learn how to parry/dodge Enemy Attack 2, repeat. It really just comes down to that, but the variation in attacks and mixes felt real good to learn and execute, even the Guardian Ape(s).

Ape had me going "how the fuck do I beat this" because I didn't know how to parry it. I loved the parry bosses, like Genichiro, Isshin, etc. Those two had the sickest fights. Isshin beat my ass last night maybe 20 times, got him to Phase 2 maybe twice. Kinda brute forced it. Today, maybe 10 deaths and took him to Phase 3 about three or four times before killing him. I learned his attacks quickly and parried the fuck outta him.

Final Fight stats: Max stats and gourd seeds, 2 gourds remaining after the fight. 3/3 resurrection nodes, 17/17 Spirit Emblems. I no hit the Genichiro phase, Phase 1 was solid, 2 made me drink a bit, and 3 was pretty easy on the final run. I deflected lightning twice and just ran out of all his charge spear attacks. No combat arts or prosthetics used just raw dogged this bum. Setting was cool as fuck too and all the hype.

Story was cool. Really cool environmental storytelling. I liked learning about the centipedes being the source of immortality through the Ape and those centipede monk enemies. Kuro is chad Momo from One Piece. Momo looks like a fucking loser now. All the endings were cool.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: I played with a "Disable death penalties + dragonrot" mod that came with an FPS unlock mod I used. I didn't plan on it initially and only wanted FPS unlock, but I felt restricted from exploring while losing all my resources. The mod also tracked deaths and kills; I had 168 deaths and 2606 kills.

All achievements except 6 (7 with 'All Achievement' one). In my current playthrough, I can get 3: max skills, max prosthetic upgrades, use Lapis Lazuli to upgrade any tool to its limit. In NG+, I can go for Shura ending and get 3 more: killing Isshin Ashina, all Bosses, & Shura ending.

Overall sick game. Only complaint is that some miniboss types were repeated, even some where the physical appearance wasn't the same. I'll probably come around to 100%ing it if getting the skill and prosthetics achievements don't take forever. Definitely gonna try out the Gauntlets of Strength too. CLING CLING.

95%PlayStation 4

Probably the game with the best combat system I have ever played with. Every single attack and deflect was an enjoyable experience not to mention the satisfaction I received each time I killed a difficult boss.

100%PlayStation 5

This game was awesome. I had been avoiding it because of the comments I had heard about its difficulty, but I actually think it was easier than some of the other souls game once you got a hang of the combat. Speaking of the combat, it has the best in all the FromSoftware games. I cannot wait to play it again and eventually get the platinum for it.

XP level farming for platinum was pretty tedious but other than that it was an enjoyable platinum.

95%PC

Very well-made game, great difficulty, great bosses (apart from some), nice map, decent story, INCREDIBLE COMBAT, amazing gameplay, and the final boss is insanely fun to fight.

100%PC

Story and lore wise it isn't quite as interesting as some other souls games but is still well thought out albeit pretty simple. Since there's less item description lore in general, most of the storytelling is done through dialogue which leads to a fairly straightforward but nice story for the good ending routes you choose. The bad ending is also pretty interesting in what happens as well.

The major aspect of course is the gameplay. The combat system is absolutely terrific and greatly rewards you for mastering it. The prosthetic tools and their upgraded versions being actually different in most cases is also a nice design. While I didn't experiment much with some of the tools as they didn't suit my playstyle as much, the variety offers a lot of flexibility and creativeness for combos in combat. The combat art system I'm not as keen on. It is cool to use and some are pretty flashy but overall I'd say the majority are not useful on bosses where it really matters and for normal mobs it'd be easier/quicker to just use regular attacks.

The stealth aspect of the game is very well done and rewards that approach earnestly if executed well compared to just running in. The use of a grappling hook in a lot of map areas to change aggro and get around is also really nice.

One nice design here is having no concept of stamina so being able to run, jump, and attack constantly if you wanted is really nice and keeps in line with the tone of the game in pushing timely aggression and dodging/parrying against enemies. The incorporation of a skill tree using experience and the attack power/prayer beads system for actually "leveling up" your character is a good design to have for at least one of Fromsoft's games imo, as it pushes you to learn one style well and not overcompensate with grinding. While it may not be for everyone, I think that is what makes this game so good. Another reason that sets it apart is being able to refight bosses at any point after you beat them. Personally I think it's recommended to do it after you have maxed out prayer beads as it seems the Reflection battles are more geared with that in mind and are harder if you aren't maxed out as they appear to be the testing ground for doing Gauntlet runs. But just the fact you can fight bosses over and over again when the quality of the fights are so good is a huge plus instead of having to do a new playthrough and imo should be implemented in other Fromsoft souls games as well. While there are some bosses that feel like an antithesis to Sekiro's style of gameplay, the majority don't fall into that category. On another note, unlike other souls games where you'd need to replay a large portion of it to get one of the different endings, Sekiro actually does not have many blockers in the way and once you know where you're going, you can actually skip a lot of things which makes speedruns nice to do and also clears out some of the hassle of going for all the endings of the game, especially given that to fight all bosses you will need 2 runs since 2 are locked behind the bad ending.

Overall its an insanely great game that I hope Fromsoft does more of a similar style to in the future.

100%Xbox One

Definitely my favorite game of all time.

90%PC

JUEGAZO lo probé hace tiempecillo y me quedé con ganas de terminarmelo. Tiene una dificultad tremenda y todo (tanto visual, sonoro como jugabilidad) me parecen increibles. Me he viciado bastante pero hay que dominar las mecanicas para disfrutarlo ya que sino se te hace frustrante y cuesta arriba. Personalmente opino que es el mejor juego de parrys que existe

95%PlayStation 4

this game is one of the most difficult games I have ever played but also very satisfying. After the learning curve the game does get a lot easier even more with the new game plus. The enemy designs were awesome. When I was at the last boss fight, fighting Genichiro and Isshin Ashina I truly thought I couldn't do it but after dying over and over again and learning the fight I finally did it. Amazing!

100%PC

The combat was amazing and the boss fights were phenomenal. Hands down one of my favorites.

90%PC

Excellent and gruelling. A few weak spots in a couple of bosses but most everything else is absolutely stellar.

90%PC

Definitely the most fun combat in a fromsoft game I 've tried so far.

100%PC

Insane combat, and good history. I love this game so much, it really deserved the GOTY award!

100%PC

Hesitação é derrota. MEU AMIGO QUE JOGO SENSACIONAL. Um jogo dificil de se aprender, mais ainda de dominar, mas recompensador a um nível assustador. Gameplay, gráficos, história impecáveis. Melhor combate que eu já vi em um jogo de ação, simplesmente perfeito, assim como dominar uma espada na vida real, é extremamente dfificil de dominar, mas quando é dominado, traz um poder inimaginável. Uma história de se pensar por um bom tempo, cheia de significado. Uma ambientação e gráficos de cair o queixo, simplesmente lidno. Esse aqui me marcou, não só pela dificuldade, mas pela qualidade e lições que traz, nunca vou esquecer. Planejo terminaar os quatro finais, rejogaria COM CERTEZA.

100%PlayStation 4

The best combat I've ever played in a game.

100%PC

GOTY Resume, nada a declarar apenas joguem.

90%Xbox One

9.5~.

95%PC

some of the best combat in gaming

100%PC

en iyi fromsoftware oyunu

80%PC

when combat kicks ,🔥🔥

100%PC

This game is a thrilling adventure filled with hardness and danger and maybe the best combat gameplay for a game I've ever played makes the game even more addictive and fun. 10/10

95%PC

One of the most fun experiences i had. The combat is very fluid and constant unlike the other souls games where you wait for your turn. Story is actually told and understandable for the most part without the help of VaatiVidya. First Fromsoft souls game that uses other colors than pissyellow and grey. Being able to fight bosses after ending the game is needed in other souls game.

HESITATION IS DEFEAT!

100%PC

Excelente gameplay

100%PC

Platinum with 4 run, Best game ever, perfect combat and world design

85%PC

Sword Saint Isshin best boss

100%PC

Erkeklerin adam olduğu yer. Lan bu kolay bi boss deyip aynı bossa 20 kere öldüğüm bir oyun. Oyun hakkında bir fikriniz yoksa oyunun son bossunu izleyin şu ana kadar yaptığınız her şeyi yaptıran mükemmel bir boss.

100%PC

Probably one of the best videogames I've ever played

70%PC

Начинал как только вышла, но не осилил даже 1 настоящего босса, не понял игру и смысл парирования, плюнул и понял что это нереально и дс в разы легче

Прошёл игру за 35 часов 19 апреля 2024 года, но сначала прошёл быстрый финал за сюру, за 23 часа
Игра ултра сложная, очень долго надо привыкать к врагу, бои ну очень тежолые и долгие, хотя со всеми вргами есть свои слабости их просто нужно понять и тогда будет легчне, но я как обычно выбирал самый сложный вариант, финальный бос сложный, но вот огромный красный демон, это просто было ппц, это самый сложный босс, даже маления идёт в стороне, я его бил 3 дня по часа 2 может меньше, и плакал и орал, милион хп у боса 3 шара так ещё и я наношу ему с удала процета 2-3хп это был просто ужас, после него финальный бос показася слабым, так как его можно парировать а красного демона нет.

Пока это самая сложная игра хотя я сейчас играю в нио и мама мия это ещё хуже.

100%PC

The unique and well-balanced combat system, one and only.
Amazing boss fights.
Beautiful visuals.
Decent storyline.

One of the best games in the history.

80%PC

Expected huge pain in the ass, but it actually went smooth. Controls are responsive, encourage you to mindfully press the buttons. Story-wise - meh. Graphic is pleasing, aesthetic af. Soundtrack unfortunately is not so memorable, because you have to listen to the rhythm of the battle (yes, it is important). Replay-ability is questionable, muscle memory trivializes most of the boss fights.

The game is worth trying.