Thanks to GameFly free month trial, I was able to try out Sekiro for free. I'm using the service
to sample games that I want to buy down the road. Games that may take me months to finish such as the typically long JRPGs, thus I only played Sekiro for about 20 hours or so, then mailed it, in exchange for the next game.
A major first tip that I'd recommend is to change the controls for the D-pad up = switch between your prosthetic tools, and Y/Triangle button = use items. It's a bit clunky to press D-pad up when you want to heal as opposed to a face button.
Spoilers Ahead!
I don't think I'd be so enamoured of Sekiro if it didn't have the incredible melee combat mechanics. It's very addictive to deflect (parry) which breaks the enemy's posture, and once posture bar is completely filled (i.e. you broke enemy posture), then deathblow. Another major way to kill off enemies (if you refuse to deflect), is to deplete health bar through R1/RB attack, and when it goes to zero, you press RB/R1 for death blow. Stealth is another way.
But often, it's much faster to use the deflect mechanic, which breaks posture, and once posture is broken, you instantly kill the enemy with R1/RB attack. And, the developer, From Software insist that you use deflect.
Because of this insistence, or rather fetish, I wonder if I would get tired of deflecting, and then bored of the game eventually. On the other hand, 20 hours of practice is not enough time to be able to consistently deflect, so I'm hoping that even a hundred hours later, you still need to hone your deflect skills, so that combat doesn't get stale.
It's upsetting that you are forced to play the way From Software wants you to play, as opposed to fighting the enemies the way you want to. I thought From's other game Bloodborne was very limiting, as you have to defeat enemies mainly through melee, but at least there were variety of weapons with different feels, and the weapon transform is a neat trick. Sekiro is even more limited than that. From my understanding, Sekiro's main character Wolf only has that short Katana, so your strikes will always feel the same.
Like Bloodborne, you really can't make a pure ranged build in Sekiro, and in fact, the only ranged option I noticed so far is the Shuriken prosthetic tool, of which you can only use a dozen times (though you can buy skills to increase the usage). The mantra (pun intended due to the Buddhist themes of this game) we will be repeating is deflect, deflect, deflect, but using the same boring looking weapon.
However, I was very stubborn and as a middle finger to From, I played the game the way I want to play. So, for the first few mini-bosses and the two main bosses (Lady Butterfly and the rather awful General on Horse boss), I got away with running away from them when they attack. After attack, I run back towards the enemy, whacking them once or twice. One particular whirling move (which appears to be resistant to deflect or special deflect skill called Mikiri) of Lady Butterfly, I found I couldn't run away, because I often get clipped, but found you can jump safely away from that attack.
For Lady Butterfly's phase 2, I used the prosthetic wooden axe, with the additional prosthetic combo skill that I grinded for, to stun-lock her to death, in a surprisingly easy cheese method.
As for trash mobs, I run away from enemies (Wolf has unlimited stamina), picking up items and stumbling upon the next shrine (save point). But since you can easily be swarmed by trash mob, it's best to take them out via stealth. If you whiff on stealth, because quite often, when you successfully sneak up on the enemy and press L1/LB for the backstab, that attack doesn't register, and then you alarm all of his buddies.
Inconsistently, other times, the backstab reflects (even without that red icon that means death blow). The inconsistency of stealth is a bit of a let-down, especially as stealth kills are a good way to thin out the ranks.
Once stealth whiffs, however, you're sort of forced into using the deflect method because there are so many enemies that you have to take them out very fast, and the fastest way is through the deflect/counter-attack method that Sekiro fetishizes.
I'm absolutely certain that down the road, you really have to master deflect (as well as the other special deflect skill that you can grind for, Mikiri, that breaks posture even more), so I hope the game doesn't get stale the further you progress.
Again, I don't think the game would be as stale if only Wolf can use other weapons that may have slower but stronger attacks and the like! Of course From software can continue the deflect mechanic all they want, but at least give us variety in weapons. In fact, I got excited when you can buy a hint from an NPC for a short sword (of course my heart sank, since you want a longer ranged sword), but at least it's not that same Katana. Come to find out, this sword was a prosthetic tool to my chagrin.
I wonder if the stellar combat mechanics can override all the issues I have of the game? However, before I go into the rather problematic flaws of the game, I must say that out of all the From software games post-Demon's Souls, Sekiro has the most satisfying melee combat.
The first grating issue I have is that the un-inspired looking hero Wolf has just as much personality as a blank-slate character, so it didn't make sense to not have the hero customizable. Also I wished you can change outfits, as it got tiring, even after just 20 hours, of seeing the same bland costume. Perhaps Activision may roll out costumes as micro-transactions.
At any rate, if you're going to have a character that's not customizable, please make him or her distinct such as Nathan Drake of Uncharted or Joel and Ellie of The Last of Us! As From software appears to be allergic to good writing, and committed to no personality playable characters, their heroes should be customizable. If you want the character to talk, just hire male and female voice actors.
Again, it's not as if Japan has lack of brilliant writers, so why can't From software hire a good writer? There are so many starving writers in the world who would jump at the chance to make 200K for a game script.
I harp on this issue because indeed, the story and the other NPCs you meet are equally as bland to the point where I didn't feel anything when I found out that the castle was burned down in one of Wolf's memories. In fact, I was actually annoyed that I couldn't go through the fire to the next destination as a faster way of getting to the boss, very clearly not caring about the castle's destruction, but more concerned about traversal. Adding to my annoyance is that you had to go around to the right of your mentor, even though he said to go to his left.
So, we're stuck with the same dull looking character throughout the game, same damn armor and weapon, and at least in the beginning part of the game, we have uninteresting NPCs and un-inspired story. Fine, but the combat and traversal are amazing, and the graphics lovely with almost no aliasing, so I pushed through.
The world is gorgeous, and I find the level design rather good! After using stealth and learning how to deflect better, I was able to clear out some areas to explore. There were some spots that I missed because of the verticality of the game - the traversal is wonderful as you can use grappling hook to move seamlessly through the world - as there's an item that's often hidden just below, or above you.
There are also the typical From software doors that don't open on the accessible side, or needing key, and there were two doors that I couldn't find my way to the other side! Although I wanted to play the first part of the game blind, I just had to find out how to open these doors, so I Youtube'd it. These hidden doors showcase the great level design of the game, as one door (after the Ogre mini-boss), you have to go past that area, go through a cave, climb multiple ledges, and you still can miss an upper ledge that you can grapple hook your way up, and open this door.
Even so, the issue with having a great level design, but only useless consumable items to pick up (you can easily buy or grind for them), you're not inspired to really get to know the map and the world of the game. The only items that are useful (at least in the beginning part of the game) are the prosthetic tools - and they're very easily found because they tend to be before or after the shrine save points - or you can buy them. So that doesn't compel you to explore the world for them.
The other item that is a must is the gourd seed - analogous to the estus flask - that heals you. The more seeds you collect, the more heals you can use, and they replenish every time you rest at the shrines. But these seeds are also easily seen either before or after the shrine save points, again making exploration unnecessary.
Another one is the prayer bead which you get when you defeat mini-boss and I think main boss. You need 4 to make a prayer bracelet that increases vitality. I didn't realize that you can find a prayer bead in tucked off location, but even so, there are so many mini-bosses, that I didn't find it necessary to scour the world to find 1 or 2 prayer beads, unless for trophy.
This is in contrast with Souls games, where you want to explore every part of the world because you may find cool weapons and armor that are in hidden locations, but this is not quite the case with Sekiro. But at least Sekiro seems to have complex level design and fun traversal, though you may not have as much fun exploring after getting the five trillionth ash.
At least for the first part of the game, the music was really bad. The trash mob background music was so off-putting that I turned music off. This was a shock to me as all the Souls game had incredible music. I didn't listen to the boss music of Lady Butterfly or the General on the Horse boss because I forgot to turn the music back on.
The first boss I encountered was Lady Butterfly in the Memories, and I failed horribly against her, so I decided to continue the main campaign, getting more skills, prayer beads, and Gourd seeds. But if I hadn't encountered Lady Butterfly, I would be so disappointed because the first proper boss of the game was quite bad - I feel that the General on the Horse is probably my least favorite boss in all of From's software games I played.
However, Lady Butterfly was a fantastic boss, and was very happy to cheese her in her second phase, and fighting her the way I wanted to fight her. I'm predicting that future bosses are going to be wonderful, as is the From Software trademark.
I didn't mind the lack of variety of enemies, since again, the combat is so amazing. Further, the various human enemies all have distinct attack patterns, which is a big strength of this game, so you have to be able to know when to deflect or Mikiri for a particular human.
It appears that Sekiro is not intended to be the typical JRPG that we've seen in Souls series, but more along the lines of an action-adventure game, since it greatly scales down the usual stats of Vitality, Stamina, Dexterity, Strength and so forth, but rather you level up via Prayer Beads (as mentioned above, 4 of them grant you 1 extra vitality) and upon killing bosses, I believe my attack power increased by 1. Even so, you do buy skills, and prosthetic tools also can be leveled up.
Although I love the min/max and distributing points as in the traditional JRPG, as opposed to skill trees, I completely understand why a lot of people prefer pure combat and not having to worry about leveling up. In that sense, Sekiro's combat is spectacular, and gameplay is where the game truly shines, as it makes you perfect your timing and skills, so satisfying to break posture upon deflect/counter-attack.
Conclusion: Despite all my complaints, my initial impression is that I like Sekiro because of the thrill of combat, which is breathtaking at times. I also appreciate the level design (albeit wasted due to uninspired items you find), the traversal, and stealth mechanics (although often dodgy).
I'll have to play the entire game to see if I truly love the game, to see if combat can push Sekiro past all the issues I have. It's a game that I may not want to buy at full price, but certainly when it comes out with the bundled DLC edition, at cheaper price. If you played Sekiro, what are your thoughts of the game?
The How of Happiness Review
 |
| Sekiro hero, Wolf |
A major first tip that I'd recommend is to change the controls for the D-pad up = switch between your prosthetic tools, and Y/Triangle button = use items. It's a bit clunky to press D-pad up when you want to heal as opposed to a face button.
Spoilers Ahead!
I don't think I'd be so enamoured of Sekiro if it didn't have the incredible melee combat mechanics. It's very addictive to deflect (parry) which breaks the enemy's posture, and once posture bar is completely filled (i.e. you broke enemy posture), then deathblow. Another major way to kill off enemies (if you refuse to deflect), is to deplete health bar through R1/RB attack, and when it goes to zero, you press RB/R1 for death blow. Stealth is another way.
But often, it's much faster to use the deflect mechanic, which breaks posture, and once posture is broken, you instantly kill the enemy with R1/RB attack. And, the developer, From Software insist that you use deflect.
Because of this insistence, or rather fetish, I wonder if I would get tired of deflecting, and then bored of the game eventually. On the other hand, 20 hours of practice is not enough time to be able to consistently deflect, so I'm hoping that even a hundred hours later, you still need to hone your deflect skills, so that combat doesn't get stale.
It's upsetting that you are forced to play the way From Software wants you to play, as opposed to fighting the enemies the way you want to. I thought From's other game Bloodborne was very limiting, as you have to defeat enemies mainly through melee, but at least there were variety of weapons with different feels, and the weapon transform is a neat trick. Sekiro is even more limited than that. From my understanding, Sekiro's main character Wolf only has that short Katana, so your strikes will always feel the same.
Like Bloodborne, you really can't make a pure ranged build in Sekiro, and in fact, the only ranged option I noticed so far is the Shuriken prosthetic tool, of which you can only use a dozen times (though you can buy skills to increase the usage). The mantra (pun intended due to the Buddhist themes of this game) we will be repeating is deflect, deflect, deflect, but using the same boring looking weapon.
However, I was very stubborn and as a middle finger to From, I played the game the way I want to play. So, for the first few mini-bosses and the two main bosses (Lady Butterfly and the rather awful General on Horse boss), I got away with running away from them when they attack. After attack, I run back towards the enemy, whacking them once or twice. One particular whirling move (which appears to be resistant to deflect or special deflect skill called Mikiri) of Lady Butterfly, I found I couldn't run away, because I often get clipped, but found you can jump safely away from that attack.
For Lady Butterfly's phase 2, I used the prosthetic wooden axe, with the additional prosthetic combo skill that I grinded for, to stun-lock her to death, in a surprisingly easy cheese method.
As for trash mobs, I run away from enemies (Wolf has unlimited stamina), picking up items and stumbling upon the next shrine (save point). But since you can easily be swarmed by trash mob, it's best to take them out via stealth. If you whiff on stealth, because quite often, when you successfully sneak up on the enemy and press L1/LB for the backstab, that attack doesn't register, and then you alarm all of his buddies.
Inconsistently, other times, the backstab reflects (even without that red icon that means death blow). The inconsistency of stealth is a bit of a let-down, especially as stealth kills are a good way to thin out the ranks.
Once stealth whiffs, however, you're sort of forced into using the deflect method because there are so many enemies that you have to take them out very fast, and the fastest way is through the deflect/counter-attack method that Sekiro fetishizes.
I'm absolutely certain that down the road, you really have to master deflect (as well as the other special deflect skill that you can grind for, Mikiri, that breaks posture even more), so I hope the game doesn't get stale the further you progress.
Again, I don't think the game would be as stale if only Wolf can use other weapons that may have slower but stronger attacks and the like! Of course From software can continue the deflect mechanic all they want, but at least give us variety in weapons. In fact, I got excited when you can buy a hint from an NPC for a short sword (of course my heart sank, since you want a longer ranged sword), but at least it's not that same Katana. Come to find out, this sword was a prosthetic tool to my chagrin.
I wonder if the stellar combat mechanics can override all the issues I have of the game? However, before I go into the rather problematic flaws of the game, I must say that out of all the From software games post-Demon's Souls, Sekiro has the most satisfying melee combat.
The first grating issue I have is that the un-inspired looking hero Wolf has just as much personality as a blank-slate character, so it didn't make sense to not have the hero customizable. Also I wished you can change outfits, as it got tiring, even after just 20 hours, of seeing the same bland costume. Perhaps Activision may roll out costumes as micro-transactions.
At any rate, if you're going to have a character that's not customizable, please make him or her distinct such as Nathan Drake of Uncharted or Joel and Ellie of The Last of Us! As From software appears to be allergic to good writing, and committed to no personality playable characters, their heroes should be customizable. If you want the character to talk, just hire male and female voice actors.
Again, it's not as if Japan has lack of brilliant writers, so why can't From software hire a good writer? There are so many starving writers in the world who would jump at the chance to make 200K for a game script.
I harp on this issue because indeed, the story and the other NPCs you meet are equally as bland to the point where I didn't feel anything when I found out that the castle was burned down in one of Wolf's memories. In fact, I was actually annoyed that I couldn't go through the fire to the next destination as a faster way of getting to the boss, very clearly not caring about the castle's destruction, but more concerned about traversal. Adding to my annoyance is that you had to go around to the right of your mentor, even though he said to go to his left.
So, we're stuck with the same dull looking character throughout the game, same damn armor and weapon, and at least in the beginning part of the game, we have uninteresting NPCs and un-inspired story. Fine, but the combat and traversal are amazing, and the graphics lovely with almost no aliasing, so I pushed through.
The world is gorgeous, and I find the level design rather good! After using stealth and learning how to deflect better, I was able to clear out some areas to explore. There were some spots that I missed because of the verticality of the game - the traversal is wonderful as you can use grappling hook to move seamlessly through the world - as there's an item that's often hidden just below, or above you.
There are also the typical From software doors that don't open on the accessible side, or needing key, and there were two doors that I couldn't find my way to the other side! Although I wanted to play the first part of the game blind, I just had to find out how to open these doors, so I Youtube'd it. These hidden doors showcase the great level design of the game, as one door (after the Ogre mini-boss), you have to go past that area, go through a cave, climb multiple ledges, and you still can miss an upper ledge that you can grapple hook your way up, and open this door.
Even so, the issue with having a great level design, but only useless consumable items to pick up (you can easily buy or grind for them), you're not inspired to really get to know the map and the world of the game. The only items that are useful (at least in the beginning part of the game) are the prosthetic tools - and they're very easily found because they tend to be before or after the shrine save points - or you can buy them. So that doesn't compel you to explore the world for them.
The other item that is a must is the gourd seed - analogous to the estus flask - that heals you. The more seeds you collect, the more heals you can use, and they replenish every time you rest at the shrines. But these seeds are also easily seen either before or after the shrine save points, again making exploration unnecessary.
Another one is the prayer bead which you get when you defeat mini-boss and I think main boss. You need 4 to make a prayer bracelet that increases vitality. I didn't realize that you can find a prayer bead in tucked off location, but even so, there are so many mini-bosses, that I didn't find it necessary to scour the world to find 1 or 2 prayer beads, unless for trophy.
This is in contrast with Souls games, where you want to explore every part of the world because you may find cool weapons and armor that are in hidden locations, but this is not quite the case with Sekiro. But at least Sekiro seems to have complex level design and fun traversal, though you may not have as much fun exploring after getting the five trillionth ash.
At least for the first part of the game, the music was really bad. The trash mob background music was so off-putting that I turned music off. This was a shock to me as all the Souls game had incredible music. I didn't listen to the boss music of Lady Butterfly or the General on the Horse boss because I forgot to turn the music back on.
The first boss I encountered was Lady Butterfly in the Memories, and I failed horribly against her, so I decided to continue the main campaign, getting more skills, prayer beads, and Gourd seeds. But if I hadn't encountered Lady Butterfly, I would be so disappointed because the first proper boss of the game was quite bad - I feel that the General on the Horse is probably my least favorite boss in all of From's software games I played.
However, Lady Butterfly was a fantastic boss, and was very happy to cheese her in her second phase, and fighting her the way I wanted to fight her. I'm predicting that future bosses are going to be wonderful, as is the From Software trademark.
I didn't mind the lack of variety of enemies, since again, the combat is so amazing. Further, the various human enemies all have distinct attack patterns, which is a big strength of this game, so you have to be able to know when to deflect or Mikiri for a particular human.
It appears that Sekiro is not intended to be the typical JRPG that we've seen in Souls series, but more along the lines of an action-adventure game, since it greatly scales down the usual stats of Vitality, Stamina, Dexterity, Strength and so forth, but rather you level up via Prayer Beads (as mentioned above, 4 of them grant you 1 extra vitality) and upon killing bosses, I believe my attack power increased by 1. Even so, you do buy skills, and prosthetic tools also can be leveled up.
Although I love the min/max and distributing points as in the traditional JRPG, as opposed to skill trees, I completely understand why a lot of people prefer pure combat and not having to worry about leveling up. In that sense, Sekiro's combat is spectacular, and gameplay is where the game truly shines, as it makes you perfect your timing and skills, so satisfying to break posture upon deflect/counter-attack.
Conclusion: Despite all my complaints, my initial impression is that I like Sekiro because of the thrill of combat, which is breathtaking at times. I also appreciate the level design (albeit wasted due to uninspired items you find), the traversal, and stealth mechanics (although often dodgy).
I'll have to play the entire game to see if I truly love the game, to see if combat can push Sekiro past all the issues I have. It's a game that I may not want to buy at full price, but certainly when it comes out with the bundled DLC edition, at cheaper price. If you played Sekiro, what are your thoughts of the game?
The How of Happiness Review
Going to disagree that there's only one way to play, I feel 100% confident if you watched a clip of Muse fighting an enemy, and a clip of me doing it, you'd be able to tell who is who nearly instantly, because we both have very differing styles. She relies on her active skills a lot more than me, and I use my Prosthetic a lot more than her.
ReplyDeleteWolf actually does have a slower, stronger attack, lots of them infact. The Prosthetics like the Flame Vents and Axe, as well as his piercing charged attack.
I'd argue that Sekiro does have a lot more story than previous titles in the genre, just they still have a hint of enigma and mystery in their narrative design. They do give you more story, but you still have to do some digging if you want context to it all.
Lady Butterfly was one of my favorite bosses in the game, there's a canny few great bosses in it. I did somewhat like GYOBOUMASATAKAONIWAAAAAAA, but he was just an alright boss, not someone I particularly care for.
I actually didn't have any trouble at all with the stealth stuff, every time I tried to backstab someone I did it without fail, you have to be somewhat patient with it though and wait for the red dot.
I'd give Sekiro a 9/10 personally, I do take fault's with it, and I could go into some detail on it all, but it's one of those cases where I really dig into the design of the game because I'd be doing it a disservice if I didn't care.
Cheers Cheesus!
DeleteThat's true, I forgot about the prosthetics having different feels and the variety, though I believe they're supposed to be secondary since you only get a dozen or so uses out of them after rest. But the bread and butter attacks are via his one weapon, Katana. I don't think you can clear an entire area with prosthetics (only 12 or so uses clearly more if you get the skills), and so with trash mobs, at least, you rely heavily on the deflect/R1 mechanic.
Albeit, you're absolutely right with bosses, that you can rely on prosthetics, or at least with Lady Butterfly. I used phase 1, R1 attacks, running away or jumping away from her, and then for phase 2, stunlock with the wooden axe prosthetic!
Sekiro's story isn't good though, as far as what I've seen in the first section of game, but From isn't known for the typical JRPG story telling that you see in Final fantasy, persona, tales series and the like. I was just hoping that for the first time, since we have a NON-customizable character, that they would go deep into character development and story.
I agree, isn't Lady Butterfly fantastic? I hope to see more bosses like him rather than that shouting (I LOL'd at WAAAAA) general on horse boss.
Even with the red dot, it didn't reflect, and sometimes, I didn't need the red dot, and I was able to pull off the stealth backstab. However, I really enjoyed the stealth immensely! It does add another dimension in clearing out trash mobs.
I'm not sure what I'd give Sekiro at this stage, since only my first impressions and I didn't play the entire game, but thus far, it's my least favorite of the Soulsborne games. However, this is a subjective viewpoint, of course, and I know tons of people who give Sekiro a 9 or 10 out of 10, and is in fact their favorite From software game!
Prosthetics are secondary things, but while sure you can't trek through an entire area spamming L1 at a distance with Shurikens, you probably wouldn't kill one group of enemies with it, nevermind a while level. They offer a lot more utility than that. Things like pulling enemies away from their friends, breaking an opponents guard or stunning them, turtling up to protect yourself from damage, Finishing low health opponants under duress. They aren't intended to be entirely new weapons on their own, they're sidearms that influence your play, and that incedentally will affect how you use your main weapon. Muse for example I've noticed uses her combat art to make an opening for herself, and but plays much safer when she can't find that opening. Whereas I'll play around my Flame Vents a lot more, playing way too agressively while I have that advantage, and try to force that advantage state when I don't have it. It's boring as fuck, but I was watching a streamer trying to beat Corrupted Monk 1 where he just ran away from him until he used one of a couple punishable, high lag moves, and got a hit or two in there. (not using any prosthetics, or combat arts, or dodges, or deflects, or jumps, or well... anything really...)
DeleteSekiro still has a similar style of storytelling to the Dark Souls series, it has a murder-mystery, detective style of storytelling, reminiscent of Doyle and Pullman's work. You aren't given all the information right away, you're left guessing at the beginning and as you progress and get more information the story opens up. New narratives potential narratives open up and previous potential narratives close doors. I would hesitate to say Sekiro's story is flawless, Wolf is a very boring character, you aren't given much reason to care for Kuro until half way through, but this story is a step up from souls games as we know them. The world is actually dynamic now, the story progresses in our time, rather than just how Dark Souls the entire story happened years before you're free'd and your only window into what happened in Demon Ruins or such is a paragraph of one way dialogue, and a handful of item descriptions. Sekiro uses cutscene's and multi sided dialogue, there are actual events and forks in the path, it's a huge step up from their past work, even if it's not on the same mark as your Final Fantasy's and your Fire Emblems in story.
Agree there are different ways to tackle a boss, but it appears that Sekiro, more so than the other SoulsBorne games, really centers around deflect mechanic. Bloodborne is second in line, as you can use gun to parry and they encourage parrying, but it's not a necessity. I tend to use Ludwig's gun to parry against Logarius, but not so much other bosses, and even then, you don't need to learn how to parry at all in Bloodborne.
DeleteAt the same time, I find the deflect rather addictive, I just wished Wolf has more primary weapons, as opposed to sticking with the same Katana. Imagine a different weapon that not only moves but also feels differently than the Katana, and having to adjust the timing for deflect since that new weapon's moveset is different. I think that would make the gameplay more compelling!
You have to be a damn good writer at the level of Kafka and Edith Wharton to pull off the show but don't tell type story, building a sense of foreboding. And From software writers aren't going to win any Nobel prizes in literature to say the least! and it shows, I don't even know who Kuro is lol. It was like in Nioh, I didn't know who the big bad was despite hundred hours of gameplay. I think video games are getting more and more sophisticated in advancements in graphics and timing mechanics but writing lags far behind!
I do like Sekiro enough to buy it when it gets bundled with DLC on sale (i.e $20) as that deflect and stealth mechanics are really well done!
I'd compare it more to rolling than parrying personally, it's not strictly a souls game and doesn't play like one, strictly because of the changes to dodging, blocking and parrying.
DeleteCurrently dodging and jumping perform the same niche Parries in Dark Souls do, where you get a big reward for pulling them off when they're possible in the form of large posture damage, but not every attack can be dodged or jumped out of, like not every attack in dark souls is parriable. Deflecting and blocking takes the spot rolling used to have, where you would just roll through every hit if you timed it right, you'd abuse those I-frames like Chris Brown on date night. Even if you miss it's not necessarily a problem because you might've just repositioned out of the attack anyway. Similarly deflects in Sekiro will be a reliable tool against any attack, it can always be deflected if you time it right, but sometimes you miss the timing and it's just a block, sometimes you miss the timing and the attack is perilous and you get punished, as well as the missed opportunity at posture damage.
I could never dodge abusing the i-Frames in Dark Souls, unless I use that flip ring! I liked Dark Souls 2 mechanic with the adaptability leading to more i-Frame windows, but even then, I wasn't good at dodging through those frames.
DeleteIn Sekiro, I noticed that some attacks can't be deflected, unless I'm not deflecting at the right time. For instance, Butterfly's red-icon'd whirling moveset (where I can safely jump/dodge away) didn't seem to be deflectable, when I tried using regular and Mikiri deflects. At the very least, it appears that almost all attacks can be deflected, which makes the Deflection system a basic tool-set to use, as opposed to a "perk" (not necessary, but it makes fighting enemies a little easier) in Bloodborne! I think that's my main complaint about Sekiro, that the deflect mechanic is focused so heavily, that if you don't have the reflexes, it'll be hard to beat the game.
Whereas in Souls and Bloodborne, you can tank through (ez-mode) if your reflexes aren't good, or you can parry, giving the player more flexibility and combat options on how you want to play. In other words, it appears that the Soulsborne series offers more ways to tackle and play the game than Sekiro!
Honestly, that's all a plus to me, the fact you can just equip full Havels and Gold Tracer and out health point bosses was something of a letdown for me. In fact it doesn't add more ways to play the game, but rather less, for the reason I hate leveling in lots of games where it's unnessecary (NieR, Dark Souls, etc) where it just breaks the difficulty curve of the game. Either making it too easy because you're overleveled, or too hard because you're underleveled. There might be times where you have the strategy and know how to beat a boss, but maybe you aren't dealing enough damage, or die in two hits, such was my experience with Bloodborne where the first boss Cleric Beast I was lasting in his fight for nearly 15 minutes, hitting him throughout the whole time with my Threaded Cane, but it's a weapon that relies on a lot of dex scaling, and wasn't upgraded at all yet, so I only got him to 80% HP in that time.
DeleteHey Cheesus didn't see your message until now! I love the thrill of struggling through an area, barely alive, and then coming back, completely overpowered, and nuke the enemies, so I like the min/max grind aspects of the typical JRPG, but can totally understand the flaws in that way of game development, as you rightly explained.
DeleteI totally see your point, because you don't want to be under- or over-leveled as you want the boss to be challenging in a satisfying way (not too easy, not too hard), which you can't gauge if you somehow overlevel and the boss becomes too easy, or you're underleveled and the boss is way too hard.
I think the Monster Hunter series incorporates both of those aspects well, and may be the best direction to take in RPG. In MH you can grind up attack and defense by upgrading weapons and armors (which is very satisfying when you reinforce), but you can't go past a certain level until you beat the boss, so you can never be overpowered.
In this way, Capcom is saying that with the current max atk and def, the only way you can level up again is by learning how to kill the boss, who is neither too hard nor too easy for the average player. Once you kill the boss, then Capcom allows you to further upgrade...to a point, until facing the next boss, and so forth.
You can also play around with the weapons and armor, reducing/increasing atk and def to change the difficulty.
The way Sekiro does it is pretty ideal honestly, you do get attack up's from boss memories, and you get limited HP upgrades depending on which subbosses you fight and where you are able to explore. It is a very difficult thing to get right however, the only way you can get games to go good or bad is to playtest them and judge for yourself, however your own judgement is pretty irrelevant because you know your own game. How best to fight a boss, how best to tackle an arena, because you invented it.
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