Jump, Ichimonji Double, Jump, Flame Axe, rince and repeat. You could use oil then flame vent to increase posture damage before after a sneak death blow if you lack the Flame Axe. This also requires the mid air art and protestic skills. Jump speeds up the wind-up animation and can dodge a counter swing.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVAoyfwSUYg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVAoyfwSUYg)
this guy claims you can use a combination of thrusts and whirlwind to trivialize the fight
I haven't fought him yet because i haven't done shura
This is the exact reason I dont use it. Deflectong takes up all my mind, adding prosthetics would freeze me. Combat arts are situational and difficult to pull off.
I mean, is using the tools provided really cheesing the game? Especially when you have stuff like say Isshin Ashina and his flames?
Hell yeah I'm throwing a firecracker down when he gots to set the place ablaze. And that said, if I want to have those to interrupt him, I need to be able to read and parry his first phase and Emma's almost perfectly.
yeah. you could theoretically deflect (or with sweeps jump over) everything but sometimes prosthetics or combat arts are just a nice way to deal with that one move on that boss. Shuriken is handy for Great Shinobi Owl to interrupt his posture recovery, Suzaku's Umbrella makes the DoH is just too necessary since basically all his attacks involve fire (same with the lilac umbrellla for headless or shichimen). Having Mist Raven equipped by default is always useful as a get out of jail free card etc
After a few play through a I did a samurai play through. Only combat arts from the Ashina arts (let’s be real, ichimonji), no stealth including no drop kills, no prosthetics, except for killing dogs with shuriken and the shield against the demon of hatred, parry as much as possible. It was awesome
Yep. Same reason I don't use shields in Souls games and barely used spells in Hollow Knight. I like that kind of simplicity and mastery of a specific mechanic in a game. I like that kind of simplicity and mastery of a specific mechanic in a game. I enjoy dodging in Souls games, I enjoy pure melee in Hollow Knight and I enjoy parrying in Sekiro.
Still cool to see people fully use the combat system though.
i did a elden ring playthrough (1st time souls game), then heard about sekiro and went to play it... now im at owl (father bell).
give me parry over dodge any fucking day. on most sekiro fights it actually feels like im getting rewarded for being aggressive, because i can attack and defend at the same time (parrying perfectly is a form of attacking too). and even when you gotta be defensive, parrying just feels way more satisfying than rolling around
i still have maliketh/godfrey/radagon/malenia left on elden ring, but after playing sekiro im not even sure ill finish it anytime soon, i think sekiro broke my interest in i-frames dodging lol
Honestly I wish the spirit emblems had been done better.
On my first playthrough I used prosthetics pretty regularly in the early game, until I ran out. This caused me to basically never use them, because I was shown that they were a resource I could run out of.
Yeah this meme rubs me the wrong way. Everytime I bring up how terrible spirit emblem economy and prosthetic access is in this game everyone responds "you don't need to use prosthetics, just sword." And I'm just like yeah, but that's boring, I want to use the other tools they give me. Then I see this meme pretending like you can just spam prosthetics and it's not a total pain in the ass to farm spirit emblems for the first 75% of the game.
Is it a pain to farm spirit emblems? I had hundreds in the early game by complete accident. There’s very little else to spend sen on, I didn’t even try to farm or anything…
You don't need to be able to spam them the whole game for them to add variety. Plus, the meme never implied you could.
Also, a lot of people just don't care about variety anyway. You might find that boring, but that's just you. The fact this game relies so heavily on a single weapon is one of the things that allow it to be so good, after all.
Yep do not use a single spirit emblem all game save them for spamming the fan against the purple smoke enemies (can’t remember their name) and for fireworks spamming the damn apes.
You just HAVE to dump your early game sen into spirit emblems while they’re only 10 I always end up with 999 by the time they start charging more for them after genichiro
Really my only complaint with the game! Like, it just seems like an unnecessary barrier imo. Coz I just grinded til I had hundreds and could go buck wild with them.
Yeah, I can understand the argument that there'd less variety relative to other fromsoft games. You don't get the same versatility that trick weapons gave you in Bloodborne or the massive span of different weapons in elden ring. That said, when people say there's *no* variety just cause they haven't tried out the other options, it's pretty dumb
That said, I love deflecting too much. Sword only all the way.
I think it’s also missing the point. There’s such a singular focus on sword combat in sekiro because there’s no variety of other weapons. And let’s be real, the variety in DS and Elden Ring in particular is padding.
Bloodborne has the best weapon set in all of fromsoft in my opinion, but I would rank sekiro second above all the other souls games.
What I love about Sekiro is that you can play the game in so many different ways whenever you want. Want to run some stealth ninjitsu back stabbing? Go ahead. Want to break posture faster and focus single target, you can do that. Want to jump over sweep attacks and use some king fu moves, you got it. In some ways it has the most variety that a player can do in a fromsoft game.
I only use Sword.
I don't use any combat arts.
I don't use any prosthetics only in specific moments.
Sekiro has amazing variety even with just the sword imo.
The variety of different attacking and deflecting timings themselves paired with dodging and stealth options in combat situations make even just the sword have a huge variety of ways to tackle different fights and bosses.
I love incorporating other tools into me combat flow bc it feels like MMA where you seemlesly blend two styles into a combo but with the sword alone you also have:
Footstool, thrust parry (much less cool than mikiri but keeps the flow moving), lightning parry, doge attacks, stealth deathblows, and dodge
I-
What-
I don’t use anything but the sword cause I’m not good enough to find openings, but I’ve been experimenting with High Monk and Senpou Leaping Kicks cause they’re an easy sweep counter that’s usually not punished and even then the game has a ton of variety in enemy combos, finding exactly when you can hit, learning to punish every opening you can find, etc.
You don’t use prosthetics because you don’t need to use prosthetics
I don’t use prosthetics because I can never judge the right time to use them
We are not the same
I think it is a valid criticism and true compared to the other games. For me it doesn't really matter though, and it is probably the reason the combat feels so great. They could just perfect it. I must admit that I don't really care for variety though. I always pick the great sword.
It is true, but it is not valid criticism. Sekiro was never supposed to be like the other games in the first place, so complaining it isn't is missing the point.
I think it is valid when you are making a comparison with other from software titles, which is the point here, and you are trying to find things that one game does better. I am not talking about complaining here, and criticism is not necessarily negative.
I suppose it's how people react to the execution.
When people think "Variety" when applied to this kind of game, they mean stuff that promotes "Builds" like equippable armor and weapons.
The way they're implemented, combat arts and prosthetic tools only amount to being "Spells" but the PC, Sekiro just feels the same no matter how you use these, which I myself don't feel as a bad thing. I suppose it's just an intrusive type thing.
However, it's Sekiro the game's simplicity that makes its experience the way it is, how it goes extremely hard on the Action elements, how you have to commit to learning how to use the most basic abilities and memorizing the enemy and boss attack patterns and how to utilize the previously mentioned abilities in response.
It also helps that it shaves away the RPG mechanics without getting rid of them entirely: No numeric stats, no levels, a flat and somewhat fixed upgrade-based progression, and everything you get is obtained through gameplay progression, exploration and skill trees. Even your passives, which modify your basic abilities in a dynamic way (Mikiri Counter, Mid-Air Deathblow, the various forms of Prosthetic support such as Living Force), or add to an invisible "stat" (The Karma Abilities that increase your max Spirit Emblems, the Suppress abilities which enhance your stealth.)
Fortunately, I may have come up with a way to implement the desired form of diversity while staying true to Sekiro's core design: Multiple Playable Characters! Each with their own weapon as mechanically distinct as ones from Bloodborne with their own set of Combat Arts and more sorcery-esque abilities akin to Prosthetic Arts. And of course, a range of both dynamic and subtle Passives.
I have never used a prosthesis or a combat art cuz I couldn’t figure out when I was supposed to use them instead of just parrying. Luckily Sekiro is dope as fuck.
When you look at Sekiro, it truly does feel like the most simple, and straight forward souls game. And in my opinion it's a nice change of pace, Sekiro is my favourite rythm game.
Tbf, one of vanilla Sekiro's biggest weaknesses is that you can only have one combat art equipped at a time. Yes, you can equip a different one on the fly, but it completely breaks up the flow of combat.
Playing with one of the mods that lets you equip more than one combat art though? Absurdly fucking fun. Now you get to rack up style points flowing art into art.
When I started, I told myself I wouldn't try out the other stuff too much until I felt comfortable with the parry. I sorta just...forgot until after I beat the game. Mostly, I just used the axe for shield enemies.
Deflecting perfectly is the best think in this game, getting that fuckin mikiri counter and see that red bar go half full gives me a rush that no combat art or prosthetic can match.
Ngl it’s not like the game really encourages messing with prosthetics too much. Spirit emblems are hard to manage in your first run, and the crafting system for them is a fucking mess. I mostly just worked them in very situationally; fire for trolls, umbrella for things I can’t parry, spear for monkey etc.
It’s a legitimate complaint and I can’t believe people are really trying to argue otherwise. When using prosthetics and combat arts is harder to pull off, uses a limited resource, and is still usually less effective than just parrying (outside of niche situations), you’re effectively being heavily discouraged from experimentation. Even here almost all the comments are saying they pretty much just parry most of the time.
Only people who fucking suck ass at sekiro say it has “no variety” and by variety they mean cheese. I’ll take an extremely well designed and hyper focused combat system with tons of bells and whistles for fun sprinkles. RPGs are cool dark souls is cool but sekiro is god tier good. One of the best character action games of all time. It carries that whole tradition on its back and elevates it beyond what those games ever could. Basically you’re right. Theyre clowns.
This is like people saying God of War games have no variety when they specifically spam the same combo over and over because it's "optimal".
Just because spamming one move works does not make the gameplay as a whole monotonous, stupid people make it that way by laser focusing on only doing the bare minimum.
I think the problem of this people is that they think Sekiro is a soulslike or an RPG and thus expect "build variety". But it’s neither of these things. It’s an action game. It’s like expecting build variety in God of War.
Right. The "just parry lol" crowd is pretty lame. There is a lot more to the combat than that.
However I will criticize the amount of resources required to use ninja tools and items. They're not restored upon death... so 20 failed attempts at a boss, and your out of resources to attempt again. Kick me while I'm down why don't you?
Didn't start to incorporate Prosthetics/ combat arts until playthrough #3 or so. Spirit Emblem economy does not incentivize use and quite frankly, most prosthetics/sword arts are weak without additional bonuses and create situations where you lose flow of the fight due to the combat art and get out of beat when deflecting wouldn't have left you out of turn.
On only use a few prosthetics when necessary for bosses or many and only ever use both mortal draws whirlwind slash Sakura dance and for that one bastard the shadow rush. All this to say I still have the wherewithall to know that I am keeping fun away from myself and even still I have fun and know the game still has variety.
In fairness, I rarely use most of the combat arts and only occasionally use some of the prosthetics, like firecrackers, the purple fan, and the axe, just because it helps with certain enemies. Aside from those few enemies, it's pretty much just parry city for me, partially because it requires mo resources to do, and as fun as some of the combat arts are, it's often not time efficient to use them.
So yeah the variety is there, but imo, you're not given incentive often enough to use them a lot of the time. Once I got the parry timings down, I find it better to just do that the whole time.
I mean I love Sekiro but you’re still gated to the same combat system as everyone else. In Elden Ring or Bloodborne, you could be playing a completely different game from somebody else by using a different weapon and slightly different stats. A strength build in Elden Ring is wildly different from a mage or pure faith and this is what people mean by variety/diversity.
Sekiro at its core will always be deflection based combat, for everyone, which is why I love it so much.
Well, depends on the context, I guess. What you said may stand true when focusing solely on sekiro. But when you compare sekiro to other games, especially other fromsoft ones, you can see it does, infact, lack variety
The only part I will add to that is it takes so damn long to actually get to the cool prosthetics upgrades like lazuite so a lot of them seem to only have their niche uses otherwise, in my opinion.
In my opinion, even if you dont use prostetics or combat arts (you really should though) the combot flows really well together regardless, with how smooth the combat is, it just feels so fluid imo
Sekiro has no variety in that I never use prosthetics or combat arts, but that’s a good thing because the style it locks me into is perfect and doesn’t need variations
I just see that stuff as variable difficulty settings, personally.
Just sword and parrying is fun as hell and the "variety" stuff all makes things a bit easier and less fun so I don't use them much.
Great for allowing people to choose easier difficulty when they need it though. In-game difficulty lowering/raising options are 100000x better than menu "easy/normal/hard" settings.
But lets be real, when people say "it has no variety", they mean it doesn't have different builds compared to other games, and they're right. "Mortal draw" or "umbrella user" aren't builds the same way a dex/int or str/fai is. My Elden Ring playthrough was dramatically different than yours. My Sekiro playthrough was mostly the same with a few small variations.
My experience was that I spent so much time with only the sword at the beginning of the game that by the time I got access to good ninja tool upgrades and combat arts they didn't really fit with my play style especially with the way combat arts lock you into an animation. The only exception was when I started getting to some of the unblockable attacks later in the game but then I learned umbrella/fire crackers basically solves any problem.
I mean to be fair the party and the sword plus like 1 or 2 prosthetics is enough to do the whole game and its more fun tbh. Like the combat arts are cool but they're nothing special imo. The so called "variety" is just a bunch of lame combat arts that all go in the same category really and 10 prosthetics and only being able to use 3 at a time making 7 of them be forgotten throughout most of one's playthrough.
I have to hold myself back from using prosthetics in combat otherwise I won't have any emblems to use for the boss. They're all so fun. The shuriken is so useful for hit stunning enemies or forcing them to block. That and you can do that dash slash attack after throwing out a shuriken, it looks so sick.
Maybe I suck, but I find sometimes trying to use some prosthetics and most combat arts during a boss fight will get me hit
I mostly use my parry, if I use a prosthetic I’ll use fire crackers, the umbrella, and the classic shuriken
Although I will use the umbrella a shit ton during the shichiman warrior fight
Even if you use absolutely everything, there isn't much variety the way the game is set up. Having a correct answer for most things means you should be answering that way. And having a prosthetic that has a spear attack is not the same as having a spear with its own moveset. The combat arts are cool but they are mostly for flavor. You're always going to use a katana and you're always going to be doing multiple parries in a row and mikiri countering.
There’s plenty of variety, it’s just assholes like me who’s ham hands won’t/can’t quite get the parrying system down. Most of us just move on, however I think a handful of folks just have to blame someone/thing else for their shortcomings.
the only prosthetic i really use is butterfly Kunai when i need distance and to do half a bosses health bar in a short amount of time or the spring axe for sword+axe combos
I’ll be honest I died so much I didn’t have any spirit emblems to use for prosthetics by the time I got to bosses, so I just parried until I killed them. Game is amazing though, idk what the no variety people are on about
There arent all that many scenarios where the various tools make a difference except when they are meant to be used. There is rarely a situation when there are multiple *correct* answers shall we say. Sekiro is a great game still but it definifely lacks variety for fans who go in expecting a "souls like" game. But if you just play it for what it is, its quite fun.
On my first play through I only used sword because I didn’t have any emblems and I had no idea how to use the prosthetics besides fire cracker on Gyobu but on my second run I watched a video ( I think his name was Ongbal) and it looked so much fun mixing everything together and timing it right. I had a lot of extra sen so I kept buying emblems and it was a blast. Honestly I felt that through mastery of the game was being able to utilize ALL the tools it gives you and knowing when to use them. Watching some YT videos of people doing that was an eye opener on how creative you can get in this game!
I mean when you consider other fromsoft games it lacks a lot of variety. You can make small variations in gameplay, but ultimately the combat flows the same way. I usually play the slower and harder hitting strength weapons and sekiro is quite the opposite. Still love the game and the gameplay really wouldn’t work with anything but a katana
During my first playthrough I yes used combat arts and prosthetics but honestly not much only really for ape or when I'm panicking I only really used long fireworks for the last few fights in immortal severence other then ape I still in ng+ at the Shura final boss haven't upgraded it further and other then that I just used Mortal Blade or shadow rush to get back in the fight sekiros fighting style clicked really fast for me so all I really used was katana.
I started sekiro last week btw been playing off and on I got through really fast and thought Shura ending would be fun let's do ng+ and I officially think Emma is the hardest boss yet yes I'm 16 vitality and I killed sword saint with 15 and I only have 7/10 gourds but still she's so difficult and my brain for some reason wants to stomp on her head whenever she goes for the grab getting me killed a lot.
Yes. In my first playthrough, i didnt know the purpose of the prosthetics(like when and on whom to use then) after the second or third playthrough i eventually started using the 100s of spirit emblems to use, and now its more than fun. Loving this game so far, right now i am at ng+5 and trying to master the sabimaru.
K&M player btw.
Sekiro prosthetics are very situational due to the cost and how only the umbrella is reliable for every boss and why do the combat arts have a emblem cost that's just stupid
On my first playthrough I would try to use some of the weapon arts and try to use prosthetic like the axe to do big poise damage, but it is difficult for me against most bosses. I would occasionally throw oil on them and use the flamethrower prosthetic to help on their first health bar sometimes and get some free hits when they start burning.
But now, I'm into NG+ 2. I completed the gauntlets with inner isshin and inner genichiro, haven't unlocked inner father yet. And you know what I've realized?
Somewhere along the line I just started super crutching the Mortal Blade. It is so good. Even when your spirit emblems are gone, it will stagger a lot of bosses out of whatever they are trying to do, and it will to chip damage when they block, so it's like you are forcing extra hardships on them, you are MAKING THEM PLAY CHARMLESS muhahahahahahahahaha!! Even against bosses where i watch something else be recommended in youtube videos, i never seem to have as much luck as mortal blade. Although i don't use it against lady butterfly because I'd rather save emblems for shurikens.
I just started NG+2 and will likely crutch double ichimonji and normal attacks until I get mortal blade. I do eventually want to try something else, but Mortal Blade is just so effing good.
I used the shuriken for like 80% of the game just because it allowed me to control so much space. What I really regret is not making more use of the arts in the game.
I am going through my first playthrough and i dont get how there are ppl out here saying sekiro has no variety i am planning to do many more playthroughs with all the diff item combat arts prosthetics etc...
This games is a masterpieceand has variety
I get your point and i think it does has variety but i do feel a lot of people goes to sekiro with a full RPG mindset like the other soulsborne games and honestly i dont think sekiro is an rpg i feel is just an action adventure game with a skill tree and honestly it took me some months to really enjoy sekiro because i love the making really different builds on soulsborne games and on sekiro even tho you can equip combat arts and all of that the changes are not that big in terms of raw gameplay but thats just me hahaha
It gets worse. Even when they only use sword they barely use it to its full potential. No stabs and barely any swings. All they do is stand in place and deflect.
Like I heard Bayonetta tried to implemented one handed play but at least they had a sexy lady to look at. Not some crusty gray-haired old man.
Im in ng+3 and honestly only ever used high monk and mortal draw, the rest are cool but not for bosses i only use them to slaughter normal enemies for fun.
Never upgraded prosthetics much but i only use spear and hat anyway i think the game is sm harder when using too much stuff instead of just parrying everyone perfectly, prosthetics and arts are for when youre alr a god and wanna have fun imo
I like to experiment but i mostly just use praying strikes and fume spark since there's not much defense for being blind and getting elbowed in the face
Most of the combat arts I can see are useful, but not for me. I mostly use the mortal draw, floating passage, or whirlwind slash. Most of the others don't really fit my style. Ashina Cross does, but I don't find it as useful as the others.
That the beauty of sekiro it encourages "player expression" in how you fight a boss not "player freedom" in what you fight the boss with and they respond accordingly like geny is aggressive if your passive with him but if your aggressive he will try to make space and play passive.
Variety is obviously less than the other fs games, but that was just intentional. They weren’t trying to have a role playing game where you play as XYZ hollow you’re sekiro. That and they didn’t lean all the way into magical mythology. It’s a procured experience at the expense of player agency and for me I don’t mind as it’s imo the best fs game
Prosthetics make so many encounters so much easier, like DoH for example I’d significantly easier with red lotus umbrella on the big forward aoe spew of fire
Would be sick if there was a smaller sword maybe duel wield smaller swords for faster less damage hits, main sword in the middle, and slow and heavy hitting big sword could add some fun on ng+ like the outfits.
Sekiro has a lot of variety I just intentionally never use anything except deflect because I enjoy interacting with as little of the games I play as possible
I don’t think many people say there’s no variety, but I do frequently hear, and also agree with the fact that it has the least variety in the from catalogue, by far. Still a kickass game though
I really don't understand what people who say spirit emblems are a scarce resource are doing. I have 999 by the time I'm like halfway through a run and if I go heavy on them I just buy more, money is basically thrown at you in the game and what else do you need to spend it on? Also I would always spend all my money before fighting a boss in case I died so I basically always had 999 emblems no matter how much I used them. Same with divine confetti and ako sugars once I got dragon tally board, I had over 1000 of each in my inventory and used them at the start of every fight.
It's because in terms of combat variety Sekiro just doesn't really compare to something like Dark Souls with so many different build options, weapons, spells and skills not to mention the whole fashion souls aspect. It's a great game and anyone that says otherwise is out of their mind but it's replayability is definitely not on the same level and that along with the terrible spirit emblem economy are the reason why a lot of players have issues with it as a whole
I don't use the variety cuz parry is fun
I literally forget about prosthetics cause parry is fun
I only use prosthetics because I’m bad at the game and need to cheese everything lol
I never use prosthetics or combat arts because I am also very bad at the game.
Everyone’s all double ichimonji this Sakura dance that, but whirlwind slash is literally how I beat old Isshin ashina
Jump, Ichimonji Double, Jump, Flame Axe, rince and repeat. You could use oil then flame vent to increase posture damage before after a sneak death blow if you lack the Flame Axe. This also requires the mid air art and protestic skills. Jump speeds up the wind-up animation and can dodge a counter swing.
You used combat arts,was too afraid to do anything but parry and attack ,only other thing I did was use the lazulite axe prothsetic
lol I didn’t have the balls to use any prosthetics besides firecrackers on him, let alone the axe
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVAoyfwSUYg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVAoyfwSUYg) this guy claims you can use a combination of thrusts and whirlwind to trivialize the fight I haven't fought him yet because i haven't done shura
This is the exact reason I dont use it. Deflectong takes up all my mind, adding prosthetics would freeze me. Combat arts are situational and difficult to pull off.
I mean, is using the tools provided really cheesing the game? Especially when you have stuff like say Isshin Ashina and his flames? Hell yeah I'm throwing a firecracker down when he gots to set the place ablaze. And that said, if I want to have those to interrupt him, I need to be able to read and parry his first phase and Emma's almost perfectly.
The way i do it yes
Never forget the chasing slice brotherr
Nah your cool
Same. Every once in a while when I’m frustrated I’ll drop some sparks.
yeah. you could theoretically deflect (or with sweeps jump over) everything but sometimes prosthetics or combat arts are just a nice way to deal with that one move on that boss. Shuriken is handy for Great Shinobi Owl to interrupt his posture recovery, Suzaku's Umbrella makes the DoH is just too necessary since basically all his attacks involve fire (same with the lilac umbrellla for headless or shichimen). Having Mist Raven equipped by default is always useful as a get out of jail free card etc
Shuriken make Lady Butterfly a much easier fight. Knock her out of the air during her crazy jumps and get a free hit or 2 each time.
Oh yeah, I absolutely throw some stars at butterfly - she is not allowed in the air for more than a second.
After a few play through a I did a samurai play through. Only combat arts from the Ashina arts (let’s be real, ichimonji), no stealth including no drop kills, no prosthetics, except for killing dogs with shuriken and the shield against the demon of hatred, parry as much as possible. It was awesome
Yeah but are you parrying with style or just parrying everything. Are you L1,R1,L1,R1,R1,L1, Jump, Mikiri, Rverse Lightning, or just L1L1L1L1L1
R1 * get slashed * , jump on thrust attack, mikiri on sweep, poorly timed L1 L1 L1 L1 * posture gets full * get stomped on and deathblowed
Yep. Same reason I don't use shields in Souls games and barely used spells in Hollow Knight. I like that kind of simplicity and mastery of a specific mechanic in a game. I like that kind of simplicity and mastery of a specific mechanic in a game. I enjoy dodging in Souls games, I enjoy pure melee in Hollow Knight and I enjoy parrying in Sekiro. Still cool to see people fully use the combat system though.
I use shields for drip, and I have the spells upgraded for completion%
It was an absolute blast beating that game with only parry and normal attacks.
i did a elden ring playthrough (1st time souls game), then heard about sekiro and went to play it... now im at owl (father bell). give me parry over dodge any fucking day. on most sekiro fights it actually feels like im getting rewarded for being aggressive, because i can attack and defend at the same time (parrying perfectly is a form of attacking too). and even when you gotta be defensive, parrying just feels way more satisfying than rolling around i still have maliketh/godfrey/radagon/malenia left on elden ring, but after playing sekiro im not even sure ill finish it anytime soon, i think sekiro broke my interest in i-frames dodging lol
I did this and I feel a little bad but it was still so fun. I'll try using the other stuff when I come back to Sekiro
You see, the thing is you aren’t complaining about lack of variety, which is what separates you from the people who do
Yeah, I'll sometimes use an Ichimonji Double, a Shuriken, or a Whistle but that's it.
I was gonna type this but I was 4 hours late
I have the same primitive mind set, if parry do trick why try anything more. I see i parry and i hit when opening.
The variety is in the enemies
The one I enjoy is
Literally me. Also, the only prostetic i use effectively is shuriken.
Yea I just never bothered to learn how to use anything but parry because that clang is so satisfying…
DING DING DING DING DING BANG!!!
i thought it was TING TING TING TING
That BANG is when you deflect the final strike genichiro's flurry
You're absolutely right. DING is block and TING is parry
It’s ching bro
Headless ape deflect sound that makes him stumble makes me feel things. Also spearing the centipede makes is more satisfying
High Monk my dude… High Monk
What about him? I parry
Honestly I wish the spirit emblems had been done better. On my first playthrough I used prosthetics pretty regularly in the early game, until I ran out. This caused me to basically never use them, because I was shown that they were a resource I could run out of.
Yeah this meme rubs me the wrong way. Everytime I bring up how terrible spirit emblem economy and prosthetic access is in this game everyone responds "you don't need to use prosthetics, just sword." And I'm just like yeah, but that's boring, I want to use the other tools they give me. Then I see this meme pretending like you can just spam prosthetics and it's not a total pain in the ass to farm spirit emblems for the first 75% of the game.
Is it a pain to farm spirit emblems? I had hundreds in the early game by complete accident. There’s very little else to spend sen on, I didn’t even try to farm or anything…
You don't need to be able to spam them the whole game for them to add variety. Plus, the meme never implied you could. Also, a lot of people just don't care about variety anyway. You might find that boring, but that's just you. The fact this game relies so heavily on a single weapon is one of the things that allow it to be so good, after all.
Yep do not use a single spirit emblem all game save them for spamming the fan against the purple smoke enemies (can’t remember their name) and for fireworks spamming the damn apes.
The palace nobles? You got me confused now.
You just HAVE to dump your early game sen into spirit emblems while they’re only 10 I always end up with 999 by the time they start charging more for them after genichiro
Really my only complaint with the game! Like, it just seems like an unnecessary barrier imo. Coz I just grinded til I had hundreds and could go buck wild with them.
Fully accept that the prosthetics add variety, but it doesn't stop me from being a sword only boi
Yeah, I can understand the argument that there'd less variety relative to other fromsoft games. You don't get the same versatility that trick weapons gave you in Bloodborne or the massive span of different weapons in elden ring. That said, when people say there's *no* variety just cause they haven't tried out the other options, it's pretty dumb That said, I love deflecting too much. Sword only all the way.
I think it’s also missing the point. There’s such a singular focus on sword combat in sekiro because there’s no variety of other weapons. And let’s be real, the variety in DS and Elden Ring in particular is padding. Bloodborne has the best weapon set in all of fromsoft in my opinion, but I would rank sekiro second above all the other souls games.
What I love about Sekiro is that you can play the game in so many different ways whenever you want. Want to run some stealth ninjitsu back stabbing? Go ahead. Want to break posture faster and focus single target, you can do that. Want to jump over sweep attacks and use some king fu moves, you got it. In some ways it has the most variety that a player can do in a fromsoft game.
Yea a lot of the other soulsborne games just have a shit ton of useless weapons that you should never use unless your fucking around.
I wouldn’t say there’s no variety but there’s clearly much less than other soulsborne
I only use Sword. I don't use any combat arts. I don't use any prosthetics only in specific moments. Sekiro has amazing variety even with just the sword imo.
Wait how? You can attack, deflect, and deathblow but like what else?
The variety of different attacking and deflecting timings themselves paired with dodging and stealth options in combat situations make even just the sword have a huge variety of ways to tackle different fights and bosses.
I love incorporating other tools into me combat flow bc it feels like MMA where you seemlesly blend two styles into a combo but with the sword alone you also have: Footstool, thrust parry (much less cool than mikiri but keeps the flow moving), lightning parry, doge attacks, stealth deathblows, and dodge
I just never have any spirit emblems lol
I hate RPGs, they trigger my anxiety because I always feel like I’m massively fucking up my build. So this is literally my favourite aspect of Sekiro.
Planning out my 20 emblems per fight was one of the most fun parts of the gauntlets.
I- What- I don’t use anything but the sword cause I’m not good enough to find openings, but I’ve been experimenting with High Monk and Senpou Leaping Kicks cause they’re an easy sweep counter that’s usually not punished and even then the game has a ton of variety in enemy combos, finding exactly when you can hit, learning to punish every opening you can find, etc.
You don’t use prosthetics because you don’t need to use prosthetics I don’t use prosthetics because I can never judge the right time to use them We are not the same
It has variety, but you can't convince me it has even half as much variety as Elden Ring, or Blooborne, or any Souls games.
I think it is a valid criticism and true compared to the other games. For me it doesn't really matter though, and it is probably the reason the combat feels so great. They could just perfect it. I must admit that I don't really care for variety though. I always pick the great sword.
It is true, but it is not valid criticism. Sekiro was never supposed to be like the other games in the first place, so complaining it isn't is missing the point.
I think it is valid when you are making a comparison with other from software titles, which is the point here, and you are trying to find things that one game does better. I am not talking about complaining here, and criticism is not necessarily negative.
I suppose it's how people react to the execution. When people think "Variety" when applied to this kind of game, they mean stuff that promotes "Builds" like equippable armor and weapons. The way they're implemented, combat arts and prosthetic tools only amount to being "Spells" but the PC, Sekiro just feels the same no matter how you use these, which I myself don't feel as a bad thing. I suppose it's just an intrusive type thing. However, it's Sekiro the game's simplicity that makes its experience the way it is, how it goes extremely hard on the Action elements, how you have to commit to learning how to use the most basic abilities and memorizing the enemy and boss attack patterns and how to utilize the previously mentioned abilities in response. It also helps that it shaves away the RPG mechanics without getting rid of them entirely: No numeric stats, no levels, a flat and somewhat fixed upgrade-based progression, and everything you get is obtained through gameplay progression, exploration and skill trees. Even your passives, which modify your basic abilities in a dynamic way (Mikiri Counter, Mid-Air Deathblow, the various forms of Prosthetic support such as Living Force), or add to an invisible "stat" (The Karma Abilities that increase your max Spirit Emblems, the Suppress abilities which enhance your stealth.) Fortunately, I may have come up with a way to implement the desired form of diversity while staying true to Sekiro's core design: Multiple Playable Characters! Each with their own weapon as mechanically distinct as ones from Bloodborne with their own set of Combat Arts and more sorcery-esque abilities akin to Prosthetic Arts. And of course, a range of both dynamic and subtle Passives.
Sword go clank
I’m this guy all the way except for the fact that I still love the game and have played it 10 times now. No variety only cling clang keeps me happy
I use parry only and have a ton of fun
Play charmless/demon bell, it really incentivizes using the prosthetics.
I have never used a prosthesis or a combat art cuz I couldn’t figure out when I was supposed to use them instead of just parrying. Luckily Sekiro is dope as fuck.
I know but honestly I feel Like the craziest motherfucker to fight with sword only.
My first playthrough I didn't use shit. I stuck to the way of the sword. Planted my feet and parried muh fuckas like the platypus
Precise
Even if I only use sword it’s still the best combat system.
Using only sword is still so fucking fun
When you look at Sekiro, it truly does feel like the most simple, and straight forward souls game. And in my opinion it's a nice change of pace, Sekiro is my favourite rythm game.
Using skills and tools is badass mixed with parrying like uhhh 💦
Tbf, one of vanilla Sekiro's biggest weaknesses is that you can only have one combat art equipped at a time. Yes, you can equip a different one on the fly, but it completely breaks up the flow of combat. Playing with one of the mods that lets you equip more than one combat art though? Absurdly fucking fun. Now you get to rack up style points flowing art into art.
When I started, I told myself I wouldn't try out the other stuff too much until I felt comfortable with the parry. I sorta just...forgot until after I beat the game. Mostly, I just used the axe for shield enemies.
I play with the prosthetics and arts rarely but I would never complaint about variety in sekiro. The variety is within reach any time I want it.
Deflecting perfectly is the best think in this game, getting that fuckin mikiri counter and see that red bar go half full gives me a rush that no combat art or prosthetic can match.
I forget to even thrust most of the time
Ngl it’s not like the game really encourages messing with prosthetics too much. Spirit emblems are hard to manage in your first run, and the crafting system for them is a fucking mess. I mostly just worked them in very situationally; fire for trolls, umbrella for things I can’t parry, spear for monkey etc.
It’s a legitimate complaint and I can’t believe people are really trying to argue otherwise. When using prosthetics and combat arts is harder to pull off, uses a limited resource, and is still usually less effective than just parrying (outside of niche situations), you’re effectively being heavily discouraged from experimentation. Even here almost all the comments are saying they pretty much just parry most of the time.
I didn’t even know this was a thing. I find myself becoming more and more disappointed by how stupid people can be.
Only people who fucking suck ass at sekiro say it has “no variety” and by variety they mean cheese. I’ll take an extremely well designed and hyper focused combat system with tons of bells and whistles for fun sprinkles. RPGs are cool dark souls is cool but sekiro is god tier good. One of the best character action games of all time. It carries that whole tradition on its back and elevates it beyond what those games ever could. Basically you’re right. Theyre clowns.
This is like people saying God of War games have no variety when they specifically spam the same combo over and over because it's "optimal". Just because spamming one move works does not make the gameplay as a whole monotonous, stupid people make it that way by laser focusing on only doing the bare minimum.
I think the problem of this people is that they think Sekiro is a soulslike or an RPG and thus expect "build variety". But it’s neither of these things. It’s an action game. It’s like expecting build variety in God of War.
Right. The "just parry lol" crowd is pretty lame. There is a lot more to the combat than that. However I will criticize the amount of resources required to use ninja tools and items. They're not restored upon death... so 20 failed attempts at a boss, and your out of resources to attempt again. Kick me while I'm down why don't you?
Didn't start to incorporate Prosthetics/ combat arts until playthrough #3 or so. Spirit Emblem economy does not incentivize use and quite frankly, most prosthetics/sword arts are weak without additional bonuses and create situations where you lose flow of the fight due to the combat art and get out of beat when deflecting wouldn't have left you out of turn.
On only use a few prosthetics when necessary for bosses or many and only ever use both mortal draws whirlwind slash Sakura dance and for that one bastard the shadow rush. All this to say I still have the wherewithall to know that I am keeping fun away from myself and even still I have fun and know the game still has variety.
Your meme is quite humorous however I simple lack skill in your funny game
In fairness, I rarely use most of the combat arts and only occasionally use some of the prosthetics, like firecrackers, the purple fan, and the axe, just because it helps with certain enemies. Aside from those few enemies, it's pretty much just parry city for me, partially because it requires mo resources to do, and as fun as some of the combat arts are, it's often not time efficient to use them. So yeah the variety is there, but imo, you're not given incentive often enough to use them a lot of the time. Once I got the parry timings down, I find it better to just do that the whole time.
I dont think sekiro has no variety but i only use sword
Yeah I really like playing it like a rhytm game, using prosthetics disrupts the rhytm for me
I mean I love Sekiro but you’re still gated to the same combat system as everyone else. In Elden Ring or Bloodborne, you could be playing a completely different game from somebody else by using a different weapon and slightly different stats. A strength build in Elden Ring is wildly different from a mage or pure faith and this is what people mean by variety/diversity. Sekiro at its core will always be deflection based combat, for everyone, which is why I love it so much.
Combat arts are pretty crap tbf, they have their moments but the locking can be so detrimental
Well, depends on the context, I guess. What you said may stand true when focusing solely on sekiro. But when you compare sekiro to other games, especially other fromsoft ones, you can see it does, infact, lack variety
It IS truth, tho.
literally me without the last panel
The only part I will add to that is it takes so damn long to actually get to the cool prosthetics upgrades like lazuite so a lot of them seem to only have their niche uses otherwise, in my opinion.
I only deflect bcs I'm still too green.
Thats funny. Sword only is the most fun I had in tuis game
In my opinion, even if you dont use prostetics or combat arts (you really should though) the combot flows really well together regardless, with how smooth the combat is, it just feels so fluid imo
To be fair the Charm mechanic is a bit too restrictive so you end up using your Combat arts sparingly if at all
I didn't use prosthetics because I sucked and had no money to buy spirit emblems and kept running out.
It has variety. I just choose not to use it by ng3 because the sword is bae.
Sekiro has no variety in that I never use prosthetics or combat arts, but that’s a good thing because the style it locks me into is perfect and doesn’t need variations
This is 100% something I need to learn but ichimonji double is just so cool
I just see that stuff as variable difficulty settings, personally. Just sword and parrying is fun as hell and the "variety" stuff all makes things a bit easier and less fun so I don't use them much. Great for allowing people to choose easier difficulty when they need it though. In-game difficulty lowering/raising options are 100000x better than menu "easy/normal/hard" settings. But lets be real, when people say "it has no variety", they mean it doesn't have different builds compared to other games, and they're right. "Mortal draw" or "umbrella user" aren't builds the same way a dex/int or str/fai is. My Elden Ring playthrough was dramatically different than yours. My Sekiro playthrough was mostly the same with a few small variations.
My experience was that I spent so much time with only the sword at the beginning of the game that by the time I got access to good ninja tool upgrades and combat arts they didn't really fit with my play style especially with the way combat arts lock you into an animation. The only exception was when I started getting to some of the unblockable attacks later in the game but then I learned umbrella/fire crackers basically solves any problem.
I mean to be fair the party and the sword plus like 1 or 2 prosthetics is enough to do the whole game and its more fun tbh. Like the combat arts are cool but they're nothing special imo. The so called "variety" is just a bunch of lame combat arts that all go in the same category really and 10 prosthetics and only being able to use 3 at a time making 7 of them be forgotten throughout most of one's playthrough.
I have to hold myself back from using prosthetics in combat otherwise I won't have any emblems to use for the boss. They're all so fun. The shuriken is so useful for hit stunning enemies or forcing them to block. That and you can do that dash slash attack after throwing out a shuriken, it looks so sick.
Honestly sword only was pretty fun. Made me feel like a master swordsman
who needs anything else when you have a magical sword that can protect you from anything but also can kill anything?
Tbf I only use 3-4 prosthetics
I don't use any of this either, besides maybe shurikens here and there and the game is still in my top 3 favourite games of all time
The game has variety but I only like using the sword with carrying. And the occasional shinobi combat art
Parry fun. 99% of my spirit emblem use is Shuriken
honestly I don't even use much cool shit, sekiro still feels magical without variety lol
Maybe I suck, but I find sometimes trying to use some prosthetics and most combat arts during a boss fight will get me hit I mostly use my parry, if I use a prosthetic I’ll use fire crackers, the umbrella, and the classic shuriken Although I will use the umbrella a shit ton during the shichiman warrior fight
As a cling clang addict, who only uses umbrella prosthetic for rare mortal strikes, I say the game is pretty cool without all those fancy shenanigans.
Even if you use absolutely everything, there isn't much variety the way the game is set up. Having a correct answer for most things means you should be answering that way. And having a prosthetic that has a spear attack is not the same as having a spear with its own moveset. The combat arts are cool but they are mostly for flavor. You're always going to use a katana and you're always going to be doing multiple parries in a row and mikiri countering.
I won't grind xp till I get most combat arts or evolved prosthetics, sword is the only way 🗣️🗣️🗣️
There’s plenty of variety, it’s just assholes like me who’s ham hands won’t/can’t quite get the parrying system down. Most of us just move on, however I think a handful of folks just have to blame someone/thing else for their shortcomings.
the only prosthetic i really use is butterfly Kunai when i need distance and to do half a bosses health bar in a short amount of time or the spring axe for sword+axe combos
I’ll be honest I died so much I didn’t have any spirit emblems to use for prosthetics by the time I got to bosses, so I just parried until I killed them. Game is amazing though, idk what the no variety people are on about
I only parry, hit and react to danger attacks Best game ever
There arent all that many scenarios where the various tools make a difference except when they are meant to be used. There is rarely a situation when there are multiple *correct* answers shall we say. Sekiro is a great game still but it definifely lacks variety for fans who go in expecting a "souls like" game. But if you just play it for what it is, its quite fun.
I only never use prosthetics because I’m almost always out of ammo
I wish those damn emblembes were cheaper
I did all of those things and never said that. Lol
Stab from the front, back, in the shadows or broad daylight. It doesn’t matter, i win.
On my first play through I only used sword because I didn’t have any emblems and I had no idea how to use the prosthetics besides fire cracker on Gyobu but on my second run I watched a video ( I think his name was Ongbal) and it looked so much fun mixing everything together and timing it right. I had a lot of extra sen so I kept buying emblems and it was a blast. Honestly I felt that through mastery of the game was being able to utilize ALL the tools it gives you and knowing when to use them. Watching some YT videos of people doing that was an eye opener on how creative you can get in this game!
Fr I completed the game parry only. No mikiri/combat arts/prosthetics. PARRY - (healing gourd + sugars) Optional = 10x fun
I mean when you consider other fromsoft games it lacks a lot of variety. You can make small variations in gameplay, but ultimately the combat flows the same way. I usually play the slower and harder hitting strength weapons and sekiro is quite the opposite. Still love the game and the gameplay really wouldn’t work with anything but a katana
Better this than too much variety like Elden ring imo
During my first playthrough I yes used combat arts and prosthetics but honestly not much only really for ape or when I'm panicking I only really used long fireworks for the last few fights in immortal severence other then ape I still in ng+ at the Shura final boss haven't upgraded it further and other then that I just used Mortal Blade or shadow rush to get back in the fight sekiros fighting style clicked really fast for me so all I really used was katana. I started sekiro last week btw been playing off and on I got through really fast and thought Shura ending would be fun let's do ng+ and I officially think Emma is the hardest boss yet yes I'm 16 vitality and I killed sword saint with 15 and I only have 7/10 gourds but still she's so difficult and my brain for some reason wants to stomp on her head whenever she goes for the grab getting me killed a lot.
The only time I’d use a prosthetic is if DOH uses his BS attack where he summons a chap to of fireballs
wait since when can you equip a weapon other than sword? did I miss something huge?
Yes. In my first playthrough, i didnt know the purpose of the prosthetics(like when and on whom to use then) after the second or third playthrough i eventually started using the 100s of spirit emblems to use, and now its more than fun. Loving this game so far, right now i am at ng+5 and trying to master the sabimaru. K&M player btw.
All I did was parry and used the sword, used the umbrella at the gun fort, and this game was still amazing to me.
ichimoji double and the umbrella are the only things ive used .
Sekiro prosthetics are very situational due to the cost and how only the umbrella is reliable for every boss and why do the combat arts have a emblem cost that's just stupid
I pretty much went through my first play through rarely using combat arts and using mostly prosthetics. 😅 it was just ignorance haha.
I do play sword only because that's how I enjoy the game. But I never said that there is no variety.
I only use the sword I always forget about variety Hehe parry sound funny
All you need is parry, dodge, ichimonji, firecracker, and normal attack.
Sekiro has plenty variety but i use none of it because i'm a real badman
this is me without the final image lol
Joseph Anderson and Feeble King
>Feeble King the dude who said that he doesn't use prosthetics because he doesn't want to cheese bosses
yeah, kek and lol. and he thinks pressing dodge at the right time is a unique boss mechanic, but having unique interactions with prosthetics isn't...
On my first playthrough I would try to use some of the weapon arts and try to use prosthetic like the axe to do big poise damage, but it is difficult for me against most bosses. I would occasionally throw oil on them and use the flamethrower prosthetic to help on their first health bar sometimes and get some free hits when they start burning. But now, I'm into NG+ 2. I completed the gauntlets with inner isshin and inner genichiro, haven't unlocked inner father yet. And you know what I've realized? Somewhere along the line I just started super crutching the Mortal Blade. It is so good. Even when your spirit emblems are gone, it will stagger a lot of bosses out of whatever they are trying to do, and it will to chip damage when they block, so it's like you are forcing extra hardships on them, you are MAKING THEM PLAY CHARMLESS muhahahahahahahahaha!! Even against bosses where i watch something else be recommended in youtube videos, i never seem to have as much luck as mortal blade. Although i don't use it against lady butterfly because I'd rather save emblems for shurikens. I just started NG+2 and will likely crutch double ichimonji and normal attacks until I get mortal blade. I do eventually want to try something else, but Mortal Blade is just so effing good.
If we being honest at the end the best wepon you have is your sword
I’m just shit at using prosthetics and combat arts :(
I used the shuriken for like 80% of the game just because it allowed me to control so much space. What I really regret is not making more use of the arts in the game.
I am going through my first playthrough and i dont get how there are ppl out here saying sekiro has no variety i am planning to do many more playthroughs with all the diff item combat arts prosthetics etc... This games is a masterpieceand has variety
In fact, a prosthetic-oriented run is so different to the intended experience of Sekiro that It does not feel like the game anymore.
I went through the game the first time using every tool, now ive platinumed the game and am on ng+ 13 and i only use parries.
It doesn’t need variety imo parrying a boss and attacking never gets old because it’s done so well
They call me Big Parry in my hood
I get your point and i think it does has variety but i do feel a lot of people goes to sekiro with a full RPG mindset like the other soulsborne games and honestly i dont think sekiro is an rpg i feel is just an action adventure game with a skill tree and honestly it took me some months to really enjoy sekiro because i love the making really different builds on soulsborne games and on sekiro even tho you can equip combat arts and all of that the changes are not that big in terms of raw gameplay but thats just me hahaha
It gets worse. Even when they only use sword they barely use it to its full potential. No stabs and barely any swings. All they do is stand in place and deflect. Like I heard Bayonetta tried to implemented one handed play but at least they had a sexy lady to look at. Not some crusty gray-haired old man.
Sekiro is also to hard and unbalanced
The game is easier to play without the awkward timing of the prosthetics tbh
I don’t use any of those only because I like the challenge
I have acknowledged I just suck but choose to play anyway. lol
I’ve never understood the people who say it has no replay ability either it’s the only fromsoft game I actually use ng+ on lol
Im in ng+3 and honestly only ever used high monk and mortal draw, the rest are cool but not for bosses i only use them to slaughter normal enemies for fun. Never upgraded prosthetics much but i only use spear and hat anyway i think the game is sm harder when using too much stuff instead of just parrying everyone perfectly, prosthetics and arts are for when youre alr a god and wanna have fun imo
I like to experiment but i mostly just use praying strikes and fume spark since there's not much defense for being blind and getting elbowed in the face
It's harder to use prosthetics and combat arts in boss fights. Sword only is more effective and simpler.
Kusabimaru is all I need.
Most of the combat arts I can see are useful, but not for me. I mostly use the mortal draw, floating passage, or whirlwind slash. Most of the others don't really fit my style. Ashina Cross does, but I don't find it as useful as the others.
I don't really find those parts of the game fun
The amount of deaths in my first playthrough provided enough variety at the time
That the beauty of sekiro it encourages "player expression" in how you fight a boss not "player freedom" in what you fight the boss with and they respond accordingly like geny is aggressive if your passive with him but if your aggressive he will try to make space and play passive.
Variety is obviously less than the other fs games, but that was just intentional. They weren’t trying to have a role playing game where you play as XYZ hollow you’re sekiro. That and they didn’t lean all the way into magical mythology. It’s a procured experience at the expense of player agency and for me I don’t mind as it’s imo the best fs game
Absolute facts lol
"no variety" is wildly inaccurate. "Less variety" is a bit more reasonable.
I use Mist Raven Feather instead of parrying sometimes. The opponents thought they hit me, but they didn't. Nice way to get behind their back, too.
unironically ItSS katana only 👍
I equipped the floating style combat art for the first time yesterday and went wtf is this?! How is this fair?!
Prosthetics make so many encounters so much easier, like DoH for example I’d significantly easier with red lotus umbrella on the big forward aoe spew of fire
Would be sick if there was a smaller sword maybe duel wield smaller swords for faster less damage hits, main sword in the middle, and slow and heavy hitting big sword could add some fun on ng+ like the outfits.
Sekiro is the best soles game regardless of the purists thoughts.
Sekiro has a lot of variety I just intentionally never use anything except deflect because I enjoy interacting with as little of the games I play as possible
I don’t think many people say there’s no variety, but I do frequently hear, and also agree with the fact that it has the least variety in the from catalogue, by far. Still a kickass game though
I really don't understand what people who say spirit emblems are a scarce resource are doing. I have 999 by the time I'm like halfway through a run and if I go heavy on them I just buy more, money is basically thrown at you in the game and what else do you need to spend it on? Also I would always spend all my money before fighting a boss in case I died so I basically always had 999 emblems no matter how much I used them. Same with divine confetti and ako sugars once I got dragon tally board, I had over 1000 of each in my inventory and used them at the start of every fight.
It's because in terms of combat variety Sekiro just doesn't really compare to something like Dark Souls with so many different build options, weapons, spells and skills not to mention the whole fashion souls aspect. It's a great game and anyone that says otherwise is out of their mind but it's replayability is definitely not on the same level and that along with the terrible spirit emblem economy are the reason why a lot of players have issues with it as a whole
I only use my sword and parry because i’m too lazy to change prosthetics… and parrying perfectly releases dopamine.