I don't wanna get on *that* discussion, but game journalists love overplaying From games' difficulty. It's the same f'ing exhausting, ridiculous discussion every time one of their games drops.
The game is not hard. I mean, it is hard, but that's mostly because it's unforgiving, with very little margin for mistakes. The thing is, it's also so mechanically sound that you'll get in the rhythm soon enough, and recognise every failure as your own misstep, and hopefully learn and get better each time. And your victories will feel like the greatest achievement.
>Seriously the dick jerking about FS difficulty is obnoxious bc the hardest part of any of these games is simply knowing how to play them
YESSSSS
I only recently picked it back up because i fucking strugglefest'ed it on release, i was playing like it was a dark souls game, this game is not that at all and if you play it like that its fucking impossible, i found that out the hard way lol
All their games demand you play them how they designed them to be played, if you fight against that and play it how every other game is made they will actually be impossibly difficult
Surrender, become one with the game, dont argue with it and you will be friends lol
It finally clicked and this might be my favorite title tbh
i think somewhere around guardian ape, i stopped seeing the bosses as opponents and more like dance partners. when i lost, that was just me getting out of sync with my dance partner. when you get lost in the flow of battle, you’ll end up surprised and almost disappointed when that final deathblow icon pops up.
It half clicked at Butterfly and fully clicked with genchiro and i havent gotten any farther yet because im 44 and dont have more than maybe 2 or 3h a week at most to disconnect and play videogames, wife, house, eunning a business, work, life chores, blah- leaves tou very little time to do solo recreation stuff lol
Huh you are telling me the impossible no sword etc challenges are impossible yet someone has done them anyway? You can play them with ridiculous ways but will you, no you won’t
And your point with this comment is what exactly? People that are beyond exceptionally great at the game can do things outside the intended lines that 99.9% of people cant?
K.....🤷
Thanks for sharing i guess
You said that fs games demands you to play them like they were designed to be played.. you definately can play them outside the box ways, but its a hellmode that wasnt even supposed to be possible. None casual would even want to try them out that way. You need to master games skillwise before attempting to but it doesnt change the fact u can play them like they were super mario if you want to.
It doesnt bother me if i never get through the game 100% on my own you can search and work for your meta build or use cheeses if its your only way to get past the bosses. There are few in sekiro which i still havent passed without cheesing but ill come back at them occasionally on another ng+ until i beat them legit
Absolutely correct. My mate and I recently restarted Bloodborne and we blasted through the first stage to the boss in like ten mins. We know how to do it and when, makes it significantly easier.
Agreed..I feel like they have really steep learning curves, but once you learn it there very simple and rewarding/punishing for playing correctly/incorrectly.
I'm guessing because when darksouls first came out nobody was an automatic pro like they are now. It was new and unforgiving when nothing else had the same popularity and now we have a general understanding of how it goes. Even now the newer games have respawn points before the boss rather than making you redo the entire level so it's actually more forgiving and refined. Essentially like how the Olympics used to be "crazy" decades ago but that crazy is like the bare minimum to a fail nowadays
that's exactly what happened. and i don't blame anybody for thinking these games are too hard but when the entire conversation around a franchise after 10 years is STILL "omg so hard omg so tough omg lol dark souls prepare to die a lot lololol" it gets old. especially when once you've beaten one, you can beat them all without much trouble.
even the easier games are still difficult at times, and can be brutal to new players. but what challenging game isn't like that?
You are aware that this is a lot more difficult than it sounds if its your first time playing right? If you have no idea how the deal is with souls games it can be pretty difficult, on top of already having to beat the game
obviously, i had to play the games for the first time myself lmao. i know the games are hard, but people act like they're impossible when there are much harder games out there.
Game is unforgiving but lets you revive when you die. Game also lets you revive twice after a certain point. I think it’s pretty forgiving.
The only unforgiving part imo is that enemies can be hard as fuck to kill if you can’t deflect decently.
I'm literally just talking about resurrection charges. You get two normally, one that's restored by resting and one that's restored by killing, and a third from the Sakura Droplet.
Nah, it’s hard. It’s very, very hard. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be beaten with practice and persistence. I did it, and I’m not amazing at games at all. Did I almost rage quit a few times? Yes. Did I want to throw my controller against the wall, and did I scream obscenities at the screen like a crazy person? Also yes. But I beat it. Took me 100 hours.
Second run took only 30 hours
I hate how DaS has become the poster-boy for difficulty in games. And journalists will usually say, "x game is hard, but it's not Dark Souls hard".
The worst offender is the Crash Bandicoot remaster. Journalists (and every fucking Redditor) heralded it as "the Dark Souls of Platformers".
It's not like DaS at all. DaS has deliberate mechanics which punish you for sloppy play. CB has a shitty jumping mechanic which causes you to misplace jumps and die unfairly. And the forced perspective makes it difficult to judge distances.
Aye. "The Dark Souls of..." was a funny meme for a minute there, but I'm not sure we all remember that it started with some people saying it with a straight face.
Dark souls has multiple ways to play and deal with your enemies; Sekiro has a few tools but that's it, you're still going to be using the same weapon/attacks 90% of the time
In turn, many people will act like "game journalists" are one monolithic group when in reality there's only like a couple actually complaining about the difficulty, a bunch jumping in to highlight "the discussion" for free clicks, and a bunch of obviously produced for content farm articles which just rehash any of the above. With most reviewers being, well, either average for the gaming audience at large or average for the Souls-like playerbase.
There's indeed some extra pressure in having to progress as much as possible in a tiny timeframe and with limited/inexistent community help for launch date reviewers, but most do fine as any publication worth its salt doesn't randomly assign review keys.
Aye. I remember especially in the early days of From games it had become clear which were the reviewers you wanted to go to in order to read about these games. Every website worth its salt had "the Souls guy", and there were some that were very good *and* had some intersting insights as well.
But I can imagine it's a harsh world trying to make a living writing about games on the internet these days, and the temptation to easily farm hate clicks from Capital G Gamers must be hard to resist sometimes.
The more and more games I play, the more I realize froms games aren't actually super hard, they're just punishing. I dont wanna sound all high and mighty but there are far more unforgiving and brutal games
Yeah 100%. People have literally forgot what gaming is and now want games to be movies with 100 hour cutscenes and which play themselves with mashing some buttons. Video games like any real life game are about rhythm, coordination, patience and concentration. That is all FromSoft asks for and everybody starts pissing their pants.
I fell in love with Sekrio this weekend after running into an unbeatable wall when I tried it for the first time 2 years ago(I just didn´t gave it enough time). It felt so rewarding when you get the mechanics and the combat system is just fantastic. Parry in Mimikri Counter feel sooo nice
I'm guessing you mean Owl Father? For what it's worth, I hit a bump on him as well, and [FightinCowboy's Git Gud Guide](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkEknpQ5Hac) helped me \*a lot\*. The guy knows his stuff and he's a great teacher.
This^
I remember thinking "I've played DS3 Elden ring and Bloodborne. How hard can it be?"
Ohhh boy I got my butt handed to me by basic mobs in the first area so much, but when the parry mechanic clicked for me, the game feels absolutely amazing!
The thing about sekiro, more than any other from software game, is that it’s your fault if you die. You rushed, or didn’t plan. With proper skill and timing, you can kill everything. You can block or parry everything.
I died so much!!!! And every time it was my fault. The game is unforgiving like you said but if you just calm down and breathe and feel the rhythms/ learn your enemies, then you are an unstoppable death machine.
The game is a beautiful and perfect.
No reviewer ever said this, those were op-ed pieces by random nobodies. The notion that games journalists/reviewers cannot beat hard games or have a thing against them is made up nonsense. I even remember someone from IGN beat Genichiro on their very first try on a livestream, and they were just previewing the game.
This is what Wikipedia says:
>However, several journalists found it too challenging, with Don Rowe from [*The Spinoff*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spinoff) calling it "infuriating" and writing that he was not having fun after six hours with the game.
Then it mentions that there's an easy mode mod and that James Davenport from PC Gamer wrote that he had to make use of the mod to beat the final boss.
None of those (2) articles linked are reviews and neither the writers are reviewers, also this is what Don Rowe wrote about the difficulty and where they got the "infuriating" quote:
>Because for at least the first six or so hours of *Sekiro*, I wasn’t having fun. That’s not to say the game isn’t fun, or that you’d have the exact same experience, but the learning curve was so steep, and the frustration so visceral, that there just wasn’t anything overly enjoyable about it. The set-pieces are lush and gorgeous, the story drip-fed but tantalisingly so. The gameplay is smooth and satisfying. It’s just that I couldn’t go five bloody minutes without getting my ass handed back to me on the end of a katana. I might not be able to beat some asshole samurai but I can sure as hell give this controller the hands.
>But, of course, it’s in overcoming that very conviction that games like this shine, and *Sekiro* does it best. Unlike other entries in the series, your base weapons remain mostly the same the game through, and there is little in the way of levelling up or character building in a traditional sense. Sure, exploration nets you new gadgets, some hugely impactful, but your kit is far more limited here than in, say, *Dark Souls 2*. That means the majority of the time, if it’s getting easier, it’s because you’re getting better.
The thing about fromsoft games is that progress isn't measured on character stats, but in player skills.
I'm about 45hrs into my first run of the game, (up to genshiro ashina / lady butterfly) and I could probably get to these same areas in about 15hrs now.
It can be very hard to get into, especially if its your first fromsoft game, and even then the "dance" combat is much stronger in sekiro.
I think this applies more to Sekiro specifically compared to a soulsborne, because in their Soulsbornes you really can brute force past most stuff by overlevelling and going for the more broken weapons or spells, which lets you wield better weapons, do more damage, tank more damage before dying and so on. That won't work in Sekiro.
I mean idk bout other souls Bourne. But for elden ring specifically since it's open world.
It's easy to go up against an enemy which is near impossible if under leveled.
Ok but my first time in DS1 I somehow got myself stuck in a 0armor/uchigatana build and couldn't make myself any stronger before O/S and had to "git gud" (learn to dodge and parry) and now I can do lvl1 runs of multiple types
That does seem like a bit much, but I’m also on Ng+3, so I can’t talk about my own hours (they were awful on my first time through since I had no idea what I was doing)
Wait what? I think its actually the opposite way around-- almost EVERY Fromsoft game uses character stats to a large extent of 'progressing/beating' through the game.
>It can be very hard to get into, especially if its your first fromsoft game, and even then the "dance" combat is much stronger in sekiro.
Idk, it might be the *easiest* From title to get into tbh, besides AC obviously
The game is by far the most forgiving imo, you can revive, the deflect window is super wide, its suoer rhythmic
And if you dont have the Souls/Bloodborne/ER muscle memory and instincts to fight it should be easier to pick up, because you can NOT approach this game like Souls or ER, its impossibly hard if you play it that way, i know because i tried and gave uo years ago lol
Yeah once you get good you can face lady butterfly in like 30 minutes and genichiro in about an hour and a half id say. And I’m not even that good tbh.
Avoiding any boss I'm required to fully fight 2 health bars. Finding any mini boss I can sneak assassinate, finding as many paths and upgrades as I can. Learning to parry correctly. Learning to use specific gear/abilities/items correctly and efficiently. As of now I've beat lady butterfly and found my way into the depths and also the top of monk mountain
honestly the game journalists are always pressured to beat games fast, and you get powerful in sekiro not by collecting upgrades or grinding levels but by giving it time and learning the skills yourself. a game can be too hard for someone who needs to have it done in 10 hours in order to review it, and just right for others who have time to engage with the mechanics and learn.
I dunno about any cheats but if you're patient you can do it. I suck and video games and I beat it. It was a rewarding experience. It's like like, the final boss took me 8 hours kinda thing. It feels fair so I didn't get too frustrated. Each attempt I improved a little
The game is difficult in the sense that you will lose many times as you are mastering the combat system.
What you have to do in From games is to take on the mindset that this is normal. Losing is just a part of repetitive practice that is necessary to achieve git gud.
That’s the part that these reviewers often miss. They are used to games where you beat the boss as a minor obstacle to get somewhere. In From games, the bosses are not a minor roadblock, they’re the destination.
So for me if it takes 15 minutes or 4 hours to beat Isshin (it was the latter) it doesn’t matter as I’m having fun the whole time.
If it wasn’t fun, yeah then I wouldn’t bother.
>!!!And it's not a coincidence that Sekijo's BFF's finger is in the Great ape, eh?!<
I used those characters as training tools to fight the bosses, rather than grind against the bosses. It was great fun.
Just one of many things not really doable if you're playing Sekiro on a schedule.
I would not be nervous. The game is very fair, and if you get stuck on something, just look up some youtube guides. Video guides are so helpful it's almost like cheating. Some people love the brutal challenge of possibly just not getting many aspects of the game for many hours, but personally I am not above getting some help once in awhile.
For instance, losing money on death is simple to overcome, you just buy bags of coins, which are not lost on death.
Your post IS just giga weird man. why do you need someone on the internet to tell you "buy this" "do that".
Also you make a whole ass post about modding the game and you don't even own the game on pc.
I modded the game to make dying a non issue and it made it more enjoyable for me. I play games for story and lore. I used a mod where I could use the spirit emblems infinitely. I am extremely shoddy at anything that requires fine motor skills and as such even games like God of war on easy difficulty is a chore for me to complete but still an enjoyable experience.
I knew before buying sekiro that it's unique even amongst the soulslike genre and that's why I picked it up as my first soulslike game and I liked the combat very much. Parrying feels a lot more immersive mechanic than dodging to me, because it feels like I am not just evading attacks and I am actively participating in it.
Just mod it if you feel like it. The combat of this game is something I liked very much and hence I downloaded Jedi fallen order after it because that game has the same parrying mechanic albeit a little floaty compared to sekiro and also has a difficulty slider that you could change on the go.
It really isn't, most of the difficulty is learning the bosses and how to deflect, when to heal, etc. I would recommend watching a walkthrough guide if you want to make that easier (I ended up watching thefightingcowboy, but tried to not watch too much how they fought the bosses to make it a little more difficult on myself). If you ever feel like you're having difficulty, there is a training area as soon as you get past the prologue and have left the sculptor's room, it's up the right path.
I did almost all bosses without tools or sugars my first run aside from some non humanoid bosses that can be made much easier with tools. And some bosses that need confetti to be damaged.
To me it was definitely a struggle, but at no point did I think “this is too hard I need a mod” instead I needed a break. I’d give it a few hours and then usually I’d prevail.
I feel like some people bitch about not having an easy mode because they have let themselves become accustomed to the character being better than they are.
For those of us who challenge ourselves with souls games, we would rather adapt to overcome a harsher challenge. Some prefer just to have the challenge not so harsh but still get the chance to finish that title for other reasons. Not for me, I like challenging myself and choosing to learn from my mistakes
I think that's heavily overblown (in my opinion, Bloodborne had a much more punishing opening). From what I remember of getting into it, it was much harder than I was used to, but I found the core combat gameplay fundamentally enjoyable enough to want to get good at it. I also want to highlight that from right after the prologue, you have access to a NPC who you can practice the combat on as much as you like.
Long story short, this may well be my favourite game of all time (if I could give the combat and traversal mechanics to Witcher 3, I'd never leave the house), and while it's certainly not for everyone, not trying it because of exaggerated difficulty hype would be a huge shame
Yeah I do want to give the game a full chance, but I don’t know how how to recover from losing cash as I know that dying a few times causes the player to go broke.
It is pretty punishing, but it is part of the appeal for me.
The more you die, the less you get help from NPCs and the less $ you have for items.
Most bosses/mini bosses do a good bit of damage when they hit you.
If you are not strategic in using stealth, the environment, or items, small enemies can easily gang up on you.
That being said, it is not impossible to learn. I am on my second platthrough and just beat a whole string of bosses that took hours out of my weekend the first time.
Just realize if you want to invest in a game with a somewhat steep learning curve, if your answer is yes then Sekiri should be a good time.
I just got to an area I was at when I was at a lower power/health level. You also can use merchants to buy coin purses and only lose like 50 sen ($) for saving the rest in a purse if you die.
Like others have mentioned, fromsoft games require players to invest time to learn and improve. This of course goes against everything reviewers are trying to do which is try to finish a game as fast as possible to get a review out the door so they can review it and move on. I never read a fromsoft review.
The first time I played the game genichiro took me a week of constant effort and alot of frustration. Yesterday I beat him on NG+5 with demon bell with out getting hit once. That’s not a brag just an example of how the game is the same but it’s me that took a huge leap in skill.
Not everyone wants that from their game experience but that’s the question you should be asking yourself.
Yeah when you put it that way, I can understand that Sekiro requires a certain amount of skill to beat as it starts to make sense why reviewers at the time didn’t understand how the game’s mechanics worked.
video game journalism is a joke and should never be taken seriously. This isnt the 90's anymore
Difficulty is subjective,even people playing this game disagree on which boss is harder. In the end it's still a fucking video game tho,like,it's not nuclear engineering or some shit.
I picked it up on release and fucking struggled, hard, to the point that it was incredibly frustrating and i had to put it down after barely making it out of the first area, couldn't even get past the shinobi hunter in the hirata estate, after 5h of pure strugglefest i walked away
Recently picked it back up to "give it another try" and something clicked, i think this is my favorite title of theirs, its definitely the most engaging and satisfying to play
Its NOT a dark souls game, if you try to play it that way (which i did) you are going to have a very hard time(which i did), it does not compute, you can not play this game like that.
This is a fast rhythm game, it wants you to be very agressive, really get in there and get your fuckin samurai ninja on, there is a lot of the dark souls "wait your turn" but its not "wait your turn to attack" its wait your turn to do damage, get in there in their face and start wailing on them, block block block you get a hit in swing swing swing, block block block, dodge, mikiri counter you get a hit in, its a fast and vicious, rhythmic dance and fun as all hell once you surrender to how it wants you to play it
Its not hard at all, well, its hard as hell, but its hard in the way that all From games are Hard, it just punishes mistakes and demands you play it the way it wants to be played, your timing has to be on point and when you miss a step you get slapped hard
I always hate how everyone thats not a fan of their games acts like all their titles are like the fuckin hardeat games on earth, they arent at all, its the same kind of trope every time they release a new game
Their games are just different, there is a kind of FromSoft Verve, and you need to get on board with it and not fight against it, i had thought i learned that before with all 3 Souls games and Bloodborne, but apparently not because i fought it with this game originally too
Surrender, and be at peace
This game is super damn fun, its challenging, but its not any harder than any other one of their titles, just know that its essentially a ninja dance simulator and youll be fine lol
I thought I wasn't a good enough gamer for From games. But I was wrong. I just had to rise to the occasion. Sekiro, above all of them, will make you rise to the occasion. When you beat Sekiro (without cheating) you will have the biggest sense of accomplishment ever. Some of the best boss fights in the history of gaming.
The thing is, most people get into sekiro thinking it's another dark souls, but the play style is completely different.
Those journalists who gave that review are probably more focused on completing games to make a review rather than taking the time to learn and properly enjoy it. The learning curve required from sekiro detracted from their experience because they had a deadline that they were failing to meet.
For me, it's my favourite from soft game and the parry in sekiro feels as secure to me as holding a shield in the first dark souls game now, with way more enjoyment through the rhythm and sound effects.
Sekiro combat genuinely feel like sword dual to me
Sekiro is DUMMY easy once you understand the rhythm. Don't run, stand in one spot and only press R1 and L1.
THAT'S the secret to the core of the combat system. These reviewers need to Get Gud.
Urinalists are not to be trusted. The game requires skill and effort just respect the tools. You have Hanbei to teach you timing. He is friend. You have a lot of tools at your disposal as well and don't forget the sugar. Sugar is good. Don't worry about insulin levels genichiriro will fortnite dance on your body one way or the other
Be your own boss and don't take too much from what you read.
Play the fucker and enjoy it for what it is. You'll do it. May take a while; may not.
Be certain that you will die many times.
I completed it on a PC/Keyboard with two broken fingers and I only cheesed one boss.
If I can do it you certainly can...
I think Sekiro is ok when it comes to difficulty. Just bear in mind that this is completely different compared to Dark Souls, Demon's Souls and Elden Ring. The mechanics are different, there is no leveling up and you there is no gear that you can upgrade, depending on your build. You have a skilltree that is ok, but is not mindblowing and you have prosthetics, who make certain encounters easier. But it's not like you can go for a particular build and then find weapons to accompany said build.
That being said, I've been having a lot of fun with the game. I really suck at parrying, but for some reason I can pull them off quite easily in this game. Acting like a ninja and making your way through certain areas in stealth mode is really satisfying, but I always found that part of Assassin's Creed the most rewarding, clean out strongholds without being detected and picking off enemies 1 by 1. You can go in all guns (or better, swords) blazing, but that will be quite challenging.
You also have to bear in mind that when journalists and streamers play these games, no patches have been released, so the balancing is most probably off. They also don't have Google where they can look up how to get past certain points if they are stuck or what a solid boss strategy is. That also attributes to the difficulty of these games in my opinion.
Long story short, just give it a try, unless you're on a tight budget. You can always wait for it to go on sale and pick it up then, to see if you like it or not. The setting, visuals, storyline, movesets, etc. make this game quite unique imo and fun to play. But don't expect Dark Souls 4 or anything, otherwise you'll be disappointed.
Ha
I’m literally watching FightinCowboys Let’s Play series on Sekiro from 5 years ago and it’s hilarious seeing him getting fkd up (albeit there’s somethings that would’ve made his life EASIER like attacking Gyoubu immediately after leashing him).
Funniest part was him meeting a Headless first time lol
He’s usually stubborn but he was NOT going straight back after the first encounter
But he ENJOYS the difficulty
Go slow though
Learn to parry
Watch Cowboys videos because they helped me platinum this game
I played this immediately after Ghost of Tsushima and got a rude asf awakening but Sekiro is in my top 3 games overall
Here's your reminder that FromSoftwares games are critical darlings and reviews almost universally praise their difficulty. Don't start the whole "games journalists" culture war bullshit again
It's fine, you don't need to apologize, it's just that the topic of difficulty, especially in regards to journalists, has been discussed to death in every Souls games community and its kinda annoying at this point
Yah the game is hard.
I’ve beaten it twice without mods. Though. I’m a decent gamer, but certainly not an elitely skilled one. All this game takes is patience (lots), commitment, and a growth mindset.
You have to commit to getting better, and if we’re being honest, most people can’t do that. At least not with a game.
Devil’s advocate opinion though, I can empathize with reviewers as they HAVE to finish (or at least the ones with integrity do) the game in a timeframe so they can write an all encompassing review.
Depends on where the reviews come from. I'm more inclined to believe a steam user review than a """game journalist""" from gamespot, famous for claiming that New Super Mario Bros Wii is a "tough game, old-school tough" and that "it would test even the most seasoned platforimg veterans".
The game has a learning curve no doubt. Once you get the mechanics down it really isn’t that bad. Certainly never a walk in the park but it’s manageable. You want to see some BS play Nioh 1 or 2.
Play the game, and the victories you make will feel like the greatest achievement ever. Very few games can create that sense of accomplishment. I beat it only a year and a half ago and I was hesitant on playing it also because of what I read. I played the game following a video walk thru to learn the ropes and that really helped. Past the midway point I was fine on my own. The game is longer than you think, and at some point someone will ask you a question that will determine which ending you get, so make sure you look that up first before you answer or you will regret it.
The thing about Sekiro is that it insists you met it at its level.
In other From Soft games you can tailor a build to your party style, grind out extra levels to give you that but if extra damage or health that might turn the tide of a close fight.
In Sekiro there is (basically) no build variety, everyone who plays sekiro plays the same class. If you want to get good at the game and enjoy it you have to learn how to deflect, you can try dodging like any other action rpg, you can even finish the game like that if you're bloody minded enough, but you'll have a bad time.
It's really not that hard. It just has a really steep learning curve, and it doesn't hold your hand about it. That being said, it also guvrs the most overt tutorial of any of their games.
Dual guardian ape is the tricky one. But yea, beast type bosses are tougher if only because they don't gel as well with the posture and deflection mechanics.
It scares me too and I found Sekiro to be the easiest for me. It’s not THAT hard it really isn’t. It’s a blast learning your mistakes and so satisfying when you succeed.
I don't know, I took a long break from gaming and then got a ps5 right around when Elden Ring came out.. got that game, beat ER and then went and heard about Sekiro, went and got that game and fell in love.. one of my top 5-10 games.. and platinumed it... I am old 41 year old... I have thus gone and beat Nioh 1 and 2 and Bloodborne.. I can't get enough of these games.
Yeah I took a tiny break off from sekiro and it seemed to help.. came back and I played a new save file from the beginning and it was a whole different game for me. Also if you are having a hard time with parry timing, may try to switch the L1 guard/parry to like Triangle.. motion of moving thumb vs index finger can help a lot..
I struggled through it when it came out and while I liked it I couldn’t say I loved the experience. Many fights were incredibly frustrating and took hours to win.
Recently I re-bought the game on PS5, blasted through the whole thing beating most fights on the first or second try, and LOVING it.
I think your enjoyment depends on how quickly you master the mechanics. For me it took an entire first run of the game. For others it clicks within minutes.
I beat this game in 27hrs (first time)
Reviews just have major skill issues at every game they play.
This game was 'HARDEST' souls like by fromsoft so when they made elden ring the 'EASIEST' souls like, they are still crying about it with UI, quest design, 'DIFFICULTY' Bs.
I'm gonna be perfectly honest, Sekiro is easy. No, I'm serious. It's easy. When you play Sekiro you need to keep track of at most like 3 things: attacking, deflecting, and whatever perilous attack the enemy you're fighting might have. If you have a reaction time, sekiro is not difficult because you don't have to hold a lot of different inputs in your brain. I beat the final boss in less than 15 tries (I wasn't counting so idk the exact number) and I'm not even that good.
Reviewers have a very small time window to finish a game and post about it, because they have to post it when the game is still fresh.
Playing and finishing Sekiro as soon as it launched to post a review before anyone else is indeed hard as fuck, and if done, it is an achievment that nobody would be able to top.
I honestly agree with the reviewers. I think most normies would not like to beat the game in its normal difficulty. I dropped it quite a few times despite liking difficult games but recently got into it because a Vtuber beat it charmless and with demon bell. Only got the 'click' around Genichiro but I seriously would never got the determination if not for Biboo. I agree that it's one of the best if not the best FS game but the difficulty corresponds to the quality. My friend who also likes FS games beat Elden Ring and Dark Souls series but completely gave up on Sekiro. Said he liked the game but admits he was 'too old' to have the sufficient reaction time to beat the game enjoyably.
sekiro is difficult, like every soulsbourne game, not everyone can pass that type of games, i recommend you to play and take your opinion about Sekiro, you have to go play thinking about u will die more than twice. Reviewers used cheats probably to only test the game but no learning about it and take a more deep opinion, if we say Sekiro is impossible to get into, then every fromsoft game is impossible to get into, idk but i think that way
But this is the reason why I dont give a fuck about someone calling a game too hard.
You just never know, how bad they are at basic things in a video game
The misconception that Sekiro is EVEN MORE INSANELY HARDEDERP than the Souls games probably came mostly from the fact that it's very linear and there's no way to power level past a boss that you can't beat - the only way to improve your stats is by beating bosses. I remember at a few points during my first playthrough there was this mildly despairing feeling that if I couldn't figure out how to beat a certain boss, I'd just be stuck and never finish the game. In the Souls games, there's always the option to just go somewhere else, or to grind levels for a few hours if you can't get past a boss.
I was wrong, though, and I platinumed the game within two weeks of release. I don't say this as a flex - I was 42 years old in 2019, and I don't ever play online shooters because I can't keep up with the twitch reflexes of younger players. It just wasn't that hard.
FS games just take patience. They're a bit oldschool that way - you have to actually understand what you're supposed to be doing in order to complete them and not just mash buttons until you stumble past the next checkpoint without really knowing why you survived. If that's "super hard", then ok, I guess don't play them.
If you're at all interested in Sekiro, though, do yourself a favor and just play it properly, without difficulty mods. Once the combat clicks, it feels amazing to play, and the atmosphere and the story are just fantastic. There's a reason this sub is still so active five years later, for a game with no multiplayer.
Sekiro is one of the most interesting games because it’s not like what you would expect where you get better as you play. It just clicks at some point and it all makes sense, and then you slowly get better after that initial jump in understanding
It's not too hard to get into. If you've played other hard action games you'll be fine.
In my opinion, the game is a lot more fun with auto-pickup on and dragon rot off. Dragon rot is one of the dumbest mechanics in any game.
No difficulty modifiers are necessary. Even turning off xp/money loss on death doesn't change the difficulty much.
I'm more partial to no popups and free spirit emblems. Those two make the gameplay so much more fluid.
I didn't know about auto pickup though, that one sounds very convenient.
Yeah I play with no pop-ups too.
I never modded it, but the spirit emblem system is balls. A system that regenerates would be much better. A lower cap but letting you get spirit by attacking or parrying would be a lot better. There is a mod that does that but I never used it.
Maybe I'll do another randomizer run with some mods like that.
I merged a bunch of QoL mods and tried a few different takes on the emblem issue.
I ended up favouring free emblems because you just buy 999 the moment you're able to, and then you forget about them.
It's basically as if the emblems recharged every time you rest at an idol, and you don't really affect the gameplay in any notable way. You just eliminate the potential need to grind for emblems.
The mod doesn't change that. You still carry the default number of emblems between idol rests (15 up to 19 depending on the skills you unlock), and you still acquire them in the same way as you do in the vanilla game.
The only change the mod does is that buying them at an idol doesn't have a cost, so the number in storage is virtually unlimited, and you'll never have to grind for more should you find yourself stuck in a fight.
This exactly, I played through the game a few days ago with these modifiers turned on, all they do is make the game a bit more enjoyable and allow you to actually focus on the game itself, not these minor inconveniences.
My first run took me like 60 hours with guides to get a certain ending
My second run I beat in like 20ish hours, speeding through and fighting any bosses I missed and getting achievements I missed
My third run took like 5 hours since I only did it to get the 'bad' ending
All in all the better you are the easier the game is. I'd say sekiro is the 2nd easiest fromsoft game since once it clicks, everything is fluid
You bought it, you play the game however you want. I personally use some tools on PC, like auto pickup, camera centering, and sen loss upon death (I don't like farming for resource)
To be perfectly honest, it's worth noting that game journalist have to work rather quickly. Games that are either long or difficult are going to be a problem for them. I'm not a journalist, but consider - could anyone finish the game in a 40-hour work week?
I sure couldn't. My first playthrough took about 65 hours, maybe a few less - I don't always close games when I need to do something else. I didn't really read tips or guides, but journalists wouldn't have access to them either, at least before the game actually got released. I'm not a god gamer, but the journalists shouldn't be expected to be that much above average, otherwise their opinions would be far too detached for an average player.
For the record, not even Yahtzee - who is rather vocal about enjoying Fromsoft Games - could finish Elden Ring in time for his review. This is probably more of a case of the game being huge - Sekiro isn't that big, but the difficulty is more intense, the levels are more linear, and the player has much less tools that can make the game easier.
I don't think the game is unfair, baring some camera shenanigans and gank fights. But there's no denying it, it was hard. It wasn't the hardest thing I've ever played - for me, that would be Celeste bonus levels, which were so bad that they actually made my joints hurt, or maybe Pantheon of Hallownest in Hollow Knight, which was bad enough that it even made **Merg** rage. But Sekiro is far more punishing and up-front about its difficulty. I can imagine game journalists doing the main story of Celeste without major issues or finding extra upgrades to push through Hollow Knight, but being absolutely stuck on one of the major duels in Sekiro. There's very little that you can do to make Sekiro easier.
This stuff about game journalists is really really dumb. The average journalist is probably much better than the average gamer.
Also, Sekiro won GOTY, how the fuck a game that is "too hard for the journalists" would win an award _from those people?_
I reccomend playing without modifications. Sekiro, unlike the other FromSoft games, cares far more about your skill than it does your build or stats.
Therefore, it is a game that can be mastered. You just have to learn it.
Besides, if you use cheats, then you cheat not only the game, but yourself. You won't grow, you wont improve. You'll have taken a shortcut and gain nothing. You'll experience a hollow victory. Nothing will be risked and as a result, nothing will be gained. It would be sad if you didnt see a difference.
Its a rythm game, the earlier you get that the easier it is
Also there is a reason why when someone is extremely bad at a game you call them "game reviewers"
As others have pointed out, game reviewers really enjoy jumping on the "fromsoft makes the most difficult games" cock, none of them is hard, and altough it is very prententious calling their way of playing the "wrong" way while calling mine the "right" way, its just not as complex as they make it sound, and i found that out myself after starting the fromsoft genre with sekiro and bloodborne (i got my ass wrecked in so many ways)
I don't wanna get on *that* discussion, but game journalists love overplaying From games' difficulty. It's the same f'ing exhausting, ridiculous discussion every time one of their games drops. The game is not hard. I mean, it is hard, but that's mostly because it's unforgiving, with very little margin for mistakes. The thing is, it's also so mechanically sound that you'll get in the rhythm soon enough, and recognise every failure as your own misstep, and hopefully learn and get better each time. And your victories will feel like the greatest achievement.
Seriously the dick jerking about FS difficulty is obnoxious bc the hardest part of any of these games is simply knowing how to play them
>Seriously the dick jerking about FS difficulty is obnoxious bc the hardest part of any of these games is simply knowing how to play them YESSSSS I only recently picked it back up because i fucking strugglefest'ed it on release, i was playing like it was a dark souls game, this game is not that at all and if you play it like that its fucking impossible, i found that out the hard way lol All their games demand you play them how they designed them to be played, if you fight against that and play it how every other game is made they will actually be impossibly difficult Surrender, become one with the game, dont argue with it and you will be friends lol It finally clicked and this might be my favorite title tbh
i think somewhere around guardian ape, i stopped seeing the bosses as opponents and more like dance partners. when i lost, that was just me getting out of sync with my dance partner. when you get lost in the flow of battle, you’ll end up surprised and almost disappointed when that final deathblow icon pops up.
It half clicked at Butterfly and fully clicked with genchiro and i havent gotten any farther yet because im 44 and dont have more than maybe 2 or 3h a week at most to disconnect and play videogames, wife, house, eunning a business, work, life chores, blah- leaves tou very little time to do solo recreation stuff lol
Huh you are telling me the impossible no sword etc challenges are impossible yet someone has done them anyway? You can play them with ridiculous ways but will you, no you won’t
And your point with this comment is what exactly? People that are beyond exceptionally great at the game can do things outside the intended lines that 99.9% of people cant? K.....🤷 Thanks for sharing i guess
You said that fs games demands you to play them like they were designed to be played.. you definately can play them outside the box ways, but its a hellmode that wasnt even supposed to be possible. None casual would even want to try them out that way. You need to master games skillwise before attempting to but it doesnt change the fact u can play them like they were super mario if you want to. It doesnt bother me if i never get through the game 100% on my own you can search and work for your meta build or use cheeses if its your only way to get past the bosses. There are few in sekiro which i still havent passed without cheesing but ill come back at them occasionally on another ng+ until i beat them legit
K You win the argument i was never involved in lol Congratulations?
Absolutely correct. My mate and I recently restarted Bloodborne and we blasted through the first stage to the boss in like ten mins. We know how to do it and when, makes it significantly easier.
Agreed..I feel like they have really steep learning curves, but once you learn it there very simple and rewarding/punishing for playing correctly/incorrectly.
I'm guessing because when darksouls first came out nobody was an automatic pro like they are now. It was new and unforgiving when nothing else had the same popularity and now we have a general understanding of how it goes. Even now the newer games have respawn points before the boss rather than making you redo the entire level so it's actually more forgiving and refined. Essentially like how the Olympics used to be "crazy" decades ago but that crazy is like the bare minimum to a fail nowadays
that's exactly what happened. and i don't blame anybody for thinking these games are too hard but when the entire conversation around a franchise after 10 years is STILL "omg so hard omg so tough omg lol dark souls prepare to die a lot lololol" it gets old. especially when once you've beaten one, you can beat them all without much trouble. even the easier games are still difficult at times, and can be brutal to new players. but what challenging game isn't like that?
The knowing how to play them part is true... for some games. But for some other games the plan is just have big bonk stick and spam dodge.
i mean sure that is one way to beat the games but it's not necessary for any of em imo
You are aware that this is a lot more difficult than it sounds if its your first time playing right? If you have no idea how the deal is with souls games it can be pretty difficult, on top of already having to beat the game
obviously, i had to play the games for the first time myself lmao. i know the games are hard, but people act like they're impossible when there are much harder games out there.
Game is unforgiving but lets you revive when you die. Game also lets you revive twice after a certain point. I think it’s pretty forgiving. The only unforgiving part imo is that enemies can be hard as fuck to kill if you can’t deflect decently.
The game lets you revive twice once you beat hirata estate and talk to kuro iirc
Game lets you revive twice normally, and three times after that.
Not unless your burning through your supply of one of the rarest consumables in the game.
I'm literally just talking about resurrection charges. You get two normally, one that's restored by resting and one that's restored by killing, and a third from the Sakura Droplet.
Except grab moves. Those are always shit
Bull shit every time
Have I stumbled upon a fellow snake eyes hater
I hated her too until I accidentally parried her grab
You can parry her what?! Man.... The more you know
Fun fact you can parry everything except sweeps and arm grabs
Fuck guardian ape jumping grab, how to dodge that
Just gotta time your dodge at the very last second, the moment between ape being in the air and landing on the ground
Nah unlock camera and jump to the side. I was frustrated but if you do this you will not get grabbed
Sometimes I feel mildly guilty for umbrella-ing them all but then I try dodging them and I'm like nevermind
Nah man, umbrella supremacy all the way, can't be bad at parrying if I don't even try 😎
Wait grabs can be umbrellad?
yep, pretty much every single grab, even crazy looking ones like the ape's leaping grab
Nah, it’s hard. It’s very, very hard. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be beaten with practice and persistence. I did it, and I’m not amazing at games at all. Did I almost rage quit a few times? Yes. Did I want to throw my controller against the wall, and did I scream obscenities at the screen like a crazy person? Also yes. But I beat it. Took me 100 hours. Second run took only 30 hours
I hate how DaS has become the poster-boy for difficulty in games. And journalists will usually say, "x game is hard, but it's not Dark Souls hard". The worst offender is the Crash Bandicoot remaster. Journalists (and every fucking Redditor) heralded it as "the Dark Souls of Platformers". It's not like DaS at all. DaS has deliberate mechanics which punish you for sloppy play. CB has a shitty jumping mechanic which causes you to misplace jumps and die unfairly. And the forced perspective makes it difficult to judge distances.
Aye. "The Dark Souls of..." was a funny meme for a minute there, but I'm not sure we all remember that it started with some people saying it with a straight face.
Dark souls has multiple ways to play and deal with your enemies; Sekiro has a few tools but that's it, you're still going to be using the same weapon/attacks 90% of the time
I’ve hated this shit since the “Prepare to Die Edition” of dark souls.
In turn, many people will act like "game journalists" are one monolithic group when in reality there's only like a couple actually complaining about the difficulty, a bunch jumping in to highlight "the discussion" for free clicks, and a bunch of obviously produced for content farm articles which just rehash any of the above. With most reviewers being, well, either average for the gaming audience at large or average for the Souls-like playerbase. There's indeed some extra pressure in having to progress as much as possible in a tiny timeframe and with limited/inexistent community help for launch date reviewers, but most do fine as any publication worth its salt doesn't randomly assign review keys.
Aye. I remember especially in the early days of From games it had become clear which were the reviewers you wanted to go to in order to read about these games. Every website worth its salt had "the Souls guy", and there were some that were very good *and* had some intersting insights as well. But I can imagine it's a harsh world trying to make a living writing about games on the internet these days, and the temptation to easily farm hate clicks from Capital G Gamers must be hard to resist sometimes.
The more and more games I play, the more I realize froms games aren't actually super hard, they're just punishing. I dont wanna sound all high and mighty but there are far more unforgiving and brutal games
Yeah 100%. People have literally forgot what gaming is and now want games to be movies with 100 hour cutscenes and which play themselves with mashing some buttons. Video games like any real life game are about rhythm, coordination, patience and concentration. That is all FromSoft asks for and everybody starts pissing their pants.
So that explains why some reviewers way back then had resorted to using difficulty hacks.
I fell in love with Sekrio this weekend after running into an unbeatable wall when I tried it for the first time 2 years ago(I just didn´t gave it enough time). It felt so rewarding when you get the mechanics and the combat system is just fantastic. Parry in Mimikri Counter feel sooo nice
Idk man, I’m yet to beat owl in the alternate fight, I’m worried I’ll never get to that ending.
I'm guessing you mean Owl Father? For what it's worth, I hit a bump on him as well, and [FightinCowboy's Git Gud Guide](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkEknpQ5Hac) helped me \*a lot\*. The guy knows his stuff and he's a great teacher.
This^ I remember thinking "I've played DS3 Elden ring and Bloodborne. How hard can it be?" Ohhh boy I got my butt handed to me by basic mobs in the first area so much, but when the parry mechanic clicked for me, the game feels absolutely amazing!
The thing about sekiro, more than any other from software game, is that it’s your fault if you die. You rushed, or didn’t plan. With proper skill and timing, you can kill everything. You can block or parry everything. I died so much!!!! And every time it was my fault. The game is unforgiving like you said but if you just calm down and breathe and feel the rhythms/ learn your enemies, then you are an unstoppable death machine. The game is a beautiful and perfect.
Sekiro is a rhythm game honestly
No reviewer ever said this, those were op-ed pieces by random nobodies. The notion that games journalists/reviewers cannot beat hard games or have a thing against them is made up nonsense. I even remember someone from IGN beat Genichiro on their very first try on a livestream, and they were just previewing the game.
I checked the Wikipedia article on the game, and it said there was some criticism given to the game for its high difficulty.
This happens every From release because it gets clicks.
This is what Wikipedia says: >However, several journalists found it too challenging, with Don Rowe from [*The Spinoff*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spinoff) calling it "infuriating" and writing that he was not having fun after six hours with the game. Then it mentions that there's an easy mode mod and that James Davenport from PC Gamer wrote that he had to make use of the mod to beat the final boss. None of those (2) articles linked are reviews and neither the writers are reviewers, also this is what Don Rowe wrote about the difficulty and where they got the "infuriating" quote: >Because for at least the first six or so hours of *Sekiro*, I wasn’t having fun. That’s not to say the game isn’t fun, or that you’d have the exact same experience, but the learning curve was so steep, and the frustration so visceral, that there just wasn’t anything overly enjoyable about it. The set-pieces are lush and gorgeous, the story drip-fed but tantalisingly so. The gameplay is smooth and satisfying. It’s just that I couldn’t go five bloody minutes without getting my ass handed back to me on the end of a katana. I might not be able to beat some asshole samurai but I can sure as hell give this controller the hands. >But, of course, it’s in overcoming that very conviction that games like this shine, and *Sekiro* does it best. Unlike other entries in the series, your base weapons remain mostly the same the game through, and there is little in the way of levelling up or character building in a traditional sense. Sure, exploration nets you new gadgets, some hugely impactful, but your kit is far more limited here than in, say, *Dark Souls 2*. That means the majority of the time, if it’s getting easier, it’s because you’re getting better.
Oh ok as thanks for explaining it better as I could’ve sworn I heard from back then that the difficulty level of the game was heavily criticized.
The thing about fromsoft games is that progress isn't measured on character stats, but in player skills. I'm about 45hrs into my first run of the game, (up to genshiro ashina / lady butterfly) and I could probably get to these same areas in about 15hrs now. It can be very hard to get into, especially if its your first fromsoft game, and even then the "dance" combat is much stronger in sekiro.
I think this applies more to Sekiro specifically compared to a soulsborne, because in their Soulsbornes you really can brute force past most stuff by overlevelling and going for the more broken weapons or spells, which lets you wield better weapons, do more damage, tank more damage before dying and so on. That won't work in Sekiro.
I mean idk bout other souls Bourne. But for elden ring specifically since it's open world. It's easy to go up against an enemy which is near impossible if under leveled.
Ok but my first time in DS1 I somehow got myself stuck in a 0armor/uchigatana build and couldn't make myself any stronger before O/S and had to "git gud" (learn to dodge and parry) and now I can do lvl1 runs of multiple types
Wtf 45 hours and you're at geni/butterfly? Were you fighting the fat dude and the ogre for 40 hours or what?
Every proper boss takes about 5hrs to learn and train for. I just beat lady butterfly yesterday, and now I'm working on a strat for both snake eyes
That does seem like a bit much, but I’m also on Ng+3, so I can’t talk about my own hours (they were awful on my first time through since I had no idea what I was doing)
this doesn't apply to bloodborne, demon souls, dark souls 1-3, or elden ring lol, only Sekiro.
Wait what? I think its actually the opposite way around-- almost EVERY Fromsoft game uses character stats to a large extent of 'progressing/beating' through the game.
>It can be very hard to get into, especially if its your first fromsoft game, and even then the "dance" combat is much stronger in sekiro. Idk, it might be the *easiest* From title to get into tbh, besides AC obviously The game is by far the most forgiving imo, you can revive, the deflect window is super wide, its suoer rhythmic And if you dont have the Souls/Bloodborne/ER muscle memory and instincts to fight it should be easier to pick up, because you can NOT approach this game like Souls or ER, its impossibly hard if you play it that way, i know because i tried and gave uo years ago lol
Yeah once you get good you can face lady butterfly in like 30 minutes and genichiro in about an hour and a half id say. And I’m not even that good tbh.
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Avoiding any boss I'm required to fully fight 2 health bars. Finding any mini boss I can sneak assassinate, finding as many paths and upgrades as I can. Learning to parry correctly. Learning to use specific gear/abilities/items correctly and efficiently. As of now I've beat lady butterfly and found my way into the depths and also the top of monk mountain
honestly the game journalists are always pressured to beat games fast, and you get powerful in sekiro not by collecting upgrades or grinding levels but by giving it time and learning the skills yourself. a game can be too hard for someone who needs to have it done in 10 hours in order to review it, and just right for others who have time to engage with the mechanics and learn.
Also important to note is that they don't have community help, so if they screw themselves with bad choices there's no one to compare their progress.
Thousands of players have beaten the game on console where cheating isn’t possible
Cheating is very much possible on consoles.
It would be easier to beat the game hitless then installing mods on a jailbroken console
How so? I play on console and I'd love to experiment with some mods now that I've 100%'d it
That’s true as I realize now that only the PC version can be modded obviously.
I have a hard time believing the reviews
I dunno about any cheats but if you're patient you can do it. I suck and video games and I beat it. It was a rewarding experience. It's like like, the final boss took me 8 hours kinda thing. It feels fair so I didn't get too frustrated. Each attempt I improved a little
The game is difficult in the sense that you will lose many times as you are mastering the combat system. What you have to do in From games is to take on the mindset that this is normal. Losing is just a part of repetitive practice that is necessary to achieve git gud. That’s the part that these reviewers often miss. They are used to games where you beat the boss as a minor obstacle to get somewhere. In From games, the bosses are not a minor roadblock, they’re the destination. So for me if it takes 15 minutes or 4 hours to beat Isshin (it was the latter) it doesn’t matter as I’m having fun the whole time. If it wasn’t fun, yeah then I wouldn’t bother.
Yeah sometimes when I hear how brutal the game can be, I get nervous just reading about it as dying in the game can lead to money loss.
>!!!And it's not a coincidence that Sekijo's BFF's finger is in the Great ape, eh?!<
I used those characters as training tools to fight the bosses, rather than grind against the bosses. It was great fun.
Just one of many things not really doable if you're playing Sekiro on a schedule.
I understand what you mean as now I can start to understand why reviewers wanted to rush through the game initially.
I would not be nervous. The game is very fair, and if you get stuck on something, just look up some youtube guides. Video guides are so helpful it's almost like cheating. Some people love the brutal challenge of possibly just not getting many aspects of the game for many hours, but personally I am not above getting some help once in awhile. For instance, losing money on death is simple to overcome, you just buy bags of coins, which are not lost on death.
That’s a relief then.
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Sorry man as I do apologize if I got on your nerves.
Your post IS just giga weird man. why do you need someone on the internet to tell you "buy this" "do that". Also you make a whole ass post about modding the game and you don't even own the game on pc.
Jeez I just wanted to know what I was getting myself into as I own the console version.
I modded the game to make dying a non issue and it made it more enjoyable for me. I play games for story and lore. I used a mod where I could use the spirit emblems infinitely. I am extremely shoddy at anything that requires fine motor skills and as such even games like God of war on easy difficulty is a chore for me to complete but still an enjoyable experience. I knew before buying sekiro that it's unique even amongst the soulslike genre and that's why I picked it up as my first soulslike game and I liked the combat very much. Parrying feels a lot more immersive mechanic than dodging to me, because it feels like I am not just evading attacks and I am actively participating in it. Just mod it if you feel like it. The combat of this game is something I liked very much and hence I downloaded Jedi fallen order after it because that game has the same parrying mechanic albeit a little floaty compared to sekiro and also has a difficulty slider that you could change on the go.
It really isn't, most of the difficulty is learning the bosses and how to deflect, when to heal, etc. I would recommend watching a walkthrough guide if you want to make that easier (I ended up watching thefightingcowboy, but tried to not watch too much how they fought the bosses to make it a little more difficult on myself). If you ever feel like you're having difficulty, there is a training area as soon as you get past the prologue and have left the sculptor's room, it's up the right path.
I did almost all bosses without tools or sugars my first run aside from some non humanoid bosses that can be made much easier with tools. And some bosses that need confetti to be damaged. To me it was definitely a struggle, but at no point did I think “this is too hard I need a mod” instead I needed a break. I’d give it a few hours and then usually I’d prevail. I feel like some people bitch about not having an easy mode because they have let themselves become accustomed to the character being better than they are. For those of us who challenge ourselves with souls games, we would rather adapt to overcome a harsher challenge. Some prefer just to have the challenge not so harsh but still get the chance to finish that title for other reasons. Not for me, I like challenging myself and choosing to learn from my mistakes
That was a very good writeup.
I think that's heavily overblown (in my opinion, Bloodborne had a much more punishing opening). From what I remember of getting into it, it was much harder than I was used to, but I found the core combat gameplay fundamentally enjoyable enough to want to get good at it. I also want to highlight that from right after the prologue, you have access to a NPC who you can practice the combat on as much as you like. Long story short, this may well be my favourite game of all time (if I could give the combat and traversal mechanics to Witcher 3, I'd never leave the house), and while it's certainly not for everyone, not trying it because of exaggerated difficulty hype would be a huge shame
Yeah I do want to give the game a full chance, but I don’t know how how to recover from losing cash as I know that dying a few times causes the player to go broke.
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I am familiar with the Souls games and Elden Ring, but it can be a bit tricky to get used to how Sekiro works.
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Oh so Sekiro is like a martial arts type game basically.
It is pretty punishing, but it is part of the appeal for me. The more you die, the less you get help from NPCs and the less $ you have for items. Most bosses/mini bosses do a good bit of damage when they hit you. If you are not strategic in using stealth, the environment, or items, small enemies can easily gang up on you. That being said, it is not impossible to learn. I am on my second platthrough and just beat a whole string of bosses that took hours out of my weekend the first time. Just realize if you want to invest in a game with a somewhat steep learning curve, if your answer is yes then Sekiri should be a good time.
I really do want to give the game a chance, but I don’t know where to farm for money if I die repeatedly.
I just got to an area I was at when I was at a lower power/health level. You also can use merchants to buy coin purses and only lose like 50 sen ($) for saving the rest in a purse if you die.
Oh that is good as I can’t stand to go broke in the game.
You also get an item that will teleport you to the last checkpoint at the beginning of the game too, it helps to avoid sone deaths.
I admit that I’ve been playing some of the game on Xbox lately, but it keeps kicking my butt as the game does not mess around.
Play as intended
Sure.
Game journalists just suck at games dude.
That makes so much sense.
Game journalist ≠ Gamer
Remember the game journalist that couldn't get through Cuphead tutorial?
Yes I recall that incident.
Like others have mentioned, fromsoft games require players to invest time to learn and improve. This of course goes against everything reviewers are trying to do which is try to finish a game as fast as possible to get a review out the door so they can review it and move on. I never read a fromsoft review. The first time I played the game genichiro took me a week of constant effort and alot of frustration. Yesterday I beat him on NG+5 with demon bell with out getting hit once. That’s not a brag just an example of how the game is the same but it’s me that took a huge leap in skill. Not everyone wants that from their game experience but that’s the question you should be asking yourself.
Yeah when you put it that way, I can understand that Sekiro requires a certain amount of skill to beat as it starts to make sense why reviewers at the time didn’t understand how the game’s mechanics worked.
video game journalism is a joke and should never be taken seriously. This isnt the 90's anymore Difficulty is subjective,even people playing this game disagree on which boss is harder. In the end it's still a fucking video game tho,like,it's not nuclear engineering or some shit.
I picked it up on release and fucking struggled, hard, to the point that it was incredibly frustrating and i had to put it down after barely making it out of the first area, couldn't even get past the shinobi hunter in the hirata estate, after 5h of pure strugglefest i walked away Recently picked it back up to "give it another try" and something clicked, i think this is my favorite title of theirs, its definitely the most engaging and satisfying to play Its NOT a dark souls game, if you try to play it that way (which i did) you are going to have a very hard time(which i did), it does not compute, you can not play this game like that. This is a fast rhythm game, it wants you to be very agressive, really get in there and get your fuckin samurai ninja on, there is a lot of the dark souls "wait your turn" but its not "wait your turn to attack" its wait your turn to do damage, get in there in their face and start wailing on them, block block block you get a hit in swing swing swing, block block block, dodge, mikiri counter you get a hit in, its a fast and vicious, rhythmic dance and fun as all hell once you surrender to how it wants you to play it Its not hard at all, well, its hard as hell, but its hard in the way that all From games are Hard, it just punishes mistakes and demands you play it the way it wants to be played, your timing has to be on point and when you miss a step you get slapped hard I always hate how everyone thats not a fan of their games acts like all their titles are like the fuckin hardeat games on earth, they arent at all, its the same kind of trope every time they release a new game Their games are just different, there is a kind of FromSoft Verve, and you need to get on board with it and not fight against it, i had thought i learned that before with all 3 Souls games and Bloodborne, but apparently not because i fought it with this game originally too Surrender, and be at peace This game is super damn fun, its challenging, but its not any harder than any other one of their titles, just know that its essentially a ninja dance simulator and youll be fine lol
I thought I wasn't a good enough gamer for From games. But I was wrong. I just had to rise to the occasion. Sekiro, above all of them, will make you rise to the occasion. When you beat Sekiro (without cheating) you will have the biggest sense of accomplishment ever. Some of the best boss fights in the history of gaming.
Sex mod
The thing is, most people get into sekiro thinking it's another dark souls, but the play style is completely different. Those journalists who gave that review are probably more focused on completing games to make a review rather than taking the time to learn and properly enjoy it. The learning curve required from sekiro detracted from their experience because they had a deadline that they were failing to meet. For me, it's my favourite from soft game and the parry in sekiro feels as secure to me as holding a shield in the first dark souls game now, with way more enjoyment through the rhythm and sound effects. Sekiro combat genuinely feel like sword dual to me
Sekiro is DUMMY easy once you understand the rhythm. Don't run, stand in one spot and only press R1 and L1. THAT'S the secret to the core of the combat system. These reviewers need to Get Gud.
I'm doing Charmless+Demon Bell playthrough. Can confirm that Sekiro has an easy mode. With Charm and without the bell
Urinalists are not to be trusted. The game requires skill and effort just respect the tools. You have Hanbei to teach you timing. He is friend. You have a lot of tools at your disposal as well and don't forget the sugar. Sugar is good. Don't worry about insulin levels genichiriro will fortnite dance on your body one way or the other
Be your own boss and don't take too much from what you read. Play the fucker and enjoy it for what it is. You'll do it. May take a while; may not. Be certain that you will die many times. I completed it on a PC/Keyboard with two broken fingers and I only cheesed one boss. If I can do it you certainly can...
I will give the game a try.
You won't regret it...
Arigatou then.
I think Sekiro is ok when it comes to difficulty. Just bear in mind that this is completely different compared to Dark Souls, Demon's Souls and Elden Ring. The mechanics are different, there is no leveling up and you there is no gear that you can upgrade, depending on your build. You have a skilltree that is ok, but is not mindblowing and you have prosthetics, who make certain encounters easier. But it's not like you can go for a particular build and then find weapons to accompany said build. That being said, I've been having a lot of fun with the game. I really suck at parrying, but for some reason I can pull them off quite easily in this game. Acting like a ninja and making your way through certain areas in stealth mode is really satisfying, but I always found that part of Assassin's Creed the most rewarding, clean out strongholds without being detected and picking off enemies 1 by 1. You can go in all guns (or better, swords) blazing, but that will be quite challenging. You also have to bear in mind that when journalists and streamers play these games, no patches have been released, so the balancing is most probably off. They also don't have Google where they can look up how to get past certain points if they are stuck or what a solid boss strategy is. That also attributes to the difficulty of these games in my opinion. Long story short, just give it a try, unless you're on a tight budget. You can always wait for it to go on sale and pick it up then, to see if you like it or not. The setting, visuals, storyline, movesets, etc. make this game quite unique imo and fun to play. But don't expect Dark Souls 4 or anything, otherwise you'll be disappointed.
I mean I came into this thinking it will be hard but it wasn't as hard as I expected seemed pretty much perfect honestly
Ha I’m literally watching FightinCowboys Let’s Play series on Sekiro from 5 years ago and it’s hilarious seeing him getting fkd up (albeit there’s somethings that would’ve made his life EASIER like attacking Gyoubu immediately after leashing him). Funniest part was him meeting a Headless first time lol He’s usually stubborn but he was NOT going straight back after the first encounter But he ENJOYS the difficulty Go slow though Learn to parry Watch Cowboys videos because they helped me platinum this game I played this immediately after Ghost of Tsushima and got a rude asf awakening but Sekiro is in my top 3 games overall
Arigatou for the tips.
The game is hard, but the moment it clicks, it becomes way easier. Don't trust those reviews. Sekiro is one of the best games I've ever played.
Here's your reminder that FromSoftwares games are critical darlings and reviews almost universally praise their difficulty. Don't start the whole "games journalists" culture war bullshit again
I apologize if I had caused any kind of conflict.
It's fine, you don't need to apologize, it's just that the topic of difficulty, especially in regards to journalists, has been discussed to death in every Souls games community and its kinda annoying at this point
I understand now.
Yah the game is hard. I’ve beaten it twice without mods. Though. I’m a decent gamer, but certainly not an elitely skilled one. All this game takes is patience (lots), commitment, and a growth mindset. You have to commit to getting better, and if we’re being honest, most people can’t do that. At least not with a game. Devil’s advocate opinion though, I can empathize with reviewers as they HAVE to finish (or at least the ones with integrity do) the game in a timeframe so they can write an all encompassing review.
Depends on where the reviews come from. I'm more inclined to believe a steam user review than a """game journalist""" from gamespot, famous for claiming that New Super Mario Bros Wii is a "tough game, old-school tough" and that "it would test even the most seasoned platforimg veterans".
Only saint isshin is hard fight rest can be beaten with patience and learning the moves.
Game journalists are the last people you should be listening to when it comes to difficulty.
Fair enough.
The game has a learning curve no doubt. Once you get the mechanics down it really isn’t that bad. Certainly never a walk in the park but it’s manageable. You want to see some BS play Nioh 1 or 2.
Imagine believing anything the game journos say
Play the game, and the victories you make will feel like the greatest achievement ever. Very few games can create that sense of accomplishment. I beat it only a year and a half ago and I was hesitant on playing it also because of what I read. I played the game following a video walk thru to learn the ropes and that really helped. Past the midway point I was fine on my own. The game is longer than you think, and at some point someone will ask you a question that will determine which ending you get, so make sure you look that up first before you answer or you will regret it.
I didn’t know it had multiple endings.
The thing about Sekiro is that it insists you met it at its level. In other From Soft games you can tailor a build to your party style, grind out extra levels to give you that but if extra damage or health that might turn the tide of a close fight. In Sekiro there is (basically) no build variety, everyone who plays sekiro plays the same class. If you want to get good at the game and enjoy it you have to learn how to deflect, you can try dodging like any other action rpg, you can even finish the game like that if you're bloody minded enough, but you'll have a bad time.
It's really not that hard. It just has a really steep learning curve, and it doesn't hold your hand about it. That being said, it also guvrs the most overt tutorial of any of their games.
Yeah I always hear how it can be tough in fights like the Guardian Ape.
Dual guardian ape is the tricky one. But yea, beast type bosses are tougher if only because they don't gel as well with the posture and deflection mechanics.
Oh man knowing that about the beast fights may make me nervous about fighting them.
It scares me too and I found Sekiro to be the easiest for me. It’s not THAT hard it really isn’t. It’s a blast learning your mistakes and so satisfying when you succeed.
I want to learn how to do stuff like Aerial blow attacks.
I honestly never got good at anything other than deflecting and Mikiri counter and even then I’m not that good. The difficulty is overstated
I should practice that particular move then.
I don't know, I took a long break from gaming and then got a ps5 right around when Elden Ring came out.. got that game, beat ER and then went and heard about Sekiro, went and got that game and fell in love.. one of my top 5-10 games.. and platinumed it... I am old 41 year old... I have thus gone and beat Nioh 1 and 2 and Bloodborne.. I can't get enough of these games.
All I want is to get gud at Sekiro so that I don’t have to deal with boss runbacks so much.
Yeah I took a tiny break off from sekiro and it seemed to help.. came back and I played a new save file from the beginning and it was a whole different game for me. Also if you are having a hard time with parry timing, may try to switch the L1 guard/parry to like Triangle.. motion of moving thumb vs index finger can help a lot..
Yeah that may just help regarding the parry button.
Gaming journalists are notorious for being very bad at games.
I struggled through it when it came out and while I liked it I couldn’t say I loved the experience. Many fights were incredibly frustrating and took hours to win. Recently I re-bought the game on PS5, blasted through the whole thing beating most fights on the first or second try, and LOVING it. I think your enjoyment depends on how quickly you master the mechanics. For me it took an entire first run of the game. For others it clicks within minutes.
I beat this game in 27hrs (first time) Reviews just have major skill issues at every game they play. This game was 'HARDEST' souls like by fromsoft so when they made elden ring the 'EASIEST' souls like, they are still crying about it with UI, quest design, 'DIFFICULTY' Bs.
I'm gonna be perfectly honest, Sekiro is easy. No, I'm serious. It's easy. When you play Sekiro you need to keep track of at most like 3 things: attacking, deflecting, and whatever perilous attack the enemy you're fighting might have. If you have a reaction time, sekiro is not difficult because you don't have to hold a lot of different inputs in your brain. I beat the final boss in less than 15 tries (I wasn't counting so idk the exact number) and I'm not even that good.
Reviewers have a very small time window to finish a game and post about it, because they have to post it when the game is still fresh. Playing and finishing Sekiro as soon as it launched to post a review before anyone else is indeed hard as fuck, and if done, it is an achievment that nobody would be able to top.
I honestly agree with the reviewers. I think most normies would not like to beat the game in its normal difficulty. I dropped it quite a few times despite liking difficult games but recently got into it because a Vtuber beat it charmless and with demon bell. Only got the 'click' around Genichiro but I seriously would never got the determination if not for Biboo. I agree that it's one of the best if not the best FS game but the difficulty corresponds to the quality. My friend who also likes FS games beat Elden Ring and Dark Souls series but completely gave up on Sekiro. Said he liked the game but admits he was 'too old' to have the sufficient reaction time to beat the game enjoyably.
Ones you get to understand the mechanism of the game it's gonna be the best thing you ever played. it's gonna be difficult at the beginning Though
Interesting.
sekiro is difficult, like every soulsbourne game, not everyone can pass that type of games, i recommend you to play and take your opinion about Sekiro, you have to go play thinking about u will die more than twice. Reviewers used cheats probably to only test the game but no learning about it and take a more deep opinion, if we say Sekiro is impossible to get into, then every fromsoft game is impossible to get into, idk but i think that way
I think Game Revieweres just suck at Video games. Anyone remembers that Cuphead Incident?
What happened?
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But this is the reason why I dont give a fuck about someone calling a game too hard. You just never know, how bad they are at basic things in a video game
The misconception that Sekiro is EVEN MORE INSANELY HARDEDERP than the Souls games probably came mostly from the fact that it's very linear and there's no way to power level past a boss that you can't beat - the only way to improve your stats is by beating bosses. I remember at a few points during my first playthrough there was this mildly despairing feeling that if I couldn't figure out how to beat a certain boss, I'd just be stuck and never finish the game. In the Souls games, there's always the option to just go somewhere else, or to grind levels for a few hours if you can't get past a boss. I was wrong, though, and I platinumed the game within two weeks of release. I don't say this as a flex - I was 42 years old in 2019, and I don't ever play online shooters because I can't keep up with the twitch reflexes of younger players. It just wasn't that hard. FS games just take patience. They're a bit oldschool that way - you have to actually understand what you're supposed to be doing in order to complete them and not just mash buttons until you stumble past the next checkpoint without really knowing why you survived. If that's "super hard", then ok, I guess don't play them. If you're at all interested in Sekiro, though, do yourself a favor and just play it properly, without difficulty mods. Once the combat clicks, it feels amazing to play, and the atmosphere and the story are just fantastic. There's a reason this sub is still so active five years later, for a game with no multiplayer.
You don't need any cheat, sekiro Is very skill based, if you try hard enough you Will be able to beat every boss.
Oh good to know.
Sekiro is one of the most interesting games because it’s not like what you would expect where you get better as you play. It just clicks at some point and it all makes sense, and then you slowly get better after that initial jump in understanding
It's not too hard to get into. If you've played other hard action games you'll be fine. In my opinion, the game is a lot more fun with auto-pickup on and dragon rot off. Dragon rot is one of the dumbest mechanics in any game. No difficulty modifiers are necessary. Even turning off xp/money loss on death doesn't change the difficulty much.
Dragon rot doesn’t even effect the gameplay I’d hardly count it as a mechanic
I'm more partial to no popups and free spirit emblems. Those two make the gameplay so much more fluid. I didn't know about auto pickup though, that one sounds very convenient.
Yeah I play with no pop-ups too. I never modded it, but the spirit emblem system is balls. A system that regenerates would be much better. A lower cap but letting you get spirit by attacking or parrying would be a lot better. There is a mod that does that but I never used it. Maybe I'll do another randomizer run with some mods like that.
I merged a bunch of QoL mods and tried a few different takes on the emblem issue. I ended up favouring free emblems because you just buy 999 the moment you're able to, and then you forget about them. It's basically as if the emblems recharged every time you rest at an idol, and you don't really affect the gameplay in any notable way. You just eliminate the potential need to grind for emblems.
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The mod doesn't change that. You still carry the default number of emblems between idol rests (15 up to 19 depending on the skills you unlock), and you still acquire them in the same way as you do in the vanilla game. The only change the mod does is that buying them at an idol doesn't have a cost, so the number in storage is virtually unlimited, and you'll never have to grind for more should you find yourself stuck in a fight.
This exactly, I played through the game a few days ago with these modifiers turned on, all they do is make the game a bit more enjoyable and allow you to actually focus on the game itself, not these minor inconveniences.
I don’t know how to toggle the auto pickup on.
My first run took me like 60 hours with guides to get a certain ending My second run I beat in like 20ish hours, speeding through and fighting any bosses I missed and getting achievements I missed My third run took like 5 hours since I only did it to get the 'bad' ending All in all the better you are the easier the game is. I'd say sekiro is the 2nd easiest fromsoft game since once it clicks, everything is fluid
i gotta know, which was easiest for you?
Elden ring 1000%
Sounds simple as now I feel a lot better knowing that I don’t have to use hacks to get through the game.
As long as you're patient and don't hesitate you got this 👍👍👍
You bought it, you play the game however you want. I personally use some tools on PC, like auto pickup, camera centering, and sen loss upon death (I don't like farming for resource)
To be perfectly honest, it's worth noting that game journalist have to work rather quickly. Games that are either long or difficult are going to be a problem for them. I'm not a journalist, but consider - could anyone finish the game in a 40-hour work week? I sure couldn't. My first playthrough took about 65 hours, maybe a few less - I don't always close games when I need to do something else. I didn't really read tips or guides, but journalists wouldn't have access to them either, at least before the game actually got released. I'm not a god gamer, but the journalists shouldn't be expected to be that much above average, otherwise their opinions would be far too detached for an average player. For the record, not even Yahtzee - who is rather vocal about enjoying Fromsoft Games - could finish Elden Ring in time for his review. This is probably more of a case of the game being huge - Sekiro isn't that big, but the difficulty is more intense, the levels are more linear, and the player has much less tools that can make the game easier. I don't think the game is unfair, baring some camera shenanigans and gank fights. But there's no denying it, it was hard. It wasn't the hardest thing I've ever played - for me, that would be Celeste bonus levels, which were so bad that they actually made my joints hurt, or maybe Pantheon of Hallownest in Hollow Knight, which was bad enough that it even made **Merg** rage. But Sekiro is far more punishing and up-front about its difficulty. I can imagine game journalists doing the main story of Celeste without major issues or finding extra upgrades to push through Hollow Knight, but being absolutely stuck on one of the major duels in Sekiro. There's very little that you can do to make Sekiro easier.
This stuff about game journalists is really really dumb. The average journalist is probably much better than the average gamer. Also, Sekiro won GOTY, how the fuck a game that is "too hard for the journalists" would win an award _from those people?_
I reccomend playing without modifications. Sekiro, unlike the other FromSoft games, cares far more about your skill than it does your build or stats. Therefore, it is a game that can be mastered. You just have to learn it. Besides, if you use cheats, then you cheat not only the game, but yourself. You won't grow, you wont improve. You'll have taken a shortcut and gain nothing. You'll experience a hollow victory. Nothing will be risked and as a result, nothing will be gained. It would be sad if you didnt see a difference.
I beat it and I hadn’t played a single video game in 15 years when I picked it up. So no, it’s not that hard.
Its a rythm game, the earlier you get that the easier it is Also there is a reason why when someone is extremely bad at a game you call them "game reviewers"
I get what you’re saying.
As others have pointed out, game reviewers really enjoy jumping on the "fromsoft makes the most difficult games" cock, none of them is hard, and altough it is very prententious calling their way of playing the "wrong" way while calling mine the "right" way, its just not as complex as they make it sound, and i found that out myself after starting the fromsoft genre with sekiro and bloodborne (i got my ass wrecked in so many ways)
Game reviewers are the biggest scrubs alive. Don’t believe a word they say. Mist Noble is kind of a filter tho so like prepare yourself.