Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 25
  2. Negative: 0 out of 25
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  1. Apr 20, 2019
    70
    Jumping off Dark Souls, FromSoftware removed all the best components of its hit series in order to make Sekiro. It's a decent slasher if you like honing reflexes or breaking bricks with your forehead. More casual players will quickly get bored, though.
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  1. Mar 21, 2019
    I’m definitely having more fun with this than any From Software game up to this point. And I’m going to try to keep letting it win me over. Hopefully, I’ll return to this review a full convert...For now, however, I’m confident that people who like Soulsborne games are going to find a lot to love.
  2. Shadows Die Twice is a beautiful, masochistic misadventure. Some of its boss fights are so stupendous, I dare not speak about them. It is a test of mettle and nerve that proves From Software are still winning the arms race against us cheesey rats. A brutal master who snaps the shield and broadsword out of your hands, and looks you up-and-down for what you are capable of. No more blocking, chump. You’re going to learn ballet. [RPS Bestest Bests]
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3214 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Mar 23, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. Apparently Miyazaki didn't think he could refine the Dark Souls formula anymore, so he chose to deconstruct it instead. Sekiro is all about the removal of variety. Do you enjoy pure magic/ranged builds? They're gone. Do you prefer to be more agile or more tanky? You get to be agile, period. Do you like acquiring/customizing/upgrading weapons and armor? Too bad, they're gone. Do you like duels with other players or co-op with your friends? All multiplayer features are gone.

    So what do you get to do now? You get to parry (deflect) all the things! Yay! Wait, I could play like that in Souls games too. Well, now it's the ONLY way to play! Yaaaaay! You also get a jump button so you can jump over sweeping attacks. Except when none of those things work.

    You see, there are two bosses in the game, with different skins on them. The first one is the boss whose posture you can break. You beat this boss by standing absolutely still wherever you want, it doesn't matter where, and you play the s****y rhythm game where you press L1, A or B until he gets sick of it and falls over and lets you stab him in the face. The second boss is the one that breaks your posture if he sneezes in your general direction, regardless of what you are doing. You beat this boss by running around and waiting for him to finish his 20 second long mad flails of 1-shot attacks until you get an opening to go in and hit him once for 0.2% of his HP. Rinse and repeat. Honorable mention goes to a third category of boss, the one where the person who designed it was forgotten in a cubicle somewhere for the last 3 years and still thinks he is making a Souls game, so he sets the fight in a 2x2 room with a 6 foot tall ceiling where the objective is to get the camera unstuck from the corner where it's stuck after you gently touched the thumbstick, which made Sekiro dart across the room and slam into a wall, because he moves at 10 times the speed in this game.

    Also note: If one of those two bosses seems too hard for you, that's probably because you missed a prosthetic arm tool, sold by a midget dressed in grey rags, crouched behind a grey rock on the side of a grey mountain, who spawns only after you talk to a totally different guy in another place and timeline altogether about something completely irrelevant. This prosthetic arm tool is specifically designed to trivialize that one boss fight and is useless for anything else. Lovely.

    Have fun!
    Full Review »
  2. Mar 22, 2019
    10
    Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: Dark Souls the Anime is an excellent game with exceptional, finely tuned combat and great level design that lets itSekiro: Shadows Die Twice: Dark Souls the Anime is an excellent game with exceptional, finely tuned combat and great level design that lets it stand above the rest of From Software's already outstanding catalouge. 10/10 Full Review »
  3. Mar 23, 2019
    4
    Shame on me for riding the hype train and buying this day one. I knew this wasn't a Dark Souls game, but I still had hopes that it would haveShame on me for riding the hype train and buying this day one. I knew this wasn't a Dark Souls game, but I still had hopes that it would have that From Software game-play. It kind of does, but it doesn't. They got rid of stamina, neutered dodge rolling, and made parrying the name of the game. I personally find it super tedious and just... not fun. Furthermore, this is the only play-style available to you the whole game. I do not find this appealing and it felt like I was playing a generic action title.

    I also didn't enjoy the world that the game took place in... just kind of samey and boring. Stealth felt tacked on. I just felt bored by the whole ordeal and could not press on...

    I'm happy people are enjoying it, but unfortunately it's not for me. Bummer.
    Full Review »