Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

 PC
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3214 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,674 out of 3214
  2. Mixed: 202 out of 3214
  3. Negative: 338 out of 3214
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  1. emorcen
    Mar 26, 2019
    3
    Sekiro was very much the game I looked forward most to in 2019 but also my greatest disappointment so far. I'm almost 40 hours in and at the end stretch of the game. Every time I played, I hoped for it to click, thinking that it may be something wrong with me. The glowing critic reviews left and right didn't help either. To summarize what I think is wrong with the game, it's the overallSekiro was very much the game I looked forward most to in 2019 but also my greatest disappointment so far. I'm almost 40 hours in and at the end stretch of the game. Every time I played, I hoped for it to click, thinking that it may be something wrong with me. The glowing critic reviews left and right didn't help either. To summarize what I think is wrong with the game, it's the overall interaction of it's (stealth / combat) mechanics that encourages you to play in a very specific way.

    For example, a large percentage of the minibosses have entourages that are designed such that the safest / most rewarding way to go about those engagements is to:

    1) Stealth kill a minion
    2) Run out of aggro range
    3) Wait a minute for remaining enemies to disengage
    4) Repeat 1 to 3 until you can fight the miniboss individually

    immersion issues aside, doing the above can take up to 15 minutes per "run"
    and if you die - which always will happen because you have no idea what the new boss' moveset is, you have to repeat the process all over again. The major bosses are also designed to be impossible to defeat the first time through because you have no idea what the exact timing is for all their strikes and combos and this meant you can never reliably parry their attacks which is also the singular way to win.

    The whole game is akin to doing tiresome dance rehearsals repeatedly until you get a waltz down the way your instructor wants it to be, except he doesn't tell you what he wants in the first place and you have to be beaten into knowing. This wasn't a problem with Dark Souls because caution could always bring you far and there were plenty of alternative solutions to the same puzzle.

    By the end, Sekiro felt easier and more manageable when I could play by it's set of rules but that's because it forced me to play the only way it wanted to be played and the lack of player agency left a bad taste in my mouth.

    My conclusion at the end is this - Sekiro was overdesigned and has an identity issue. It wants to be a little bit of Tenchu, but doesn't do it well. It also wants to somewhat be Dark Souls, but doesn't do that well either. It definitely wants to be Onimusha / Bushido Blade but is also halfhearted about that. I have little doubt that Sekiro will not be looked upon favorably years after the hype has gone. But still, plenty of love to players who had a good time with it.    … Expand
  2. HonestReviews4U
    Mar 26, 2019
    7
    Judging this game was really hard for me. I suppose I shouldn't have gone into this game expecting Nioh, however because of the similar setting and themes I did. That... was most certainly a mistake.
    Let's first talk about the things this game does right.
    +The voice acting is on point and any other sound effects are really good. +The level of gore you would expect from a From Software    Judging this game was really hard for me. I suppose I shouldn't have gone into this game expecting Nioh, however because of the similar setting and themes I did. That... was most certainly a mistake.
    Let's first talk about the things this game does right.

    +The voice acting is on point and any other sound effects are really good.
    +The level of gore you would expect from a From Software game is here and even some of the more grotesque imagery is to be found, even though this game is (slightly) more grounded in reality, at least compared to the other SoulsBorne games.
    +The gameplay is exactly how you would expect it to be; the controls are very similar to Dark Souls 3, so for fans of that control style, it's pretty much perfect.
    +The game has the SoulsBorne difficulty you would expect, so no worries there.
    +Some interesting new mechanics made possible with the prosthetic you get relatively early on.
    +Bigger focus on guarding instead of dodging
    +A (somewhat) open world. People who like open world games will enjoy this one too.

    And that's about it, sadly, so let's talk about the negatives, starting with the most unnecessary one,

    -The graphics are simply outdated. Now, I am not a graphics whore and I usually prefer a game with worse graphics and better gameplay over games with better graphics and worse gameplay (as a gamer should), however IMO, the game's graphics look even worse than in Dark Souls 3. Like, how does that happen??? That is honestly inexcusable. Now I wouldn't mind this so much, if it weren't for the...
    -Bad performance. While I can perfectly run DS3 in 4K, Max settings at way over 60FPS, and can't do that in this game, or anywhere near it, and like I said, it looks worse than DS3, so no, this is not because of my hardware. The game just... lags, and that at very weird intervals.
    -The gameplay, much like in the older games, feels really stiff. I don't know if it's because of the animations or the hitboxes, but it doesn't feel natural at all. This is where my bias towards Nioh comes into play, since that game has combat which is smooth af, especially with the stance changes mid combo.
    -The stealth mechanic is negligible at best. While you can use it to surprise your enemies, you will also take them down just as quickly by just running at them and fighting them head on.
    -And while we are already talking about mechanics, I do like that this game focuses more on blocking/reflecting rather than dodging, but that comes at a cost. Dodging is pretty much useless now. I've been in countless situations where I would have been able to dodge-roll out of the way in older SoulsBorne games, but not in this one. Either the attack hitboxes or the dodging mechanics are seriously broken.
    -No character customization. This is pretty much just a nitpick, but it does annoy me. I wouldn't mind the pre-made character, if it weren't for...
    -The Story. I don't like it. Some people might, I don't. Again, Nioh Bias, I was expecting an amazing story like in Nioh, and this game certainly didn't deliver on that scale. It's okay, but nowhere near as amazing as I had hoped for.
    -60FPS lock on PC. Nitpick, but still, annoying.
    -Very shallow combat. Again, Nioh Bias, I was expecting different stances or light and heavy attacks or *any* variety, but no, the focus only lies on (dodging and) blocking.
    -A (somewhat) open world. I don't like open world games. That's just my opinion, but so is this entire review.

    Overall, while this game is waaaaaay under-performing when compared to Nioh, I will still try to view this game as objectively as possible.
    If you like the other SoulsBorne games, this is an easy pick-up for you.
    If you were, like me, expecting Nioh 2, you'll be disappointed, but you should still give it a try.
    If you hate open world or stealth games, don't bother.
    And if you're one of those people who complain about the fact that this game is "too hard" or "artificially hard": Git Gud    … Expand
  3. e2rqey
    Mar 26, 2019
    9
    Great game. (No Spoilers)
    This game gives you that feeling you had when you first played Dark Souls, before you "Got Gud", There are many who have been chasing that feeling ever since. But you could never really get it from new Dark Souls games because the combat was basically the same. People who only got through Dark Souls by summoning others to help them are gonna be in for quite a    Great game. (No Spoilers)
    This game gives you that feeling you had when you first played Dark Souls, before you "Got Gud", There are many who have been chasing that feeling ever since. But you could never really get it from new Dark Souls games because the combat was basically the same. People who only got through Dark Souls by summoning others to help them are gonna be in for quite a challenge. It's very well optimized and getting a locked 60FPS at 1080p with Max Settings is easy to achieve. I wish it would support higher framerates, but at least capping it at 60 makes the frame pacing pretty consistent. The graphics are a clear step up from Dark Souls 3, at least on PC. The Combat is really engaging. It's certainly difficult, but it's a different kind of difficulty than Dark Souls. When you first start playing you may think that the combat is simplistic and completely focused on Parrying. But as you get better at the game you will start to see the nuance and complexity. Deflecting certainly is important though, but I don't see why people are shocked or angry that in a game about fighting people with swords, stopping the swords from hitting you by blocking is an important aspect of the combat. The best way to describe what the combat feels like when you’re playing it correctly, is that it feels like your actually participating in one of those super intense sword fights in an anime like Samurai Champloo, Rurouni Kenshin or Afro Samurai. I think there are a lot of negative reviews of this game that are posted in a fit of rage immediately after being **** on by a Boss in the game for the 50th time. This is not the kind of game where if you are using the wrong tactics against a boss, no matter how many times you try you will never beat them. While Dark Souls combat felt like a frantic, white knuckle, adrenaline fueled, fight for survival. Sekiro is more about being able to keep your composure and and making the correct tactical call instead of relying on impulsive survival instinct to win. The story is more straightforward than Dark Souls but there are still lots of little secrets and bits of information for VaatiVidya to delve into. I do wish there was more variety in the weaker enemies but it’s still decent. Overall, this is another fantastic game by From Software. I still don't know exactly how high the Skill Ceiling is, but I'm looking forward to seeing all the crazy **** people will be able to pull off in this game. Don't play this game like its Dark Souls. It is its own beast. There are still lots of mechanics and stuff in the game that are unmistakably From Software touches. It's still hard as hell, which is great. It's not cheap, when you get killed you know that you messed up and that it wasn't the games fault. It's amazing that From Software was able to make an experience that is as hard as, if not more difficult than Dark Souls. It makes you feel like how you felt in Dark Souls before you "got gud" and I’m just happy I get to enjoy that feeling again. The only reasons I don't think it's a 10/10 is that the Stealth System is pretty lack-luster. I get what they were going for and it is functional. But the AI was not really designed well enough for a deep stealth system. You can just run away and hide for like 30 seconds and everyone will forget that you were ever even there. The Stealth Assassinations look cool as hell and are super visceral, but they super over the top and LOUD AS HELL. You can kill someone and another guard who is probably close enough that the massive spray of blood would get on him and he doesn't notice. Unless the guy is literally right next to the person you kill they won't notice. 85% of the time they don't even notice the dead bodies all around them The thing is, I'm not sure whether a lot of these shortcomings with the stealth system are because of poor design or if it was a deliberate decision so that the game wouldn't be even more difficult than it already is. Although performance is good, I would still rather be able to play at above 60FPS. The PC port doesn't give the granular control of settings that is possible on PC. I used a controller for this game even though I normally use Mouse and Keyboard so I'm not sure about how good the controls are with M+KB. I do also wish there was more weapons and items to get just to give the combat more diversity but realize that the Prosthetic Arm is supposed to bring some of that and it just wasn't part of their vision for this game. The Story is decent but I still enjoyed Dark Souls more. I think the game could have been even better than it is, but that's the case with basically anything. So yeah 9/10 absolutely worth picking up if you liked Dark Souls and I think it's also a good first title for people to start getting into From Software games with. Ignore any Negative reviews you see where the whole thing is just someone complaining about the game being hard.
    ** PC Specs: Intel i7-8750H, GTX 1070, 16GB RAM and 512GB NVMe    … Expand
  4. Monotosh
    Mar 26, 2019
    9
    ELECTRONIC ARTS : Single player games are dead.
    FROM SOFTWARE : Hold my sake.
    At first I was saddened to hear that Miyazaki would not make another souls game again, but little did we realise that what he meant was that he would soup up the system so much that becomes impossible to call it a soulsborne game. 10/10 would want to get bamboozled again. STORY : The story takes place in    ELECTRONIC ARTS : Single player games are dead.
    FROM SOFTWARE : Hold my sake.
    At first I was saddened to hear that Miyazaki would not make another souls game again, but little did we realise that what he meant was that he would soup up the system so much that becomes impossible to call it a soulsborne game. 10/10 would want to get bamboozled again.
    STORY : The story takes place in feudal Japan and one of the first major changes you realise when starting the game is that there are "comprehensible" dialogues and the protagonist speaks. This is very welcoming for new players as they can get the gist of the story and get motivated to push forward which really lacked in their previous games. Though the previous souls games had some dialogue, they Individually weren't any useful unless you knew the bigger picture, and most of the real story elements were hidden in item descriptions. Here atleast you know why and what you are doing. There is a fun mechanic where you offer "Sake" to different NPCs to get their backstories, different sake causes them to deliver different dialogues, just remember to keep track of which kind you are giving to whom as giving the same type of sake will repeat the same dialogue.

    GAMEPLAY : The real meat and potatoes of the game, while it essentially shares the skeleton of a souls game, the new changes are quite welcome. For starters as you all know from the name Shadows die twice you can resurrect after dying. This helps reduce frustrations when you get ambushed or one shot by something as you get the time to check who and how you got killed then resurrect to deal or run away from the problem. This was really annoying in souls games as you might be carrying a lot of resources while exploring and suddenly a new trap or enemy one shots you and you drop everything. That doesnt make the game any easier though as all minibosses and bosses have multiple health bars to chew through.
    Speaking about multiple health bars, you need to perform deathblows to kill enemies, which you can do by reducing their health to 0, or by breaking their posture. Attacking, deflecting, countering deals posture damage to enemies, and they can do the same to you. Once their posture breaks you can deal a deathblow instantly regardless of the amount of health remaining and take out one health bar. The posture recovers slowly over time when not attacking or defending, and the lower the health the posture will recover at a lower rate. So while trying to defeat bosses aggressive players can go for the posture breaks, and the "safe" players can slowly but surely whittle down the health bars. Also when you die you lose 50% of your xp and gold and they are not recoverable like in previous games, on the other hand you get a mechanic called unseen aid which provides 30% chance to not lose anything upon death, the more you die there is a chance the NPCs will get affected by dragonrot disease which lowers the chance of unseen aid and prevents the NPC quests from progressing.

    Theres a grapple hook to traverse the areas and not much else as it isnt used for combat. The level design is top notch to allow the players to pull a sneaky on the enemies by using the grapple to bypass or backstab them. And some secret areas are really well hidden out of usual view and you need to grapple specific spots to reach them.

    Now on to the prosthetic tools, there are 10 tools to find and choose from. You can upgrade them to have different properties to suit your needs, certain enemy types become MUCH easier when using some particular tools and their upgrades to exploit their weaknesses. For example throwing the shuriken towards airborne enemies staggers them and interrupts their attack chain, using fire on chained ogre stuns him for a few cheap hits etc. Other than that, the tools arent as necessary I thought it would be, your sword is enough to deal with almost every situation. However the last tiers of tools provide some juicy benefits which will be fun to play with in new game+.

    CONCLUSION : Its one of the best designed games ever made, FROMSOFTWARE delivered and even exceeded our expectations on how they can improve the genre, a must buy if you are a souls fan and always wanted to try out something new yet similar.    … Expand
  5. DreamCore
    Mar 26, 2019
    0
    Having completed both Dark Souls 2, 3 and Bloodborne I had high hopes for this one. But what a let down. I'm disgusted by how unfair this game is balanced. Even the mini-bosses will stomp you and one shot you for even the slightest mistake. Not to mention that you loose 50% of your exp and money with no means of getting it back. With Dragonrot, the more you die the more you're a punishedHaving completed both Dark Souls 2, 3 and Bloodborne I had high hopes for this one. But what a let down. I'm disgusted by how unfair this game is balanced. Even the mini-bosses will stomp you and one shot you for even the slightest mistake. Not to mention that you loose 50% of your exp and money with no means of getting it back. With Dragonrot, the more you die the more you're a punished and they give you the option to resurrect and punishes you even more for doing so. You just feel like you're being punished for anything and being rewarded for nothing. The developers are literary spitting you in the face. At least in Darksouls and Bloodborne you could summon an ally to help you but here you're on your own. Don't waste your time on this junk unless you enjoy being killed hundreds of times until you're finally lucky to beat a mini-boss just to encounter anther one 5 minutes later and repeat. The people who designed this junk should be banned from the gaming industry.… Expand
  6. Defestok
    Mar 26, 2019
    10
    Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice - это игра, которая заставит вас страдать по настоящему. Это не Dark Souls, забудьте про него. В этой игре вас будут насиловать по настоящему. Не рекомендуется людям со слабой психикой.
  7. FrostAtronach
    Mar 26, 2019
    8
    Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a great game, but it has a few flaws that keep it from reaching a 9 or especially a 10 in my books. Coming into this I've beaten every Dark Souls game as well as Bloodborne. I just beat this as well a couple hours ago, and I wanted to wait for that before giving any opinion on it. Having beaten it, I'll warn you; DON'T GO INTO THIS EXPECTING AN RPG-ACTION GAMESekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a great game, but it has a few flaws that keep it from reaching a 9 or especially a 10 in my books. Coming into this I've beaten every Dark Souls game as well as Bloodborne. I just beat this as well a couple hours ago, and I wanted to wait for that before giving any opinion on it. Having beaten it, I'll warn you; DON'T GO INTO THIS EXPECTING AN RPG-ACTION GAME LIKE DARK SOULS. This is mostly an ACTION game. It does not have stat building like Dark Souls or new equipment (barring the prosthetic). I'll be keeping this as spoiler free as possible.

    GAMEPLAY - Difficulty wise, Sekiro manages to keep up a good challenge, even for a seasoned Soulsborne player like me. Due to the stealth mechanics, however, it loses some difficulty in the areas between bosses, as you can pretty easily stealth kill an enemy and run. But when you reach those bosses or mini-bosses, the game ramps up pretty hard. Due to this, I'm sure many players will rage quit once or twice on walls. Is this frustration a good thing? Depends on the player.

    The difficulty comes from the combat. It is way faster paced than Dark Souls, more akin to Bloodborne. This game also uses two lifebar-esque mechanisms, and has no stamina. Vitality, which is pretty straightforward. You lose that, you die. The other one is Posture. This is slightly more complicated. If your posture breaks from blocking too many attacks, you become vulnerable. If an opponent's posture breaks, you can kill them instantly with a deathblow regardless of their vitality. Bosses take more than one deathblow, however. This leads to a system where you can play aggressively, attacking to lower posture, or more defensively, deflecting attacks to lower posture. A mix of the two generally works best. One thing I really like about this new system is that it doesn't feel like other From games (at least to me). You can't really use any tricks you learned playing those games.

    FROM also tackles the fact that in their other games, you could just out-level any difficult challenge to make it easier. Not so in Sekiro. You can use experience to gain skills, but it's up to the player to learn to use those skills effectively. The only way to increase your base stats is to defeat those difficult challenges. This pretty much guarantees that when you fight a boss most other players will have fought him at the same "level" with similar abilities. I don't really know what this does for replay value, can't really say at the moment.

    Are the bosses all good and fair though? To this I give an unfortunate no. Most are fantastic and get your blood pumping, others are dull, tedious, and somewhat broken. The less good bosses tend to be the non-human bosses. In my opinion, this combat system works best versus human opponents. Dudes in armor, if you will.

    That, hopefully, covers quite a bit of gameplay, so I'll move on to other stuff.

    SOUND/MUSIC - Amazing. As expected from these guys. They always hit it out of the park.

    GRAPHICS - Great, colorful, really adds to a beautiful and eerie world. Easily From's best looking game yet.

    LEVEL DESIGN/WORLD - Overlaps a bit with gameplay, I know. Overall, it's pretty good. But unfortunately, a couple areas are reused multiple times and it makes the world feel a little small (which it honestly is). The levels are well designed, but the stealth sort've takes away from the enemy placement, I feel.

    STORY - In my opinion, the story is actually really well done. The game has a lot more voice acting and the story is more explicitly told than other FromSoft games, but it still has some of that mysterious charm that only Miyazaki can deliver. I don't think the game will lack its share of lore videos. The game has multiple endings, but I won't go into this any further, for fear of spoilers.

    CONCLUSION - In a sentence, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is an incredible action game, but some of the boss fights and mechanics detract from the experience. I hope this review somehow helped somebody. Keep in mind that this is only one person's opinion, and other's experiences with the game will differ greatly. If you love hard games, I don't think you can go wrong with this one.    … Expand
  8. zyphir77
    Mar 26, 2019
    10
    This game is a perfect 10. I have spent upwards of 700+ hours playing From Software titles and within 10 hours of playing Sekiro I already knew just how special this game truly is. It's much of the same but yet so different. Sekiro's story and gameplay are a little more direct than previous From Software titles but they still don't hold your hand and guide you through everything. ConceptsThis game is a perfect 10. I have spent upwards of 700+ hours playing From Software titles and within 10 hours of playing Sekiro I already knew just how special this game truly is. It's much of the same but yet so different. Sekiro's story and gameplay are a little more direct than previous From Software titles but they still don't hold your hand and guide you through everything. Concepts like the Dragonrot leave you wondering how your actions can impact the ending (if at all). Some of the mini boss fights were as challenging as boss fights from other games and my first actual encounters with main bosses were exhilarating experiences. The posture system in the game really adds an amazing dynamic to the combat that I find to be a refreshing change. Overall, the game is beautiful and fluid, the combat system rewards stealth and patience but still offers avenues for people who like to play more aggressive, and the story is exactly what I've come to expect with a From Software title. 10/10 - highly recommend to anyone that doesnt have anger management issues and temper problems :D… Expand
  9. ePxOscuraNiebla
    Mar 26, 2019
    9
    This is a great game. It's thoroughly fun and challenging, unlike most other AAA game that's incredibly repetitive. You go from battle to battle become a bit better. You can either strategize with stealth to make battles easier, or test the limits of your skill by fighting it head on. I saw a lot of negative reviews from dark souls players that they're frustrated by parrying. Yeah,This is a great game. It's thoroughly fun and challenging, unlike most other AAA game that's incredibly repetitive. You go from battle to battle become a bit better. You can either strategize with stealth to make battles easier, or test the limits of your skill by fighting it head on. I saw a lot of negative reviews from dark souls players that they're frustrated by parrying. Yeah, parrying is the new dodge in this game, and dodges doesn't help you most of the time in this game.… Expand
  10. Bartalam
    Mar 25, 2019
    9
    The atmosphere of the game, story and design is very good. Also here is the incredible work of the director. But even after dark souls, playing it is extremely difficult. Too confused control. At the same time it is very dynamic.
  11. Persik
    Mar 25, 2019
    1
    Если Dark Sols 3 с самого начала завораживал и оторваться было невозможно, то в Sekiro даже играть не хочется. Как же это тошно и не интересно.
  12. TheFirm34
    Mar 25, 2019
    10
    This game is perfect! Is it hard? HELL yeah! But boy is it satisfying, when after many hours of learning a boss' mechanics and at first lightning-quick attack patterns you score that sweet sweet killing blow. Don't listen to the negative reviewers, they are precious snowflakes that start crying when they don't get God of War powers on easy-mode. Buy the game, struggle and at the end; knowThis game is perfect! Is it hard? HELL yeah! But boy is it satisfying, when after many hours of learning a boss' mechanics and at first lightning-quick attack patterns you score that sweet sweet killing blow. Don't listen to the negative reviewers, they are precious snowflakes that start crying when they don't get God of War powers on easy-mode. Buy the game, struggle and at the end; know that you did it!… Expand
  13. Whalebot
    Mar 25, 2019
    10
    I'll start out by saying that while the closest game to Sekiro, would be Dark Souls 3, Sekiro is a different beast compared to the Dark Souls games. Saying that not being like Dark Souls is a negative would be counterproductive. It would be similar to criticising Red Dead Redemption for not being about gangsters like in GTA.

    The way I see it, the focus of the combat in this game has 2    I'll start out by saying that while the closest game to Sekiro, would be Dark Souls 3, Sekiro is a different beast compared to the Dark Souls games. Saying that not being like Dark Souls is a negative would be counterproductive. It would be similar to criticising Red Dead Redemption for not being about gangsters like in GTA.

    The way I see it, the focus of the combat in this game has 2 key points: Feeling like a duel and playing like a ninja. These 2 elements are mutually exclusive and will be the main difference between playstyles among different players.

    This game, is the closest thing I've seen in a single player game to resemble an actual duel. Boss fights are very interactive. The norm for boss battles in most games are that they do some attack pattern which you have to dodge which leaves a window so you can attack. Generally speaking, you cannot attack without getting hit outside of this window, the window getting smaller and attacks harder to dodge as games becomes increasingly difficult. In Sekiro you have the option to go on the offense which enemies in general will react to by using the key mechanic of their combat system; deflecting. Sekiro is able to interrupt many attacks or force the boss to go on defense until they manage to deflect Sekiro's attacks or use an attack which can't get interrupted. Overall this makes humanoid boss fights feel like an organic back and forward which I haven't seen replicated in other games ths well.

    Playing as a Shinobi is represented in your many stealth options, having the option to instantly take half of the hp of many bosses by using stealth to assassinate them pre fight. Stealth typically only plays a role ouside of boss encounters so it's nice how they allow Sekiro's ninja character to stay relevant even when most boss fights in this game are about a epic 1v1 duel.

    If we compare this game to the other juggernaut of an action which just released Devil May Cry 5, I would say that Devil May Cry 5 has the best offense in perhaps any game, while Sekiro has the best defense in a single player game, Most attacks get an implied way to handle them whereas your common options are to jump, dodge and deflect. However to expand this you have the option to interrupt the enemy with fast attacks, you have attacks which can't get interrupted and you can use defensive maneuvers aside from the suggested ones to deal more damage to health rather than breaking posture. The bosses in this game, while not all visually distinct, it's mostly humanoids, their functions are quite different. Some bosses hp are easy to wittle down, leaving posture regeneration slow, enabling Dark Souls style spacing + hit and runs strats to be effective, while other bosses are very hard to hurt, requiring you to stay in their face and be on the offense at all times to be able to bring down their posture.

    Lastly I would like to say that this game do have some Dark Souls elements. They have taken item descriptions and instead of describing pure lore, they often have an ingame function such as leading to a secret technique or similar. They have also taken note of experienced Dark Souls players just running through areas like madmen. While it's still possible for the most part, it feels more intentional now rather than exploiting bad AI. Some specific areas encourage doing this and some areas make it practically impossible to just run through it like a retard. I have completed the entire game and feels it provides good variety in general and far better gimmick/setpiece fights than the other From games. Fighting beasts type bosses feels bad in general, description of dragonrot mechanic is misleading etc.

    I can make a long list of faults and how I think the game could be improved but overall great game, I don't think that any games does what Sekiro tries to do and pulls it off as well and thus gets a 10/10 for me.    … Expand
  14. Nesquick76
    Mar 25, 2019
    0
    Скучная, сложная (без баланса), нет кастомизации
  15. Dya-Dya_Sheo
    Mar 25, 2019
    10
    Если вы считаете, что Dark Souls был сложной игрой, которая вас изнасилует, Ох.....то поверьте!!! Секира вас не просто изнасилует, она вы"бет....При чем во все дыры и живые места на вашем теле, а после этого, надев на вас различные пыточные девайсы из БДСМ-магазина, заставит вас пробежаться в них 10 Километров без остановок, потому как за вами еще отправят голодного огненного дракона, иЕсли вы считаете, что Dark Souls был сложной игрой, которая вас изнасилует, Ох.....то поверьте!!! Секира вас не просто изнасилует, она вы"бет....При чем во все дыры и живые места на вашем теле, а после этого, надев на вас различные пыточные девайсы из БДСМ-магазина, заставит вас пробежаться в них 10 Километров без остановок, потому как за вами еще отправят голодного огненного дракона, и после всего этого, она еще раз вас вы"бет и после этого вы все равно скажите, что вам понравилось. Это GOTY, и все этим сказано......… Expand
  16. ElderNox
    Mar 25, 2019
    10
    A true masterpiece and a very worthy successor to the souls series. From the stealth to the heart-pounding combat, this game is a total joyride. It can be hard, just like its predecessor, but its worth every aggravating minute to see something so lovingly crafted.

    Ignore any negative reviews found here, they're just salty and can't handle change or variety.
  17. gerryrobinson78
    Mar 25, 2019
    8
    To hard for me, but it's still good artistic work. if it was not for the level of difficulty, I would give 10/10
  18. Ozweed
    Mar 25, 2019
    9
    It is like "metal gear rising" and "soul reaver" had a baby. Very hard to pass but not impossible millenials. Just the camera sucks ass.
  19. Gizilq
    Mar 24, 2019
    7
    У игры есть 2 проблемы, из-за которой она не сможет стать идеальной игрой.
    1. Ужасный визуал. 3 модели зданий, 2 модели стен, 4 модели деревьев. И это после Bloodborne.
    2. Кривые хитбоксы. они настолько плохие что меня несколько раз телепортировало из-за спины врага, прямо под анимацию удара. 7/10. Google translation The game has 2 problems, because of which it can not be the perfect    У игры есть 2 проблемы, из-за которой она не сможет стать идеальной игрой.
    1. Ужасный визуал. 3 модели зданий, 2 модели стен, 4 модели деревьев. И это после Bloodborne.
    2. Кривые хитбоксы. они настолько плохие что меня несколько раз телепортировало из-за спины врага, прямо под анимацию удара.
    7/10.
    Google translation
    The game has 2 problems, because of which it can not be the perfect game.
    1. Awful visual. 3 building models, 2 wall models, 4 tree models. And this is after Bloodborne.
    2. Hitboxes curves. they are so bad that I was teleported several times from of the back of the enemy, right under the animation of the strike.
    7/10.    … Expand
  20. M4R7lN
    Mar 24, 2019
    7
    Sadly this game is reviewed by it's hype and predecessors. Technically its lacking polishing. The camera tends to flicker around like crazy in intense boss fights using its lock on feature and often you are not able to see anything due to some piece of broken stuff or grass blocking your vision completely. The essential feature for an inital execution often fails when initialized fromSadly this game is reviewed by it's hype and predecessors. Technically its lacking polishing. The camera tends to flicker around like crazy in intense boss fights using its lock on feature and often you are not able to see anything due to some piece of broken stuff or grass blocking your vision completely. The essential feature for an inital execution often fails when initialized from above with you finding yourself fighting an enemy with its two full healthbars and desperately dying at the last inch what could have been prevented with a working feature. Pretty desperate when you find yourself not enjoying the game but constantly respawning to just get the initial execution after the 4th atempt on a jumping execution. It has its adventure parts but they are way to small. You are running just from one boss arena directly into another making it more like Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption. Therefore it can't succeed in giving you a feeling like the souls series where the wide areas and many foes challenged you besides its bosses. I did not expect another Dark Souls game or a Souls like but the standard that Fromsoftware raised is not matched in Sekiro until it will evolve in future episodes like Dark Souls did.… Expand
  21. duracellman
    Mar 24, 2019
    10
    I had to come to grips with the lack of RPG mechanics, but I think From have created a masterpiece. The game being based on a specific character / weapon allowed them to make something incredibly focused while retaining signature From oddness, ambiguity, and intricate world design.

    People saying the combat is just about parrying now have not mastered the combat. In practice, deflection    I had to come to grips with the lack of RPG mechanics, but I think From have created a masterpiece. The game being based on a specific character / weapon allowed them to make something incredibly focused while retaining signature From oddness, ambiguity, and intricate world design.

    People saying the combat is just about parrying now have not mastered the combat. In practice, deflection works pretty differently than parrying in Dark Souls. There's so much more nuance to the combat now, from crowd control options, when to jump, dodge, block or deflect, move interruptions, combat arts, combos with prosthetic attachments good against certain enemies, etc. The posture system alone makes it completely different than Dark Souls. You can not play it like those games even if it seems like you can get away with it. If you're playing well you will be aggressive, attacking often and performing very deliberate moves against specific enemies.

    Once the combat clicked I was amazed at how fluid and fun it can be, and that a lot of tough enemies can be taken down pretty quickly if you play well. One thing it does have in common with Souls is that the longer a boss stays alive, the harder it is to deal with. And like Dark Souls it's a difficult game because it wants you to learn how to play it right, and execution in Sekiro is even more challenging, and even more satisfying than From's other games.    … Expand
  22. billyjoe
    Mar 24, 2019
    0
    The play-style freedom and replay-ability have been destroyed to railroad players into a generic ninja game. Even bloodborne gave more user freedom and exploration. I hate to say this game is a rebuttal to Nioh and arguably that game is better because it kept a key component, multiplayer. CO-OP and invasions are what solidifies these games and gives them a strong community. It would beThe play-style freedom and replay-ability have been destroyed to railroad players into a generic ninja game. Even bloodborne gave more user freedom and exploration. I hate to say this game is a rebuttal to Nioh and arguably that game is better because it kept a key component, multiplayer. CO-OP and invasions are what solidifies these games and gives them a strong community. It would be fine if this didn't play and feel exactly like a souls game, but it does.… Expand
  23. Cevlic
    Mar 24, 2019
    10
    Amazing game love it so much I have played all the soulsbornes games and so far this is my favorite combat feels good movement feels good this game feels good to play
  24. nick1008
    Mar 24, 2019
    10
    just a good game . It doesnt have builds like in dark souls 3 so thats a minus but still good . the prostetic arm sucks . DS 3 was better.
  25. MakotoSengen
    Mar 24, 2019
    1
    Fail of the Year. Well maybe not the biggest fail but definitely Broken hopes of the Year.
    Visually game is Ok... Everything else is just bad. Lazy DS clone with 0 innovation or improvements. In fact there is a degradation in level design, combat system, weapons, animation and physics, even dialogs and char design. Maybe story is fine but you just can't enjoy it because of that horrific    Fail of the Year. Well maybe not the biggest fail but definitely Broken hopes of the Year.
    Visually game is Ok... Everything else is just bad. Lazy DS clone with 0 innovation or improvements. In fact there is a degradation in level design, combat system, weapons, animation and physics, even dialogs and char design. Maybe story is fine but you just can't enjoy it because of that horrific gameplay. There is only one weapon and one gimmick. And equally terrible experience on mouse and gamepad. And of course you can't change difficulty, there is only one stupidly crazy difficulty which can't be excused, because it is nothing but developer's laziness.    … Expand
  26. 21grams
    Mar 24, 2019
    6
    So much anticipation yet so much disappointment. It's decent game, especially if you're willing to wait for a sale, however it really doesn't live up to a hype it got.

    Pros: - Story and lore - tho I'm not fan of direct storytelling. I preferred Bloodborne and Dark Souls storytelling where you have dig deep to figure out what's going on and why, but it's good enough, - Good music    So much anticipation yet so much disappointment. It's decent game, especially if you're willing to wait for a sale, however it really doesn't live up to a hype it got.

    Pros:
    - Story and lore - tho I'm not fan of direct storytelling. I preferred Bloodborne and Dark Souls storytelling where you have dig deep to figure out what's going on and why, but it's good enough,
    - Good music score, not on the level of DS3 or BB, but fits the setting very well, builds tension and does other things good music score supposed to do.
    - Level design - it's just great, high versatility, a lot of things to discover, use environment to your advantage
    - challenge and difficulty - here they did not **** up. It will put you to the test like hell.

    Cons:
    - Combat is just not good for one simple reason. Everything is based on breaking posture by spamming attack (on weaker enemies) or deflecting and countering stronger enemies - rinse and repeat, it's just tedious and boring. On some rare occasion you can get leverage with one of special tools you unlock - but that's about it.
    - Character building is very simplistic, basically on the level of older Assassin's Creed games - find thing X to unlock tool, plus you have few skills to unlock at your disposal - that's it. There are no weapons to find, no armor to find - all the loot are upgrade components and consumables - which feels just very linear without any impactful decision making.
    -Graphics look dated, tho some of the artstyle is pretty good and there are some weird fps drops out of thin air (I suspect it has something to do with poor LOD and texture streaming), no ultra-wide support, game doesn't tolerate 2nd monitor and will cut performance severely until you unplug it, there are also some issues on Intel CPUs where having turbo boost enabled hinders performance severely - so pretty mediocre PC port to say the least.
    - Can't see any replay value (except maybe speed running) - because as I mentioned there is not enough diversity in character building (you won't make a different build to enjoy different combat experience - everything is just to thin and basic), there is no online component (so obviously no pvp) - there is just nothing worthwhile for a second playthrough to be seen.

    So yeah, don't believe all those 9s and 10s out of 10. The game is nowhere near on the brilliance of Dark Souls or Bloodborne. It feels like watered down and streamlined action game with very little diversity and choice making at your disposal. If not technical issues and piss poor PC port lacking basic features that should be standard in 2019, I'd give it 7/10, but with technical issues and other problems I mentioned in cons section - 6/10 is max I can rate it. Note: 6/10 means it's a pretty decent game but with some problems. See the difference is - for IGN and other crap outlets, 6/10 is equal to garbage game - personally I utilize full scale and thus it means it's not bad game at all - more like disappointing a bit.

    tl;dr: I suggest to wait for sale, at    … Expand
  27. Couser
    Mar 24, 2019
    10
    This game has single-handedly wrangled me out of depression. I did not expect this game to turn out this well. I am a huge fan of Soulsborne and I must say that this is even better!
  28. 0v0_Dee
    Mar 24, 2019
    6
    Хитбоксы хуже чем в ds1, абсолютно не рабочий стелс и очень странная новая система связанная с утратой денег. Большая часть боссов это просто усложненные обычные противники к которым поставили не усложненных обычных противников xd. В двух(4) словах: Игра хуже чем ds2. А это сами понимаете какой п***цХитбоксы хуже чем в ds1, абсолютно не рабочий стелс и очень странная новая система связанная с утратой денег. Большая часть боссов это просто усложненные обычные противники к которым поставили не усложненных обычных противников xd. В двух(4) словах: Игра хуже чем ds2. А это сами понимаете какой п***ц
  29. gamertaboo
    Mar 24, 2019
    10
    Another home-run by FROM Software. And the best part? Just take a look at all of them "mad cuz bad" complaints. Oh boy are the people who skated through the Soulsborne games on summons getting angry.
  30. north789
    Mar 24, 2019
    2
    скучные, заскриптованные бои на манер асасинс крид. непонятно зачем добавленный кривой стелс
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Awards & Rankings

9
#9 Best PC Game of 2019
6
#6 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
69
#69 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. Game World Navigator Magazine
    May 15, 2019
    80
    There’s no leveling (in Soulsborne sense of the word), no covenants, no multiplayer, no variety in armor and weapons. It could be written off a stylistic choice, if the rest of the game didn’t feel very similar to the previous FromSoftware games. But it does, so Sekrio comes across as rather shallow. [Issue#237, p.28]
  2. MGG
    Apr 27, 2019
    88
    Sekiro Shadows Die Twice is a milestone in the genre. It offers complex, stunning and precise sword fights and duels that its predecessors lacked, and from which its successors will have to keep up with. You no longer simply learn by repeatedly and unfairly dying, but you refine your talents as a player. You seek unique methods to overcome each boss, rather than just rolling at the right time before spamming a few hits.
    Read full review
  3. Edge Magazine
    Apr 25, 2019
    90
    Dozens of hours later, we're still not sure how we feel about it. It's a game of contradictions, open and flexible in its level design, yet resolutely strict in its combat... It is a brilliant game, that is certain. but it is often a difficult one to truly love. Naturally, we can't put it down. [Issue#332, p.104]
See all critic reviews »