Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5159 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4,327 out of 5159
  2. Mixed: 286 out of 5159
  3. Negative: 546 out of 5159
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  1. mrvertigo89
    Mar 24, 2019
    7
    FromSoft tends to be the only studio that I'll actually pre-order from, and I did with Sekiro. Long-time fan of the ridiculous difficulty, Demon Souls (closely followed by Bloodborne) is my favourite game of all time, and I love dark souls too.

    Sekiro is a bit of a different bag. It's a good game, the movement is fun, as are the ninja tools, and the stealth is well integrated into the    FromSoft tends to be the only studio that I'll actually pre-order from, and I did with Sekiro. Long-time fan of the ridiculous difficulty, Demon Souls (closely followed by Bloodborne) is my favourite game of all time, and I love dark souls too.

    Sekiro is a bit of a different bag. It's a good game, the movement is fun, as are the ninja tools, and the stealth is well integrated into the general gameplay - and particularly with minibosses. However, I think this will be the first FromSoft game I don't try to platinum. Mainly because I don't think I'll play through it more than once.

    The bosses are not so much difficult as long, everything has lots of health and the classic secret third phase is thrown into the mix too. Remember fighting those demons in DS3 expansion, when they morph into an even bigger demon when they die... well it's that. The frustration of Nameless King's second phase where it takes so long to get to it. None of this I'd mind on its own, except you don't get to build a character anymore.

    You can earn experience and unlock skills, but these don't really change your fighting prowess the way maxing a quality build would, or getting a new weapon. Upgrades (at least in terms of damage) are contingent on defeating bosses, so again sometimes you smash against a brick-wall of difficulty, but can't go off and build your character to come back stronger. You just hit it again and again. Obvs, with no co-op this also rules out that as a way to overcome a particularly **** boss (looking at you Fume Knight from DS2).

    The world is good, the story is much less subtle but I guess that's fine given there is an actual narrative, but with no new builds to try, and no desire to fight some of the bosses again, I think I'll be putting it down when I'm done and playing through one of the others again.

    Fingers crossed for Blooborne 2!    … Expand
  2. StrangeAeons
    Mar 25, 2019
    5
    I wanted to like Sekiro, I REALLY did. I love the Souls-Borne series of games, and I think that was my first mistake when jumping headfirst into Sekiro. First and foremost, Sekiro is not a souls game.

    Sekiro shares many similarities with the Souls games, but Sekiro is a whole new beast. Gone are the days of leaving messages for other players. Gone are the days of other players for    I wanted to like Sekiro, I REALLY did. I love the Souls-Borne series of games, and I think that was my first mistake when jumping headfirst into Sekiro. First and foremost, Sekiro is not a souls game.

    Sekiro shares many similarities with the Souls games, but Sekiro is a whole new beast. Gone are the days of leaving messages for other players. Gone are the days of other players for that matter, as Sekiro is only a solo experience. That aspect does not bother me so much as I prefer single player experiences anyways.

    In the Souls-Borne series if I ran into a frustrating situation there was always an option of going back and doing some grinding to help level up in an effort to conquer the roadblock in my way. After finally getting past those roadblocks there was an immense feeling of accomplishment. I find the bosses in Sekiro are so frustrating that I leave feeling defeated and have no drive to continue. And with no leveling up of your character, and no gear to swap out and try, there is no motivation to continue bashing my head against the wall.

    Sekiro is a beautiful game aesthetically speaking, but the frustration outweighs the beauty. It feels like FromSoft took the difficulty aspect of the Souls-Borne series and cranked it to 11 just for the sake of making it difficult. Sneaking around like a ninja and picking off the "trash" mobs feels like that is what the game was supposed to be. Realizing that the bosses needed to be challenging it feels like FromSoft overcompensated and crossed that line which separates difficult-fun and difficult-frustrating.

    There is good to be found here, do not get me wrong. Sekiro is a beautiful game with tight controls. The frustration found in the game overshadow everything Sekiro does well. The one thing a game should always be is fun. For me, this is where Sekiro fails, it becomes so frustrating that it is no longer fun.

    There are going to be plenty who do not agree with me. And that is ok. This is just my honest opinion, my honest review. I really, REALLY, wanted to like Sekiro. The only other game I am looking forward to as much as Sekiro is Cyberpunk 2077, and it saddens me to think how disappointed I am with Sekiro.

    If you go into Sekiro expecting a souls-like experience, you will be sorely disappointed.    … Expand
  3. volkermuller55
    Mar 30, 2019
    6
    Say goodbye to armor, primary weapons, varied and complex builds, emotes and any other roleplaying elements, coop, and pvp. This is not a soulsborne game and fans of the soulsborne franchises should not be misled into believing that the gameplay is similar. Virtually every system has been overhauled, for better or worse.
    In some ways this title is more friendly to new players than    Say goodbye to armor, primary weapons, varied and complex builds, emotes and any other roleplaying elements, coop, and pvp. This is not a soulsborne game and fans of the soulsborne franchises should not be misled into believing that the gameplay is similar. Virtually every system has been overhauled, for better or worse.
    In some ways this title is more friendly to new players than previous ones because you'll never have to look at wall of stats that you'd have to dig around online to make sense of and you won't have the training scars from playing earlier titles. But in another way, it's much more hostile to new players because the difficulty scaling is unprecedented even for a From Software game.
    Grinding is mostly ineffectual as the only reward you get for grinding is Sen (the primary currency, which can be used to purchase consumables and in some cases prosthetic attachments) and Skill Points, which are used to purchase new acrobatic abilities for your character (only one of which can be slotted at a time). You cannot increase your HP pool or Posture by grinding and you cannot summon friendly NPCs to assist you in boss fights, meaning that when you get stuck on a boss your only option is to continue slamming your head against that wall until you win or quit the game.
    Many returning FromSoft fans that are hostile to new players, casuals, and the notion of accessibility in game design will see these changes as improvements, however I generally see them as a step backwards. I don't think it's good game design for the basic narrative elements to be inaccessible to many players (even some who are willing to spend countless hours trying to 'git gud').
    My single biggest complaint with the game is the reductive nature of the new combat system. Many players seem to feel that the combat system is more complex than ever, but I disagree and I will enumerate my reasons why: Poise has been all but removed from the game, weapon arts have been replaced by acrobatic skills, stamina management was replaced by posture, spirit emblems effectively replaced FP, the prosthetic replaced spell attunement, and the jump mechanic replaced the kick. The vast array of sorceries, miracles, and pyromancies (96 total in dark souls 3) have been replaced by 11 prosthetic attachments. In Dark Souls or Bloodborne there are a wide variety of different play styles and approaches that are equally viable for completing the PVE content. You can be a strong dude with heavy armor, a giant, slow weapon, and tons of poise that just knocks bosses on their asses and manages damage trades. You can use spellcasting as your primary strategy for virtually every boss in the game. You can use a dex character with high mobility and fast weapons that inflict status effects like bleed on enemies. They all do the job, and this fantastic variety makes for excellent replay value (even for the players that aren't interested in challenge runs).
    That's just not the case in Sekiro. You have one weapon, one basic play style, and bosses only have one or sometimes two different basic strategies that are viable to beat them. To make things worse, many of the acrobatic skills that can be acquired that are supposed to make the player feel like they're making progress and getting deeper gameplay are completely nullified by certain bosses. For example, unblockable thrust weapon attacks and some kicks can be countered with a skill called the mikiri counter and unblockable sweep attacks can be jumped over, followed by a swift kick to the face that deals a lot of posture damage. Certain bosses, like Genichiro Ashina (a required boss for story progression), for example, can completely nullify these abilities and punish the player for trying to take advantage of them. This removes depth from the combat and this tactic the developers use to increase the difficulty of the game is equally artificial as tactics like making a boss' attacks deal so much damage they're all one-shot kills or tripling the HP pool of the boss to make it harder.
    It certainly feels like the central principal of this game's design was to make it extremely difficult without regard for making the gameplay feel fair, varied, or balanced.
    These drawbacks are such an intrusive impediment to enjoying the game that they overshadow many pleasant qualities in the game. I like that they tried to challenge returning hardcore players by removing I-frames from dodges. I like the new grappling mechanic and how this frees up the artists who designed the maps to add an entirely new dimension to the areas you play in. The visuals and voice acting are superb, and there appears to be just as much effort put into developing the lore of this game universe as previous titles. There are tons of different boss fights to be had in this game with 15 bosses and 29 Mini-bosses, although some of them are effectively just re-skins. I love FromSoft and their games, but I think this one was simply a step in the wrong direction. 6/10    … Expand
  4. Flypaper
    Mar 25, 2019
    6
    Beware the overrating from Critics. Try before you buy is my advice. I'm a long time lover of the souls and bloodborne series. I beat them all (except demonsouls - but I will if they ever remaster it) so I'm not bad at them. Unfortunately it was like Fromsoft decided to stick it to us long time players and reverse everything you learned from dying over the years. This game takes fastBeware the overrating from Critics. Try before you buy is my advice. I'm a long time lover of the souls and bloodborne series. I beat them all (except demonsouls - but I will if they ever remaster it) so I'm not bad at them. Unfortunately it was like Fromsoft decided to stick it to us long time players and reverse everything you learned from dying over the years. This game takes fast reflexes and a lot of motivation to push through the many, many deaths before you unlearn and relearn what you need to survive. It is punishingly difficult with lightning reflexes and perfect timing required (no mistakes or your dead). The world and story are not really doing anything for me, which is what I always loved about the past games. They always had you guessing what the next level/world would be. This one is all Feudal Japan all the time and I do not care about Japanese history. I didn't in college and I still don't. So the verticality of the game that everyone is praising is overrated. The grappling hook mechanics work okay, but only in the spots the game lets you use it. The jump and grab ledge mechanic is so slow and terribly inconsistent (needs fixing badly). While hanging from a ledge my natural instinct is to hit the jump to jump up, but no you have to push grab button again (why?). If you are new to Fromsoft games, you actually might be better equipped than longtime players, but you will likely lose interest after the 50th death to the same early bosses. If you are determined you will persevere or have a lucky run (even the blind hog finds an acorn except with a lot of skill needed even to get lucky). This game is super frustrating without the fun and mystery of previous Fromsoft games to keep me going. Not sure why everyone is going on about this game. Gluttons for punishment apparently.… Expand
  5. TheVJ
    Mar 22, 2019
    6
    It's a good game, but not as good as the proper Souls games. Just lacks the atmosphere and its combat is a bit too mashy as well.
  6. mikepatyaev
    Apr 30, 2019
    6
    Worse Dark Souls, not interesting to explore the location, in fact there is no loot and pumping. DMC at maximum speed
  7. spotlessmind55
    Sep 7, 2021
    6
    I can never understand that this is the game of the year.

    First of all, it's annoyingly difficult because lack of instructions and practical tutorials. And even if you'd found a way to beat a enemy, it would've never varied. It must be fun when you can find ways to improve your skills or strategies with some hints even if the difficulty is super high. Second of all, the voice of    I can never understand that this is the game of the year.

    First of all, it's annoyingly difficult because lack of instructions and practical tutorials. And even if you'd found a way to beat a enemy, it would've never varied.
    It must be fun when you can find ways to improve your skills or strategies with some hints even if the difficulty is super high.

    Second of all, the voice of characters are awful.
    It's like the ones of Nintendo 64 or PS1.
    Non- native persons might not be bothered but for me as Japanese, it's hideous.
    And also the design and move of characters are not entirely fashionable or smooth.
    Again it's like the ones of PS2 or Wii.

    After all, personally, it felt old-fashioned.
    Not an antique.    … Expand
  8. SnowProblemo
    Apr 8, 2019
    7
    Honest opinion from a FromSoftware geek. I love Dark Souls and Bloodborne. At first glance this is very similar. After putting 50+ hours and finishing the game I feel this game has very limited replayability. I was actually relieved when I was finished because the last parts were mostly frustrating boss battles and reused areas. Don't get me wrong, I love FromSoftware bosses, but I alsoHonest opinion from a FromSoftware geek. I love Dark Souls and Bloodborne. At first glance this is very similar. After putting 50+ hours and finishing the game I feel this game has very limited replayability. I was actually relieved when I was finished because the last parts were mostly frustrating boss battles and reused areas. Don't get me wrong, I love FromSoftware bosses, but I also enjoy the exploration and lore, which is scant in comparison to other Soulsborne games. Also, the absence of co-op play is a letdown and the frequent use of recycled areas, mini-bosses and even main bosses made me a bit weary. I gave a 7 because, although it's a good game, I feel it's below FromSoftware standards and after a few days of play the joy ran out, something that didn't happened so quick with their other titles.… Expand
  9. Sunykamey
    Mar 31, 2019
    5
    Sekiro is hard and for all the wrong reasons. Yes this is a from software game but what DS & BB did was give you a feeling of achievement and progress when overcoming those obstacles which is missing totally in this game. It feels like they deliberately made this game hard, punishing and not fulfilling. It just baffles me as to why they took this route when their other games where -Sekiro is hard and for all the wrong reasons. Yes this is a from software game but what DS & BB did was give you a feeling of achievement and progress when overcoming those obstacles which is missing totally in this game. It feels like they deliberately made this game hard, punishing and not fulfilling. It just baffles me as to why they took this route when their other games where - despite the difficulty - well received and loved whereas this game will/is not. Yes there are people enjoying it and I'm happy for them. I've played easily over 800h in from's worlds and the games never felt undeserved except in defined areas/locals. This game however has a convoluted gameplay system, very hard to master/even grasp mechanics and enemies that just are not fun to play against. Yes you can master it but to what end? Just for the sake of it?
    There is no reason to play through it again unless you want to platinum or show others how (get) "good" you are. No different builds but only different "prostetics".
    I'm just disappointed in the final product because they could have made a(-nother) masterpiece yet focused too hard on difficulty than fun/feeling of overcoming obstacles.
    In my opinion a game isn't good because it is hard. A game has to have some traits that define it other than the difficulty and overall has to be fun to be played. This game doesn't give me satisfaction (in killing enemies, bosses, progressing), it just drags on. Not worth it for me hope you like it.    … Expand
  10. Grandmaster7
    Mar 29, 2019
    5
    this is not the kind of game from FS that we would like to see, it's a curve slasher that you get tired of, removed the old mechanics by adding slasher elements...
  11. Pisces021
    Jan 10, 2020
    5
    the one who designed the headless fight knows the hardships of life how u r enemy knocks u down everytime u try to get up that fight was inspired by that but it's so frustrating !
  12. Hobobo
    Mar 25, 2019
    5
    Not as good as I was expecting. I've played all the Souls games and Bloodborne is my second favorite game of all time. Sekiro though... it doesn't hold up as well as those other titles. Some of my main gripes are as follows;

    - No Armor? Wow, I can't believe I'm actually typing that, but Sekiro has no armor/loot system. That's one of the most fun aspects of Souls games in my opinion. I    Not as good as I was expecting. I've played all the Souls games and Bloodborne is my second favorite game of all time. Sekiro though... it doesn't hold up as well as those other titles. Some of my main gripes are as follows;

    - No Armor? Wow, I can't believe I'm actually typing that, but Sekiro has no armor/loot system. That's one of the most fun aspects of Souls games in my opinion. I loved grinding enemies for different loot/weapons. Not sure why they scrapped such a cool aspect of their games.

    - Guard system is pointless and broken. I just run around and poke bosses to death or find other means to cheese them because the combat is so broken. There's no poise or shields in this game. Instead FromSoft wants players to block with a little sword? What??? Most enemies will destroy your guard and instakill you if you try to block.

    - Dodge frames have been nerfed. The dodging in this game is terrible and has almost no invincible frames like past games. It's practically impossible to dodge boss ultimate attacks, you'll have to pop some food buffs and just pray your vitality can tank the hit because dodging is very unsafe. This mixed in with the bad guard system makes things an all around mess.

    - Weak boss line up. Most bosses/ mini bosses are just dudes with swords/lances/guns. It gets pretty uninteresting half way through the game. Granted there are like 4 boss fights that are cool, but you gotta grit through all the boring stuff to get to them.

    I could keep going, but I really don't want to waste much more time on this game. Sekiro is pretty mediocre and that's unfortunate for Souls fans because now we're left waiting for the next installment to those good games. Luckily, if you're looking for a good samurai souls game to play in the meantime, I highly recommend checking out Nioh. It's a much better attempt at this genre than Sekiro is in my opinion and the DLC is some of the hardest/funnest stuff I've played. It also has an amazing loot system to boot.    … Expand
  13. Ventrus
    Apr 1, 2019
    7
    In Sekiro, From Software boils down the combat of Dark Souls and Bloodborne to it’s most brutal and intimate – where constant engagement with the enemy is required to succeed. However, much of the variety and satisfaction that is typical of From’s other Souls- like games has also be been boiled away. Partly due to the setting and theme of the game, but I fear it is also because FromIn Sekiro, From Software boils down the combat of Dark Souls and Bloodborne to it’s most brutal and intimate – where constant engagement with the enemy is required to succeed. However, much of the variety and satisfaction that is typical of From’s other Souls- like games has also be been boiled away. Partly due to the setting and theme of the game, but I fear it is also because From Software are starting to believe their own hype.

    The commitment to sword fighting certainly gives Sekiro it’s own flavour and soul. You defeat enemies through strict attacks, parries and deflection usually when the enemy telegraphs a specific move. ‘Hanging Back’ or Shield/Tanking will get you murdered fast. Some encounters have large arenas but ‘giving yourself room’ will only just prolong your very certain death. Most fights require you to waltz in uncomfortably close proximity to very intimidating people – a waltz you instinctually fight against.

    Your agency as a player becomes limited once you are close enough to fight, as responses need to be very specific. This translates to reduced satisfaction – I didn’t ‘beat’ bosses so much as I responded in the required way to their actions – never really feeling like I had overcome the enemy – but was only allowed pass the area after following the enemies orders.

    At times it seems that the game is trying to be frustrating for the sake of its own rep (as opposed to increased satisfaction of victory).

    Specifically with bosses whose attack telegraphing is so subtle that it’s incredibly difficult to figure out what attack is coming in the 1 second you have to react. You need to be very active and get toe to toe with the boss, but you absolutely cannot trade blows either because your health bar is some sort of prank for those gullible enough to think it makes any difference to your survivability.

    Most boss hits will either knock off 90 percent of your entire bar, our just outright kill you. Any hit you survive will require 2 seconds to heal, an action which some bosses are programmed to leap across the arena in that very moment and immediately remove that health you just got back.

    Sekiro bloody knows this too. There is a resurrection mechanic whereby you resurrect where you died (sometimes resurrecting twice is possible depending on progress) to continue the fight. Which tells me that the developers knew how cheap death could be and added the respawn mechanic after developing the main combat to help balance things.

    I can already hear the response that this was due to the plot thread of immortality and resurrection – but that would work anyway from the fact that you can revive at a bonfire (called buddha ‘Idols’’) like other Souls-like games. The resurrection mechanic feels like a development patch.

    Sekiro seems to be heading towards another critical point of Souls-like in the form of ‘shared knowledge’ – where much of the content is discovered through communities/wikis. I found this to be much less appropriate in Sekiro because it is definitely a single player game – there’s no co-op or invasions. I’m also pretty sure I would still be stuck on some of the bosses now if I hadn’t looked up solutions.

    I thought about a time when I was playing games before I had the internet, and if I was playing Sekiro then there would be no way I’d have figured this out. And it’s not optional stuff either – its critical path main story progress.

    This is not a bad game, in fact it has many of the good quality for Froms other souls like. Great areas to explore, will designed characters and and interesting story - But it's pushing too far in the name of its own rep. The builds, magic, dodge rolling of other games is gone but not replaced with anything as substantial. The prosthetic tools are surprizingly useless as you ultimately need to play guitar hero with each encounter. There is no creativeness in success. Just tap in line with how the developers demand, to be allowed continue.

    I have not enough space to flash out specifics, but a more in dept and more or less spoiler-free review can be found on my site:

    theboilingpot dot net

    I was able to play to the end but I took so little away when comparing to Froms other games. Each encounter victory did not leave me with a quickened heart rate but with a feeling of jumping through hoops at the whim of developers who felt they needed to reach a saltiness quota.

    Sekiro is a game with alot of quality yet is never reached the impact as it otherwise may have.    … Expand
  14. 2slavuta
    Dec 25, 2019
    5
    Weak, very weak in comparison to number of mechanics and game play styles in Dark Souls. Few sword attacks, few tools that can be used rarely and a LOT of useless skills that make you feel stupid because of your decision and amount of time you spent to get them. All the time I felt that my time is not respected, hours of game play to become stronger, but no... you are not so strong andWeak, very weak in comparison to number of mechanics and game play styles in Dark Souls. Few sword attacks, few tools that can be used rarely and a LOT of useless skills that make you feel stupid because of your decision and amount of time you spent to get them. All the time I felt that my time is not respected, hours of game play to become stronger, but no... you are not so strong and never will be.
    Weak, very weak art in comparison to BloodBorne. There was a few nice, but not breath-taking places, there were only several memorable but painful bosses.
    I didn't feel the presence of magic like in other Miyazaki games, nothing except concentration and feeling tired from the game already on the third hour. I've finished the game because I've waited for something that has never arrived.
    Bosses, oh these bosses. Too often, too alike, some are unreasonably strong - you rarely will be able to play the game, all the time you will just run for another attempt to defeat a boss. Some times even the same re-skinned boss, and here I mean many these "some times". It is obvious for me that the development time spent on game was not enough, so it was artificially enlarged.
    There are few things that I liked: Ashina Castle, Senpou temple, and few bosses, first fight and secret of win. But this game did not bring me the joy, this game did not become center of my relaxation time as it was before with Dark Souls.    … Expand
  15. disturbed1264
    Apr 21, 2019
    7
    Sekiro is a good game, certainly not a great game. A huge step back from dark souls and bloodborne. The lack of effort in this creation is very evident, disgraceful when you start replaying areas on the first
    playthrough.
  16. wollathet
    Mar 31, 2019
    6
    As a long time fan of FromSoftware games I was really looking forward to this, especially given everything that Bloodborne brought to the series which was a welcome change, Sekiro has disappointed me. The game is hard, yes, but it’s made harder through the new levelling system where you collect prayer beads for vitality increase and memories for attack from bosses and mini-bosses. ThatAs a long time fan of FromSoftware games I was really looking forward to this, especially given everything that Bloodborne brought to the series which was a welcome change, Sekiro has disappointed me. The game is hard, yes, but it’s made harder through the new levelling system where you collect prayer beads for vitality increase and memories for attack from bosses and mini-bosses. That means there’s no longer the ability to farm xp and develop a build to suit the players style and work to have a balance to deal with everything the game throws at you. Instead there is a skill tree, which is pretty decent, but without getting to invest into attack, healthy, stamina, or defence, you still have the same attack power and health until the bosses are dealt with. Rather than take chances, there is a tendency to play with caution and not use the abilities in the same manner you would in other games. Unfortunately the enemy design is pretty bland, meaning you will encounter the same enemies time and time again and use the same technique of block, parry, counter with a deathblow, instead of relying on the skills learned.

    Sekiro introduces a new stealth mechanic but it’s underwhelming. Facing multiple enemies head on is sure to get you killed, so instead you’re to watch, wait and take enemies out silently. The problem is in the takedowns; they aren’t very stealthy and will alert nearby enemies in a second. Leaping from above will yield the same results, and the is no option to drop down silently. Instead, you have to pick a direction and leap forward. It’s clunky, and feels thrown on at the end as it doesn’t differ from the DSBB drop attacks and backstabs. Obviously it’s a problem on the ground too with not being able to silently move from cover to cover of traverse objects. It’s only truly effective when moving in tall grass. Cheesing enemies is possibly but it means that you stealth one, run and hide and repeat.

    I wish I could like this a lot more, but sadly I’m not enjoying my time with it and I rarely play for more than 90 minutes and I start getting tired of it. The boss fights are different and you have to pay attention. It’s required to take some time and defend to learn the attacks and each is refreshing but the key is always parry and counter. Unfortunately after dealing with much of the enemies in the same was there is a loss of excitement when makes moments fall a bit flat; the ending fight (I think I got worst ending) is really anti-climactic

    I cant see myself coming back to it again. It’s a shame, as I really wanted to like this, but at times it felt like an effort to preserve when the same type of enemies are ahead. Yes, people will say that if you don’t like it you’re a causal and don’t deserve the game, but that’s not a tight argument, and I don’t believe the game should have an easy mode. The problems with Sekiro are towards the mechanics and the game design which relies too heavily on repetition. If you enjoy this, and like your games to be Sisyphean then you will probably get something here, but if not, you may find it to be an uneventful slog    … Expand
  17. AloyOfNora
    Mar 25, 2019
    7
    To provide some background, I have completely soloed every Dark Souls game and Bloodborne multiple times and have well over 500 hours combined in them.

    The artwork of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is absolutely incredible. Beautiful colors and designs are a treat. The vertical traversal with your arm prosthetic is also a delight, acting as a Hookshot from the Zelda series but with a    To provide some background, I have completely soloed every Dark Souls game and Bloodborne multiple times and have well over 500 hours combined in them.

    The artwork of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is absolutely incredible. Beautiful colors and designs are a treat. The vertical traversal with your arm prosthetic is also a delight, acting as a Hookshot from the Zelda series but with a delightful elegance and animation. Vertical exploration and traversal is great. Where this game falters is primarily with the poorly designed combat, which is built from the ground up around a Posture system...and the boss design.

    The Posture system is a mess, giving the combat a SPAM feel. It's essentially a glorified and fancy QTE system, with much less emphasis on precise dodging and more on mashing appropriate buttons at appropriate times (colored symbols are also flashed). The entire combat system feels like big regression from FromSoftware masterpieces in the past. Also gone are stat values and variety in weapons and armor, leading to shallow, linear and limited character progression.

    Boss design is also very disappointing and a tremendous step backwards from previous games. Bosses are nowhere near as fun to fight and feel less rewarding to defeat, despite all bosses being easier than the hardest Soulsborne bosses.

    Overall, Sekiro is a solid game with fun to be had, but it is easily the worst FromSoftware game in over a decade. Hopefully, FromSoftware will deliver a sequel to their masterpiece Bloodborne and learn from missteps made in Sekiro.    … Expand
  18. Zidane_Mina
    Apr 1, 2019
    7
    A good game with interesitn combat mechanics. Unlike FromSoftware predecesors, Sekiro is build arround one single build: shinobi. Parry and counters are key to victory, and rolling out of attacks is not as a good move like it was in Bloodborne or the Souls Games, meaning here agresion and parry are the keys to achieve victory.

    The problem i have with this is that removes plenty of    A good game with interesitn combat mechanics. Unlike FromSoftware predecesors, Sekiro is build arround one single build: shinobi. Parry and counters are key to victory, and rolling out of attacks is not as a good move like it was in Bloodborne or the Souls Games, meaning here agresion and parry are the keys to achieve victory.

    The problem i have with this is that removes plenty of options for diferent playthoughs, since experimentation is way smaller than any other games, and it sometimes feels like the game cracked the dificulty dial way to high. Unlike the other games, whenever i defeated some bosses in Sekiro i did not felt accomplished, but more on the lines of "finally getting rid of that guy", insted of feeling victorious, i felt the pain finaly came to an end, which is the wrong kind of relief in my book.

    Most of the bosses felt uninspired, except for 3 grand ones that will stick in my memory for years to come: Divine Dragon, Lord Genishiro and "The Saint Sword", being the last one the greatest boss ever developed by FromSoftware.

    In the end, even tough i think this is a good game, i don't see myself returning to it in the near future, hence why i cant give it a higher score. I wanted to love this game, but i could not.    … Expand
  19. Vaxkang
    Apr 8, 2019
    7
    Great at times, tedious at times. After 45 hours or so I would have to admit this game is a step back from previous games. The game itself is punishing to start but you do get better, gamers will typically get to a point where it starts to feel tedious though.

    The combat is all about the timing and deflections and it is hard, very hard. That in itself is not a bad thing but the    Great at times, tedious at times. After 45 hours or so I would have to admit this game is a step back from previous games. The game itself is punishing to start but you do get better, gamers will typically get to a point where it starts to feel tedious though.

    The combat is all about the timing and deflections and it is hard, very hard. That in itself is not a bad thing but the payoff is very poorly done. You really get nothing for your hard work, all those deaths and trying over and over....no armour, no new weapons. The skill tree just eventually gets full, there is no real build to try.

    Most people will just look up cheese strats, so many online to choose from. The combat has some depth but there will be zero depth in replayability. I like the game, I do not love it like I have with other From Software games.    … Expand
  20. spaghetti-cop
    Mar 31, 2019
    7
    I've been all over the place with Sekiro. When I started it, I was hooked. The combat was interesting as were the story and characters; just what I've come to expect from Fromsoft. Then I hit a couple brick walls that made me wonder if the game was for me. Several bosses felt way overpowered while my own options were lacking. Make a couple mistakes and you die. I was very close the puttingI've been all over the place with Sekiro. When I started it, I was hooked. The combat was interesting as were the story and characters; just what I've come to expect from Fromsoft. Then I hit a couple brick walls that made me wonder if the game was for me. Several bosses felt way overpowered while my own options were lacking. Make a couple mistakes and you die. I was very close the putting the game down and chocking it up to it "not being for me."

    I decided I would trudge through, and I'm glad that I did. The game has some really special moments and the story does a great job at motivating you to see them all. My combat abilities were expanding as quickly as my shinobi arsenal, and I finally got into the groove. I'm glad I stuck it out because I started to have a lot of fun...but

    Then I hit a few more brick walls and the process began anew. Another ridiculously hard boss here or there that I eventually overcame after immense mental fatigue. Once I got through, the game gave me more areas to explore in its final act than what I'm used to in a Fromsoft game which was very cool. What wasn't very cool was fighting 4-5 of the sub/bosses again but either palette swapped or in greater numbers...lame. I really hate padding in my games and soulsborne games usually do a pretty good job of avoiding that..

    Once I worked my way to the end the hardest boss I've ever fought was in my way of seeing the credits roll. This guy killed me countless times and the game forces you to LIGHT SPOILERS fight each of its forms every time you retry. I was getting really exhausted by the end of it, and when I finally hit the killing blow and the credits rolled I thought to myself "Damn that was barely worth the effort"

    This is a solid, quality video game to be sure, but it's really held back by how ridiculously difficult it is. Better telegraphed unblockable moves, snappier inputs (sekiro sometimes just doesn't register button presses which is very irksome in a game that requires so much precision), a better battle camera, and a little trimming of the fat and this game would be a strong 9. As it stands now, I have to give it a 7.5. It just felt like the game didn't want me to enjoy it. It just wanted to dump on me at every opportunity.    … Expand
  21. CraigEchols
    Mar 23, 2019
    7
    Not a bad game, just don't understand what the hype is about.

    Given all the hype that was surrounding this game, I was really looking forward to it, and in all honest I have enjoyed playing it. I just don't get what everyone is so up in arms with it about. For starters, the game's story is really good, honestly, with a character you can really sink your time into in Sekiro. It's    Not a bad game, just don't understand what the hype is about.

    Given all the hype that was surrounding this game, I was really looking forward to it, and in all honest I have enjoyed playing it. I just don't get what everyone is so up in arms with it about.

    For starters, the game's story is really good, honestly, with a character you can really sink your time into in Sekiro. It's FromSoftware's first protagonist that you can actually develop with in terms of character. Sekiro is a pure bad-ass for sure. While the grappling hook is a clear steal from a well known Nintendo franchise, it is used very well in this game in for the stealth aspect. The action overall action isn't bad either.

    Thank you for finally adding a freaking jump button. That may not seem like much of a concern to others, but a jump button really helps me manuaver through a battle better than simply rolling/dodging. That's just me. Also, I love the "no stamina" gauge idea. Personally, I always felt that games that featured a stamina gauge steered the advantage towards enemies/bosses because it always seemed like they had unlimited stamina (even if they had a gauge).

    So why the mediocre 7/10 score? To put it simply, this game doesn't really add anything new to the genre for me. Let's be real, if this wasn't a FromSoftware game, would you even care? Let's take off the rose-colored glasses for a second.

    First off, as mentioned by others, the only main weapon in this game is a katana (and some shuriken). While it may not seem like a big deal, it really is. It makes every battle the same. Either you stealth stab someone with your sword, or you rush an cut them with your sword. In ancient history, ninjas (shinobi included) used various weapons such as blowguns, caltrops, hook swords, chigiriki (flail), kusari-gama (chained-blade), polearms, and even some bows. So, why the lack of variety in this game? Even the most basic of action games gave the player a bit of variety in order to help them decide how to approach battles. Even the 8 bit Zelda games gave you a bow and a hammer.

    The graphics leave a bit to be desired (especially from a 2019), however, that doesn't bother me quite as much as others. As long as the game doesn't break, I'm OK with it.

    Going back to combat, it feels really weird that the game is based off of breaking enemy guard and parrying, and yet, there is no stamina. It sort of makes you sit back and say, "Well, what't the difference?" because, well, what is the difference? Isn't that a stamina thing? Fights are more fast-paced, but it given you essentially have to use the same patience as other FromSoftware titles, it can make harder battles (particularly boss battles) feel like "hurry up and wait" kind of strategy.

    Also, for a game that is getting such praise, I expected something...different. Pretty much every mechanic from this game has been used before in wide variety. The grappling hook, as mentioned, was used in the Zelda games, the parrying/guard-break mechanic was used in many games including previous FromSoftware titles, the cinematic death-dealing blows have been used by God of War since the beginning, reviving on the spot or at previous checkpoints has been used in pretty much every game, the ninja stealth mechanic was the basis of the entire Shinobido series (hell Sekiro even looks like Goh from that game), even the revenge story in this game is pretty copy and paste from various other revenge story games.

    I think that because this is a FromSoftware title, its getting quite a bit more accolade than it deserves. That's not to say this is a bad game because its not. In terms of action games, it should satisfy anyone who has an itch for it with FS's trademark difficulty. However, as far as anything special or new to the genre, I would argue that Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is more original than Sekiro.

    TL;DR: Not a bad game, just over-hyped.    … Expand
  22. Dredd731
    Apr 5, 2019
    6
    Frustratingly difficult, even for soulsbourne vets. Fairly bland world without much variation. No gear drops, no way to change appearance. Why am I playing this? Oh yeah, gourd and bead drops. Maybe it's time to reconsider.
  23. roastbird
    Mar 23, 2019
    5
    3 a.m. here and i am giving up.

    First impression: Nioh in a DS shell. Story is ok. Then the game system. I won't say it is difficult or something, I survived until lady butterfly. The real problem is, The game is hard is not because of trap/skill or anything the same in Dark soul series. The game is hard because you have 0 skills(Deflect and Attack with a sword to the end), 3    3 a.m. here and i am giving up.

    First impression: Nioh in a DS shell.
    Story is ok.
    Then the game system.

    I won't say it is difficult or something, I survived until lady butterfly.
    The real problem is,
    The game is hard is not because of trap/skill or anything the same in Dark soul series.
    The game is hard because you have
    0 skills(Deflect and Attack with a sword to the end),
    3 HP(any enemy can kill you in two hit)
    And your enemies, "supernatural", "space-magic", etc

    I will say it is super fun at the beginning,
    soon you will found everything is same,
    and you are not getting strong when you win a boss fight or anything
    and you don't really care about the story....
    And nothing to explore or discover...

    Luckily I bought game stop pre-order return service....
    Yeah, I want my money back    … Expand
  24. Terium
    Apr 10, 2019
    7
    Daisukereds review sums up exactly my feelings on this game. I really want to like it more but it's a poorly balanced game and I don't mean just in terms of difficulty. The shinobi tools can be good (and even gamebreaking) on some fights but on the harder ones, they're pretty useless and the ones focused on dealing damage/posture damage are ridiculously underpowered even to the extent thatDaisukereds review sums up exactly my feelings on this game. I really want to like it more but it's a poorly balanced game and I don't mean just in terms of difficulty. The shinobi tools can be good (and even gamebreaking) on some fights but on the harder ones, they're pretty useless and the ones focused on dealing damage/posture damage are ridiculously underpowered even to the extent that it's likely better to just press R1. There's no builds, no armor, no weapons and the upgrades you get is pretty worthless except for some that should've been baseline anyway (Mikiri Counter). The environments are okay but they don't come close to the diversity of the other "soulsborne" games (hesitating to include Sekiro in this genre). The story is overall easier to understand but it somehow just takes away from what I love about the other games. Exploration can sometimes be rewarding but 99% of the time you only find some **** consumable that can be bought from the merchant for cheap anyway. The upgrade materials for your tools don't generate the same feeling that finding a blood shard or titanite chunk does since the upgrade won't do much anyway. Unlike all the other soulsborne games, I just can't wait to be done with this one and I probably won't be replaying it ever again once I'm done with all the trophies. I've seen a lot of people saying this game is even more satisfying than the other games but I never felt satisfied after beating a boss, I just felt annoyed and wanted to stop playing. I genuinely hope that people giving this 10/10 are just high on the fumes of hype. For me, it's WAY to repetitive and it's missing a lot of what makes the soulsborne games so good. I'll hold out hope for Bloodborne 2 since this game has left me with very mixed feelings. I do admit that I'm somewhat biased as this is a game made by From Software, I was expecting more and as a result my final score may be somewhat low compared to if this was made by another developer.… Expand
  25. nating51
    Apr 16, 2019
    7
    Nice game, great art direction, great combat system and all, but it lacks a lot from a replay value side. After you platinum'd the game, get all prosthetics, all skills and beat every boss, there's no real sense to play it again as the game experience will be the same over and over again. I like the action approach to this game, with no stats or classes, and I really appreciate the idea ofNice game, great art direction, great combat system and all, but it lacks a lot from a replay value side. After you platinum'd the game, get all prosthetics, all skills and beat every boss, there's no real sense to play it again as the game experience will be the same over and over again. I like the action approach to this game, with no stats or classes, and I really appreciate the idea of skill trees, but I would have preferred a game where you make your own "build" to accomplish the adventure, in order to make the game a lot more interesting (and creative to the player) in future playthrough. It would have increased the replay value to some extent.… Expand
  26. seburo
    Apr 30, 2019
    7
    For me its a 7 because two main reasons: the repetition of some stages and enemies and, and most important, the excess of exigency. I'm a Dark Souls veteran. I've played all 3, Dark Souls 1 blew my mind and I played it a lot. I completed Bloodborne because of my love towards FROM, didn't liked it because terror is not my genre, but appreciated it. Now I wanted to love Sekiro, I'm a big fanFor me its a 7 because two main reasons: the repetition of some stages and enemies and, and most important, the excess of exigency. I'm a Dark Souls veteran. I've played all 3, Dark Souls 1 blew my mind and I played it a lot. I completed Bloodborne because of my love towards FROM, didn't liked it because terror is not my genre, but appreciated it. Now I wanted to love Sekiro, I'm a big fan of japanese culture, and I really wanted to love it. But, after 3 runs, and having completed it once. I'm too tired. The parry system is too stressful, and I don't like to feel that vulnerable. Besides, the final boss is really unfair (in my opinion) because it is NECESSARY to complete the game. If it was an optional boss I wouldn't have a problem with its absurd exigency but since you need to beat him to complete the game, for me it was a wall, and I didn't enjoyed it, I endured it. When I finally beat it I felt relief, not joy. I think its time for FROM software to rethink the accessibility of their games. I think they don't need to make difficult games just because that's their brand. They have other qualities: great action, atmosphere, music and design. And there are a ton of masterpieces with difficulty selector. I hope they wanted their games to reach everybody.… Expand
  27. THE_COCONUT_MAN
    Mar 24, 2019
    5
    I really love the atmosphere and setting, it feels like it could of been a next gen Tenchu game, which would of been awesome.

    Overall it's Dark Souls-esque without the RPG elements or any sense of variety. If you're a fan of Nioh or Bloodborne, this game is for you, because the combat borrows elements from both. I feel like the game would of benefited from adopting a similar vein to    I really love the atmosphere and setting, it feels like it could of been a next gen Tenchu game, which would of been awesome.

    Overall it's Dark Souls-esque without the RPG elements or any sense of variety. If you're a fan of Nioh or Bloodborne, this game is for you, because the combat borrows elements from both.

    I feel like the game would of benefited from adopting a similar vein to early FROM games such as Otogi or Tenchu - i.e levels rather than a pseudo-open world that you teleport around in.

    I can see why people like it and it's great to have some more single player games on the market - but I personally couldn't get into the game due it's parrying/combat mechanics (something that turned me off the likes of Bloodborne and Nioh), lack of variety or levelling system and the fact that bosses get all their health back after you kill them.    … Expand
  28. zht09
    Mar 24, 2019
    6
    Normally I wouldn't bother leaving a review on a game but the fact that Sekiro is currently scored higher than Demon's, Dark Souls, and Dark Souls III is just a factually wrong statement. You can see plenty of evidence for this if you just look at the userscores to be honest. Demon's, DS 1 & 3, and Bloodborne are all 8.8-8.9 on userscore which is accurate. They're great games but they'reNormally I wouldn't bother leaving a review on a game but the fact that Sekiro is currently scored higher than Demon's, Dark Souls, and Dark Souls III is just a factually wrong statement. You can see plenty of evidence for this if you just look at the userscores to be honest. Demon's, DS 1 & 3, and Bloodborne are all 8.8-8.9 on userscore which is accurate. They're great games but they're by no means flawless. Meanwhile Sekiro and DS II are barely floating over an 8 on userscores so clearly there's a significant number of people that disagree with the critic scores. Gonna be honest, I'm not a reviewer so don't expect me to give some amazing review just enjoy the thoughts of a Soulsborne fan that was severely disappointed with Sekiro.

    Anyways, the game itself is fine. The combat can be fun and enjoyable but for a game that's supposed to not be a Souls game it is too similar to a Souls game without retaining the same things that make a Souls game fun. To name a few of the removed things weapon and armor variety as well as being able to create any kind of character you want. Instead you're given a singular weapon and what is more or less just a normal Souls item in the form of the Shinobi Arm. At the very least the first couple are just a throwing knife and the Souls kick that breaks the guard of enemies using a shield. The axe is more permanent as it actually breaks the shield but it still does the same job of breaking their guard and opening them up to a Riposte/Deathblow which are basically the same thing as they typically kill the enemy using the shield unless they're special in some way.

    The same Bonfire/Enemy Respawn mechanic is back again and you still have an Estus Flask albeit with a different name. The only real difference here is the grappling hook and ability to jump and crouch. Some would say Stealth as well but you can stealth Souls games to some degree and I wouldn't exactly call Sekiro that different. Sure it works great sometimes but sometimes the enemies are just placed in a way that you can't just stealth the area much like normal Soulsborne.

    The last and biggest complaint I have here is ironically about the same thing that From is known for doing well which are the bosses in the game. Soulsborne bosses have always been somewhat grand encounters which stand out significantly from the rest of the gameplay. In Sekiro, they've literally just been normal people that just don't die and can kill you in 2 hits regardless. I was honestly questioning if what I was calling bosses were even bosses as they're just laid out in the level like normal enemies just with multiple health bars so your instakill move doesn't instakill them. They're not especially memorable either and of the first 6 I know at least 2 are basically identical samurais with big katanas. The difficulty is all over the place but an average person has basically no chance of legitimately beating a boss without a lot of deaths which is only further dampened by the fact that the game penalizes you for dying too much. As for what that penalty does exactly, I don't know. I got tired of the game and quit playing after around 6 bosses so I never found out. Not that it really mattered to me anyways as I didn't care about the characters in the game as they're not especially interesting.

    I honestly wish I could say the game was better but it's just not that great. It's not a bad game exactly but it's basically crippled in my eyes due to its standing as a From Software game much like DS II. I'd honestly recommend Nioh over it as Nioh at least has a lot of combat and enemy variety.    … Expand
  29. Indrigis
    Mar 29, 2019
    7
    Let me start by saying that if you're a die hard fan of Dank Souls and I Wanna Be The Guy, Sekiro might be a 9 if not a 10 for you. I am not such a fan, so I grant it a 7. Generously.

    Sekiro looks gorgeous, that much is true. It just lacks free roam content that is there for viewing only. Everything is functional, sadly, so you don't get to just look in awe. However, gameplay-wise it    Let me start by saying that if you're a die hard fan of Dank Souls and I Wanna Be The Guy, Sekiro might be a 9 if not a 10 for you. I am not such a fan, so I grant it a 7. Generously.

    Sekiro looks gorgeous, that much is true. It just lacks free roam content that is there for viewing only. Everything is functional, sadly, so you don't get to just look in awe.

    However, gameplay-wise it feels like a DS game turned to 11. As if the designer listened to the fans chanting "hardcore, so hard, so fun, so elite, truly Dark Souls is the Dark Souls of gaming", shrugged and said "well, if that is the only thing you care about..." and then just pushed every other concern aside.

    Despite what was promised early on, the "Shinobi" part is pretty bleak. Stealth and subterfuge are not really Wolf's strong suit and most enemies are placed in such ways that killing them stealthily takes time and doesn't pay extra. Skipping entire groups of enemies means depriving yourself of experience, money and items. Besides that, many grapple points are placed just far enough apart that you won't be able to spiderman your way through, forcing you to crouch and creep around between grappling, breaking any tempo you might have had.

    Then there's the combat. It comes with a major problem - normal enemies are fast, come in groups and have no friendly fire whatsoever. You let go of the block button once and take a flaming arrow to the face, said arrow coming straight through three or four enemies. Annoying, isn't it? Also, nothing staggers, unlike you. So you can take an axe to the face with no warning or prior parry, just because the enemy decided to swing it and there's nothing you could do. Parry is the name of the game but it doesn't add depth, just width. You can only git gud mechanically, but not strategically, sadly.

    The worst offender is the camera. While it's nice of the developers to try and help the player ever so slightly, the target lock and camera reset are on the same button and target lock has a mind of its own and shifts around if you try to move the camera because... you guessed it. "Switch target" is on the same four buttons as "rotate camera". There's a setting for targeting aid when not locked on, but the game doesn't seem to aid me even slightly - without target lock enemies just sidestep while Wolf keeps moving forward even if I rotate the camera mid-combo.

    And while I am all for understanding that Sekiro is not a slasher like DmC V, I can't help noticing that Wolf moves so fast and jumps so high his physics are much more fit for an arcade rather than a "hardcore" swordfighting game.    … Expand
  30. GreyFox_7
    Mar 29, 2019
    5
    For their sake I hope they don't do another game like this as the next round won't have the sales to go with it if user response is any indication and they have a loyal and good fanbase from Soulsborne and I didn't think anything could make Bloodborne look even better than it is but this game does just that. The combat and systems in Soulsbourne are deliberate and Bloodborne has theFor their sake I hope they don't do another game like this as the next round won't have the sales to go with it if user response is any indication and they have a loyal and good fanbase from Soulsborne and I didn't think anything could make Bloodborne look even better than it is but this game does just that. The combat and systems in Soulsbourne are deliberate and Bloodborne has the perfect mixture of SP, co op, PVP, story, combat, etc. That's the formula they should stick to and as long as they do those these one offs shouldn't be a big deal but it's going to get the review it deserves regardless of past games.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Best PS4 Game of 2019
5
#5 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2019
5
#5 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 77 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 76 out of 77
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 77
  3. Negative: 1 out of 77
  1. RPGamer
    Dec 17, 2024
    90
    Overall, Sekiro is defined by its riveting, challenging, and ultimately highly rewarding gameplay. Stemming from simplicity but giving a wide variety of different combat options, few games come close to matching the exhilarating rush that Sekiro’s best moments provide. Exploring its atmospherically engrossing levels is a treat, from a visual, musical, and atmospheric standpoint. Even if exploration and character storylines are sometimes hampered by Dragonrot, repeatedly severing the immortality of bosses with brutal “Shinobi Executions” and discovering the ritual secrets of eternal life offers a captivating experience that stands out as one of FromSoftware’s best and most distinctive titles.
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  2. Gamers' Temple
    May 15, 2019
    90
    Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is an enjoyable, yet deeply challenging game. It's not really a Dark Souls with samurais game, but whether or not you enjoyed the difficulty level of the battles in Dark Souls will be a good benchmark in gauging how much you'll like Sekiro. If you're persistent, up for a challenge, and don't become frustrated easily, then Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is an easy game to recommend.
    Read full review
  3. Daily Star
    Apr 28, 2019
    100
    Though Sekiro feels impossibly hard at times, the level of euphoria you experience when delivering a death blow to a tricky boss or when you finally clear a castle grounds of all enemies is almost unparalleled.
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