Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

There's now an Item and Enemy Randomizer mod available, and it's great.

I only did the item randomizer at pretty much max randomness, and I thought I had exhausted the game after 100 hours, but it turns out there were a couple nooks and crannies I never knew about, which of course had key progression items.

It also includes a bunch of other options, like a guaranteed early Hirata Estate, which in hindsight I'd recommend if not randomizing enemies in order to maintain some balance. And in my case it was in Ashina Outskirts, but I overlooked it and missed out on the Mechanical Barrel, thus going through most of the game with no prosthetic upgrades.

But it worked out because enemy drops are randomized as well, so I had tons of endgame upgrade material, but none of the basic early stuff. In exchange, the standard Ashina mooks dropped the attack and defense boosting candies that the Monks usually have, so I had a steady supply of those.

The skills in the skill trees are randomized as well, and I got incredibly lucky with Mikiri Counter as the first skill in the first scroll I found, which led right into High Monk. The ability to explore, especially after reaching Ashina Castle, also means you can pick up Prayer Beads and Memories throughout the world, making you substantially stronger before fighting proper bosses.

So this was a very easy run (especially comapred a New Game w/ Demon Bell + No Charm), but it's still a lot of fun.

Next time through I'll throw in the enemy randomizer, which actually should be fairly balanced since you can stealth-kill endgame enemies just like all the rest, though bosses are a different story.

Edited by Eschaton on Mar 8th 2020 at 4:56:31 AM

I've been playing this for the past couple of weeks. It's very good, but I have some complaints. Currently fighting the last bonus boss before the final one.

My Main complaint is that there was never an expansion for this. I'd love a second game, but it feels like a missed opportunity to add a Bloodborne esque expansion.

I think it's my favourite of all the Soulsborne games. It definitely clicked a lot more than any of the others have.

Edited by GNinja on May 3rd 2020 at 7:56:57 PM

I was genuinely hopeful that all the teasing regarding Tomoe would eventually lead to us actually having a DLC centered around her.

My main complain about this game is that it just doesn't have the replay value that the Soulsborne series have. I still give it a 9/10, though. The game was fantastic from start to finish.

I’m guessing it was decided at some point that all hands on deck were needed for Elden Ring, because yeah, this being the first From Soft souls game to not get any DLC is weird to me.

Demon's Souls didn't have any, but they weren't expecting it to do very well, and were just surprised that it did as well as it did.

De S, DS 1, and DS 2 all had notorious development issues, and the DLC for all the Soulsborne titles are generally regarded as big improvements that round out the experience. Sekiro is distinct by releasing as the most complete and polished From Soft title, so DLC would certainly be nice, but it's nowhere near as essential.

I finished Sekiro. The final boss was great as is the overall game.

At first I thought that the emphasis on parrying would turn me off, but it honestly was easier to learn than I thought. It also helps how you have multiple tools at your disposal. I agree that the game suffers from Early Game Hell though.

The levels are well thought out and connect in cool ways. The boss are really well designed and memorable for the most part. Except for Demon of Hatred though. Fuck that asshole.

Edited by Aquaconda on May 8th 2020 at 6:41:42 AM

So, there's a co-op and invasions mod now.

Way to make a mode that completely misses the point of the original, guys..

Getting co-op to work with truly random people might be a tad more difficult than even getting the co-op to work at all.

Out of nowhere, a free update will be released on October 29th, featuring boss rematches, single-life boss rushes, some new cosmetic outfits, and recordings of player actions that can be uploaded, seen, and rated by other players (like messages in the Souls games).

Definitely looking forward to some of the boss rematches!

Man, imagine if the final challenge of a Gauntlet turns out to be the Demon of Hatred.

Ok, I've just finished off playthrough 1 of the game, and I gotta say - man have people repeatedly overexaggerated how hard this game is. I'd say some of the Souls games are harder, but Sekiro 1- has a much steeper learning curve and 2- allows less mistakes (especially in the early game, see point 1). But once you've got it, you're good. I think Owl (Father) was the boss I took most attempts on, but it never felt out of my grasp, while Demon of Hatred (he's just a BB boss, he's not that hard) and Sword Saint Isshin took me maybe one or two sittings to beat. The fucking fire bull was the biggest wall I faced by FAR - dropped me out of the game for months and months, my honest most dreaded boss after that (because I knew it was coming) was the rematch - the Sakura Bull in the Divine Lands, but it was a cake-walk as I had grasped the mechanics by then.

Honestly, getting the Rakuyo in Old Hunters is harder than the entirety of Sekiro.

Edited by GoldenKaos on Sep 18th 2020 at 3:15:57 PM

Did you do the curse bell? Because it increases the difficulty to NG+ level.

I used it briefly to farm. Otherwise I'll planning on getting the other endings through NG+ cycles.

Apologies for the necro, but it seems like the free DLC was released today. Anyone trying it out yet?

I've seen a few videos of it, and it seems like the Gauntlet of Strength challenges features adds a few new moves for some of the bosses.

I'm sad the GOTY edition didn't lower the price of the game any (it's way too expensive to buy in my region at its current price, even during a sale), but that was probably unrealistic to expect for a game that only launched last year.

I gave the first gauntlet a go. It's hard. On top of me being out of practice (and my 100% save file being charmless), the last boss for the first three gauntlets is a revamped one with new attack strings, including entirely new moves, which means learning a new set of patterns.

I've already seen that fourth gauntlet is the Pantheon of Ashina, featuring all the bosses plus the three new versions. No thanks. At least there isn't an achievement and an ending hidden behind this one. It's pure bragging rights, no reward or anything. The first three give you a technique and the other two costumes.

A boss rush mode? Fucking sweet.

made it to the last four bosses of the last gauntlet. so, 13 out of 17. WITHOUT KURO'S CHARM. my whole body's shaking right now. Gonna take a break before tackling on the last four.

I absolutely love this update. I've been thinking to myself "man i could do with refighting isshin or genichiro" several times over the past year but the perspective of going into ng+ and doing it all again was always a killjoy. this boss rematch mode is everything I wanted and then some more.

New genichiro is pretty cool. I do wish he had lower posture regeneration because it's really insane until you empty a couple stacks of his lifebar, which makes the first two phases drag on a bit more than necessary, but I found a way around that by punishing his openings with the axe. his new move, Sakura Dance, is also an absolute blessing as it works really well for me to assist with other fights. Also, the fact is can both evade sweeps AND reflect the lighting but stronger than the normal jump makes it so fucking awesome.

New Owl is the one who's the most pushing my shit in. The original fight was already a pretty long, drawn-out match of endurance, and his new tricks can sometimes punish you pretty unfairly. His vanish into three swords swings sometimes can't be parried if your character is turned just a bit too much on the other side and it has a nasty habit of killing you from almost full health, or putting you in the position for finisher. Still, a satisfying fight.

New Isshin is amazing, but paradoxically, easier than regular sword saint isshin for me. His new moves are really cool but they can be punished very harshly and with good consistency for me, which makes his dreaded second phase shorter and more manageable, along with making phase 3 more manageable if he decides to not use the lighting of Tomoe.

this update also made me actually properly learn Isshin Asshina, as I won the first time by the skin of my teeth with kuro's charm and never did it again. Now I can beat him pretty consistently even without kuro's charm.

I just wish Lady butterfly and Gyobu weren't the first bosses of the gauntlet. those two are the only bosses I just plain don't like/don't find very fun. it makes going back to the gauntlet (as well the first one, back when I did that one) a lot more dreadful.

Edited by Yumil on Nov 2nd 2020 at 5:57:20 PM

I haven't tried "Path of Shura" yet since I don't feel confident to take it on (it has you fighting the Demon of Hatred as the penultimate boss), but I did recently beat the "Divine Heir" Gauntlet of Strength.

I've mostly just been enjoying the Reflections of Strength, particularly Sword Saint Isshin.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES

Managed to complete the final gauntlet. Without kuro's charm. All 17 bosses. Thanks to all three of the inner bosses for being cooperative on that try for a change of pace.

It might be one of the hardest thing I've had to do in a videogame, but also one of the most satisfying. I feel like I could go back to doing it for fun sometimes when I want a challenge. I've played the hell out of Furi and I know a bit too much of that game inside out at this point.

Tried out the Shura Gauntlet of Strength for the first time. I didn't complete it due to losing to the final boss of the Gauntlet, but I'm at least proud I managed to get to the final boss on my first try.

I think it might also be my first time beating the Demon of Hatred in a single try.