DSOGaming has reviewed the action adventure Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice:

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Review

First off, this review is spoiler-free, apart from the introduction. The screenshots are mostly from the first area, and I’ve tried to avoid even the tiniest reveal past the start of the game. Please go on and read without fear of something being spoiled for you. I’ve made sure of this.

I will confess it from the very beginning, I died more than twice! I have no clue how many times I died (there’s no in-game counter like in Dark Souls 2), but my death count was probably well over a hundred times. This was just my first play-through.
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Not an RPG, Pausing
Sekiro features no classes, armors, weapons, or anything of the kind. There is only one armor and one sword which you will use through the whole game, and there are only two stats: vitality/posture and attack power. These stats are leveled up mostly by defeating bosses.

Therefore, this is not an RPG. This is a clear-cut third-person action/adventure game. However, there is still much to explore, secrets to find, and items to collect.

A bit random, but since Sekiro is strictly single-player, there is pause –actual pause. No more dying because someone is calling or ringing the door bell or trying to chat with you. Thank you FromSoftware, very much appreciated.
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Conclusion: I Loved It!
All in all I had so much fun with this game. I’ve been waiting for a good triple-A ninja game since Tenchu. Sekiro delivers intense sword-clashing combat and the feeling of being a real bad-ass ninja.

Combat never felt so rewarding for me, and almost every new encounter has taught me something new that helped me along the way. I find this reward of personal growth more satisfying than some sword or trinket I might not ever use.

This game is without a doubt not for everyone. The lack of classes, armor, weapons, and online play will keep some people away. However, if you’re open to something new and have much patience for precision-timing games, your efforts will be rewarded.

Some reviews for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice:

• Attack of the Fanboy – 4.5/5
• COGconnected – 88/100
• Destructoid – 9/10
• Game Informer – 9
• Gamespot – 9 (review in progress)
• GamingTrend – 95/100
• Hardcore Gamer – 4/5
• IGN – 9.5
• Polygon – No score
• The VG247 review – No score

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has been released on Steam.

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In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice you are the "one-armed wolf", a disgraced and disfigured warrior rescued from the brink of death. Bound to protect a young lord who is the descendant of an ancient bloodline, you become the target of many vicious enemies, including the dangerous Ashina clan. When the young lord is captured, nothing will stop you on a perilous quest to regain your honor, not even death itself.

Explore late 1500s Sengoku Japan, a brutal period of constant life and death conflict, as you come face to face with larger than life foes in a dark and twisted world. Unleash an arsenal of deadly prosthetic tools and powerful ninja abilities while you blend stealth, vertical traversal, and visceral head to head combat in a bloody confrontation.

Take Revenge. Restore your honor. Kill Ingeniously.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has a new gameplay overview trailer.

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Prepare yourself to journey into darkness in a new adventure by FromSoftware.

Sekiro™: Shadows Die Twice 3.22.2019.

The launch trailer for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

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Take revenge by any means necessary. Become the “One-armed Wolf” and rise from every fall when Sekiro™: Shadows Die Twice releases on 3.22.2019.

Winner of “Best of gamescom” and “Best Action Game” at gamescom 2018, Sekiro™: Shadows Die Twice is the next adventure from developer FromSoftware, creators of Bloodborne and the Dark Souls series.

Explore late 1500s Sengoku Japan, a brutal period of constant life and death conflict, as you come face-to-face with larger than life foes in a dark and twisted world.

Unleash an arsenal of deadly prosthetic tools and powerful ninja abilities while you blend stealth, vertical traversal, and visceral head-to-head combat in a bloody confrontation.

Take Revenge. Restore Your Honor. Kill Ingeniously.

Available 3.22.2019 https://www.sekirothegame.com/buy

PCGamesN previewed Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and a new video has appeared called 'Great Serpent'.

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On the slopes of Mount Kongo, I find myself skulking through the knotty undergrowth in pursuit of a group of orange-clad warrior monks. Making their way up the steps to a monastery, they’re completely unaware of me – the new crouch stance allows me to silently tail them. As they climb, the group naturally forms into a neat line, which is my cue to strike.

Closing in, a red mark on the rearmost monk indicates I can perform a takedown. I bury my katana deep in his flesh as blood erupts from the wound in a crimson geyser. He collapses quietly, allowing me to approach the next monk, who has remained blissfully unaware of his ally’s demise. Four backstabs later, the group is eliminated.

This is not how I’ve been taught to play FromSoftware games. It’s this that instantly makes Sekiro an exciting prospect. While its many sensibilities are unmistakably from the mind of Hidetaka Miyazaki – there are still bonfire-like checkpoints in the form of Sculptor’s Idols, and Rot Essence effectively parallels being Hollow – Sekiro’s approach to combat is almost Assassin’s Souls. Stealth is not only viable, it’s a vital ingredient in my deadly tool box.

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Thanks Farflame!

A new story trailer from IGN for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

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Take a look at the world of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice in this brutal cinematic trailer.

GameInformer conducted an interview with Hidetaka Miyazaki about Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Game Informer: We had a chance to see Sekiro and take on the Lady Butterfly. Is she some sort of shadowy gang of assassins from his past that he was a part of, or something like that? Because, it seemed like they knew each other. What’s the story between Sekiro and this memory?

Hidetaka Miyazaki: So, as you know, this is a scene set in the past and we talked about this character called The Owl, who you brought up earlier. He sort of plays a foster-father role to the protagonist. This character picked up Sekiro on the battlefield and raised him as a Shinobi and one of his old acquaintances – or part of that Shinobi system of allies – was this Lady Butterfly character. So, while [Owl] was training the protagonist and teaching him techniques, maybe he got to spar with this character or had some sort of menial relationship with her through the foster-father figure.

Are we going to be meeting any other characters from this shinobi clan?

So, we will save the actual names and number of these characters for the game itself, but in general having this key protagonist allows us to build a cast of characters around him, and his personality, and his history. We feel like these core characters that are central to his presence in the world, and his story are going to be playing a lot of that role of the story in the gameplay. So, we feel like you’ll be able to experience both his past, in that sense, and the here-and-now of where the game takes place.

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Thanks Farflame!

@Gamingbolt Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will have multiple intricate endings.

In some ways, though, it’s going to stick closely to what FromSoftware have done in the past. Recently, while speaking in an interview at the Taipei Gameshow (via PlayStation Lifestyle), Sekiro director and FromSoftware chief Hidetaka Miyazaki confirmed that, similar to Dark Souls and Bloodborne, the upcoming action game would have multiple endings, but that unlike those games, here they would be more intrinsically linked to the story told in the game.

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Some gameplay video from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and also Game Informer explores how character progression works.

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Game Informer's Dan Tack and Suriel Vazquez share new gameplay and impressions for From Software's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice based on the magazine's cover story trip. To learn even more exclusive details on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, check out our feature hub - https://www.gameinformer.com/sekiro

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A major departure hardcore From fans may scoff at is the lack of corpse runs. Though you gain experience from defeating foes in Shadows Die Twice, that experience is now divorced from currency; gold now drops from enemies as well, and you won’t lose either when you die. If you’re afraid that change might upset the balance of tension and accomplishment that have come define From games, there’s hope: Director Hidetaka Miyazaki says death will have a detrimental effect, but wasn’t willing to tell us what that might be.

Instead, progression in Shadows Die Twice is slow but steady, as the experience points you gain from killing enemies fill a bar that eventually provides you with a skill point that, you guessed it, you can spend in a skill tree. But it wouldn’t be a From game if there wasn’t a catch: Before you can invest in a skill tree, you have to unlock it by finding a particular item as you explore the world.

An interview about Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice from Dualshockers.

Giuseppe: So, first of all, let me ask you how toned down was the difficulty in the demo? I’m guessing you guys didn’t want to be too ruthless with journalists, and I certainly didn’t expect to be able to one-shot the ogre simply by sneaking up on him. 

Yasuhiro Kitao: The final balance is still being tweaked, but this time we want people to experience using a variety of strategies to take on these enemies, so that’s one example.

G: One thing that I really enjoyed was the swordplay, and I think that’s a radical departure from Dark Souls. I feel that parrying is much more relevant and spectacular. Is that an intentional approach?

YK: Yes, that’s part of wanting to create that shinobi action role play. You have to balance both offense and defense, and I’m happy that you felt that way. This is a new element of combat for us and something that we’re going to be shaping up going forward.

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Thanks Farflame!

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice gameplay walkthrough video.

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From the creators of Bloodborne and Dark Souls comes Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, arriving on PS4 on March 22, 2019. Get a first look at extended gameplay, and witness the harrowing Corrupted Monk, as well as a never-before-seen area.

Thanks Farflame!

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will be released March 22nd on Steam.

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Carve your own clever path to vengeance in an all-new adventure from developer FromSoftware, creators of the Dark Souls series.

In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice you are the "one-armed wolf", a disgraced and disfigured warrior rescued from the brink of death. Bound to protect a young lord who is the descendant of an ancient bloodline, you become the target of many vicious enemies, including the dangerous Ashina clan. When the young lord is captured, nothing will stop you on a perilous quest to regain your honor, not even death itself.

Explore late 1500s Sengoku Japan, a brutal period of constant life and death conflict, as you come face to face with larger than life foes in a dark and twisted world. Unleash an arsenal of deadly prosthetic tools and powerful ninja abilities while you blend stealth, vertical traversal, and visceral head to head combat in a bloody confrontation.

Take Revenge. Restore your honor. Kill Ingeniously.

Some new screenshots for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice from DSOGaming.

Activision released some new screenshots for FromSoftware’s upcoming samurai title, SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE. Although we don’t know much about this game yet, we do know that it will be an action RPG in which players will assume the role of a mysterious ninja with a prosthetic arm.

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Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice gameplay impressions from Siliconera.

The gameplay starts off with the main character standing on a tree trunk. Using his grappling hook hidden in his arm, he swings over to a rooftop, and slowly approaches the line of enemy samurai below. Finding a straggler, he leaps down to perform a jumping stealth kill, but is discovered afterward by one of the others.

One thing surprising to note is how much of a stealth element there is in the game, which wasn’t highlighted much in the reveal trailer. Apart from stalking enemies from above, the main character can do stealth kills from a higher area, or by killing an enemy on the ledge just above him. It felt something out of an Assassin’s Creed game.

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Gamerant reports that resurrection will be a feature of the gameplay in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. In addition the game will not feature multiplayer.

In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, players will be able to resurrect. This will impact the game in terms of its gameplay as well as the story, which, according to director Hidetaka Miyazaki, will center around the concept of resurrection. From a gameplay perspective, players will be able to resurrect in creative ways to actually gain an advantage over their opponents in some cases, though Miyazaki stopped short of providing any specific examples.

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@USGamer Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will not be story driven according to the Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki.

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One of the major changes in Sekiro is the use of a fixed protagonist. While games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne allowed you to create your own character and choose a skill class. That freedom also meant that the story was told through atmosphere and world-building. With Sekiro there is only one class, and there is only one pre-made character players can choose from and exploring the world from a fixed perspective makes the storytelling a bit more straightforward, at least initially. 

"First of all, we think if you ask is it going to be easy to understand? We would say yes, at least initially. There are some themes and motifs particularly tied to using a fixed protagonist that allows to explore him as a character a lot easier," said Miyazaki during our interview. "It allows for a different way for a storytelling there which was not really possible with our previous games which did not have a fixed protagonist." 

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@Push Square From Software presented Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice at E3

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Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the next game from From Software. Watch its reveal trailer, debuted during the Xbox conference at E3 2018.

In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice you are the “one-armed wolf”, a disgraced and disfigured warrior rescued from the brink of death. Bound to protect a young lord who is the descendant of an ancient bloodline, you become the target of many vicious enemies, including the dangerous Ashina clan. When the young lord is captured, nothing will stop you on a perilous quest to regain your honor, not even death itself.