of long grass unseen, emerging to
carry out stealth kills. Since Sekiro’s
AI is in no way gentler than that of
its predecessors, you’re invariably
spotted after carrying out a stealth
kill – but at least you can grapple
away and regroup when a gaggle of
enemies starts giving you a pounding.
FromSoftware has also reworked
its fighting systems in a clever and
satisfying manner. The Wolf doesn’t
have a shield, but can block using his
sword – but only if you get your timing
spot-on. The Soulsborne games’
stamina system has effectively been
replaced by one called posture.
Deflections, combined with retaliatory
attacks, whittle away at an enemy’swho can craft prosthetic tools for the
stump of his left arm when provided
with the raw materials. Those bestow
a variety of defensive and attacking
abilities, including fire and explosive
attacks, a heavy axe and a metal-
framed umbrella for deflecting attacks.
But the base prosthetic ability, which
is always available regardless of which
tool you equip, is a grappling hook.
You can only grapple to prescribed
points, but they are plentiful and
intelligently placed, enabling you
to survey enemy movement without
being seen, and to thin enemies out
with stealth kills from above. Sekiro^
also introduces a stealth system:
the Wolf can move through patches
posture, and when you break that, you
earn a chance to land a deathblow.
When you come across a boss, one
deathblow isn’t enough: each one
requires at least two. So it is possible
to sneak up behind them, land a
deathblow and halve their health, but
Sekiro doesn’t allow you to do that
twice. In your initial encounters with
just about every boss, you’ll swiftly
find yourself reduced to a state of
despair, unable to believe that you’ll
ever prevail. And since Sekiro is a
FromSoftware game, it stubbornly
refuses to give you any indication as
to what the best approach is.
But slowly, you’ll work out how
they move, when to dodge and how
many blows you can land at a time,
eventually formulating a strategy.
Which might include a spot of grinding
in order to buff your stats and acquire
new moves or tools which can cut
them down to size.Are you experienced?
Sekiro’s XP system differs from those
of its predecessors: every time you fill
its meter and level up (gaining a bit
more health), you earn a skill point,
which can be cashed in for a new
move – there are several skill trees
for both passive and active skills.
Overcoming bosses brings prayer
beads which provide the only means
of ramping up your base stats.short
cutWHAT IS IT?
An action RPG set in
1500s Japan with a
one-armed shinobi
protagonist.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
Very hard, very
uncompromising, very
frustrating, very
satisfying and
utterly brilliant.
WHO’S IT FOR?
Hardcore gamers who
aren’t afraid to take
on a challenge.LEFT Losing an
arm isn’t so
bad: you’re
given a variety
of prostheses
to use.076 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE