iven that this is the
latest game from Dark
Souls creators From
Software, if ‘Shadows
Die Twice’, it’s quite
likely that you’ll be dying a lot
more than just twice in Sekiro
Set in 16th century Japan,
you play as a disgraced
shinobi warrior known as the
‘One Armed Wolf’. You see,
having been charged with pro g
a young prince of an ancient lineage,
Sekiro’s gone and cocked it up
somewhat, allowing the prince to be
captured and losing one of his arms
in the process.
Luckily, he’s given a prosthetic arm
to help him pursue the prince’s
captors, reclaim his honour and get
vengeance against The Commander,
the Samurai who took his arm.
From what we’ve seen, combat is as
satisfying and substantial as Dark
Souls, but while we’re sure you can
expect the kind of difficulty curve
that will have you learning on the job,
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice may be
just a little more forgiving than
Hidetaki Miyazaki’s tough Souls series.
Gone are Lordran’s bonfires in favour
of a respawn at the point of death,
which should mean a little less
frustration at least.
This isn’t the only marked difference
from Dark Souls – where that game
had a heavy emphasis on RPG
elements, with upgradeable stats and
weapons as well as character
customisation, Sekiro himself comes
pretty well formed from the start,
although weapons and attacks will be
adaptable as the story progresses.
Epic in scale and beautiful looking,
Sekiro promises some visceral and
brutal encounters with enemies both
human and grotesquely monstrous,
with verticality and sneakery that put
us in mind of the much-loved Tenchu
series of old.
If there’s a better hack’n’slash
actioner coming in 2019, we’d be as
surprised as the victims of some of
Sekiro’s cleverest kills. QG
“Sekiro promises encounters
with enemies both human and
grotesquely monstrous”
ABOVE Monsters,
samurai and
monster samurai
in feudal Japan.
LEFT Combat will
be tough, but we
love a challenge,
don’t we?ETA 22 MARCH PUBLISHER ACTIVISION DEVELOPER FROMSOFTWARESekiro’s prosthetic
arm is equipped
with a grappling
hook and a
collapsible shield,
all of which is
going to come in
very handy in the
warrior’s quest for
vengeance. As he
quests to regain
his lost honour,
and find his prince,
Sekiro’s going to
sneak, ingeniously
assassinate,
kick samurai butt
and grapple his
way across the
beautifully realised
landscapes and
castle rooftops of
feudal Japan.OUT ON
A LIMB
DARK SOULS CREATOR’S JAPANESE EPIC
SEKIRO:
SHADOWS DIE TWICE
q
t
o.otecting028 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE2019 PREVIEW