PC Gamer - USA 2019-09)

I

’m not a From
Software kind of guy.
I’ve never finished a
From game, and I
didn’t think I ever
would. So how come I ended up
finishing Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice,
widely considered its hardest game
yet, twice? I’ve been on a stranger
journey with this game than
perhaps any other, uninstalling it,
screaming “this is bullshit” at an
enemy who in retrospect, was very
easy, and ultimately revering Sekiro
as a masterpiece.

The key moment in any player’s run
in Sekiro is a boss fight with
Genichiro Ashina, a swordsman who
slices your character’s arm off in the
opening scene of the game. The fight
is atop Ashina Castle, as you’re
surrounded by mountains and valleys
on three sides—it’s scenic, and the
long climb up there in and around
the castle is a dramatic, complicated
journey full of combat encounters.
Genichiro is the cherry on the cake.
This fight is transformative. What
starts as a duel you can’t possibly win
breaks you, over and over again, until
you learn to block his absurd sword
flurries. This is where you go from

being on the back foot in Sekiro to

finally understanding. You realize

that nothing can beat you in this very

difficult videogame, as long as you’re

willing to suffer and learn. For me,

this all happened in one long night—a

maybe four or five hour session. If I

hadn’t triumphed over Genichiro that

night (I screamed “yes!” at my

computer), I might have uninstalled

the game again and never returned.

Sekiro has taken me out of my

comfort zone, of the likes of

Assassin’s Creed or the last God of

Wa r game on PS4, where I was

playing for easy pleasure rather than

looking to be biffed by dickheads

over and over again. If anything,

Sekiro has taught me that being

competitive with myself is not a good

part of my personality—I got so into it

that I began to envision its enemies

running at me in my sleep. I dreamt

about Genichiro trying to stab me,

and woke up as I imagined

countering him. I’m an idiot.

That’s just the unhealthy

relationship that I have forged with

Sekiro, though. And it’s not the only

connection that I have formed as a

result of this game. I’ve built up a

kind of Twitter micro community

around my tweets about overcoming

Sekiro bosses. That’s been a true

pleasure, to learn there’s a whole

world of nice people who love these

games and aren’t just children on

forums barking “git gud”.

LEVELLING UP SKILLS

Well, I did git gud. I then beat Sekiro

on New Game Plus with harder

enemies while barely breaking a

sweat—so complete is my knowledge

of how its enemies work. I’m not

prepared to ring the in-game bell that

makes it really hard, or anything. I’m

just happy knowing I went from

being an idiot swinging a sword to a

master of one-on-one combat.

SAMUEL ROBERTS

THIS MONTH

Learned the way

of the blade.

ALSO PLAYED

Sea of Thieves,

Vermintide 2

From tantrums to triumph in the duels of SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE

“You realise that nothing can beat

you in this very difficult videogame”

I GOT SO INTO IT THAT I BEGAN

TO ENVISION ITS ENEMIES

RUNNING AT ME IN MY SLEEP

I love and hate what

Genichiro has done to me.

This image captures my fulfilment at

having no more enemies to kill in Sekiro.

EXTRA LIFE

NOW PLAYING (^) I UPDATE I GUIDE I DIARY I REINSTALL I WHY I LOVE I MUS T P L A Y