2019-06-01_PC_Gamer

Thesamurailungesforwardswitha

thrusting stab. I press B at the last

second and – this never gets old – my

shinobi effortlessly steps on the blade

and brings it harmlessly to the

ground. My counter is rewarded by a

loud boom noise. If this

was an ordinary enemy

I would press the right

bumper and thrust my

katana into their

exposed neck for a

brutal kill, foot still

pressed down on their

useless weapon. The

boss just staggers back,

resets his stance, and the battle

resumes once more.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the

latest from Dark Souls developer

From Software. It’s set in a fantasy

vision of Sengoku Japan, in the

middle of a conflict between the

Ashina and Hirata clans. You play a

rogue shinobi called Sekiro – the

one-armedwolf–chargedwith

protecting a young lord who has the

coveted power to defy death.

It’s more of an action game than

an RPG. You pick up new prosthetic

arms and learn new combat

techniques, and even

put skill points into a

few upgrade trees.

Don’t expect to be

fiddling with armour

stats – this is a game

about brief, deadly

battles in an age of

kunai and katanas.

Sekiro’s combat

system is beautiful. Instead of

chipping down health bars until the

enemy keels over, you overwhelm

their posture bar with strikes and

perfect parries until an opening

appears, and then finish with a

deathblow. Enemy health bars are

there to affect the amount of damage

an enemy’s posture takes.

As you get slashes through an

enemy’s guard and damage them

directly, they will take more posture

damage from future attacks and

recover more slowly.

You can attack enemies with

combos, special sword attacks,

prosthetic gadgets and shinobi arts,

but the aim is always to max out that

posture gauge and get that final blow.

I love the catharsis of beating a

great boss in a From Software game.

In Sekiro the deathblow system

focuses all that emotion into one split

second. After a tough encounter

there’s a rush of elation and relief

when you see the red deathblow

reticle and hit the killing attack.

Miss, parry, kill

Boss exchanges can be gruelling. If

you dislike using parry timings in

combat – pressing the block button

just as an enemy attack lands – then

Sekiro might not be for you. Some

bosses require you to consistently

parry multiple combos. One fight in a

tight space with a creature called

Long-Arm Centipede Giraffe is

basically a rhythm action sequence.

You can’t avoid their blitz of attacks,

you just have to deflect them all in a

shower of sparks and swhing swhing

swhing noises. Precise deflections

deal posture damage back to the

enemy, and some enemies are

designed to be defeated using

deflections alone. It’s a tough but

incredibly rewarding system to

master. It feels amazing to effortlessly

deflect and counter enemies that

were once a terrible challenge.

Thankfully parry timings are

generous and much more responsive

than the vague shield-wave you get in

Dark Souls. You can also hold block

and then release-and-tap to get a

parry, which keeps you relatively safe

as you’re learning enemy attack

patterns. Enemies throw you out of

blocking with special thrust, slash,

and grab attacks, which have their

own counters. You can step on a

thrust, and you can jump over the

slash, kicking off the enemy’s head

NeedtoKNow

What is it?

A challenging

third-person action

game about a shinobi

onaquestforrevenge

EXPECttOPaY

£50

DEvElOPEr

FromSoftware

PublishEr

Activision

rEviEWEDOn

GTX 970, i7-8700, 16GB

RAM,512GBSSD

MultiPlaYEr

None

link

http://www.sekiro

thegame.com

I lovethe

catharsis of

beating a great

boss in a From

Software game

T

he enemy samurai fires a bolt from his enormous bow. I tap

the parry button and slice the arrow out of the air. I know the

shot is just cover for a sliding charging slash with his blade.

It’s two quick strikes, but I’m expecting it. I tap the block

button twice to deflect both with a loud ringing sound and a

flash of sparks. A glowing red symbol tells me that an unblockable attack is

coming, an attack that has killed me three or four times before.

MartIal art

Becomeamastershinobiinthesublime

SeKiro: ShadowSdietwice. By Tom Senior

routeFiNder Sekiro’s world is a joy to explore

1

You resurrect

at idols scattered

generously

throughout the

feudal world.

2

You can grapple

between trees to

access secret areas.

3

Stealth routes

let you insta-kill

bad guys patrolling

these buildings.

4

In about ten

hours you’ll

manage to fight your

way into this castle.

2

3

1

4

Sekiro:Shadows Die Twice

rEviEW