Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – Prepare to Die (A Lot): A Deep Dive into its Notorious Difficulty
Heard about a game so tough it makes Dark Souls seem easy? You heard right. It’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a samurai game from FromSoftware. It focuses on dying rather than just role-playing. But don’t worry! Prepare for battle as we examine the challenges of death and difficulty.
I. Decoding Death: Penalties, Resurrection, and Dragonrot in Sekiro
A. Death’s Sting: XP and Sen Loss
Death brings penalties. Lose half of your hard-earned XP and Sen. No ‘corpse run’ to get items back. They vanish when you die. It’s a lesson about avoiding large samurai and menacing apes.
But there’s hope with Unseen Aid. This mechanic gives a chance of dodging penalties at death. Keep in mind, Coin Purses are safe from penalties, so store your cash wisely.
B. The Art of the Comeback: Resurrection Explained
Sekiro isn’t just about death; it’s also about resurrection. You have the power of Resurrection. Those pink circles indicate your chances. When filled, you can rise right where you fell. It’s like saying, “Death? No thanks.”
However, rely too much on it, and you risk Rot Essence. More resurrection leads to more NPCs suffering from this ailment. Respawning at a Sculptor’s Idol adds to its spread. So, use resurrection wisely.
C. Dragonrot: The NPC Plague You Didn’t Ask For
Dragonrot comes from dying. Repeated deaths mean NPCs cough and suffer from Dragonrot. This isn’t beside the point; it stops their questlines. Imagine needing an item from a merchant only to find them sick and unavailable.
Also, Dragonrot reduces your Unseen Aid chance. As NPCs get sick, your chances to avoid penalties decrease. To cure it, get a blood sample from a sick NPC and give it to Emma. Use a Dragon’s Blood Droplet at a Sculptor’s Idol. Keeping NPCs healthy helps you.
D. Good Old-Fashioned Death: No Resurrection Required
Sometimes death means just that. Dying without resurrection still leads to halving your Sen and Skill EXP. If you fall in combat and run out of resurrection power, it’s back to the Idol without a second chance. Interestingly, deaths by falling off cliffs simply reset your position.
E. Keeping Score: The Death Counter
For those who want to track their deaths, there’s an unofficial Death Counter. It tracks your deaths in Sekiro automatically. This is useful for bragging or analyzing your failures against Genichiro Ashina. Data on repeated deaths is beautiful.
II. Decoding Difficulty: Factors That Crank Up the Challenge
A. The Notorious “Hardness Factor”: Sekiro’s Overall Difficulty
“Sekiro is hard,” they say. You wonder how hard? It’s a masterclass in combat requiring skill and precision. Forget button-mashing; you must learn enemy patterns and counteract effectively. Get skilled quickly.
Unlike Elden Ring, Sekiro has limited cheese strategies. No allies to distract bosses or overpowered builds exist. Outside of stealth, the game is brutally direct. It’s you against a punishing world. This difficulty makes Sekiro frustrating yet rewarding.
B. New Game Plus (NG+): The Difficulty Escalates
Conquered Sekiro once? Not so fast. New Game Plus (NG+) escalates challenges with each replay, up to NG+7. Enemies become tougher, deal more damage, and even change positions or add new foes. It’s harder each cycle.
There’s a twist: Sen and Skill Experience gains also rise in NG+. This kind of balancing act takes place as you deal with tougher foes while leveling up faster.
C. Charmless Playthrough: Hard Mode…Activated
Still find Sekiro too easy? Try the Charmless Playthrough. By not keeping Kuro’s Charm, you opt into a painful experience. Without this charm, you take damage even while blocking attacks. Perfect deflections become mandatory for survival.
D. Demon Bell: Ringing in the Pain
The Demon Bell increases difficulty when rung in Senpou Temple. Enemies hit harder with more vitality and posture. Why do this? Besides personal suffering, you get better loot drops. Trade your sanity for better items.
E. Dodging: Not Your Primary Defense
Yes, you can dodge in Sekiro. However, dodging is not the main focus. The combat emphasizes blocking and deflecting. Dodging acts as a supplementary move for positioning or avoiding unblockable attacks. Don’t expect to dodge-roll like in Dark Souls. You might be disappointed.
Sekiro’s dodge includes I-frames. These frames grant momentary invincibility during the dodge animation. Still, they are very short and activate almost immediately upon pressing the dodge button. Timing must be precise. Mistiming usually leads to getting hit by a katana. Deflecting is safer, more reliable, and more stylish for handling enemy attacks.
F. Deflecting: Embrace the Parry
To reiterate, deflecting reigns supreme in Sekiro. Combat revolves around perfect timing for deflecting attacks. Successful deflections negate damage and build the enemy’s Posture. Break their posture to set up a devastating Deathblow. Mastering deflection unlocks Sekiro’s combat system and progress through the game. Forget dodging; learn to deflect for becoming a true shinobi.
III. Hardest Aspects of Sekiro: Where the Challenge Peaks
A. Boss Fights: Prepare for Epic Showdowns
Sekiro’s boss fights are notoriously hard. They test your skills and patience thoroughly. FromSoftware is known for tough bosses, and Sekiro’s encounters stand out. Each boss requires learning distinct attack patterns, mastering deflection timings, and using combat arts strategically.
And reaching the “good” endings requires considerable combat skills. The “Dragon’s Homecoming” ending, seen as the canon ending, is possibly the hardest to unlock. Completing a long checklist of tasks is required, including a complex side quest. Achieving your happy ending demands substantial effort.
Then there are notorious bosses by the Ashina Dojo checkpoint in Ashina Castle. Their confined space and poison risk add challenge. Their agility makes these fights among the hardest in the game. Sekiro’s bosses are milestones of suffering, essential to proving your shinobi skills.
B. Combat: Skill Above All Else
Sekiro’s combat system is its strength and its challenge. It demands precision and quick reactions. It’s not about builds or brute force. Master deflection, learn enemy tells, and counter-attack with precision. Sekiro forces you to engage deeply with its combat, making victories feel earned and defeats painful lessons.
C. RPG-Less-ness: No Easy Outs
Sekiro largely removes RPG elements seen in FromSoftware’s Dark Souls. There are no character builds, armor sets, or summoning helps to soften the challenge. Sekiro forces you to face challenges head-on, relying only on skill and understanding its mechanics. It’s a more focused experience but also immensely demanding.
IV. Difficulty Face-Off: Sekiro Compared to Other Games
A. Sekiro vs. Ghost of Tsushima: A Samurai Showdown
Some players argue that Ghost of Tsushima can be harder than Sekiro under certain conditions. Setting Ghost of Tsushima to maximum difficulty while avoiding upgrades creates a tough challenge. However, Sekiro’s combat mechanics are usually more demanding and less forgiving. Sekiro offers fewer chances to “cheese” bosses.
B. Sekiro vs. Bloodborne: A FromSoftware Franchise Feud
When comparing Sekiro with Bloodborne, most agree that Sekiro is more difficult. This is due to its demanding combat and lack of RPG elements. Bloodborne has build variety and faster combat, allowing players to overpower enemies. Sekiro punishes deviations from its combat loop severely.
C. Sekiro vs. Code Vein: A Clear Winner (in Difficulty)
In a match against Code Vein, Sekiro is clearly harder. Code Vein is less punishing, with more character customization and cooperative play, unlike Sekiro’s brutal precision.
V. Endings and Completion: The Road to 100%
A. Multiple Endings: Choose Your Destiny
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice features four distinct endings, each with unique requirements. The endings – Shura, Immortal Severance, Purification, and Return – involve specific actions needed to unlock them. Opting for the “bad” Shura ending means making villainous choices, resulting in a dramatically different conclusion.
The “Dragon’s Homecoming” ending is often seen as the canon ending. Achieving it demands careful exploration and item collection throughout the story, until specific actions before the final boss. Unlocking all endings requires multiple playthroughs, since certain choices block other paths.
B. Playthroughs for 100%: The Completionist’s Journey
For completionists seeking 100% Achievements in Sekiro, expect at least 2.5 playthroughs. Multiple endings require experiencing various narrative paths and boss encounters. Be ready to invest significant time and effort to conquer Sekiro completely.
C. Completion Time: How Long to Master the Blade?
If focusing only on main objectives, Sekiro takes around 30 hours to finish. However, for completionists aiming for all endings and 100% completion, expect around 70 hours to explore Ashina fully. These estimates depend on skill level and willingness to explore.
VI. Misconceptions: Clearing the Air
No specific misconceptions are listed here. However, a common belief is that Sekiro is “unfairly difficult.” While challenging, Sekiro’s difficulty is fair and designed meticulously. Every death serves as a learning moment, as mastering its combat is rewarding. It is about skill, patience, and learning from mistakes.
There you have it. A comprehensive overview of death and difficulty in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Armed with this knowledge, brace yourself and prepare to die…and resurrect…and die again. With each death comes experience, and with perseverance, even Sekiro’s hardest challenges can be beaten.
