SecondPersonShooter

In an alternate timeline where CoH released the same time the MCU got big, its bigger than World of Warcraft.

I loved this game and to this day is the most engaging MMO experience I've had

@admiral_crunch: I found Demon of Hate and the final boss to be of equal difficulty, or at least, took me around the same amount of attempts.

Demon of hate is a great fight that really utilizes the Wolf's fast as fuck sprinting speed to be essential to success, and it's really the only fight in the game that does this, but damn does it take practice.

The final boss is difficult for different reasons, where the Demon of Hate is a learnable fight, the final boss will probably always be a challenge every time I fight him. But after a lot of time spent kn hin, I really only have trouble with the third phase (if you consider it four phases).

If I dont take down genichiro with no damage, I usually die on purpose. After that, the sword phase I probably get through 75% of the time with no problems, especially taking advantage of some of his telegraphed combo-into-thrist maneuvers with the Mikiri

But that phase after that, jesus christ. I have no advice; I have never done this phase and felt like I has any real sort of control over the fight.

After dipping into new game plus I'm gonna update my impressions.

Sekiro is FROMs hardest game to complete on a first run and has the most demanding skill level of the series.

However, the overall skill ceiling on this game is lower, and once you complete the game once you will probably be close to that ceiling.

Doing a second run of Sekiro is a breeze for me after learning it in-and-out, the Souls titles all give me far more trouble on repeat runthroughs than Sekiro seems to be giving me, we'll see about the endgame bosses, though.

@stabfreely: it's not entirely dissimilar, in that there's a rhythm to the fight you key into and watch for telegraphed moves for counters and dodges; you could even compare it to Punch Out to go even further back.

However, Sekiro is a lot more difficult; I guess it's hard to say if you would vibe with it unless you give it a try.

My advice to anyone playing a Souls game for the first time (I'm just gonna consider Sekiro a souls game, is that cool with everyone?) is to not do a blind run. Use the internet, use wikis, use video guides, use whatever you need to to progress and see it through to the end.

After you beat your first one, you'll have a much better time running other entries in the series blind, as they follow similar logic and scenario design and you'll know what to look for.

@captain_insano: not very screwed at all. Use your resurrects every time you die! There is no downside to doing this, other than temporarily losing your resurrection charge.

The dragonrot only progresses on "real" death, if you are opting to die to make the dragonrot progress slower, you are actually making it worse

That and you lose your XP and gold every time you die, so staying alive and avoiding "real" death should be priority outside of boss fights.

That all being said, it's relatively easy to reverse dragonrot entirely back to zero, and you can do it multiple times through a consumable item. I tended to use these after dying forty times on a particularly hard boss, but honestly, dragonrot and game difficulty are only tangentially related if at all.

@gazoinks: they are missable as you progress.

It is possible to reach a gamestate where you can reach three of the four endings, but if you complete one you will not be able to access the other endings, however you can explore the world post-game until you choose to move into new game plus.

If you want to see all the endings without playing the game four times, it's best to use cloud saved to roll your gamestate back.

Popping back in here to share a few more thoughts

I started New Game Plus, and its incredible how fast I am running the game. I got through the first act in about half an hour just running through bosses, it's insane how a 40 hour game can turn into a 5 hour game after you gain the basic boss knowledge.

I think this game is harder than most Souls titles on your first run, but easier on the subsequent runs. Although, the game is incredibly satisfying to play as a straight boss rush with the in-between cut down; since the exploration and discovery is largely done with.

Rabdom tangent; idk if anyone here ever played Furi, but I did a couple weeks before Sekiro came out, and it's kind of weird how similar the swordfighting/parry mechanics are. The resurrection mechanic is similar to how Furi handles lives as well. Playing Sekiro again rushing down bosses further reminds me of Furi. Underrated game and if you like Sekiro, you'll probably like Furi, although Furi is quite a bit easier.

@frytup: depends on how frustrated you get, you hit pockets of confidence where you can kill bosses in a couple tries, and then there will always be a few that will destroy you over and over again.

I'd say four to five tries is probably average, and this game even more than Souls is about memorizing enemy movements and anticipating attacks after knowing the animations and combos, so I beat far less bosses on my first try in this than I did in Souls.

The last two bosses i beat easily took me 20-30 tries a piece, I'm talking about three hours each of doing nothing but fighting them and slowly climbing that hill. If that's something you feel like you can do, go for it. I dont think there's a more gratifying feeling in gaming than conquering a good Souls boss, but I understand mileage varies.

I do think people are scared these games are too hard for them, and I think it's less about ability and more about drive. Anyone can beat these games if they're willing to knuckle down and keep playing, you dont even have to actively try to get better, you just will. The subconscious learning aspect is heavy in these titles.

But for my money, I would easily rate the game a 5/5 on the Giant Bomb scale.

@oursin_360: I think weapon sets have been replaced by the prosthetic tools/combat arts, which offer a range of options, many exploitable on specific bosses.

Comparing to Souls, your R1 attacks will always be the same no matter what, but you essentially have a swappable R2 function. Many of these tools have mixup and combo potential, and have upgradable variations that make them operate in unique styles.

As for armor, that is really lacking entirely. It's just not something the game was designed around; I wouldn't really describe it as "lacking", although some cosmetic armors would have been nice. I dont think you should consider this a dealbreaker.

I went through most of the game just honorably swordfighting all the bosses without much use of the tools or combat parts, but there is definitely potential there for experimentation; I think the coming months will show some of those more advanced tools be used in incredibly unexpected ways.

@drachmalius: there is a dialogue choice at the end of the second act that will determine if you fight a few exclusive bosses and end the game early, or continue into the third act.

If you want to do the third act, make sure you pick the second, bottom dialogue choice when the time comes