Everything I've ever wanted from this studio and so much more. The more limited player customisation is matched perfectly with the far deeper combat to result in far and away the most satisfying and, more crucially, most involved fights I've ever experienced in a game. From continues the trend of focusing and tightening their level design while allowing for a couple of circular wow moments (the final boss arena is perfect in this way) amongst the exquisitely fine-tuned linearity. I've said it a thousand times, but curated linearity is so often more compelling than even the best 'open world' style sections, and this game proves it in spades. The movement is endlessly gratifying, the environments and music are gorgeous and perfectly in sync with each other and even the storytelling is just that smidge more direct than Miyizaki normally writes, which connects his usual cyclical messaging just a little more emotionally. The high base difficulty of the game is met with an uncharacteristically smooth curve that eases you well into the struggles and the narrative justifies your deaths in a way that makes them all the more rewarding. This game earns its victories over you just as much as you do over it, rarely are you cheaply caught out by something you could not respond to, if ever. Even the gimmicky puzzle boss is fun, which is a real shock after such series lowlights as Bed of Chaos and Micolash. I'm in awe.
But enough jerking off Miyizaki, there's plenty of legitimate criticism to be levied at Sekiro. It's probably impossible to ever make a perfect video game. The budgetary and organisational pressures are so high when you work in an art form this expensive, and the idea that a concentrated and consistent vision can survive not just that but the endlessly finicky process of actually getting a damn video game to work and be 'fun' (and then you've got to figure out what constitutes the effervescent term 'fun' or if it even does matter to the experience you're creating), it's just silly talk. FromSoft does misstep in some areas here. They just can't help themselves with the occasional bad gank fight and they always go one step too far with reusing content (though both of these issues are minimized versus the Souls games). The theoretical grinding for spirit emblems could be a major hindrance for certain players, though I never had to do this myself. At this point, I wonder if Miyizaki and Co have conceded defeat to the camera altogether in these games. All of these are valid complaints, and very similar to the ones I levied at Bloodborne.
But, as it always is with FromSoft, these come with the turf. If you dislike the game, these are the obvious areas to pick at since they'll compound your frustration (see: My Bloodborne Review). But what everyone really responds to are the core systems of play, and this is where Sekiro wipes the floor with everything else. Every moment of gameplay is just so alive. Movement feels better than ever. Deathblows are somehow still satisfyingly flashy by the end of the game. And the combat is a crowning moment in 21st century game design. It fixes the #1 complaint I have with every 'Soulslike' (awful word) that this studio has made, which is that the strongest move available is inherently passive. It's still incredibly satisfying to duck and weave around Ornstein & Smough while trying to sneak your hits in, but the longer and more convoluted the boss attack pattern, the less involved you are. This really started to eat away at me in Elden Ring. In certain fights, especially Malenia, I couldn't help but feel disengaged from the combat when I wasn't making any active progress 90% of the time. What's even more frustrating, is that they already solved this problem! In Sekiro you are always on, and you can always be progressing the fight no matter whose 'turn' it is to attack. Rarely bosses are so simplistic as to even engage in Souslian turn-based combat. Often you are as much the aggressor as the boss. It's almost (although vitally never actually) overwhelming, which has led to some calling it unforgiving. It's true, the game pulls no punches in fights, but you'll be allowed far more errors than you might expect. Between the recovery rolls post stance break, the lowered damage of most enemy attacks and the resurrections, you can and will make mistakes while emerging victorious. What the combat is, is demanding. I'm not just talking mechanically, the more precise fights here will have you deeply immersed through the nature of just how hard you'll be concentrating on them. FromSoft combat has never been more gripping, and the ecstasy of victory has never been more powerful. I found myself physically shaking after certain battles because of how tensed up I was during attempts. Maybe I'm insane, but that's a win in my book.
Sekiro is unreal. It's the peak of this studio on virtually every level that matters to me. It's one of the most fun video games I've ever played. It keeps the unimpeachable highs of Fromsoft's other games and skips nearly all of the lows. It is a breed of concise and concentrated experience that the AAA obsession with bloated open worlds has rendered all but extinct. Perfection might be out of reach, but this is the next best thing.
But enough jerking off Miyizaki, there's plenty of legitimate criticism to be levied at Sekiro. It's probably impossible to ever make a perfect video game. The budgetary and organisational pressures are so high when you work in an art form this expensive, and the idea that a concentrated and consistent vision can survive not just that but the endlessly finicky process of actually getting a damn video game to work and be 'fun' (and then you've got to figure out what constitutes the effervescent term 'fun' or if it even does matter to the experience you're creating), it's just silly talk. FromSoft does misstep in some areas here. They just can't help themselves with the occasional bad gank fight and they always go one step too far with reusing content (though both of these issues are minimized versus the Souls games). The theoretical grinding for spirit emblems could be a major hindrance for certain players, though I never had to do this myself. At this point, I wonder if Miyizaki and Co have conceded defeat to the camera altogether in these games. All of these are valid complaints, and very similar to the ones I levied at Bloodborne.
But, as it always is with FromSoft, these come with the turf. If you dislike the game, these are the obvious areas to pick at since they'll compound your frustration (see: My Bloodborne Review). But what everyone really responds to are the core systems of play, and this is where Sekiro wipes the floor with everything else. Every moment of gameplay is just so alive. Movement feels better than ever. Deathblows are somehow still satisfyingly flashy by the end of the game. And the combat is a crowning moment in 21st century game design. It fixes the #1 complaint I have with every 'Soulslike' (awful word) that this studio has made, which is that the strongest move available is inherently passive. It's still incredibly satisfying to duck and weave around Ornstein & Smough while trying to sneak your hits in, but the longer and more convoluted the boss attack pattern, the less involved you are. This really started to eat away at me in Elden Ring. In certain fights, especially Malenia, I couldn't help but feel disengaged from the combat when I wasn't making any active progress 90% of the time. What's even more frustrating, is that they already solved this problem! In Sekiro you are always on, and you can always be progressing the fight no matter whose 'turn' it is to attack. Rarely bosses are so simplistic as to even engage in Souslian turn-based combat. Often you are as much the aggressor as the boss. It's almost (although vitally never actually) overwhelming, which has led to some calling it unforgiving. It's true, the game pulls no punches in fights, but you'll be allowed far more errors than you might expect. Between the recovery rolls post stance break, the lowered damage of most enemy attacks and the resurrections, you can and will make mistakes while emerging victorious. What the combat is, is demanding. I'm not just talking mechanically, the more precise fights here will have you deeply immersed through the nature of just how hard you'll be concentrating on them. FromSoft combat has never been more gripping, and the ecstasy of victory has never been more powerful. I found myself physically shaking after certain battles because of how tensed up I was during attempts. Maybe I'm insane, but that's a win in my book.
Sekiro is unreal. It's the peak of this studio on virtually every level that matters to me. It's one of the most fun video games I've ever played. It keeps the unimpeachable highs of Fromsoft's other games and skips nearly all of the lows. It is a breed of concise and concentrated experience that the AAA obsession with bloated open worlds has rendered all but extinct. Perfection might be out of reach, but this is the next best thing.