Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. On it’s way

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a new action adventure game developed by ‘FromSoftware‘ but published by ‘Activison‘. It will be coming out the 22nd of March 2019 on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. There suppose to be a lot going on in Sekiro: Shadows die twice. Let’s take a look.

The story in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is that the prince, who is a descendant of an ancient clan that got destroyed, was kidnapped by a commander of the Ashina clan. The Ashina clan believe that this child is the major key for protecting their own lands from an invading force. Strange right? Players control the protagonist, a shinobi, known as the one-armed wolf. A disgraced and disfigured hard hearted warrior who was saved from the brink of death. Sounds interesting though.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is set in the re-imaged time of late 1500s Sengoku Japan. A hard and dangerous time indeed. Players must expect some not natural enemies as this isn’t suppose to be a faithful historical game but some reality mixed with some fantasy elements if that’s what you want to call it. Now our character, Sekiro, has lost one arm and so he replaced it with something called an ningishu which is a prosthetic that allows the attachment of any ninja equipment. Is Sekiro trying to be Samus Aran or something? The main equipment players will use is the kaginawa which is basically a grappling hook which can be used to reach new heights and areas. Exploration. Expect many more different equipment which will help out.

Sekiro isn’t for little children as it’s made clear on the box (that 18+ on the front). This game is going to be really difficult. The developer has stated that he wants Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice to be tougher than previous games they have made. Now let’s see what games has FromSoftware made before… oh yeah, that’s right, the Dark Souls series and bloodborne. So already you know this game isn’t going to be easy. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has higher emphasis on being clever with your skills instead of skilful. Players will really need to think about how they will try and kill their enemies and targets. There are lots of stealth elements like hiding in corners, trapping to ceilings, shadows etc. It’s gets deeper.

When players have worked out how they plan to deliver the kill, they have to use moves known as the Shinobi death blows. Before that you must lower their guard, whittle down their posture until they stagger. This now reminds me of Final Fantasy XIII. So players must successfully land a parry or multiple hits to get them ready for death, in style we heard. The parrying though needs to be perfect, failure could easily mean death. Unlike the soul series though there will be no stats, levelling up, souls to collect and lose or character classes. It’s just you and the character. This is sometimes a good thing.

We checked out some gameplay and we saw a lot. The ningishu (the prosthetic arm) could use fire crackers, form a shield, become an axe, the kaginawa (grappling hook) can also be used for grappling and to close the gap towards enemies. There are enemies who are large monsters who will smash and throw you around. There is a humanoid fat, ugly sword wailing enemy who can vomit on his sword to possibly make the blade poisonous or cause some serious infections. You will face horse riders who charge in while screaming like a mad man. Pretty interesting.

Overall this game does look really cool indeed. The story isn’t obvious but it’s interesting to a certain extent (mainly the kidnapped prince). The graphics are very good, the sounds are great but the environment and visuals is excellent. The snow and buildings had work put into them. The developers ‘FromSoftware’ have done an excellent job. The expectations from fans will be very high. We at X35 Earthwalker are looking forward to this game. Now we hope the lore in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is easier to figure out and learn. Now Sekiro: Shadows die twice may have an interesting world but it doesn’t even compare to the level of interest that’s of… the ‘Earth Walk!’