Sekiro™: Shadows Die Twice - GOTY Edition

I've spent more hours than I care to admit watching Wolf die to the same mini-boss, reloading, and running back in. That loop, which sounds miserable on paper, is exactly what makes Sekiro click once it finally does. FromSoftware took their Dark Souls pedigree and threw out almost everything that let players grind their way past roadblocks: no build variety, no co-op summons, no leveling a stat until a boss gets manageable. What's left is a pure action game where every fight is a rhythm test you solve with your hands, not your character sheet. The posture system is the centrepiece. You and every enemy share a posture bar alongside a health bar, and the goal isn't to whittle down HP the slow way, it's to break your opponent's balance through relentless attack, well-timed deflections, and counters like the Mikiri Counter, which lets you stomp down on a thrusting blade and deal massive posture damage in one move. Fill the bar, land a deathblow, fight over. It rewards aggression in a way that feels genuinely novel, and the moment combat clicks, when a multi-phase boss fight stops feeling like a nightmare and starts feeling like a dance, is one of the better gaming highs you can get on PC right now. The prosthetic arm adds a second layer: ten different tools, from the Flame Vent to the Spring-load Axe, each with specific enemy counters worth hunting down and experimenting with. Stealth weaves in alongside the swordplay. Wolf's grappling hook opens the levels vertically in ways FromSoftware hadn't done before, letting you recon enemy placements from rooftops, drop for a deathblow stealth kill, and reposition mid-fight. The level design, large, semi-open zones set across a fictionalized Sengoku-period Japan, is some of FromSoftware's sharpest work, built around the hook's range rather than constrained by it. The soundtrack, leaning on traditional Japanese instrumentation, earns its keep during late-game boss sequences where the music shifts to match the stakes. Here's the honest part of the review, though. Sekiro is divisive for real reasons. There is one weapon. Build variety essentially does not exist. Players who love the stat-tinkering and loadout flexibility of Elden Ring or Dark Souls III will hit a wall that isn't difficulty, it's the absence of creative problem-solving routes. The Terror status effect, which some optional and occasional main-path enemies inflict, forces a defensive, run-away response that cuts against everything the posture system teaches you. And losing half your Sen and skill-point progress on a clean death (with a Dragonrot mechanic that reduces your Unseen Aid odds the more you fail) punishes the exact experimentation phase new players need. The resurrection mechanic gives you one free second chance per checkpoint charge, but it rarely makes the harder boss fights feel less brutal. For a specific kind of player, one who wants combat mastery to be the whole game, who doesn't need builds or multiplayer scaffolding, and who can read a boss's tell and respond in a fraction of a second, Sekiro is genuinely exceptional. The 95% positive Steam rating across over 350,000 reviews isn't hype; it reflects a game that earned its reputation fight by fight. Casual players and anyone who finds Souls games frustrating rather than motivating should approach with honest self-assessment. But if the pitch of "one weapon, pure timing, feudal Japan" sounds like relief rather than a restriction, this is the game.

Alex · Scout Team

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