Enjoy a sneak peek of Harley Quinn Season 2, premiering April 3 on DC Universe. Missed out on Harley Quinn Season 1? New members get a free trial. Join to Binge today! https://yourdcu.com/FirstLookSeason2
TV-MA: Not intended for children.
#DCUNIVERSE #DCUHARLEYQUINN #HARLEYQUINNSEASON2
Isn't it a little too fast to be dropping Season 2 of this when it hasn't been that long since Season One ended? Not that I'm complaining as I enjoyed the first season a lot more than I thought I would going into it.
I wonder how many people caught that Batman Returns reference there too?
-GUILTY GEAR : the next entry to the series- 「GUILTY GEAR」シリーズ最新作「GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE-」始動！
■GUILTY GEAR Official twitter https://twitter.com/GUILTYGEAR_PR HEAVEN OR HELL! LET'S ROCK! Having recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, the revolutionary fighting game series GUILTY GEAR returns in 2020 with a breathtaking new game!
With all of that out of the way, can I mention that this game looks fucking gorgeous? I thought Arc System Works did an excellent job with Dragon Ball FighterZ's visuals, but they have really outdone themselves for Guilty Gear's 20th anniversary.
I can't believe it's been 20 years already for this series. I didn't discover it until renting Guilty Gear XX on a whim while in college back in 2004. While I seriously doubt I'm going to pick this up anytime soon, I sure as hell wouldn't be opposed to trying out that closed beta they announced. Arc System Works makes some great fighters but I've never been a fan of their policies to continuously churn out new iterations of the same fighting game for new characters. They whore out their titles more than Capcom does for DLC profits - which is pretty sad at this point.
Catch up on #Iceborne Developer Diary #5, jam-packed with info on: 🥊 Raging Brachydios 🙊 Furious Rajang ⚔️ Layered Weapons 🌹 Full Bloom Fest 🐉 Alatreon Title Update 3 releases Mar 22 5:00pm PDT / Mar 23 00:00 GMT on PS4 and Xbox One. Coming to PC on April 9th.
Important: In order to play online multiplayer or download add-on content, you must update to the latest version of Monster Hunter: World.
Available
Monday, March 23 0:00 (UTC)
Required Space
PlayStation®4: About 1.4GB (only this update)
Xbox One: About 2.1GB (only this update)
Main Additions / Changes
General
Raging Brachydios has been added.
This update adds a new special assignment that will bring you face-to-face with the newly discovered Raging Brachydios!
The special assignment for Raging Brachydios can be accepted by talking to the Tracker once you have finished the Recon Assignment after the ending of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne.
Raging Brachydios Hunter Armor!
And, of course, there will be all-new weapons and armor to craft from Raging Brachydios materials!
Weapon Design
Raging Brachy α+ Armor Set
Raging Brachy β+ Armor Set
This armor has useful skills based around Agitator (when a monster becomes enraged, Attack and Affinity increase) and Weakness Exploit!
Palico Equipment: Crusher Set α+
As with the hunter armor, this armor design is based on Raging Brachydios's active slime molds!
Furious Rajang has been added.
This update adds a new special assignment that will bring you toe-to-toe with the newly discovered Furious Rajang!
The special assignment for Furious Rajang can be accepted by talking to the Tracker once you have finished the Recon Assignment after the ending of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne.
Furious Rajang Hunter Armor!
And, of course, there will be all-new weapons and armor to craft from Furious Rajang materials!
Weapon Design
Furious Rajang α+ Armor Set
Furious Rajang β+ Armor Set
An armor design infused with strength. The armor also has a set bonus for a powerful new skill.
Palico Equipment: Rajang Set α+
Palico equipment featuring a cute monkey motif!
The new Palico weapon is a magical staff that extends when drawn!
(Both monsters will appear in new special assignments after finishing the main story of Iceborne and unlocking the tundra region in the Guiding Lands.)
System
Added an item that forces a monster to leave the Guiding Lands.
Raised the maximum level cap for master rank armor upgrades.
Added an augmentation feature that lets you customize the look of your weapon.
Added an option to the Steamworks that lets you change the Steamworks' output.
Applied a change to the Steamworks that lets you activate the auto mode after sending the Steamworks into Overdrive.
New decor can now be placed in your room in Seliana.
New BGM can now be played in your room in Seliana.
Added new designs for the Squad Card.
New Pendants added.
Applied a change that lets you receive Hunter Helper Rewards from master rank quests.
Miscellaneous
Added the following charms: Fury Charm V, Power Charm V, Mighty Charm III, Challenger Charm V.
You can now collect item rewards on the round just before a Steamworks overdrive.
Bug Fixes and Balance Adjustments
Base/Facility
Fixed an issue where the options "Take All" and "Sell All" were reversed when the items prepared via oven roast totaled 9999 in your item box.
Fixed an issue where, under certain conditions, abilities wouldn't rotate when storing potential for awakened weapons.
Fixed an issue where the great sword 'Empress Galea "Styx"' would be ordered incorrectly when sorting.
Fixed an issue where numerical values would not correctly display in the Steamworks results screen.
Fixed an issue where, under certain conditions, an error would occur when joining a squad Online Session using the Online Session ID.
Fixed an issue where, after taking certain steps, a posted quest could not be found in a search.
Fixed the description text of some music player songs.
Fixed an issue where the Beetle Ticket could not be used as a material to meld items.
Fixed an issue where Ruiner Nergigante would be displayed in the Guiding Lands monster list, even though the conditions for it to appear haven't been fulfilled.
Fixed an issue where, under certain conditions, an armor's abilities would not be correctly reflected in the hunter's status while augmenting the armor.
Fixed an issue where the color of Dober β Layered Legs would not display properly after changing the color.
Fixed an issue where, under certain conditions, an error would occur when entering your own room.
Fixed an issue where guest players would become unable to move if they were removed from the Gathering Hub at certain times.
Updated the tutorial for additional features of the squad to explain that subleaders can invite other players to the squad.
Fixed an issue where even before you reach Seliana, the recruitment message "Let's hang out in my room!" would be available as an option.
Fixed an issue where some Palico weapons would appear in an unnatural spot when sorting by rank.
Fixed an issue where when joining another player's quest, if the quest host cancels the quest at a specific time, the name of the previously completed quest and not the quest that you joined would be displayed.
Fixed an issue where a weapon from The Witcher weapon tree would not appear when placed on the equipment display.
Fixed an issue where there would be a disparity between the Safi'jiiva siege result screen and the information displayed at the quest counter.
Fixed an issue where the chat recipient could not be changed after entering a loading screen with the chat window open.
Fixed an issue where the items created from the oven roast would not roll correctly.
Fixed an issue where you could not leave the mini-canteen at camp if the mini-canteen menu and the quest complete notice appeared on the same exact frame.
Updated the description text for the Chrome Halberd III gunlance.
Updated the description text for loading Wyrmstake Blast, found in the weapon control section of the hunter notes.
Monsters
Fixed an issue where Raider Ride monsters would get stuck on a wall when jumping from a certain position.
Fixed an issue where Safi'jiiva's behavior would become unnatural on slanted terrain.
Fixed an issue where a player would be afflicted with an abnormal status or blight when using the lance's counter-thrust or counter claw against Gold Rathian's somersault, Kirin's lighting strike, or Fulgur Anjanath's mucus attack.
Fixed an issue where rewards for breaking parts would not be rewarded when breaking Black Diablos' back.
Fixed an issue where Safi'jiiva would not transition areas normally.
Fixed an issue where, under certain conditions, the appearance and fleshiness of Nergigante's tail would not be consistent after it had been severed.
Fixed an issue where in multi-monster challenge quests, the second monster would not appear and the quest would be complete.
Fixed an issue where, under certain conditions, Ruiner Nergigante would appear outside an area of the Guiding Lands.
Fixed an issue where, under certain conditions, a monster would not become enraged.
Fixed an issue where, under certain conditions, Velkhana's ice wall would not break down after it was slayed.
Fixed an issue where an enraged Yian Garuga could avoid pitfall traps even if the conditions for trapping it are met.
Fixed an issue where monsters would sometimes behave unintentionally when near Boaboa.
Fixed multiple issues related to sound effects and visual effects that displayed within the player's tent when Safi'jiiva is in the lowest level of the Secluded Valley.
Fixed an issue where, under certain conditions, Rajang would still perform its pinning attack, even if it had not successfully landed it.
Fixed a game-stopping bug that occurred in the Guiding Lands when performing a flinch shot on a Rathalos that is transitioning areas.
Tweaked to make monster staggers longer when a player uses the clutch claw on a staggered monster in an area where the player cannot enter.
Fixed an issue where a Kelbi would sometimes act erratically after it had its horns broken off.
Player
Mitigated conditions that made it harder to land the long sword's spirit helm breaker under certain conditions.
Fixed an issue where the Handicraft skill would not trigger at the start of a quest.
Fixed an issue where the FINAL FANTASY XIV Jump gesture would be unintentionally deleted from the shortcut of an item loadout.
Fixed an issue where during multiplayer, the other players' mantle effect time would not be synchronized correctly.
Fixed an issue where the Oolong male head armor would not display in certain cutscenes viewed from the gallery when the full Oolong armor set is equipped.
Fixed an issue where the extract bonuses to the Flinch Free skill would be carried over when switching from the Insect Glaive to another weapon.
Increased the element level of the Elscarad and Arginesse kinsects.
Fixed an issue where if the player attached the Melynx Teddy pendant to the Adept Stormslinger and started walking, the pendant would become shaky and trembly.
Fixed an issue where some light would become hidden when applying layered armor from your loadout.
Fixed an issue where Critical Draw would be applied to the long sword's Spirit Blade I when going from Iai Slash to Spirit Blade I.
Fixed an issue where the skill Free Element/Ammo Up would not trigger normally when bowgun capacity is increased via awakening ability.
Fixed an issue that caused unnatural behavior when loading the slinger after performing a forward dodge with the sword & shield drawn.
Fixed an issue where Kaiser Crown β+'s hair color would change when switching from Oolong Hair α+ to Kaiser Crown β+ using specific steps.
Fixed an issue where ammo would behave unnaturally when the bowgun's pierce ammo would hit using certain shooting methods.
Mitigated an issue where if a Zero Sum Discharge connects on certain monsters, the player's grapple point would be unnatural.
Fixed an issue where when the player is wearing Brigade Layered Arms, the armband would overlap with the equipped layered armor on the torso.
Fixed an issue where if the player equips Kaiser Crown α/γ with hairstyle 8-2 and performs actions such as running, the front bangs will float or become detached from the armor and would not correct itself.
Miscellaneous
Fixed an issue where, under certain conditions, squad info would be unintentionally deleted.
Fixed an issue where, under certain conditions, entering the tent would cause the Palico to face in the opposite direction.
Fixed an issue where certain tracks would not display in the Guiding Lands.
Fixed an issue where certain timing would cause a communication error, which would result in monsters not appearing in the Guiding Lands or in cutscenes based in the Guiding Lands.
Fixed an issue where signs of desync would occur in the Guiding Lands when joining a session without a host.
Fixed an issue where players could designate a snowball as a destination for a raider ride in an area that they can't access.
Fixed an issue where the Handler would go back to her default costume after resetting the game, even if the player changes the settings to Locked.
Other minute game balance tweaks and minor bugs fixes have been made.
Title Update Roadmap for 2020 so far.
Boy, that's a LOT to take in terms of information of all of this new content rolling out in the pipeline.
As previously mentioned, I'm skipping this update for the time being and will rejoin my hunters in arms when the update for mid-April drops. I can do with postponing my own experience until the Full Bloom Festival starts. I tend to get a lot of grinding and farming done when the festivals are on rotation, so I know I won't be missing out on much. Besides, I'm well over Master Rank 200 and a lot further along in terms of upgrades and augmentations than a lot of my friends that I play with regularly (most of which who haven't even cleared Master Rank 100 and nor began the Guiding Lands grind either...), so it won't kill me to miss out this new content as soon as it rolls out.
I'm pleasantly surprised to see that Layered Weapons is making it around to the game after being a heavily requested feature for quite some time now. I hope that the materials for Layered Weapons are linked to the Guiding Lands, hence forcing players to commit more time to that instead of neglecting it after the first few months of the game. That was one reason (of many) why I took a break from the game back in February. After Safi'jiiva, majority of the player base went into this mindset that nothing else was more important than the grind for those weapons and once Safi'jiiva went away out of rotation, the bulk of the player base "assumed" that they didn't have anything else to aspire towards when there's a wealth of stuff to do for the Guiding Lands. It's not as much of a slog to grind when it first started out in post-game but with the following patches and updates/tweaks, I have grown to appreciate that mechanic more and more. It's much faster to farm and hunt monsters for weapon crafting and augments there than loading up individual quests (Optional or Investigations) as a group of four players (especially randoms) can enjoy this for hours on end with people dropping in and out at their leisure. Instead, the grind hits a standstill for most players who weren't early adopters to it as most players have done everything they have needed to make everything to their hearts' content and moved on. The other obstacle (IMO anyway...) in this mode is that most players are roadblocked in matchmaking for it as higher ranked hunters are in the MR100+ sessions for the Guiding Lands, leaving players lower ranked completely shit out of luck as the game won't match you with players who don't have either all of the (tempered and Elders) monsters unlocked.
That's one reason why I'm glad to see Kulve Taroth return as an actual hunt for Master Rank than another Siege event quest. Kulve was personally my favorite hunt in the base game (yeah really...) just for the mechanics involved and the layered format to the battle and I'm dying to see how Capcom changes this fight up for the better. They've already taken player feedback into consideration when they improved the Siege event quest format when they introduced Safi'jiiva, so I know they won't let us down in that regard when that festival rolls around.
Speaking of the Full Bloom Festival, I know I'm going to end up caving for the Handler's Full Bloom costume for that event after it's over. I like that one as much as the last few I paid for. Even though I doubt I would ever sink in any real world cash into the Hunter's room customizations, I thought the elegant theme was pretty cool in the developer diary. Can't say that I'm crazy about the "elegant" armor set for that event. Looks like something George de Sand from Mobile Fighter G Gundam would wear though. I did get a good chuckle out of the fish dual blades. Glad to see the other weapon classes are getting "silly" weapons like the chicken drumstick hammer that was added a while ago.
I did happen to watch some of the Monster Hunter Twitch stream where they were hunting Furious Rajang and I can see why people are going to flock to some of those weapons. Furious Rajang's weapons have a TON of purple sharpness while Gunlance mains will want Raging Brachydios' armor set since you can acquire the Artillery Lvl. 5 skill from a mere two sets of armor instead of slotting for it. I'm anxious to see where Gunlance set building goes from here in terms of variety as your options were still pretty slim after Safi'jiiva as you still needed wear at least two pieces of the Zorah Magdaros (Master Rank) armor set if you had the Zorah Essence skill slotted to your Awakened weapon.
I do like the Furious Rajang armor and Palico design MUCH more than the normal Rajang stuff, but the Raging Brachydios stuff induced a yawn from me as I was never a fan of how the normal version of that armor set looked like. Cool points for Capcom making the Palico armor for Furious Rajang look like Sonson (Marvel vs. Capcom 2 shoutout) with some obvious Journey to the West influences that I'm sure more people will confuse with Dragon Ball more than anything else.
Last but not least, that Alatreon reveal... I'm sure veteran players are freaking the hell out after begging for this monster to be added to this game for a VERY long time. I asked one of my veteran friends the same question but does this mean that in terms of lore that the rest of the "Black Dragons" are going to appear in the New World now? This has to be a signal that Capcom is slowly easing us towards the end of new content for Monster Hunter World: Iceborne as a whole once all of those monsters are added to the game. After defeating Safi'jiiva, I vividly remember one of the NPCs mentioning that this was a signal of "the end" leading most veteran players to speculate that Fatalis would be coming to Iceborne sooner more than later. I'm all for new monsters, but holy shit am I tired of seeing ANOTHER damn new dragon added. Like c'mon, Capcom. I get you want to please the veterans but I would like to see some variety in terms of new monsters being added. Alatreon controls every element, so it should be a fun fight though.
At the end of the day, I can't knock Capcom too much though when they have delivered above and beyond with this game with even more content in the pipeline. In the meantime though, stay safe among this coronavirus pandemic wherever you are around the world. Happy Hunting!!
The dust has settled and #Fahkumram is ready to showcase his power on a brand new stage! #TEKKEN 7 DLC 14 & 15 will be available on March 24th, 2020!
I'm sure the hardcore Tekken vets can weigh in but do I see a hint of Bruce Irvin's moveset in Fahkumram's moveset? Regardless, he looks like a pretty bad ass new addition to the roster.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is an action-adventure video game developed by FromSoftware and published by Activision. The game takes place in the Sengoku period in Japan, and follows a shinobi known as Wolf as he attempts to take revenge on a samurai clan who attacked him and kidnapped his lord. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 22 March 2019.
Gameplay is focused on stealth, exploration, and combat, with a particular emphasis on boss battles. Although most of the game takes place in fictional areas, some areas are inspired by real-world buildings and locations in Japan. The game also makes strong references to Buddhist mythology and philosophy. While creating the game, director Hidetaka Miyazaki wanted to create a new intellectual property (IP) that marked a departure from the Souls series of games also made by FromSoftware, and looked to series such as The Mysterious Murasame Castle and Tenchu for inspiration.
Gameplay:
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is an action-adventure game played from a third-person view. Compared to FromSoftware's own Souls series, the game features fewer role-playing elements, lacking character creation and the ability to level up a variety of stats, as well as having no multiplayer elements. It does, however, include gear upgrading, a skill tree, and limited ability customization. Rather than attacking to whittle an enemy's health points, combat in Sekiro revolves around using a katana to attack their posture and balance instead, which eventually leads to an opening that allows for a single killing blow.
The game also features stealth elements, allowing players to immediately eliminate some enemies if they can get in range undetected. In addition, the player character has the ability to use various tools to assist with combat and exploration, such as a grappling hook. If the player character dies, they have the option of being revived on the spot if they have resurrection power, which is restored by defeating enemies, instead of respawning at earlier checkpoints.
Plot:
In a re-imagined late 16th centurySengoku periodJapan, warlord Isshin Ashina staged a coup and seized control of the land of Ashina. During this time, a nameless orphan is adopted by the wandering shinobi named Ukonzaemon Usui, known to many as "Owl," who named the boy "Wolf" and trained him in the ways of the shinobi. Two decades later, the Ashina are on the brink of collapse due to the now elderly Isshin falling ill and the clan's enemies steadily closing in. Desperate to save his clan, Isshin's adoptive grandson Genichiro sought the Divine Heir Kuro so he could use the boy's "Dragon Heritage" to create an immortal army. Wolf, now a full fledged shinobi and Kuro's personal bodyguard, loses his left arm while failing to stop Genichiro.
Having received the dragon's blood from Kuro, Wolf survives and is brought to an abandoned temple to recuperate by a Sculptor; a former shinobi named Sekijo who now carves Buddha statues. Armed with a Shinobi Prosthetic, Wolf assaults Ashina Castle and confronts Genichiro again, defeating him, although the latter is able to survive as he had drunk from the Rejuvenating Waters, a man-made replication of the dragon's blood, and flees. As Wolf rescues Kuro, the two are given the opportunity to flee Ashina forever, though Kuro instead decides to stay and perform the "Immortal Severance" ritual, which would remove his Dragon Heritage and prevent anybody else from fighting over him to obtain immortality. Wolf reluctantly agrees to help Kuro and sets out to collect all of the necessary components for the ritual, including a special sword that can kill immortals known as the Mortal Blade. During his quest, Wolf crosses paths with Isshin Ashina, who gives him a new name: Sekiro; the "one-armed wolf."
After collecting all the components for the ritual, Sekiro is confronted by Owl; who was thought dead years prior. Owl reveals he also seeks the Dragon Heritage, and orders Sekiro to renounce his loyalty to Kuro. If Sekiro sides with Owl, he is forced to fight Isshin's doctor, Emma, and Isshin himself. Upon defeating them, Sekiro proceeds to betray Owl while Kuro, in horror, realizes he has been corrupted by bloodlust. If Kuro is chosen, Sekiro fights and kills Owl. He then uses the gathered items to enter the Divine Realm to collect the final component: the Divine Dragon's tears. Upon returning to Ashina, Sekiro discovers Isshin has succumbed to his illness and that the castle is under attack by the clan's enemies. Being informed by Emma that Kuro has fled, Sekiro finds him under attack by Genichiro, wielding a second Mortal Blade. Genichiro then challenges Sekiro one last time, only to be defeated once again. Realizing Ashina is lost, Genichiro sacrifices himself to use the Mortal Blade to revive Isshin in his prime so he might restore it. Although he disagrees with Genichiro's methods, Isshin honors his grandson's wish and fights Sekiro.
After defeating Isshin, there are three possible endings. Giving Kuro the Dragon Tears results in the standard ending, "Immortal Severance," where the Dragon Heritage is removed at the cost of Kuro's life. Afterwards, Sekiro takes the Sculptor's place at the abandoned temple and ends his life as a shinobi. Working with Emma to find a way to complete the ritual without Kuro having to die will result in the "Purification" ending, where Sekiro manages to save Kuro at the cost of his own life. The final ending, "Dragon's Homecoming", is obtained by helping the Divine Child of the Rejuvenating Waters. Kuro's body dies but his spirit lives on inside the Divine Child. Afterwards, Sekiro chooses to follow the Divine Child on a journey to return the Dragon Heritage to its birthplace in the west.
The Verdict:
When I saw the initial trailer for this game at E3 (linked above), I was instantly intrigued by what I saw because it reminded me of Activision's work on the Tenchu: Stealth Assassins series back during the PSX and PlayStation 2 eras that I thoroughly enjoyed playing... At least until Fatal Shadows, but that's a topic for another day... Every single one of my SoulsBorne loving friends that I mention my comparisons to this game get annoyed that I bring up the quirkiness of those games in comparison to this one, but I can't help but see it a LOT in this game.
My most hated enemy in this game, the (True) Corrupted Monk.
One major difference that Sekiro has over the Tenchu series are EXCELLENT boss fights. Where the Tenchu series excelled in stealth gameplay (more so than the Metal Gear Solid series in some aspects that tends to get more credit for paving the way for that genre), it had horrible boss encounters in those games. Every boss - minor, major, or progression-required - had a method to their madness that left players to figure out. There isn't any button mashing your way to victory here. These bosses will punish any and all mistakes. Sure, you can find a wealth of "cheese" strategies here and there online for the bosses but I can guarantee that you will hit a wall that will force you to tucker down and actually learn how to fight properly in terms of well-timed deflections of enemy attacks, knowing the differences of when and where to merely block or deflect attacks, and the importance of managing your posture bar for your stance won't be broken, hence leaving you vulnerable to even more devastating attacks.
The Deflection mechanic in this game is a thing of beauty once you have mastered it.
I was fascinated with the deflection mechanic in this game after coming from playing Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. That game's deflection/parry mechanic wasn't anywhere as refined as the one in this game, but I still loved it nonetheless. That foundation made me appreciate the deflection and posture mechanic in this game even more. I would pump fake deflections in preparation out of nervousness and tension in boss fights. That would get you by here and there, but there's plenty of enemies that tactic isn't going to work on in the long haul. I found that fact out the hard way over the course of the game. It's not the best educational method, but the game is dead set in hammering understanding it's gameplay mechanics into your head with consecutive failures and brutal difficulty until you master these vital skills for survival.
Deflections are a small but vital component in the game's posture system. Both Wolf (the player) and every enemy you face has a posture gauge that fills up as you block/guard attacks. If the posture meter fills up, that breaks the enemy's "stance" and allows Wolf to perform a deathblow to instantly kill them. The flip side of this mechanic is that Wolf can fall victim to this as well. Not every enemy can perform instant kill deathblows of their own, but blocking too many attacks will overwhelm Wolf's posture and break his own stance, leaving him exposed to attacks. There's a long recovery animation from this state and more often than not, you're dead once an enemy breaches your defenses like this. True mastery of this game is micromanaging your posture gauge while being pro-active enough in combat to overwhelm your enemies' own posture gauges to defeat them with deathblows. Some enemies recover their posture damage insanely fast as long their vitality gauge is completely full while others have high vitality but can be easily overwhelmed with rapid deflections in succession. It's up to the player to discover the different means on how to approach all of these various opponents.
It's a better strategy to sneak up behind stronger, more troublesome foes, rather than fighting them head on.
Some enemies have multiple life bars of vitality, so multiple deathblows will be required to defeat them. Fortunately, Wolf is able to sneak up on some foes and instantly kill them with stealth deathblows, but that won't work on every adversary you face. (Laughs) In regard of stealth gameplay in this game, I can easily tell that this game used a few of the older Tenchu titles as a blueprint as a lot of the enemies in this game can be fooled in the same capacity. For example, once you're spotted you can hang off ledges to de-aggro hostile enemies and approach again from a different angle. This will even work with some bosses and sub-bosses to an extent. In terms of stealth, I got frustrated a lot of times in terms of attempting approaches from the air for the "death from above" deathblows, only for them to whiff completely more often than not. I shouldn't be surprised as that was pretty hit or miss in that series too, but c'mon, we're on current generation hardware. That should be an easy quick fix/patch at this point to an overall great game.
Your first exposure to the Lightning Reversal in Sekiro.
I thought it was pretty cool that this game even has a counter for lightning-based attacks, much in the vein of Avatar: The Last Airbender's own fire benders' lightning redirection techniques. As cool as this technique looks, it proves to be a double-edged sword. If you can successfully counter and redirect any lightning-based attack, it deals massive damage to the initial attacker, but if you fail the counter in any capacity, Wolf takes massive damage to his vitality gauge instead.
Even the Corrupted Monk is no match for one's mastery of the Deflection mechanic.
I personally got into this game at launch last year shortly after it released early into the first quarter of 2019 from a few weekend Redbox rentals. I liked the game enough to purchase a copy a few months down the road to continue my progression throughout the game until I hit a road block in the form of the Corrupted Monk in Mibu Village. From my understanding, most players either hit the progression block with that boss or with the ones in the Ashina Estate (flashback) or with the Blazing Bull. That was definitely my white whale for a LONG ass time. I actually quit playing the game for a few months after getting caught back up into my obsession with Monster Hunter World: Iceborne and only picked the game up recently between free content updates. I can't explain it but everything just clicked at one point after so much trial and error. It was bad enough I had seen this boss made out to be a joke on AGDQ 2020's (pre-patch) speedrun of the game, so I had even more extra motivation to see this game to it's end. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it was easy. I know that I had a lot of lucky accidents and close calls that got by merely God's grace, but I can still tell you that I enjoy vastly majority of this game. Well... other than the Gun Fort and the manor portion of Fountainhead Palace, because fuck that shit.
Boy, do I wish I had that Shinobi Prosthetic the first time I went to the Gun Fort. I cleared that entire area before I even knew you could acquire the umbrella to block gunfire.
If I had one major nit-pick about this game, it's the sub-weapons in the form of the Shinobi Prosthetic. Over the course of the game, you come across items that the Sculptor can fit to your Prosthetic as additional sub-weapons/gadgets in combat. These tools are limited to use for as long as you have Spirit Emblems (this game's equivalent of mana points for casting these spells/special attacks), but the problem lies there in the fact that your stock of Spirit Emblems is always going to be a rarity. You can sit back and farm them on hours end in some remote locations in the game, but to say the game expects you to invest so much time and in-game currency on upgrading them, your mileage for these sub-weapons is going to go only so far. I hate to admit it, but your Shinobi Prosthetics aren't an end-all solution to everything either. I found myself getting out of more hairy situations from my understanding of the combat techniques from Wolf's mere katana than relying heavily on the Shinobi Prosthetics.
It's a darn shame too because these tools could make the game a lot more fun if they merely put the tools on a sort of a cooldown timer (for they won't be heavily abused in combat) or merely allowed your Spirit Emblems to be automatically replenished at any save point/Scupltor's Idol.
Since it was hot topic at the time of release and the months that followed, I wanted to comment on my own thoughts about the subject of difficulty and accessibility with a game like this. Rambling About Games has a great piece about their own thoughts about how Sekiro failed players in that regard. In my own opinion, I always felt alienated when it came to these SoulsBorne games in the aspect as the player community always came off with this elitist attitude of "git gud" at any sense of weakness or shortcomings when newcomers ask for help. That concept was foreign to me as I didn't come to this game with that experience and mindset hammered into my head, much like seasoned veterans of previous SoulsBorne titles. It was foreign to me two-fold, especially coming from Monster Hunter World, where the community seems to be open arms to help and all players of various skill levels. The sheer difficulty and lack of any help of any friends/allies to invade/join your game left players to their wits end to get the most out of this game. I'm not going to lie, but I referenced Google at every opportunity when I got stuck or reached a crossroad in this game. This title was uncharted territory for me. During the first portion of the game when I made by without any help during my first few Redbox rentals, I was going all over the place without any sense of direction. If I hit an obstacle or something too hard for me to progress against, I would backtrack and try the other fork in the road until I found something that I could actually defeat then come back to the previous path with renewed purpose. That was well and good until I ran out of options and I had absolutely no idea where or what I should be doing. Truth be told, but this is a very daunting game. You can't help but feel a sense of anxiety at the unknown. Not from just the next challenge around the corner, but from whatever crap that you're going to stumble into next. Sub-bosses roam the locales like normal enemies and you won't know they were a sub-boss until you see their name pop up on the corner of the screen with their vitality gauge.
It's one thing to tell someone to "git gud" but that's one hell of a feat to accomplish when you don't know in what shape or form what exactly you should be getting good at. I'm not going to shit on this game and act like it doesn't have in-game resources at the player's disposal to help them out either. Want to improve your combat skills and mastery or merely practice a new technique you just learned? Go talk to Hanbei the Undying, where you can practice all of your skills on this respawning enemy to your heart's content. He even goes over the combat basics in a series of lessons. That's one aspect I have to applaud Sekiro for as there's no excuse not to get the combat basics down when you have essentially a training mode from a fighting game in this to work with. Devil May Cry 5 actually has a similar feature to this as well to allow players to hone their skills.
Getting lost in Sekiro's world is inevitable as there's no way around it. There's no in-game map for each area, just an overworld map of all of the locales. For the most part, the various NPCs will give you a sense of what you should be doing or looking for, but even that information is vague at best at times. My guess in that regard is the game is laid out where if you ping pong around enough from the bosses that are available and/or accessible at your stage of progression in the game's narrative that you would eventually find your way to where you need to go to next.
The best analogy for how Sekiro hammers it's gameplay lessons home to players, whether they like it or not.
While I don't necessarily think this approach in terms of game design is best in terms of accessibility and reaching a wider audience, I understand that this game wants the player(s) to master a particular set of skills before opening up more of the world to the player. I would have liked to see various difficulty settings, but I can't knock a game that forces me to master a technique that will be a godsend for the rest of the game or for the challenges that lay ahead of me.
For example, the most frustrating enemies to face early into the game are spear-wielders, especially the Shinobi Hunter sub-boss in Ashina Estate (Flashback). Those enemies exist to force players to master the Mikiri Counter technique that allows Wolf to instantly stop any incoming enemy thrust attack, not just from spear-wielders, but from swordsmen and even thrust-style kick attacks. I didn't even realize until towards the end of the game that the latter was even possible to counter with that technique. The Mikiri Counter made fighting those Longshadow ninjas a lot easier throughout the game. Even though I hated the Corrupted Monk boss with a passion when I first encountered her in Mibu Village, I have to thank that boss for engraving the notion in my head to utilize that counter, precise Deflections, and the mere fact that you can jump over sweeping attacks and land on an enemy's head to deal posture damage coming down. By the time I encountered the (True) Corrupted Monk in the Fountainhead Palace, I had those skills engraved into my brain that I little to worry about in that rematch. Another example I can fondly remember are the monks prior to the Divine Dragon boss fight, who all utilize lightning attacks for you can practice Lighting Reversals. This skill is worth mentioning as it's definitely worth having as a trump card against the Divine Dragon boss shortly after, but even the final boss, not too far down the road of progression after that encounter.
At the end of the day, I'm split on the argument concerning accessibility with this game. In some ways, I can easily see how Sekiro fails newcomers and a wider spectrum of players outside of the SoulsBorne elite by alienating them with it's difficulty and lack of direction at times, but at the same time, I feel that the game provides enough tools (I don't mean the Shinobi Prosthetic either...) to allow most players to succeed on their own as well. The problem lies in the fact that the game doesn't really do a good job in presenting them to you right off the bat. Miyazaki is used to hammering his lessons into his player base with repeated failures until they get the point across. Sadly, that type of tough love not going to work for everyone in terms of forcing players to learn from their mistakes. On top of all of that, there's a great story that is told in this game and I'm sure that there's players that merely want to experience that, but not worry about the intricate details of the combat mechanics. Multiple difficulty settings would have alleviated that issue, but this game is dead set in it's ways with a "take it or leave it" approach much like the other SoulsBorne games in this same vein.
Play It or Don't Bother?
Coming as someone who has been generally turned off to the steep difficulty curve of other From Software games, such as Bloodborne and Dark Souls, I actually came into Sekiro expecting to feel the same way, but was pleasantly surprised that was enjoying the challenge by the time the game came to a close. I can easily see why this game isn't for everyone as not everyone will have the patience with the game's difficulty and steep learning curve, but I found this to be one of the most rewarding gaming experiences in modern memory. If this is how all SoulsBorne players feel after besting the horrors of those games, then I applaud Hidetaka Miyazaki for finally winning me over in that regard.
Would I run out to give more SoulsBorne games a fair shot? Maybe, but I'm not going out of my way to try them either. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice just happened to be subject manner I was really interested in and gameplay that I found myself loving more than I thought I would have going in. In that regard, then yes, Sekiro is definitely worth a shot and worthy of it's Game of the Year praise for 2019 too.
On a side note, I might have to hunt down one of these just for the statue of Wolf alone.
