The coolest part is that "Hesitation is Defeat," the phrase he drills into the players head every time he kills them, is him genuinely trying to help you, because constant but strategic aggression is the most effective strategy against him

Two immortal beings, both brought back from death, fighting in an open field, possessing the only means to kill the other.

I remember someone saying Genichiro in the final fight is the equivalent to the guy you kill before the Lady Butterfly fight

Isshin is so badass that the interior ministry waited for his death to invade Ashina even when Isshin was dying of illness they were afraid of him an immensely powerful army, afraid of the insane skill of a dying old man and we get to fight him in his prime amazing

Fighting Isshin as a fully mastered player is so satisfying tbh. Using everything you've learned, and mastered will never not be satisfying, even on charmless runs

I died to this man 127 times before beating him for the first time. It truly taught me that hesitation is defeat

I believe wolf doesn't get enough credit here, he completely destroyed genichiro and beat isshin back to back

dude phase 2 isshin is actually the hardest test of skill, patience, and endurance that fromsoft has made. phase 3 lightning makes it quite easier and phase 1 is a classic sword dance. But my god, isshin the sword/spear/pistol/glock saint is the best boss fromsoft has made. Every time I got hit, it was my fault, not some weird gimmick. This is a real, fair, fight.

"How my blood boils!" is actually a pretty damn great line, too

This just made me think of something. Imagine being one of the ministry agents seeing this battle

I love the "hesitation is defeat" line. He says similar things to you when you meet him for the first time, after your fight with Genichiro, and while it might be seen as random dialogue, I see it as genuinely useful advice for the player. When he says hesitation is defeat, he means it. If you flinch, think twice about attacking or back away, you're giving your opponent a second wind to come at you with all they've got. He's teaching you to relish those moments when you have no health, your posture bar is maxed out and the only thing stopping you from being killed is your deflections, and still continue to fearlessly cut down your opponent.

I love that the ending lines of the fight are "Well done Sekiro" and "Farewell." It's literally the final boss/entire game congratulating you on defeating this terrifically hard boss, and you, the player character, saying goodbye to your journey through the game.

To have the game end where it began, having designed Genichiro to fall far below the players skill curve, and giving the opportunity to fight Isshin Ashina in his absolute prime, requiring the complete mastery of all mechanics and timings up to that point, is nothing short of a near perfect final boss. It is meant to be a culmination of the players efforts and the final framing point of the conflict in the story. It is nothing short of a masterpiece. In many parts of Fromsofts games, one really feels the visceral impact of the weapons wielded by the player, and you attune yourself to that natural flow and have a sense of catharsis from each hit landed and the weight of the impact on the enemies, but in Sekiro, this is succesfully done for the enemies as well. You feel each and every pattern of every blow in each parry and each hit you take, in a way that had not succesfully been done before. The game is one of my *very admittedly few* 10/10 games out of every game ive played the last 20 years, and honestly not one I can even reccommend to most other people. It is a masterpiece that not many people will play or master, and that is a damn shame.

Also an amazing detail how genechiro and emma uses the technique of their mentors (tomoe/isshin). Genechiro uses lightning and moves similar to the okami's and emma using the ashina sword style of isshin.

As much as i love Gael, Burnt Ivory King, Ludwig, Gwyn, Nameless King, etc, Isshin takes the top spot of pure "badassery" for me. This man literally gets off his deathbed to fight you if you become Shura, shoots you with a freaking Bloodborne gun, is one of the hardest fights in the series + his lore & the points you made in this video.

Isshin was the first fromsoftware final boss where i legitimaly felt fear to battle, is not like in other fromsoft games where you just go, die a couple of times against the final boss and then you kill it, when i fought isshin i felt totally surpased by his skills, l wasnt a noob anymore i knew perfectly how to play the game but he was just better than me at playing it

Its always a good feeling to beat a game A final boss too But NEVER And I swear NEVER, I have encountered a final boss battle as intense and incredible as Isshin that has made me feel nothing but respect for myself, the boss and the game I have played. The way Isshin accepted his death with his defeat was the manliest thing ever and being congratulated by him was such an ecstatic feeling.... GOTY well deserved

I'm pretty late to this, and I'm sure someone else mentioned it before, but I always believed that Isshin didn't fight Sekiro ONLY to honor Genichiro, but because the Black Blade brings back someone to their prime in order to fulfill the wish the one who brought them back made. There's a note mentioning the Black Mortal Blade next to Isshin's tower later on in the game. In this case, "Pitiful grandchild... this was your last wish. To see Ashina returned from the great beyond... which means, Sekiro... I must destroy you." references Genichiro's wish to save Ashina by any means. He views Wolf as an obstacle to Ashina, and Isshin must destroy him. But Isshin doesn't not want to fight Wolf, he even mentions that he wishes to duel Wolf in a conversation with Emma after his illness finally claims him. So Isshin fights Wolf to the death for both his own interest, and to fulfill the wish Genichiro made. Of course, in classic Fromsoft fashion, nothing is set in stone and it's up to us to put the pieces together. Truly Sekiro is magnificent in all aspects

Isshin is a very compelling character and I think it’s a brilliant design choice to allow you to interact with him as a friendly of sorts and have him teach you new skills, it adds another layer of depth than if he was just a bloodthirsty killer that you have to dispatch.

This is not the best final boss in From Software games, it's the best final boss in gaming history. I've never seen such a rewarding fight that compiles all what you learned throughout the game so perfectly. Miyazaki and the FromSoft team are truly geniuses.

"HESITATION IS DEFEAT"

Isshin is easily one of the greatest characters ever. A father figure, teacher and a genuine God of Combat. His wonderful voice actor in Japanese and English also helped. His jovial sake conversations and his Tengu advice is so much fun to just listen to, it's incredible. This game is amazing 🔥

The cool thing about isshin (and Sekiro in general), is that at first it feels borderline impossible. You will likely struggle for hours just to barely squeak out a victory. But the more you play the game, the more you naturally start to master its mechanics and bosses like isshin start to feel pretty easy by your third playthrough. Then the game becomes more about flexing with cool combos and challenge runs rather than a fight for your survival.

I've always seen Isshin's lightning in the third phase as a show of his desperation to win the fight since he believes in winning a battle at any cost. He likely knows that the lightning will deal significant damage but he is also aware it can be thrown back at him with ease.

Isshin will forever, even after Elden Ring’s release, be my favorite Soulsborne boss. Fight me.

I think the lightning works so well because by the time you get to phase 3 you're tense enough for it to genuinely be able to catch you by surprise

35 runs was what it took for me to beat prime Isshin. And I treasure every one of those deaths because they taught me a very important lesson. *HESITATION IS DEFEAT!*

You didnt mention isshin here 9:00 performs seppuku... it was a very nice detail the game added. You could even see the ritual knife in his right hand. Sekiro plays the role Kaishakunin with the shinobi execution.

I’ve always had this pattern in my head with the bosses genichiro, Owl, and Isshin. Genichiro let’s you play your game and learn with little to worry about. Owl forces you to play his game, because he has the same moves as you, but more aged and experienced, including Mikiri, making it so you need to let him control the fight and counter attack him. Isshin is a respectful duel between two immaculately talented warriors, it’s neither person’s game. It’s a duel with no tricks, no bs. If you hesitate, you will die.

Definitely best boss

i am still so much in awe thinking about isshin's third phase, specifically the fact about his lightning attacks he doesn't "call upon" the lightning when he wants like genichiro, he just senses when a lightning is about to strike and catches it which is insanely amazing

I was fighting radagon and I hesitated for a moment and died, I immediately heard Isshin in my head "hesitation is defeat" It's a different game!!! It's still in my head anytime I hesitate and die, I know full well why I died and I hear his voice.

Genichiro was stuck on a boss and passed the controller to his gamer grandpa

The sword saint has taught me a lesson that has gotten me in good places in my life simply because i DID NOT HESITATE!!!! Definitely one of my top 10 favorite final bosses in all of video games

Beat this guy a month ago and God damn it. This guy was such a chad I loved him for teaching me how to win. Thank you Sword Saint and thank you Critical for showing how glorious he is as a boss.

Great video man! I love Isshin so much as a character and as a boss (being my favorite by far in both), and this video is a good summary of what makes the final battle with him so epic, good job!

I've beaten all of FromSoft's games and I can easily say that nothing made me let out the primal war cry upon victory the way Isshin did. That fight is so incredibly well made. It's absolutely tragic that we never got Sekiro DLC.

This video deserves more love, great job man.

This is a great video. I have always loved Isshin as my favorite boss of all time, because he does feel like a duel between two super powerful warriors. Glad to see such a well-put analysis!

Isshin only took me less than 2 hours to beat on first playthrough, but 10 hours on 4th playthrough without Kuro charm, that was absolutely the BEST boss fight experience of all FromSoft games!!! Now I just cant stop challenge Isshin with different mods, almost each few days for months already LoL

Isshin in the second phase : so anyways , I started blasting

1st phase Isshin isnt aggressive at all lmao. He just casually walks to you like a mad lad. 2nd phase however is where the aggression kicks in

very good analysis 👏

what an emotional rollercoaster of a fight

That lightning detail really great....

It's ridiculous how good this game is. I can't believe it's been 3 years already

Great work as always, can't wait until the next time you cover From Software games! Maybe by the next February even Elden Ring could be talked about in this series, if we indulge in a bit of wishful thinking. Also I never caught that aspect about Isshin's lightning attacks compared to Genichiro's, extremely cool detail!

My favorite part about Sekiro is when Sekiro draws his sword and says "I'm John Sekiro"

Small fact about the game, when owl says in the shura ending that there are only few man who could best isshin in his old age. He was including himself as if you put owl and isshin against each other, owl always wins.

0:02 "turns 2 years old" > me looking at the upload date 😬

That detail about Isshin catching lightning out of the air is so cool, I never knew that before

I will never forget realizing how my heart was almost going to jump out of me when I finally beaten him. Nothing I have played comes even close. The level of thrill and adrenaline rush this boss made go through was astonishing.

Imagine you so strong that an entire army is afraid of your even if your are in your death bed.

No joke this last lines are so satisfying. Tbh one of the most, if not the most satisfying game endings.

Dude catches the lightning? Incredibl, I didn't notice until now but it makes him so much cooler! I just thought "ah he knows that lightning attack, too", but no, he uses the technique we have to catch and return lightning, but he does it to heaven!

I'm still stuck on inner ishiin at the end of the second gauntlet. Fuck me. It's so infuriating how different he feels than normal ishiin.

sword saint isshin is really the beat fight in sekiro, 1. he gains posture quickly so it actually forces you to fight head on. 2. you can’t actually deflect everything so you also rely on your instincts and timing. 3. he can’t be cheesed.

Man I love Sekiro, and its animations as well, is just something about the way the game moves and the characters animate, is just so satisfying.

9:06 I swear this part is the most satisfying part in this game and even video games as a whole. The first time this happened I felt so satisfied I finally beat one of the hardest bosses ever, and even after beating him multiple times over it still feels satisfying every time.

Prime Isshin for the final test of skills. The final lesson about hesitation. The best final battle to end a masterpiece.

"Hesitation is Defeat" - It's not just a quote from a video game, it's a quote you should apply to your life.

You used a clip of the shock status effect, when saying "It's shocking to say this but-" You earned an instasub for that

I think the coolest part is that in other souls game or even many games, we tend to hear a legend of a *human* character throughout many interaction with many npc to hyped us to fight them, yet many times meet with either their dead body, a husk of their prime, or even worse somebody else entirely inheriting their name. Maybe only some character that either does it justice or overexceed it by having some evil power up that make them inhuman or monster instead. Yet, Isshin is a different boss. Isshin is the one character where you have chance to either fight him past his prime in his old age or fight him on his prime as sword saint isshin where both form could kick your ass either when you prepared or not equally.

I love this fight so much The flow of this fight is just so good When you finally get a hold of it, the dance this fight has is just one of the most brilliant things i have ever played. It's a flow that just hits so well i'll never forget the first time i beat him, hell the second time just last month He's a masterful boss that pushes you in a fair way

A recurring theme in from software‘s boss fights is once great Warriors being reduced to a shell of their former selves (either through age or a curse) and STILL proving a force to be reckoned with. For example, Artorias has a broken arm (his good arm mind you) and his mind has been corrupted by the abyss. But he still formidable nonetheless; and this makes the player wonder what they would’ve been like in their prime. But with Isshin, you don’t have to wonder. You Face him at his peak or in his old age (depending on which ending you’re going for) and it’s glorious.

During my first playthrough. I beat this boss without using any powerups, only gourds and shuriken since I want to test how far I've come. I died for like 4 hours, others intentionally to learn all his pattern, still pretty a good experience. That joy when I finally arrive at phase 3 was immeasurable.

Grinding this boss over and over again while doing a no-level-up run with only mikiri counter made me apprectiate the game design masterpiece as well as a wonderful closing to sekiro's lore and story. Okay. I knew this before I did a soul lvl 1 equivalent run I just wanted to say I also did that thank you for listening

When Isshin performs the spear combo he looks like he's floating like in the Spiral Cloud Passage. The most compelling bosses reflect the player's abilities and potential.

What I find makes Isshin unique as a final boss is that he's not the main antagonist or the most personal foe of Wolf, but he works as the final opponent *is* the most legendary figure there, as he is renown for liberation of Ashina. In many ways, he *is* Ashina (both are on their last legs but persevering, and the territory falls when Isshin finally does (before he comes back to life)). By besting Isshin, it's the perfect way for the game to say that Wolf and Kuro have finally escaped from Ashina.

Listening to isshins stories is legit so great, he really just your amazing grandpa

I recently beat Sword Saint Isshin and it is probably my favorite boss in any game so far. He takes every mechanics you've learned throughout the whole game and give you a final test. The feeling of getting that final deathblow is like completing my finals exams and taking a look at the score and passed

well jeez i guess i might as well try that game out now

I just beat him. I constantly found myaelf running from his big attacks and getting frustrated. It wasn't until I saw that standing my ground and perfect parrying his Ichimonji, the big sweep and the vertical wind slice that you take no damage. It was amazing finally taking him down.

Oh my god....I have tried cheeses, exploits and grinding. But after seeing that most people say be agressive, I juzt beat Isshin for the first time as I am writing this comment. Wow bro...wow..... Reaction/Backstory video taught me more than actual in depth guides. Mate you just won me as a lifetime subscriber! Thanks for ths wonderful video. 213 tries by the way. Demon Bell and no sugars rofl.

i cant explain how i felt after finishing him. this was the greatest moment in videogames i ever experienced

Just beat this boss in ng+2 for the first time and he was fucking formidable, requiring near perfect concentration for over a 10 minute period. What a battle.

The only boss I've ever really learnt from tbh, I actually quit the first time I ever got to him because I couldn't do it and left the game for a year, after that my failure on never finishing the game really got to me so I went back and learnt the enemies should fear your aggression not the other way around, and I beat him first time in my second playthrough. No stopping to assess the battlefield just fight use your skill and fight don't overthink

i never noticed him intercepting the lightning, god i beat this game so many times and i still learn new things

Just to show how familiarized I got with the game, I did first try his third and fourth phase. The funny thing is the first phase still demolishes me and sometime even genichiro kills me when I screw up. But the game is so good at showing you it’s systems, that even being hit by the lightning, the gun and falling down a cliff, I did everything else perfectly while sweating profusely

Great summery of a fantastic Boss. I always felt Isshin was the perfect final foe to face as he mirrors the player character in so many ways. Like Sekiro, he spent his life mastering so many different combat styles. He polished his technique in the blood of his enemies and Wolf polished his technique through death after death after death. There is also the beautiful contrast of their clothing, the orange of Sekiro’s garb and the blue of Isshin’s robes. The only thing that always confused me was the “Immortality Severed” message at the end of the fight. I always though it was because prior to the fight, Genichiro stabbed Kuro and his blood coated the black mortal blade. In the moment of taking his own life, Genichiro not only brought back his grandfather back, but also transferred kuro’s immortality onto him. Though that’s just my theory.

I played the Shura ending first, so when I got to Saint Issin on my second run I thought I could win pretty easily. I finally rage quit after who knows how many deaths. I came back to the game about a year later and went into the fight with a mindset of just being patient and learning his moveset without the actual goal of killing him. In the end, I really actually enjoyed the fight and it was so satisfying after learning his moveset it felt like a dance. The first time I entered his third faze is when I finally killed him. Took me about a day and a half, and who knows how many tries.

I also like that in isshins second phase if you deflect his thrusting attack in his combo he has an even longer combo, stretching to 15 and maybe even more attacks

Though he has been beaten many times by me now , I still recognize him as the greatest swordsman Ashina will ever have. Pure skill.

7:30 In the shura ending he also utilizes the fire Sekiro is creating. the fire does not come from Isshin, but Sekiro because he is transforming to Shura

I loved this game so much that when I reached at the end leaving Demon of Hatred and Isshin the Sword Saint, I wasn't feeling it that I learned this game enough. So after several tries of defeating Isshin, Demon Of hatred was scary AF I restarted the whole game. And in my first playthrough I was 43 hours excluding last 2 bosses and in my second playthrough I defeated everyone except few underwater useless headless in under 25 hours. I really wish I could forget this game.

After beating the game and coming back to it a couple of years later to platinum it. I finally felt like I truly mastered it. I can't ever blame the game for bugging out on me but God damn! The details in the area of the final fight are also perfect. Cause when ever I would jump to counter the lightning attack I would step on an elevated mound and it would damage me before I even swing. It's perfect

By far the hardest final boss for me personally in all of the souls games. But I absolutely love him the arena, and every second of this fight . Never felt more like a badass in a game before or since

My favorite detail is that Ishhin's spear is the same one from the big guy he killed in the opening cutscene

There’s almost a strange tunnel vision peace in the last moments when you know you won and just wait for that red death blow to appear.

I think it's awesome how in the Shura fight Isshin uses the fire that covers the areas and it's a shame we never got a fire attack from said fight

seeing the umbrella right there and you not using it for the wind attacks hurts my eyes

Damn, I remember when I played this game when it came out. Got to the demon of hatred and this guy. And couldn’t beat neither of them. And I stopped playing until recently, I finally beat it on my steam deck. And it’s so satisfying.

Hesitation is defeat - Isshin signed his own death warrant.

Took me hours to beat him but god damn was it satisfying and fun to learn

I got sekiro only a couple months ago, and I just recently beat NG1. I beat Isshin in 3 tries, which I honestly couldn't believe in the moment. I didn't use any tricks or cheese (I had watched ONGBAL beat him a few times but that's like trying to learn pickup basketball by watching a Michael Jordan Top 10 Moments video). All I did was... refuse to hesitate. I kept the pressure on, deflected when I needed to, and beat him fair and square, just because I knew how to fight. Best final boss ever.

Looks like From Software February was a real success’s dozen.

I really like the shura ending Isshin fight He dodging my strikes by simply stepping away with minimal movement

Glock Saint Isshin is such a damn cool fight, last time I played Sekiro I just threw myself over the cliff instead of performing the final execution, just so I could fight him again and again.

4:15 you actually slightly misunderstood the lore here. The reason why he's willing to fight isn't because he's honoring Genichiro's last wish (he was willing to risk Genichiro's death helping Sekiro rescue the the Divine Heir, and even pushed him to find the Mortal Blade which he knew would make it more likely for Genichiro to die). The reason why he's willing to fight is because the black blade returned him at the peak of his power, which was also the peak of his own violent nationalism. If he was doing this for Genichiro, he wouldn't spend his grandson's last moment alive insulting him from losing a fight with an unkillable super-soldier Isshin personally conspired to have kill Genichiro. For the most part I think you're right about the mechanics of the fight (and good catch about the lightning, I hadn't noticed that and it makes the last phase like 30% cooler), but I think the thematic point is that the Sword Saint (unlike the version of Isshin you fight in the Shura ending) is basically Genichiro only more so, and that for all the good he did before, dragging him back into the present puts him somewhere he doesn't belong and turns him from a savior into a problem to be solved. I think the most consistent theme in From Software's games since at least Dark Souls 1 (I think also Demon's Souls but not the old Armored Core games, but I'm not 100% sure) is that violating the natural order to make people or things outlast their proper span is not a good idea. Genichiro embodies this, as much more than Gwynn I think he truly did what he did out of love, but in the end all he could ever have achieved was to drag out the war and kill more of his countrymen in the process. One of Isshin's drink dialogs (I think for Ashina sake but don't quote me on that) includes him admitting that even at the peak of his strength it still took a moment of opportunity for him to reclaim the land he rules, so I strongly suspect that even if Sekiro gave up and he was able to fight the war restored to the the peak of his power, I think he'd still end up losing but he'd force the Interior Ministry to do a lot more damage in the process.

One thing I think is really underrated about this boss is that it’s one of the few times FromSoft lets us fight an enemy at their absolute prime and how it absolutely delivers. A lot of the souls games bosses are always old or weakened enemies on the decline or heavily weakened, and Sword Saint Isshin goes against this usual format. He is at the absolute pinnacle of his strength and beating him while knowing that makes beating him far more satisfying.