*"I don't like pipe organ or Mass Effect."* Gee, you think you know a person...

Getting good is only something you do for things you like enough to want to get good at, absolutely correct.

I would say Dark Souls and Bloodborne are like brothers and this game feels like the cousin

This game has skill checks that hit harder than an 18 wheeler.

"i don't like the game, but I have to say it is made very well" 10/10 statement, that's something I can agree with

y'know Jim, its refreshing hearing someone very constructively describe why they don't like a game you do, so thanks!

People need to understand, you can appreciate something and rate it objectively yet dislike it from a subjective standpoint.

I feel the same here, love souls games, did not really like Sekiro... but still beaten it out of pure stubbornness.

Git gud at accepting mild criticism, Hardcore Gamers!

"You still have to have fun while gitting gud." Nail. On. Head. While I'm having a blast with Sekiro,and therefore gonna git gud,I understand why some people just don't get Soulsborne games. If it ain't your jam,then you're not gonna like it.

Not proud to admit it but this game is too hard for me. I've quit it. Coming from turned based games my 47 year old reactions are not upto it. Think I beat 14 bosses/mini bosses including butterfly but running into one brick wall after another is not my idea of fun. My job is enough of a grind without having to grind in my free time. Enjoy the lore and game design, 100% respect the developers rights to build the game as they like. Real shame, 10% easier and I'd see this through to the end. I'm high level in my normal gaming arenas, producing guides etc but this level of twitch/reaction gameplay would require an inordinate amount of time and effort from me at this time of my life. No doubt a great game though.

I love sekiro, but obviously won’t hold it against you if you don’t like it as well! We all have different tastes, well put video!

This kind of attitude about not enjoying something but still being able to appreciate it's well made or that other people can like it is needed more. Not being able to do so creates entitlement for media to be made specifically for someone's personal tastes and that's just not how art works. Sorry you weren't feeling the game, but thank you for understanding it's just your own personal preference.

So I actually want to play Sekiro more after this review. I wasn't a massive fan of dark souls but love bloodborne, because I feel the combat is faster. The reasons Jim doesn't like it are the reasons I think I'll enjoy this. I really like this style of video.

I never get the feeling of accomplishment beating bosses in souls games. I am stuck with the negative emotions long after I bested a strong opponent. Shame, disappointment(in myself) & stress. I actually like the exploration, farming and the small open-world aspects of the game much more.

Dude, same. I love fromsoft games, was anticipating this for months, expecting to fall in love with it.. and I just dont. I honestly dont like it very much, enemies are either too easy, or too hard, requiring what I really hate, looking up a damn guide. The story elements are just boring I dont care, the game is great, fromsoft quality, but its just not my cup of tea. I just cant get into it, I made it to the guardian ape, and rin spirit lady. Tried fighting her like 5 times, realized I hadnt even made a dent or gotten remotley close to a victory, realized there was some kind of guide or formula to beat the enemy and I would have to look it up or spend 3 hours playing guess what works which I dont have time for so just look it up, and beat the enemy. Which is the same pattern of the entire game for me... thats not discovery and challenge, its just grind and nonsense. I gave up.

I feel very similarly about battle royale games. I don't like them very much but I recognize their value to others along with their unique multiplayer style. I love Sekiro but I can respect your position on the game.

Jim with an objective review. Just because you like a game, doesn't make it good and just because you dislike a game, doesn't make it bad. Cheers.

Ten years ago, I would have invested more time into 'gitting gud' at Sekiro. These days, I hate spending what little gaming time I have on punishing games that require a significant time sink. Sekiro is, without a doubt, a younger man's game. Still feels good to support From Software, but next time I'll rent first.

wait wait wait....you're telling me...it's okay for me to not like Sekiro? despite liking Dark Souls and Bloodborne and being a FromSoftware fan...its OKAY for me to dislike this game? because I really do. I'm not gonna get attacked for saying that right? this is weird...voicing my opinion in the souls community...

I fucking love sekiro It might be my favorite of all from soft games, but I totally respect your opinion It isn't a game for everyone and that can be said for all the souls games too

Jim, other side of the coin is here because I didn’t like dark souls but love sekiro and the more I played the more I liked it

I agree.... Love all the Dark Souls games, Demon Souls, Nioh and Bloodborne. But? I just can't get into Sekiro.... There is only one way to play it and little variety. The parrying gets old repetitively. One accident and it's over.

Jim is very good at constructing arguments; my favorite being the pipe organ analogy. Very well put.

**crouch in some ankle high, very thin brush** giant snake that basically sees with its tongue anyway: tf he go??

I couldn't get into the Souls games, but I really dig this. It really does come down to personal taste.

This video is a beautiful case study for anyone trying to figure out how to express their dislike for something in a respectful way. Seriously, it's OKAY to say something "wasn't made for me", and that's why you're not a fan. You can not be a fan of something and still acknowledge that there's quality in it.

I finished the game just now and jesus all I feel is relief , absolute chore of a game

Excuse me Jim but I'm gonna need you to be COMPLETELY OBJECTIVE. How dare you insert your own taste into your personal opinion.

No it's not! How dare you! *references that time Jim reviewed Call of Duty* Did I do the routine right?

I've always played the "Havel Turtle + the biggest sword I could find"-style in the Souls Games. Therefore I really struggled in Bloodborne, but somehow made it through. However I rarely go back and play it again, because I'm just not good at this faster playstyle. But for some reason, Sekiro's playstyle worked almost instantly for me. I just love the flow of the game, it feels great to get the parries just right (I almost never parried in the Soulsborne games, propably less than 20 times in all five games), and to overwhelm these though and big enemys with nothing else than my tiny little Katana. The same goes for the (missing) RPG-features. I loved to test out hundreds of different combinations of armors and weapons in the Soulsborne series but for some reason, I'm not missing these things at all. Quite the contrary actually, I like that you perfect your playstyle the whole game, getting better and better at it. I completed Sekiro in under a week (currently in NG3+, struggling against the last Boss), faster than any other From Software game. Not because it is easier, but because I almost never felt frustrated with this game. Things never felt overwhelming, just challenging. However I totally get it, if you don't like this playstyle, then Sekiro is not for you. But you should still try it out, even if you never parried once in The Soulsborne games. Because like me, you might be surprised by yourself.

When I'm done with Sekiro, I now wanna go back in Dark Souls 3 and see if I can parry... I used to be worthless...

I hate parrying in dark souls games and I love it here.

How dare you voice an opinion based on your own preferences you damnable fiend!! I'll have you know that I mashed dislike and *unsubscribed* . Good day sir.

I loved the world, feel and story of BB and the Souls games a lot more than Sekiro but I much prefer the gameplay loop and mechanics of Sekiro. Feels a lot more like I'm actually outplaying a boss or mini-boss rather than just running away and being an opportunist like the Soulsbourne games.

I did a lot of research before buying to make sure it is the game I wanted. It seems like an updated Tenchu game. That's what I've been wanting since high school.

The way you describe your feelings towards Sekiro, is basically me and Dark Souls. I really want to enjoy those games but I don't. Sekiro however is exactly what I do enjoy.

I find it weird the game with the shield prioritizes dodging, and the game with sword is more about blocking. Odd stuff.

"Oh this game seems intere-" *Starts to mention parrying* "Nope, fuck that."

I went from bloodborne as my first souls game, straight into ds3 and dodging was a very viable play style. From ds3 into sekiro and I could NOT get into it. I've given it so many chances and I just can't do it.

I love the game myself, and I think it's a masterpiece in combat, theme, style and story - BUT I do also know it's definitely NOT for everyone, and I can respect that.

Jim, your opinion on pipe organs is more damning than anything else.

Sekiro is my favorite FromSoft game. It was a blast playing it and I continue to play it now. That said, I respect your opinion and it is absolutely okay to like or dislike any game.

I like how in Souls games / Bloodborne there was an emphasis on spacing. In a sense it felt more like real fencing, because you would be just out of the reach of your opponent and move within it only when you wanted to attack. You'd hit the enemies always with the very tip of your weapon. When you learned the reach and arcs of your moveset it was really great feeling and enabled you to do some pretty cool stuff. I liked the combination of locked and unlocked play (lock-on toggle) in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1. Sekiro is not a bad game. In fact it might be the most polished game From Software has ever made. However, to me it feels like a combination of rhythm and memory game, so I don't really like it that much. I'm pretty good at parrying in Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but most of the time I tried to defeat enemies by other means because it was more fun. Not to mention you didn't have to parry every single attack, so you could always choose the move you wanted to punish with a parry.

Fair enough. Would love to see Duke Amiel d’Hardcore respond to people who get angry with you over this.

Sekiro is a From Software game, but it isn't a Souls game. It's got the same blood, but it's a very different child. Just because you like someone doesn't mean you have to bone their whole family.

Excellent video, Jim and I totally agree as I really didn't enjoy this game that much either and I did my best to give it a fair shake as I played a number of mini-bosses and beat the first two main game bosses. However, after a while I just found it to be a real slog having to go through the same rigmarole to get to a main boss never mind beat them and overall this game just lacks that addictive feel the Soulsbourne games have. Its good that From Software tried something different with Sekiro and kudos to them for that and the game does have some aspects that I liked but with the Souls and Bloodborne, I could pick up the game and not want to put it down but with Sekiro after an hour or two I felt like taking a break and that was that for me, it just didn't have that same instant appeal. Anyway great video, Jim and some good thoughts on the game.

I just realized I feel about Jim the way Jim feels about sekiro.

I'm just glad FromSoft is doing original games again and I hope they keep doing more IPs and different types of gameplay than copies of the Soul series.

I felt the same at the start of the game, but as I learned to stop trying to play it like Dark Souls I was enjoying it much more. I've been waiting for another Tenchu for a while and this game hits the spot so that may be why I enjoy it much more.

I was the same way with it. I made it past the first boss (who actually didn't give me as much trouble as the chained ogre or the shinobi hunter) and just kinda went... meh. That's enough for me. It's a good game. It's just not a game for me. The biggest issue I have is that most enemies seem to have attacks that track you when you dodge. Now I know they want us to parry but that's rather beside the point. It feels like they put in the attack tracking *just* to encourage parrying. I don't remember anything like that in any of the dark souls games and the only thing that does for me is make me feel like the difficulty is artificial because they're punishing you for not playing in a specific way.

I just hate parrying - it’s that simple for me In dark souls and Bloodborne I never use parry

This game is a treasure trove for Duke Amiel du H'ardcore

As much as I love this game I get why some soulsborne fans won't like it, it really different with some similar visuals

Sekiro was infuriating until you actually realize its all about timing. I could never parry in Dark souls i would hit 1 in 20 parry attempts in DS and Im still the same. Sekiro is like a dance you just have to get the timings once you get the timings it is easy. I enjoyed it. The problem is that I went for the 4 endings though I will admit I only played through 3 times i did the old save file and chose different to get last ending. By my 3rd play through it was just repetitive and boring with no variation enemies get a little harder.In the end but it was all about boring farming for achievements. In DS you can play through as a different character for a different play style. Sekiro for a one time play through gets 9/10 for a repeat playthrough game it gets 3/10

Honestly, this video is really an eye opener for me. I've never been a fan of yours. In fact, when I saw this video, I even dismissed it as "git gud" as you said. But after watching a video from Harmful Opinions and coming back to give your video a look, I'm pleasantly surprised to find that you're very sensible in your critique of the game. It's okay to acknowledge that a game is good, but not a game you enjoy personally. Even if it's because you're bad at it. I'm definitely guilty of that myself. I don't enjoy most RTS games, and it's not that I find the games personally bad. It's that I do not personally enjoy them, but can acknowledge that they are quality games regardless. I'm glad that I found this video, and that I took the time to hear you out.

As someone who couldn't get very far with any soulsbourne game but absolutely adores Sekiro and is piling through it; Thank you Jim.

As a souls player I thought the game was unfair as hell at the start. But once I retrained myself and found out how to play I thought it was good. Don't like the progression of the game personally though.

Dear Jim, your reviews are very nuanced and I appreciate your talent for summing it up! *slavering* now when can we feed on your disbelief and agony like that cart racer video? *spittle*

Honestly, from the footage here, as well as a couple of your comments, it seems as if you gave up on Genichiro. And I get it. That fight is extraordinarily difficult - the steepest learning curve in the game. There’s a reason they open Hirata toward the beginning of Sekiro. They want you to clear that area - specifically Lady Butterfly - long before you reach Genichiro. I genuinely don’t see how someone passes the Butterfly fight only to tap out on Gyoubu or Genichiro. The Butterfly fight outright forces you to git gud at deflecting. Just like the Ogre fight forces you to re-learn dodging. The lack of a summoning mechanic in Sekiro has affected public opinion more than anything else. And I’m going to be honest here: the Soulsborne games wouldn’t have as big of a fanbase without a summoning mechanic, either. Summoning is a huge crutch for many, many Soulsborne players whether they want to admit it or not. I never defeated Friede without assistance, and I platinumed DS3. Summoning allows you to more or less “skip” difficult encounters, and continue on enjoying the world/lore/story/level design/etc. And that may very well have been the key to Soulsborne’s immense popularity, because those games have a lot more to offer beyond their difficulty. I think Sekiro is the hardest FromSoft title by far. I also think it deserves objective criticism for being what amounts to a niche melee stealth game with very shallow RPG elements. It’s simply not an accessible game. In fact, it makes the Souls games look fairly tame, especially DS1. At any point in DS1 you could throw on Havel armor and poise your way to an easy victory. Difficulty wise, DS1 hadn’t aged all that well by the time DS3 came along. Compared to the difficulty in Sekiro, DS1’s difficulty is sort of a joke. If the Souls games are MMA, Sekiro is boxing. Hyper specialized, almost to a fault. I’m not sure how it will stack up in the long run for me personally. I’m nearly finished with my first playthrough, and I do indeed enjoy the combat. Sekiro is without a doubt an inspired, meticulously crafted game. For that alone it deserves praise. But the Soulsborne games had a certain element of individuality baked into their cores. That sort of individual expression - everything from Fashionsouls to weapon choice to builds - is notably absent from Sekiro. In fact, the more I’ve played Sekiro and actually gotten gud, the more I’m convinced it shouldn’t even be compared to Soulsborne. Sort of like comparing Skyrim to Ocarina of Time. Maybe a thin veneer of similarity between the two games, but ultimately comprised of totally different DNA.

Bloodborne taught people how to perfect dodging - I think Sekiro will do the same with parrying.

I had a similar experience but in reverse actually, I didn't like bloodborne when I first started playing it, I'd come from dark souls to bloodborne and just couldn't get to grips with the game so I left it on the shelf unplayed for years, sekiro came out and I started playing it and found it to be a really easy fit for me to get in to, I just seemed to "get it", so I played it for a fair few hours and then thought that it might have just been something at the time that put me off bloodborne, so I went back and started playing it and I am actually really, thoroughly enjoying it. To the point where I've been playing it solid for the last 3 days now. I know it's not really the same thing but I do get where you are coming from.

I know exactly how you feel and I hate I feel this way about it as well; love the souls games and played hundreds of hours of each, but I’ve always been a blocker/shield user in these games and I struggled with bloodborne at first also but it grew on me...this one I just can’t get into it just isn’t for me as well...shitty feeling, but it is what it is lol...just know you’re not alone :(

I like sekiro, but tbh I kinda understand what he is saying. I got to NG+3 and was done with it, unlike bb where if the NG didnt cap at 8 i would probably be at around 30 haha. But the main thing i dont like about sekiro is the realism of it tbh. I love souls born games for the creatures and monsters in every corner. And the dark malicious tone of all hope is gone. Sekiro gets repetitive with the enemy types and the way you need to fight them. Unlike ds or bb, there are multiple ways to tackle a beast. But with sekiro if you dont use the posture parry you wont beat the game simple as that. That is the most ruining part of it, IMO.

I very much love the essentially 2 button combat, but I can see why people don't. To me nailing down the timing is so satisfying it makes me keep going.

I’d love to hear your opinions on Mass Effect longform

Interested in how you feel about God of War 2018 as most of your complaints applies to that game aswell (limited options, forces you into certain responses from enemy attacks)

Agreed. Love Sekiro personally. It wont appeal to every player or every souls fan though. It follows the souls structure pretty closely but the combat is extremely different overall. Im still horrible at deflecting since I feel like there is a delay to the blocking and striking and am used to more instant response, but regardless I love working my way through the game. I find alternate methods for alot of the bosses. Its something I can get alot better at and I always seek a challenge. Its very rare these days for new triple A games to have a challenge at default difficulty, so I like that this is extra difficult. Ive gone through all the Souls games so I like some variety in the mechanics and challenge. I can also see your viewpoint from a different angle. If the mechanics and gameplay went strongly against the way I liked to play a game or wasnt feeling it for whatever reason, then the game wouldnt do it for me. HATED Gravity Rush 2 and Watch Dogs 2 despite them having alot of good aspects. Playing them just annoyed the shit out of me. Its not just about difficulty. Ive beaten some insane settings on games new and very old, but most of the time I have to really like the core game. Then I want to improve and take on insane challenges. If thats not there the game is super hard for me because I dont enjoy playing it. Good example is Battletoads on NES. Ive beaten harder challenges like world rank 19 in Ninja Gaiden Black on the mission mode, with over 40 million points. Hundreds of hours of failure and frustration, but I loved the game even with its flaws. Battletoads is a game where I like the art style, music and multi genre approach but hate how it plays control wise and the super heavy trial and error type memorization ontop of the loose control kills it for me. Metal Storm on expert was disgustingly difficult (no videos back then or guides) but I loved the game so I got through it eventually. The mode was so hard it seemed untested and impossible often. Jim Power for SNES was another extreme difficulty old game. That was alot of trial and error too, but not to the extent of Battletoads and even though the game was mediocre it had tight control. I went through that one because it got listed as the hardest game many years back in EGM. Since I was young I wanted to beat it. Never liked the game. Point being it atleast had tight control.

I was very much in the same camp as Jim with Sekiro. It is *starting* to grow on me, but that's happening like 15 hours in. That's an awful lot to ask of anyone. The warning bells for me started going off when I finally beat the chained ogre and instead of getting a sense of relief or accomplishment, I felt literally nothing at all. It definitely helped knowing you can spam the block button to parry to a large extent and then better tune your timing in order to properly deflect, but I feel like that's something people have stumbled across and isn't being played as intended. The camera I also agree is pretty shit, cannot handle enclosed spaces and sadly that happens a lot. The stealth is mostly fine, but I feel doesn't play to FromSoft's design, because sometimes you're not sure if there's a clever way to backstab someone or if there isn't and you just have to deal with a more difficult fight. The branching paths you can take are a little *too* vague for me, to compare to dark souls it's like you can either go to the undead burg *or* the catacombs *or several other places you really have no business approaching. As a result, I was encountering many more difficult fights adding to my frustration. The ledge grab is also just plain bad, and being punished for dying via the game's Dragonrot mechanic really sucks out any encouragement you would normally get from dying to a boss and learning it's moves. This is made more difficult to swallow when you don't really know what the ultimate punishment is for Dragonrot and the items you need to heal it are finite. I really wish I could love Sekiro and I really wish it started to click a lot earlier than it did, and I really hope it keeps clicking and doesn't just leaving me feeling 'meh' for beating a boss and instead I start fist pumping and yelling 'fuck you!' on finally beating it.

I'm honestly glad they changed they way it plays. I've been a souls boy for years, but I didn't want dark souls with new paint.

the unblockable attacks aren't well telegraphed? It literally flashes the kanji for danger in red with an accompanying audio cue. how much more telegraphing do you need?

Great video! An insightful critique and your personal take on it. That's quality assessment right there! The internet seems to forget that not being into something doesn't make it bad, personal preference and style play a part. I could not get into Bloodborne, the combat wasn't my speed, but Sekiro has been a good time all in all thus far for me. Your issues with the game (camera in particular) I think are on point as well. Despite enjoying the game I see no point in turning a blind eye to some of its stumbling blocks. You said you almost didn't make this video but I'm quite glad you did. Good game but not for me, is something so hard to find in the land of online game critique. Videos like this can furthers the appreciation and discussion of all those games that maybe just aren't for everyone.

It's okay, Jim. We all have those games that we feel should like and want to like, but we just can't. I certainly have a few of those in mind right now...

Same here! I'm sure I'll give it more tries, but 'meh' is my conclusion atm. I really wish I loved it.

I also didn't like Sekiro entirely because of the bosses. Beating every boss felt like a hollow victory, like I was just lucky enough to not miss a button press by a few frames. Apart from the camera angles (which have had a history of problems) the game was rather enjoyable.

Dunno how many times the reason I died in this game was cuz the camera got smooshed up into the wall and I suddenly lost lock-on to the enemy. Had to just learn to stay away from walls lol.

“I don’t like Sekiro.” Yeah I guess I should have stopped listening to this guy ever since he said Knack II was bad. Unsubbed. Just kidding, I respect your opinion. Will still give this game a shot though. Still love you Jim!

Great video. It's like you always take the words right out of my mouth. Love Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Sekiro is a great game, it's just not my kind of game. Which hurts me to say.

I was once like Jim with his opinion of this game, then one day I realised, you don't have to kill every enemy you come across in this game straight away, you can sneak past (you are a shinobi after all right?). You can also sometimes take an alternative route to get to the same place in Sekiro.

Same, I beat Oniwa my 2nd try of my first play through (which I’m still on) but all the other smaller bosses are chores because every attack you do against them are deflected by them and there is no way to damage their health bar so you can’t damage their posture bar to get the deathblow. Also for every 100 deflects you do on a boss’s attack you get 5 hits in for the 100 attacks you deflected. My biggest problem is that for lesser enemies and mini bosses when you deflect their attacks you actually get an opening to strike but with bosses it’s impossible to do that. Lady butterfly is a great example of this because it took me around 30 tries and 3 irl days to complete because she is not hard but her second phase is so tedious with her going up into the air becoming invincible, spawning minions multiple times (when sekiro is meant for one on one combat), spamming kunai from a unreachable range, and her spamming magic homing missiles at you that if you get hit by you get stunlocked which makes you vulnerable to other attacks. I slowly began to realize the problem with bosses in this game came down to their size because with bosses like Oniwa he didn’t deflect every single attack you did on him, but when you get to butterfly or genichiro they are not only tanky but they deflect every single one of your attacks giving you no opening and non-deflecatable attacks are way more common where with Oniwa I don’t remember hardly any non-deflectable attacks. So not only can you not hit the smaller bosses or do damage over time or build up the posture bar but when you deflect their attacks you don’t get rewarded for it and their is no opening for minor attacks or deathblows. This just sucks so much because the mini bosses and everything else are easy for me and they might kill me a couple times but I’ll get it and make progress. but going up against certain bosses are like going up against brick walls. I don’t rage that much at games because I am very patient when it comes to games and this has remained true for this game, I that it doesn’t make you rage because the game is well designed but it makes you disappointed that you can’t make progress in this masterpiece of a game. I got so sick of fighting the same boss over and over again that even the thought of the boss area made me not want to play so I took a week brake from the game but by the time I got back i forgot all the bosses move set and my own combat skills I had developed before. It just sucks because if you aren’t automatically attuned to pick up the combat in this game really fast it demands a lot from the player in terms of how much time you have to put into bosses alone. Bosses are the only thing that get me stuck all other places of the game I enjoy. Which I do enjoy the boss fight because they are really cool and are like a dance but it just sucks I can’t make progress and experience this masterpiece of a game. Because this game is so well designed and the actual combat is absolutely genius but for some bosses the individual mechanics they have don’t mesh with the combat in sekiro, it almost feels like they try to make a souls boss and put it in sekiro expecting you to dodge all the attacks and be able to dodge the homing missiles. But in this game the dodge is not an dodge it’s just a single step out of the way and it doesn’t mesh well with the fast bosses who absolutely wail on you with only one way to defend yourself DEFLECT in which for bosses you don’t get rewarded for other than not taking damage, that’s not what a parry is though it’s supposed to give you an opening to strike. Maybe I’ll pick it up and beat it some other time hopefully I do love this game and the story because it is one of the most well made games I have ever experienced but it just sucks my reflexes can’t keep up.

You know why I love your reviews or Jimpressions, Jim? It's because it's honest and unbiased Criticism and you don't mix up the two individual concepts of how a game is and how you liked it. It's a good game but it's not for you. And it's refreshing to hear your opinions on such stuff. Really. Mad respect for you.

This seemed really genuine. Felt like I was hearing it from my pal Jim instead of the character that is Jim "FN-ing" Sterling son and that's okay. Every once in a while.

This was the only from software games I didn’t beat because the final boss was so damn hard due to my trouble with parrying but I did really enjoyed the game until that point

The more I think about it, Sekiro is honestly more like Ninja Gaiden than anything we've seen from FromSoftware over the last decade-ish. Everything till now was rooted in the basic formula of having to manage your stamina to effectively avoid damage and fight. Even in Bloodborne, where hitting would gain back lost health, you still needed to play somewhat defensively, somewhat reactively, and you could really only experiment with weapon types as opposed to special moves and combos. Sekiro is more classic action game than any SoulsBorne game ever was. There's no stamina management for one, but there's also a ton of unlockable skills and moves that widen/deepen your available options for dealing with enemies, who's many differences across the areas are frankly more pronounced because how you fight them is so drastically different. Not only is there this rock/paper/scissors thing going with blocking, jumping, or dodging, there's also the whole thing of Posture. Sekiro usually DEMANDS a degree of tactical aggression in how you play that in ANY FromSoft game prior would be nothing but certain death. If I had attacked Genichiro as many times in a row as I had to attack him on the run I finally beat that motherfucker at, I'd have run out of stamina and been ganked about a thousand times were I playing any other FromSoft game. Sekiro has also proven to me that spite can be an excellent motivator when skill becomes a bigger factor in your ability to progress. I've spent the last two days "leveling" up Wolf and working at a particular boss, and while getting more health certainly left me more opportunities to make more mistakes, when I finally beat him, he'd barely scratched me, because I'd gotten him down to a near science, in a way I frankly couldn't do with bosses and rough parts in Bloodborne. Ebrietas was the boss that finally made me stop and say "Alright, Fuck this, I can't do any better than I'm doing cause the game itself won't really let me do anything to improve here beyond make incremental improvements to my health and damage, which are already almost soft-capped anyway." Genichiro, by contrast, I could learn and get better at, because the system itself allowed for me to improve; it allowed for me to develop my skills against what it was throwing my way and it rewarded my time spent appropriately (try reflecting a lightning-infused sword strike in mid-air; man did I feel fucking badass and accomplished when I realize I had that particular mechanic DOWN) because it was something I could actually get better at without being totally reliant on gear or stats or builds. But also on my earlier point on spite, I was close to dropping it, and playing something else for a bit, cause it was becoming more frustrating than fun to throw myself at this one dude and just get my ass destroyed again and again. But I saw a way to maybe make it easier, which let me make it even easier as I slowly but surely learned this one dude's ins and outs so well that I eventually just mopped the floor with him. All because my mindset was "Nah, I want to FUCK this asshole UP." and the game was willing to oblige if I was willing to give it the time to learn just how to royally fuck this secret three-phase lightning-stabbing motherfucker with his own damn lightning and his own damn lightning-fast stabs and sweeps. I like Sekiro because it doesn't feel like I got lucky, which I how I felt making my way through most of Bloodborne. I like Sekiro because I feel like it will allow me to legitimately get good, like it will truly respect and reward the time I put into it. I like Sekiro because it feels like I am actually FIGHTING when I'm fighting, not desperately trying to survive and flail wildly hoping I'll kill whatever it is I'm currently praying doesn't paste me. But not everyone will get that some feeling. Not everyone even expects or wants that feeling. And that's ok.

Parrying is a lot easier to do in this game in most, which makes it much more palatable. I can't do it in typical games with such systems.

Honestly the gameplay is exactly my style. So for me, I like Sekiro even more than Dark Souls and Bloodbourne and I love those games

A lot of comments complaining about the deflect mechanic. Honestly sounds like a parody of the "You only parry" hate messages I see from previous Dark Souls titles.

Thanks for this one Jim, I value your opinion and you recommending it despite not liking the playstyle is one of the reasons I will pick this up. I love old Japan and I do like the challenge :)

Some games just aren't for everybody. I get the love/obsession people have with SoulsBourne games, and good for them. I dont really want to play a game that'll make me cry and scream out of frustration. I don't like that feeling, but I get that people absolutely love that challenge and they should! My favorite games are single player narrative driven games, some people hate that genre. My point is, love what you love but don't make someone else feel like garbage because you don't love what they love.

Same tbh I appreciate it's quality very much but I don't have fun with it

i fully respect your opinion .i personally adored sekiro and bloodborne is my av game ever to

I wish I saw your video before I got the game. I'm in the exact same boat, I really hoped I would like it, but I can't get into it after playing a decent amount. I'm progressing slowly, but just not having fun.

I played an hour. and all i can say is, yes, im feeling the same way , it's a very well made game, But, it's just not for me. when im playing , i just can't get myself into it. I want to enjoy this game , I really do. But .......... I hope you guys who likes this game have fun. just glad im not the only one who had the same feelings. -----------------Edit------------------------------------ Thank you guys trying to convince me keep playing. I like souls game , I beat every single one of them. maybe i just don't get used to play this type of the game. I promise i'll try to beat this one too.

Hey Jim, not every game is for you, and that's also fine. I'm glad that you look at it in both a critical and personal way.

Thanks I’ll keep all this in mind, I might have the same gripes. I do want to play it just never picked it up.

Most of the replay ability of the FromSoft games comes to me in the customization options and this game doesn't have that. Also hit boxes

As a longtime from software fan i felt almost identical and it was refreshing to hear someone else express this point of view. Thanks jim

Sekiro feels like playing Souls for the first time again. I like that about it. A learning curve i need to overcome.

I honestly feel the same way. I love me some dark souls. But I just can't get into sekiro. I've put in a good 40+ hours into it but I'm just not having as much fun with it, if at all, as I did dark souls. I've gotten more pissed off at sekiro than I have with any game in a long time. It's good that other people enjoy it. It's just sad that I'm not one of them either.

Totally with you. I've been working my way through it, but I'm not sure how much further I'll go. One of the things that I'm struggling with the most is just the loss of progression and options compared to Souls. In Dark Souls, if you need to clear 10 enemies before taking on a boss, and you die to that boss a dozen times, you're still farming all of those enemies and - if you're careful - building up souls until you can level, which ultimately makes the boss just a touch easier. In Sekiro you gain experience for some skills and tool upgrades, but you need to have the skills and tools to upgrade, and the progression doesn't feel as rewarding or as impactful. The above is ok because Sekiro isn't an RPG like Souls, but as a big fan of the Souls game, I was hoping to like Sekiro more and it's difficult not to compare them.