First look proves Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is fast, brutal, beautiful – and bloody hard
Who knew being a Samurai with interchangeable prosthetic arms could be so much fun?
YOU'RE going to die a lot playing Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but have a damn good time doing it.
Announced at E3 but first playable at GamesCom, From Software's latest masochism-em-up is faster and more direct than its predecessors in the Souls series, but every bit as brutal.
That's in no small part due to the hero's high-tech prosthetic arm, an admittedly strange thing to find in a game set in fifteenth century Japan.
You first use this artificial appendage as a grappling hook to haul yourself up to the rooftops before diving onto unsuspecting foes below. Practically any enemy in the game is capable of killing you outright if you're not paying attention, so any you can take out by surprise are a huge boost.
Get into combat, as the arm's other uses come into play. The flashiest is the flamethrower option -- used properly, this can even be used to set your more traditional samurai sword on fire and add some extra oomph to your normal attacks.
In combat, you're more focused, at least initially, on parrying and dodging your opponent's blows, waiting for your chance to strike once they've played their hand.
Parry a few blows and land a few of your own and you'll get a chance to land a potentially deadly blow of your own, in a kind of bloody ballet. Set a foot wrong, though, and you'll find yourself run through, torn in two, or just squished like a bug.
You can spring back up to rejoin the fight, thought -- kill enough enemies and you'll gather enough energy to pry death's icy fingers from your collar and fight on.
That only goes so far, though - faced with a giant snake creature you've got no choice (at the level you're at in the demo, anyway) but to run away. Knowing when to avoid combat is going to be as key to success in Sekiro as mastering your sword, axe and flamethrower.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is as enjoyable to play as it is to watch; hopefully it won't be too long before there's more than a tiny early-game snapshot to fully explore.