Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software)

Reached the endgame, and damn, this is one good game. I don't know where I'd rank it in the Fromsoft catalog, but for a little while I had it second only to ER overall and maybe even above ER on gameplay. However the lack of build variety and weapon variety means I'll probably replay this the least of any of them, if at all. It was an incredible run though.

Stuff I have left to do:
-3 bosses (Owl Father, Demon, Sword Saint)
-2 Prayer Beads (no fuckin' clue which ones I missed so this may be an issue)
-Like 25 Treasure Carp Scales that I need for the last mask piece and the Lapis Lazuli (was hoping these would be farmable from an enemy, but they're not, and again I have no clue which ones I've gotten or missed so far)

And in NG+ cycles:
-Finish getting skills
-Shura ending
-Finish upgrading prosthetics

The endgame would probably be easier if I wasn't going for the platinum, and were buying attack points instead of skills. Probably 30-40 points now have gone to skills that I didn't need, because I'm trying to fill out the skill tree. That's 6-8 attack right there, which is a lot when my endgame attack is all of 11. I guess I'll be able to grind some attack power in NG++ when enemies give more EXP.

I also have to figure out whether I want to do the Shura ending on NG+ or NG++, considering I'll need to do that in one game and get to Fountainhead again in another game for the rest of the Lapis Lazuli. Unless the skill you get from Shura doesn't count towards "all skills", in which case I can just do it in NG+ and reload. I took a swing at Sword Saint and got him down about halfway (of the overall fight) which is way better than I expected to perform on a first try. Haven't fought Owl or Demon yet but I know a lot of death is in store for me. Probably gonna try to figure out the prayer bead and treasure carp situation before I finish off the story, whenever I can put aside another big block of time for it.

Reached Sword Saint Isshin, last thing to beat the game. All other bosses and minibosses down.

Would I be better off bringing 2x Rice or 1x Fine Snow to this? Fine Snow seems to do like 2x the heal per tick, but Rice does okay if I back off a bit and let it work, and two of those means twice the regen time.

I had all 3 items, but unfortunately I used my one Fine Snow against Demon of Hatred in the last phase out of desperation (and thinking I could just get another one). Nope, can't get another one unless I use up the two Rice. At least I've still got the Rice Ball too. Should have used Divine Grass to heal against DoH instead since I've got a few of those. I'm using backup saves to not lose these consumables entirely on a fail. Which I think is fair enough given how tough the game is.

Well, I'm probably overprepared for Isshin with all these heals either way. Want to save some stuff for NG+ in case anything there is a big hassle (I expect Shura Isshin to be). So going through Pellets, then Healing Gourds, then Divine Grass (since I have a bunch and they're one per battle), then Rice, then Rice Ball if all else fails. If I use both Rice up I hope I can run over and get another Fine Snow before starting NG+.

Either way, I think Isshin is very doable. Took a couple weeks off from the game and resumed it this evening by hitting the game hard. Defeated DoH after about 8 tries (on top of probably 20 tries before), hardest fight in the game IMO. Then defeated Owl Father on the second try (on top of like, one try before), not sure why but I felt like I had his number from the get-go. About four tries into fighting Isshin now, keep getting him to his 2nd or 3rd form and losing. The fact that I'm taking off at least 50% of his total HP in every attempt is surprising, thought he was going to be a whole 'nother level. He seems to stagger very fast to the Lazulite Axe.

Beat the game late last night. Man, that was a good time. Going for the platinum next of course. Here's what everything took in terms of tries. Yes, Owl Father fell quicker than Owl Shinobi.

Nowhere near as tough as I expected it to be in my mind, but definitely tough. The top 5 fights were the only ones that really frustrated me, and in those five the bottom two were only a problem due to not knowing their weakness, and inexperience, respectively. So it's really just the two final bosses and the optional DoH fight that gave me legitimate grief. I'd recommend this game to anybody, even people who think it's too hard or they can't do it. It really isn't, even for someone like me who isn't actually good at action games.

Hatorade said:

Maaan I died like 30 times to that ape… when did you fight the headless because those fuckers are bullshit when you can first run into them. Especially the under water one.

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I don't think I ever even bothered with a headless, they aren't required for completion or platinum. And yes they're bullshit.

Hatorade said:

Maaan I died like 30 times to that ape… when did you fight the headless because those fuckers are bullshit when you can first run into them. Especially the under water one.

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I just completely avoided them after the first time I ran into one and got instakilled by Terror just from...breathing the air I guess? Like I don't even know what the hell hit me. So I popped back up when it was safe and ran off and never bothered with them until... right before Sword Saint at the end. Last thing I did was run around and mop up the Headless even though it was totally unnecessary and unneeded. At that point in the game I basically just mowed all of them over. The Yashariku one (underwater with a clone) took a little work but the rest fell in seconds.

And yeah they're bullshit.

I farmed Divine Confetti so I went into every fight fully stocked on those, figured out what prosthetics wiped out what bosses, took every advantage it gave me. Only boss that I'd really say I "cheesed" was probably True Monk. I'd just firecracker and slash 3x and repeat once I got to the last phase, and the second phase I instagibbed from the trees. At that point I kinda wanted to just get a move on because I'd been waiting so long for Fountainhead Palace.

The Ape Gank Duo was a one-shot for me because I ran them around in circles and picked my spots. When the ape stands up high and swings down, you can easily parry that and it knocks him over, then attack 2x fast with a spear and it does like one third posture damage in one shot. Once I figured this out, the first ape was no problem, and the ape duo was just a matter of running away and then doing the lance thing when possible.

Banged out NG+ all evening and got most of the way through it, amazing how much faster it is. Ape Gank Duo took me like 6 tries this time though and really pissed me off. The second ape was way more aggressive and didn't lag behind like in NG. Got the Shura ending and the boss trophy. Emma+Isshin NG+ was probably the toughest thing in either playthrough.

Next time I get in a big session I'll get the plat for sure. I think all I have left is lapis lazuli and a ton of EXP (like 25 levels).

Also I think this game would have been way easier if I wasn't going for the platinum. The issue is the "get all skills" trophy and the massive EXP required. Had a ton of points that went into unneeded skills and could have gone into attack power instead. Once you have all of the skills, the EXP requirement is probably so high that getting more attack power via EXP is ridiculous. So on a first run it might be better for someone to not worry about the plat and get their attack power up instead, then start over entirely when they want to go for the plat.

Sekiro platinum done. This was the one From game where the plat wasn't entirely worth it, due to the "all skills" trophy. I didn't have an issue with having to grind for it at the end (even though I only did two runs of the game and save scummed all the endings). The problem was not being able to spend points the way I wanted to, and being like 15 attack short of what I could have been at the end of NG+ if I hadn't had to get everything skill. The passive are great but I didn't use most of the attacks. If I ever play this again I'm doing a from-scratch run where I can use points the way I want.


Other than that, tremendous game here, pretty much tied with Bloodborne as my 2nd-favorite From game behind ER. The lack of build variety would probably make it fall behind the others as time goes on, but after two runthroughs I'm a huge fan of this one.

Rajaah said:

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Sekiro platinum done. This was the one From game where the plat wasn't entirely worth it, due to the "all skills" trophy. I didn't have an issue with having to grind for it at the end (even though I only did two runs of the game and save scummed all the endings). The problem was not being able to spend points the way I wanted to, and being like 15 attack short of what I could have been at the end of NG+ if I hadn't had to get everything skill. The passive are great but I didn't use most of the attacks. If I ever play this again I'm doing a from-scratch run where I can use points the way I want.

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Other than that, tremendous game here, pretty much tied with Bloodborne as my 2nd-favorite From game behind ER. The lack of build variety would probably make it fall behind the others as time goes on, but after two runthroughs I'm a huge fan of this one.

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Yep, that all skill trophy is the worst From trophy by far.