Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Xenji

Directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, and published by Activision, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a third-person, action-adventure game with RPG elements.

The single-player game puts players in the protagonist role of a hard-hearted warrior whose mission is to rescue his master, a young lord who is the descendant of an ancient bloodline, and exact revenge on his arch nemesis.

Set in the re-imagined world of late 1500s Sengoku Japan; a brutal, bloody period of constant life-and-death conflict, in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice you are the “one-armed wolf,” a disgraced and disfigured warrior rescued from the brink of death.

Key Features

Kill Ingeniously – From Software delivers their best in class combat in this fast-paced, action-adventure game featuring all new mechanics.

Exploration is Key – Players will experience the thrill of exploration and discovery in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice like never before. Through exploration, players can uncover new items, meet new characters, and encounter hidden enemies.

Armed – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice gameplay is centered around sword combat, enhanced by a variety of prosthetic arm attachments that supplement or change the way a player fights. Achieving strategic mastery of “Sekiro” or the “one-armed wolf’s” techniques and abilities, from prosthetic tools, swordplay to stealth and the grappling hook is no easy feat. To overcome difficulties and bring each situation under control, gamers must discover, integrate and use a variety of new tools when heading into combat.

One-Armed Wolf – Play as a highly talented shinobi in the service of a young lord raised in isolation. After suffering defeat at the hands of a shadowy Ashina samurai seeking the unique heritage of your master, the two of you are separated. Deep in the mountains, in a dilapidated temple, you reawaken to your fate. You must take back your master and exact revenge on your enemy at all costs.

Hard To The Core – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a hard-core game worthy of the name From Software. Miyazaki designed Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice this way! Fans of From Software will find the gameplay challenging, yet fun and rewarding. The quality of combat, level of challenge, and creative enemies and bosses are something that can only be found in a From Software title.

Reimagined World – This reimagining of Japanese aesthetic blends a withered, yet vivid, world of the late 1500s Sengoku Japan as the age of warring states nears its end. Witness a world brought to its knees by constant bloodshed; a ravaged world on the brink of destruction. Explore these environments, rich with FromSoftware’s intricate design and steeped with secrets to discover

https://gematsu.com/2018/06/activision-and-from-software-announce-sekiro-shadows-die-twice-for-ps4-xbox-one-and-pc

Pac1Man

And so it begins...

nix

Any word on the release date?

YouSavedMyLife

Looks great, but Activision though? Does this bode ill?

nix

Xenji wrote: »

They are replacing Bandai Namco as publishers

Auhhhh, Why?

heebusjeebus

Xenji wrote: »

They are replacing Bandai Namco as publishers, they have no hand in the development.

Publishers can have a lot to say in how a game is released and marketed in terms of dlc and microtransactions.

Xenji

YouSavedMyLife wrote: »

Looks great, but Activision though? Does this bode ill?

They are replacing Bandai Namco as publishers, they have no hand in the development from what has been mentioned so far, Miyazaki is doing a lot of interviews tomorrow, so there should be new information then.

nix wrote: »

Any word on the release date?

Just that it is coming out in 2019.

Xenji

nix wrote: »

Auhhhh, Why?

Nobody knows yet, Activision are not publishing it in Japan or the rest of Asia, so that could still be Bandai Namco.

DarC_Kn1ght

Cant wait for this. But.... Activision

Vicxas

FROM won't take any sh1t from Activision.

This looks fantastic. So happy you can traverse the terrain

Sieghardt

Activision publishing it doesnt mean anything, Fromsoft used to have their games published by Ubisoft

Doctor Nick

Sieghardt wrote: »

Activision publishing it doesnt mean anything, Fromsoft used to have their games published by Ubisoft

Tenchu was with Activision so there is already a history there. Look forward to this interview with Miyazaki later. Maybe get something more concrete than early 2019.

Digital Solitude

From Reddit

"Hi guys, just found an interview with Miyazaki on the internet, presumably from a gated magazine.posting it here, with translations:

Grappling Hook can take you over dead end paths, or places you cant normally reach.

The prosthetic hand has a number of tricks to it

There are prosthetic weapons to attach, shuriken, axes, etc.

The subtitle should read: you’re going to die a lot too this time around.

Activision has been helping us (From) out with things we’re not very good with: ease of play, making it comfortable, etc.

The Japanese kanji effects seen in the video will have subtitles above them

There are multiple endings

Similar to Dark Souls, the feeling of overcoming challenges is most important

Hopes users will enjoy using the hook and other methods to explore the map vertically and horizontally

Save for a few exception, the maps are seamless and connected

The revive system (reviving as soon as you die) was tuned to not impede the pace of the game. There are limited used, and they are adjusting the penalties to dying.

There is no co-op play (multi-play). The game features a fixed character with a fixed skillsets class, so they decided against it (nothing regarding character customization though)

_________________________________________________________________________

『隻狼』最新情報。宮崎秀高氏「賢く殺す、ことを楽しむアクション」

鉤縄　道なき道、到達できない場所への移動を可能とする忍義手　からくりが施されている義手忍具　斧や手裏剣など種類はさまざま

宮崎氏インタビュー「副題は今回もよく死にますよ、というユーザーへのメッセージ」「我々が苦手（笑）な遊びやすさ、快適性、適切なオンボーディングというあたりをアクティビジョンに厚くフォローしてもらっている」「漢字エフェクトは海外ではルビがふられる」「エンディングが複数ある」「ダークソウル同様、困難を乗り越えた先の達成感は本作でも重要なコンセプト」「鉤縄などで立体マップの縦横な探索を楽しんでほしい」「マップは例外を除いて相互にシームレスでつながっている」「回生システム（死んでもその場で復活）は必要以上にゲームのテンポを阻害しないよう考えられたシステム。回数制限はある。デスペナルティも調整中」「マルチプレイはなし。固定主人公で固定クラスなのでマルチプレイによる制約を取り払った」"

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sekiro/comments/8qhfkw/new_details_from_a_miyazaki_interview_trans_from?sort=confidence

This is the top post on the sub, did all the Soulsborne fans have the same reaction?

YouSavedMyLife

When Ubisoft and Activision published games for FromSoft it was a more innocent time. Publishers didn't gouge every last penny from customers and strip games of content to be later sold as DLC. Sure the only DLC at the time was released on PC and they where called Expansion packs.

These days publishers be putting alot of pressure on devs to rush and releases the games in the best financial window possible. Lootboxes, pre order bonuses and day one DLC, this is all because publishers want d munny.

I could be wrong here and such business practices may only apply to dev studios that the big publishers own. Let's hope

Game looks great btw

Xenji

Some small bits from Twitch's coverage, no classes, pvp or co-op.

Media embargo is up now, so previews are starting to appear.

Why is From publishing this game with Activision, of all publishers? “We were looking to work with a western publisher. We had a lot of options. We thought Activision could be a really good partner, in terms of support they could offer, in terms of them seeing our vision... We really appreciate the way they were able to help us in things we wanted help on. For example, data-driven stuff, to have users come in, identify stuff like people getting lost in a level... In terms of just getting player understanding, it’s been a huge help.”

One final note: “There are gonna be a lot of really hard bosses in this game.”

https://kotaku.com/sekiro-the-next-game-from-the-makers-of-dark-souls-lo-1826763716

Xenji

Some more previews up.

IGN
Gamespot
Polygon
Destructoid
Hardcore Gamer

Doctor Nick

Xenji wrote: »

Some small bits from Twitch's coverage, no classes, pvp or co-op.

Media embargo is up now, so previews are starting to appear.





https://kotaku.com/sekiro-the-next-game-from-the-makers-of-dark-souls-lo-1826763716

Really looking forward to this. It sounds absolutely class. Although I'm a little concerned about "having" to parry attacks. While I can do it easily enough in Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Bloodborne I could never get the timing right in Dark Souls 2 or 3. Given how fast paced the combat looks in this I would say there will be a very small window to pull it off successfully.

Digital Solitude

More interview goodness from Reddit, looks more like a Tenchu successor with Dark Souls influences than the next Souls game.

"Hi guys, it's me again
Found a detailed synopsis of the full Famitsu interview of Miyazaki.
Again, the scans should be out soon, but these are basically confirmed leaks from Japan.
Source this time is here: http://blog.esuteru.com/archives/9135372.html But I'm sure this was not the original outlet.

The project began at the end of 2015, after the development of the Bloodborne DLC had ended. They were preparing for a few titles to do after the current DS3 development ends

The game design began with the keyword of Ninja, with a lot of stimulus coming from the Tenchu series

There was the option to make it a Tenchu game, but Tenchu was originally a series made by many different developers, each with their own characteristics. They thought they would end up imitating them in the end, so they gave up on that.

Game development and publishing in Japan and Asia will be handled by From, with Activision handling all other regions. Activision gave a lot of advice regarding many things, including game development.

To be clear though, game development and final decisions were always in our hands to begin with.

The subtitle was catch copy for the trailer that I had thought of, for some reason the publisher really liked it, and made it part of the title.

Shadows refers to the way of the Ninja, and Die Twice hinted at the revive system which is a gameplay feature. In addition, Die Twice also contains the message that players will be doing a lot of dying again.

The time is set near the end of the Sengoku warring period in Japan. Like all other games before this, it isn’t an actual location, but it is in a high-altitude cold country(Japan was splintered into countries during this time). Begin at the end of the Sengoku era also holds the nuance that the country may be at its end (as Japan will soon be unified).

Realism wasn’t something we were too concerned with. As with Dark Souls, it is constructed according to our own interpretation.

The game has a fixed protagonist, but it’s not a linear story-driven game. The story does revolve around the character, but beyond that nothing has changed in our stance to storytelling from the previous games.

There are three main actions (gameplay features). First off is the grappling hook that lets you move vertically on a 3-dimensional map.

Then there is the sword play: the offense and defense of it, and the one-hit kills of the Ninsatsu.

The third is “killing cleverly.” The game takes pains to allow for different approaches to killing, from making a ninja-like opening by using the hook to take the high ground,

Killing cleverly is an important theme. Taking on difficult challenges, and then enjoying the experience of overcoming them

In this game, when you met an enemy you won’t be immediately plunged into battle. The levels are designed to let you observe and think about how to take them on, and you can also “listen in” on enemies who aren’t in combat mode.

The ninja prosthetics are to support the combat parts of the game: shuriken, firecracker, hidden axe and other variations. Choose a few items before, then choose on-site t use them (probably like Tenchu?)

It’s an action adventure game, so the protagonist has growth tied to a different method than RPGs

Map design is close to DS1, with a few exceptions, it is a seamlessly connected 3-dimensional map.

The reason for leaving out online play, was to focus on making the fun of the single-player experience

The revive system consumes resources, being able to come back to life at will at the same location. Killing an enemy who think you are dead is also a tactic.

Revives are at the moment, guaranteed once, with additional revives requiring resources. In order to keep death something to be nervous about, the penalty and restrictions are tuned to keep the game at a good pace.

You can say that the sharp penalties are there because of the revive system.

As for the difficulty, this time you can overcome ever harder obstacles than before, with the difficulty based not on how well the actions are performed (player-skill) but aimed to be something that can be done with cleverness and work

At the very least, we do not intend it to be difficult for difficulty’s sake, but we are also not making it easy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sekiro/comments/8qqzrg/sekiro_full_miyazaki_interview?sort=confidence

Doctor Nick

IGN interview with From Software marketing manager and a producer from Activision.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyqZYvbxJLw

I'm really liking the sound of this. Can't help but laugh at some comments I'm seeing about From betraying Souls fans and others crying about no character creation. Horrible attitude to have IMO.

J. Marston

Doctor Nick wrote: »

IGN interview with FROM Software marketing manager and a producer from Activision.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyqZYvbxJLw

I'm really liking the sound of this. Can't help but laugh at some comments I'm seeing about From betraying Souls fans and others crying about no character creation. Horrible attitude to have IMO.

Gamers are a whiney bunch by nature. Over the last few days, there has been online tantrums over Sekiro, Cyberpunk being first person view and the Fortnite stuff.

Doctor Nick

J. Marston wrote: »

Gamers are a whiney bunch by nature. Over the last few days, there has been online tantrums over Sekiro, Cyberpunk being first person view and the Fortnite stuff.

Wasn't aware of the Cyberpunk thing but with Fortnite is that about the cross platform restriction on one platform? I don't like First Person view games so I won't play Cyberpunk most likely. Don't feel the need to complain about it though which I think is the easiest way to deal with these things. I just can't get over the sense of entitlement people have. The other contentious issue is it being a single player game. People basically want Dark Souls 4 which isn't going to happen in the near future. I'm happy From are trying new things. I love Souls as everyone here knows and hope there is another one, or a Bloodborne 2. But cannot wait to try Sekiro when it comes out. This is probably the most hyped I've been for a game in years.

wes

J. Marston wrote: »

and the Fortnite stuff.

I think people are right to be annoyed by the Fornite stuff. If people paid for anything, its all locked to Playstation. Its a case of Sony basically locking there stuff on one platform, where ever other one at least lets you move your account.

Its one thing to block cross play, but to block cross save is imo silly of Sony.

wheresmahbombs

I'm feeling the hype here with this one.

Potential-Monke

Is this going to be a You Died simulator? The game looks really interesting, but if it plays like the Souls games, i'm out!

Mr Crispy

There seems to be mixed messages on that front - Activision apparently want it to be more forgiving, at least early doors. But Miyazaki says he wants it to be ultimately more difficult. The compromise seems to be that there'll be tutorials at the start, and a greater number of ways to tackle bosses, with cleverness being rewarded rather than skill alone (fine details may be lost in translation).

Q It seems like this title will incorporate many features to balance its difficulty. In your opinion, how does this game’s difficulty compare to your previous works?

Miyazaki: The idea is to make a game that is more difficult than previous entries, but that will allow you to use creativity in addition to action to overcome those challenges. On one hand, we don’t want to disappoint the players looking for a hardcore game, but we also want as many people as possible to be able to experience the pleasure of overcoming a challenge. In order to achieve both those goals, we’ve implemented many systems that we will continue to adjust. At the least, we don’t want to make that is excessively difficult or excessively simple.

Potential-Monke

Awesome. I may play it, will see what others say first. Can't see why they don't just have a 'Casual' and 'Hardcode' modes. I'm sure i'd enjoy the story, but I can't stand the you died simulators. I don't feel the reward is worth the frustration.

Xenji

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Awesome. I may play it, will see what others say first. Can't see why they don't just have a 'Casual' and 'Hardcode' modes. I'm sure i'd enjoy the story, but I can't stand the you died simulators. I don't feel the reward is worth the frustration.

The main selling point of the series is its difficulty, it was a breath of fresh compared air to the amount of games coming out with constant hand holding and endless tutorials at the time.

The games are unforgiving and focus on skill and that is what makes them great, if you rush things and get careless you get punished for it, but the challenge is also the reward when overcoming a particularly annoying boss or finishing your first NG+ run.

Obviously the series is not for everyone, I have plenty of friends who avoid the games like the plague for various reasons, from difficulty to the graphics and from actually being afraid of trying them from their reputations.

johnny_ultimate

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Can't see why they don't just have a 'Casual' and 'Hardcode' modes.

Because, in the case of the Souls games, it would fundamentally undermine the creators’ vision. These games are meant, in many elements of the design, to be gruelling, challenging and mechanically/narratively cryptic. To simply slap an easy mode on there would remove what makes these games so memorable to the point of negatively transforming the whole experience. Not that the games are entirely inaccessible either: while the barrier to entry is not as low as most other games, neither are they in any way insurmountable, and indeed do contain many systems to ease the burden on those who find individual challenges overly difficult.

I do have sympathy for those who for whatever reason cannot get into the games, and like any creative work there will be those who simply do not like it. I’d also love to see a radical departure from From one of these days, perhaps less reliant on combat / boss battle loops, if only because I like all great creators to experiment beyond their comfort zones. But I’m also a very strong believer in game creators being able to express their vision however they want... and on the scale From and Miyazaki work on, there’s nobody else making games as bold, individual and artful. Long may that be the case.

Potential-Monke

I understand why people like them, and as ye both said, they're not for everyone. I would like to get into the worlds these games create, as they sound amazingly detailed and full of lore, but it's that combat that I just don't like. I've tried DS2, i think, where the first area has some massive lad with a cage that can 1 hit kill you. Did I know you'd to run around him? No. Gaming has trained me to kill whatever I come across, so it didn't even dawn on me to run past him. That is changing, as some of the more recent games I loved are starting to do it, and now I know it's a choice. Didn't know it back then. Tried numerous times to beat him and gave up!

Then tried Bloodborne, and I got a (probably small) bit into it. Killed something. Can't remember what, but it took a lot of tries. But it took me so long to get there, and the constant repeating of the same enemies in the same places just to get there is what was really grating. I'd probably get over the stupid hard boss battles if I didn't have to do the same fights to get there in the first place. That's what killed it it for me. Oh, and I encountered some priest in a graveyard. Tried him a few times, but no matter what I did, as soon as he was nearly dead, he always 1 shotted me. Couldn't figure out a way to avoid it, so traded it in and said good riddance.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older, or because I get bored of repetition after a while (still haven't finished Okami because of it, but i'm close!). And that's what these games feel like to me, repeating the same stuff, literally, over and over in the hope that I could get past the bs boss! Could also be because there are so many other games out there, my mind won't let me put that much time and effort into them!

But, I'll wait for reviews and see how this one pans out. If the tutorials are good enough to at least give me the basics (unlike Souls, which lets you figure everything out yourself, which is BS as you're not a character that was just born and no idea what you're doing!). I don't want constant handholding, a la intro to Blood Dragon (but even BD done that so well!), but I would like a bit of direction, as each game is different and has a different main character, and that character can do things I can't do in real life, so I'd like to know what it is my character can do!

I'm not 'splaining it well...

Doctor Nick

Unless you're grinding to level up you don't have to repeatedly kill everything on your way to the Boss. I go through the area once and kill everything. Then if the boss kills me I run past everything and into the Boss. The thing with Souls and Bloodborne is there is indeed a very steep learning curve. But suddenly (for me any) it just clicks and you understand the combat mechanics. That doesn't make the games simple but it does make them less frustrating and more enjoyable. They are my favourite games.

If you want to experience Dark Souls easy mode, create a magic build. Not my preference but it is an option. Might help people understand the combat before going full on melee.

nix

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I understand why people like them, and as ye both said, they're not for everyone. I would like to get into the worlds these games create, as they sound amazingly detailed and full of lore, but it's that combat that I just don't like. I've tried DS2, i think, where the first area has some massive lad with a cage that can 1 hit kill you. Did I know you'd to run around him? No. Gaming has trained me to kill whatever I come across, so it didn't even dawn on me to run past him. That is changing, as some of the more recent games I loved are starting to do it, and now I know it's a choice. Didn't know it back then. Tried numerous times to beat him and gave up!

Then tried Bloodborne, and I got a (probably small) bit into it. Killed something. Can't remember what, but it took a lot of tries. But it took me so long to get there, and the constant repeating of the same enemies in the same places just to get there is what was really grating. I'd probably get over the stupid hard boss battles if I didn't have to do the same fights to get there in the first place. That's what killed it it for me. Oh, and I encountered some priest in a graveyard. Tried him a few times, but no matter what I did, as soon as he was nearly dead, he always 1 shotted me. Couldn't figure out a way to avoid it, so traded it in and said good riddance.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older, or because I get bored of repetition after a while (still haven't finished Okami because of it, but i'm close!). And that's what these games feel like to me, repeating the same stuff, literally, over and over in the hope that I could get past the bs boss! Could also be because there are so many other games out there, my mind won't let me put that much time and effort into them!

But, I'll wait for reviews and see how this one pans out. If the tutorials are good enough to at least give me the basics (unlike Souls, which lets you figure everything out yourself, which is BS as you're not a character that was just born and no idea what you're doing!). I don't want constant handholding, a la intro to Blood Dragon (but even BD done that so well!), but I would like a bit of direction, as each game is different and has a different main character, and that character can do things I can't do in real life, so I'd like to know what it is my character can do!

I'm not 'splaining it well...

You just need to learn how to play these games, once you get good at one of the games, you will be very capable to do the rest. It may even take a full clear of the game to find your bearings and then you will be hooked.

Or maybe you're just made for playing interactive cut scene games, in which case, keep your easy mode idea's out of the realm of "real" games :pac::P