re: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - new game from FromSoft

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soooo...PCgamer says no character creation, no stats to level, no souls/echos system, no checkpoints, no weapons (other than support items/weapons from tool arm), no multiplayer.

looks fun, but man, it really doesnt sound like something im gonna be invested in very much.

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-Checkpoints are confirmed, but the details are murky
-Souls players who go in expecting similar combat will be destroyed. Kind of like people who depended on shields playing bloodborne for the first time.
-Grappling hook lets you deal with snipers (designed levels around this)
-There are many times when you can grapple to enemies (like the mounted boss in the trailer)
-The thicc red boss guy breathes either poison or sake on his weapon.
-There are more weapons that you can get from your prosthetic hand than just the axe. Not all prosthetic hand tools are utility.
-Beating small enemies gives a reward (may be like souls). So there is more to progression than just finding scattered upgrade materials or tools.
-There is a BIG reason to not want to die. Made it sound like DS2, where dying has a permanent effect.
-Makes it clear that the game is interconnected, not open world. Kind of like in DS1, where there are still plenty of required bosses.
-Their philosophy is "let players explore the world." Little handholding.
-States that you will be in situations where you find secret areas which turn out to "contain something horrifying" (Makes me think that the game is much darker than it seems).
-Going to singleplayer action-adventure lets them make encounters which don't have to be designed around multiple classes. They don't have to make something beatable and uncheesable by tanks, rogues, spellcasters, and ganks.
-They are taking the ninja archetype as far as they can.

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There are many tools that can be used with the shinobi prosthetic, and these can be swapped in real time (presumably for different encounters)

When you die, instead of the usual "YOU DIED", the character "?" appears on the screen (Japanese character for death).

There will be the option to choose between English and Japanese VO

You can work out the weaknesses of bosses/enemies by listening in on the enemy soldier's conversations

Ninja revolving doors will make an appearance in the game. If you google image search ?? ??? you should find some examples. There will be many ninja-like things like this in the game.

How you react to the kanji character prompt "?" will be important. A bad decision can lead to death

Status effects appear above the character's head (perhaps similar to the kanji character prompt?). The example given in the article is "??" meaning "on fire"

The writer was impressed with the sound effects and sparks during combat.

The application of the flame buff to the sword is referred to as "enchant(ing)" by the writer

The boss, the corrupted monk, (referred to as ?? - Hannya (though this is just descriptive)) has two phases, as has been described already. The attacks are strong and flowing. In the second phase, fog appears and the boss music becomes more intense. The boss attacks repeatedly whilst hiding (or perhaps slipping in and out?) within the fog.

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some souls fans are melting because activision is publishing it

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