Started playing FromSoft games back in 2020 or so when Demon's Souls remake came out on PS5. Since then I did Elden Ring (platinum), Dk Souls 1-3, Bloodborne (never finished but got pretty far...need to pick that back up), and then several more Elden Ring runs.

In the midst of that, I tried Sekiro 2-3 times and never could get going with it. In each attempt, I'd clear the tutorial, initiate the first "bonfire", and never make it to the second bonfire

Trying to play this while in a pretty substantial standard souls run of gaming...I just could never wrap my head around the differences in gameplay.

I haven't played a souls game in quite a while now, so I decided to pick this up again and have finally gotten past the mental hurdles of that opening area. I'm still not very far, as I've run into this large snake in a cave that I haven't figured out what to do with yet, but I've at least progressed through a few little mini field bosses (assuming that's what they were...they've taken 2 death blows to take down).

Based on FightinCowboy's 15 hour or so 100% walkthrough, I'm assuming this should be a pretty manageable game to take on in terms of gameplay time, although with my lack of parrying skills I could probably easily double that time.

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Posted by DoomGuy504

Member since May 2024

377 posts

Posted on 1/29/26 at 9:00 am to VinegarStrokes

quote:
my lack of parrying skills

I started to play my first souls games around the same time as you. Bloodborne first and then Demon's souls. Sekiro came next and then elden ring. Finally beat dark souls 1 sometime last year.

All that being said...never parried in any of these games besides Sekiro so you need to embrace that.

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Posted by Joshjrn

Baton Rouge

Member since Dec 2008

32000 posts

Posted on 1/29/26 at 9:11 am to VinegarStrokes

quote:
Based on FightinCowboy's 15 hour or so 100% walkthrough, I'm assuming this should be a pretty manageable game to take on in terms of gameplay time, although with my lack of parrying skills I could probably easily double that time.

Brother, if you come in shite at parrying and manage to beat the game in 30 hours, I’ll be more than a little impressed. This entire game is parrying. Frankly, it has more in common with rhythm games than it does any Souls game you’ve played. The first time I played Sekiro, I bounced off of it hard, just because I didn’t like how different it was.

And I’m really, really good at parrying

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Posted by Carson123987

Middle Court at the Rec

Member since Jul 2011

67863 posts

Posted on 1/29/26 at 9:33 am to VinegarStrokes

It's an amazing game and will click for you after 5-6 hours. There is a boss that you cannot beat without understanding the game's mechanics to a competent degree. This boss is what really made things click for me. There's a certain flow to the combat/parrying that you have to get, and once you do, it's a sublime feeling.

Incredible game

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Posted by VinegarStrokes

Georgia

Member since Oct 2015

14085 posts

Posted on 1/29/26 at 10:34 am to Joshjrn

quote:
Brother, if you come in shite at parrying and manage to beat the game in 30 hours, I’ll be more than a little impressed. This entire game is parrying. Frankly, it has more in common with rhythm games than it does any Souls game you’ve played. The first time I played Sekiro, I bounced off of it hard, just because I didn’t like how different it was.

And I’m really, really good at parrying

I'm getting there quickly. I never bothered with parries in previous games but I did start practicing it more at one point when trying to beat Gwyn.

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Posted by Joshjrn

Baton Rouge

Member since Dec 2008

32000 posts

Posted on 1/29/26 at 10:40 am to VinegarStrokes

quote:
I'm getting there quickly. I never bothered with parries in previous games but I did start practicing it more at one point when trying to beat Gwyn.

The biggest difference between Sekiro combat and standard Souls combat is that the former rewards aggression while the latter sadistically punishes you for it. The standard Souls formula is to reward patience. Sekiro doesn't give a shite about your patience. Combat is a brutal dance, and hesitation is defeat. You should never be "waiting"; you should either be attacking or parrying, essentially at all times. Once you fully embrace that, the game clicks.

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Posted by VinegarStrokes

Georgia

Member since Oct 2015

14085 posts

Posted on 1/29/26 at 11:22 am to Joshjrn

Yea, it seems you can’t try and whittle down an enemy’s health bar over time…you have to go at them hard

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Posted by Joshjrn

Baton Rouge

Member since Dec 2008

32000 posts

Posted on 1/29/26 at 11:30 am to VinegarStrokes

quote:
Yea, it seems you can’t try and whittle down an enemy’s health bar over time…you have to go at them hard

With a couple of exceptions, breaking posture is vastly, vastly more important than whittling down the health of the boss. The posture bar of the boss slowly/quickly (depending on the boss) depletes every second you aren't attacking or parrying. If you hesitate, you can't break the posture of the boss. If you can't break the posture of the boss, you die.

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Posted by StansberryRules

Member since Aug 2024

4793 posts

Posted on 1/29/26 at 11:32 am to VinegarStrokes

quote:
Yea, it seems you can’t try and whittle down an enemy’s health bar over time…you have to go at them hard

Absolutely. I found Sekiro significantly more challenging than Souls games because the combat asks way more of you. Souls games you can be patient in boss fights and play defensive and whittle them down gradually. Sekiro you have to attack and not let up. . The single butt poke and run away to regroup tactics doens't work. You have to chain together a long sequences of successful attacks and parries to take things down.

To me Sekiro is actually the 2nd best game FromSoftware has ever made IMO, just a tiny hair above Bloodborne, and only behind Dark Souls 1 obv.

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