Sekiro
First of all, there will be SPOILERS. This is meant for people who have played already the game or are very sure they won't play it and still would like to hear my impressions.
If you plan to enjoy Sekiro experimenting and learning yourself, without any hints or spoilers regarding bosses/enemies, the system itself... I recommend you to stop reading.
System (general and main mechanics):
This game offers a new approach compared to past souls games, with the new posture gauge and focus on 4 types of reactions: dash, deflect (normal parry), Mikiri (special parry for mainly thrust and charge attacks) and jumping -> aerial kick (more optional).
At the beginning the game tells you that enemies will regenerate their posture gauge very quickly if they have a lot of health. Naturally one could think that it's a good idea to go first for direct damage on the health bar, dodging - hitting, before attempting to break the posture of the boss/mini boss (and even harder normal enemies) for a deathblow, with parries and certain skills that deal more posture damage.
However, while this is true on paper, it's not necessary in practice. Later probably everybody realizes at some point that you can harass enemies almost without dodging anything, once you have a general idea of their patterns:
There are exceptions to this and some patterns are harder to learn than others, but even the Demon of Hatred can be treated this way, optimizing normal parries with the parries of the fire version of the Loaded Umbrella.
Sekiro in theory should integrate:
1) The dodge - hit type of gameplay with proper timings, like past souls games;
2) The other 3 (new) types of reactions;
3) Prosthetic tools and skills to give the player variety and the feeling of build.
But in reality it's just more a parry - hit system (in general) and the elements of point 3 will be discussed separately.
This makes Sekiro a cool concept, but not very well executed, especially keeping in mind that the timings to parry are much more lenient than the timings to dodge (non slow/obvious moves, but wide and/or quick attacks with follow-ups).
Skills and Prosthetic tools:
Past souls games are also relatively simple regarding the options of the character per se, but, for example, it was significantly different to play with a Greatsword compared to faster weapons.
Since Sekiro has only one main weapon, the variety in terms of gameplay should be provided by the Skills and Prosthetic tools.
But one of the major flaws of the game for me is precisely the fact that you can equip only one skill. This makes the character really limited, and it gets even worse when one realizes that most skills are either too slow or not that useful in any sense, not even to just look more stylish, since they don't feel harmonic with the rest of the character. Exceptions aside, they are more like a gimmick than an extension of Sekiro's move-set.
Ichimonji, Nighjar Slash Reversal, and the monk skills are some of the few exceptions (for me).
As for prosthetic tools, Sabimaru, the Loaded Umbrell and the spear (including their follow-ups) can extend the move-set in a relatively harmonic way as well. However, they are still not enough to give the player enough variety, and on top of this, unlike some skills, they will always consume Spirit Emblems.
Ninjutsu:
I will comment only the Puppeteer Ninjutsu technique, because the other 2 are obviously not so relevant.
I could see this one as a more elegant tactical tool if the game was adjusted and there were more forced battles vs several enemies, especially if friendly fire/slashes were removed, but generally it's really just dumb-troll fun, watching enemies fight each other. And obviously it doesn't last very long.
Danger Symbol/Kanji:
It's distracting and I suppose they added it more because of grabs and the special low attacks, since there are also some low normal attacks (normally parriable).
I doubt it's for Mikiri, since it's pretty obvious when it's a thrust attack, however they probably decided that it could help to familiarize with the new system.
In any case it would be nice if one could turn it off in the menus...
Enemy patterns and moves:
There are many normal enemies, mini-bosses and bosses in the game, and many types of move-sets. I especially liked the ninjas.
But... there is a trick that developers used too much: some moves are very unnaturally executed by the enemies to deceive the player and apply some make-up to the simplicity of the gameplay and the system overall.
Some gestures are way too artificially slowed down, to make it a bit harder to find the right timing to parry or dodge. While this has been used in past souls games and other games, in Sekiro sometimes it really feels cheap and lazy.
It's not an interesting way to increase slightly the difficulty of the game or enhance a move-set.
Another thing that I don't like is the concept of boss phases. At least not to this degree.
One thing is to make a boss with 2 phases and one health bar similar to other bosses. And another one to make a boss with 3 - 4 phases and extended posture/health bars.
If you want to learn the third or fourth phase, you have to pass the first and second each time. Of course, you learn better and better the first phases, so you can do them more consistently and faster, but it's still just tedious. And not an interesting way to make a boss fight more epic or difficult.
Slowness, lenient timings and some clunky animations:
The reason why the normal parry is so lenient is probably because the game actually wants you to parry (and not dodge) the long string-fast attacks of some enemies and bosses. At least once you have mastered the system. If the timing was very strict, keeping in mind the damage that bosses deal, it would be a bit unrealistic to parry long strings and break the posture.
But there isn't any good excuse for the Mikiri timing, and the thrust attacks of the enemies are very obvious and slow. It would be better if Mikiri had a more strict timing, but dealing significantly more posture damage. This way the player could decide how much he wants to risk. And there would be a high risk -> high reward option, if the player is willing to master Mikiri.
In its current state it's: oh, here comes a free parry.
Also the game overall feels slow... The slowness of past souls games shouldn't be any excuse for this either, especially when Bloodborne already did a step forward in this regard.
Some quick draw attacks from enemies are fast and rewarding to parry, but they are exceptions.
Another thing that keeps annoying me in souls games and the pace of the combat is how slow are usually the animations to regenerate HP with the main consumable item. If it was a PvP context, it would be understandable, but in the main game it could be re-balanced. Regenerate less health, give us fewer potions, estus (whatever), but don't force the player to run away to regenerate HP and then go back to the boss, or hide behind dumb walls.
Also in past souls games our character wasn't any blade master, which could explain why some gestures weren't very elegant or accurate. But Sekiro is an expert shinobi, and some slash animations are still a bit clunky (others are fine). This however could be merely perceptive, because of the slowness overall.
From Stealth to Fighting several enemies at the same time:
I am not a big fan of stealth mechanics, and usually find them tedious/boring. But I would say in Sekiro it's pretty agile and relatively well implemented.
It's also usually optional, and while the game isn't very suited to fight several enemies at the same time (camera, the system itself, posture damage, etc.), it's one of the ways to overcome its simplicity and create more dangerous and complex scenarios. If it goes wrong, one can use in most situations the grappling hook.
There are also some skills that help to fight more enemies at the same time. The axe, spear and Puppeteer Ninjutsu obviously help as well.
Conclusions and Suggestions:
The game has some good ideas and elements, but in the end feels a bit too slow, too simple and limited.
Fromsoftware did a brave step trying to get past their traditional formula and do a new type of game, but not brave enough to say that it's some masterpiece or reference (it could be a good start, at most).
The game already has a lock-on system and it would be possible to implement forwards, backwards and forwards - backwards inputs (at least) for 3 different skills, which could be equipped at the same time. What's more, the interaction button could be used for something more interesting during combat... It's not really about a lack of buttons / input options.
Prosthetic tools could have more inputs as well, and if it's too much work to develop so much each tool, then simply limit them to 3, but fleshed-out, with an extended and more complex addition to the move-set.
The posture - deathblow system could be somehow reworked and re-balanced. Breaking the posture could mean, for example, to make the enemy unable to block anymore, allowing the player to do some optimized combo, instead of directly dealing a deathblow pressing one button (of course HP and posture would have to be re-balanced). A minor combo/juggle system could work if some launchers or skills to stagger are implemented (not for big bosses), encouraging the player to design his own optimized combos depending on his execution and timings.
It's easy to say: yeah, of course, a DMC player wants combos and juggles in every game; but honestly, what do you expect from such videogames at this point?
I talk about most subgenres where you control a character that fights against AI/NPCs, and not other humans (obviously with focus on melee combat and of course excluding turn based combat systems).
It's not easy for developers to keep being innovative with enemy patterns and over exploited parry - dodge - hit systems. Encouraging creativity and proactivity, and not only reactivity, should be the next step to make such systems more complex and challenging to learn and optimize.
Otherwise the longevity of future games of this type will always be short. A few playthroughs and go learn the next patterns of the bosses of the next game. Because once you know the patterns of such games, there isn't really so much into them.
One can make personal challenges, no-damage boss fights, and what not, but in essence, it's about the same or similar systems over and over.
If you plan to enjoy Sekiro experimenting and learning yourself, without any hints or spoilers regarding bosses/enemies, the system itself... I recommend you to stop reading.
System (general and main mechanics):
This game offers a new approach compared to past souls games, with the new posture gauge and focus on 4 types of reactions: dash, deflect (normal parry), Mikiri (special parry for mainly thrust and charge attacks) and jumping -> aerial kick (more optional).
At the beginning the game tells you that enemies will regenerate their posture gauge very quickly if they have a lot of health. Naturally one could think that it's a good idea to go first for direct damage on the health bar, dodging - hitting, before attempting to break the posture of the boss/mini boss (and even harder normal enemies) for a deathblow, with parries and certain skills that deal more posture damage.
However, while this is true on paper, it's not necessary in practice. Later probably everybody realizes at some point that you can harass enemies almost without dodging anything, once you have a general idea of their patterns:
There are exceptions to this and some patterns are harder to learn than others, but even the Demon of Hatred can be treated this way, optimizing normal parries with the parries of the fire version of the Loaded Umbrella.
Sekiro in theory should integrate:
1) The dodge - hit type of gameplay with proper timings, like past souls games;
2) The other 3 (new) types of reactions;
3) Prosthetic tools and skills to give the player variety and the feeling of build.
But in reality it's just more a parry - hit system (in general) and the elements of point 3 will be discussed separately.
This makes Sekiro a cool concept, but not very well executed, especially keeping in mind that the timings to parry are much more lenient than the timings to dodge (non slow/obvious moves, but wide and/or quick attacks with follow-ups).
Skills and Prosthetic tools:
Past souls games are also relatively simple regarding the options of the character per se, but, for example, it was significantly different to play with a Greatsword compared to faster weapons.
Since Sekiro has only one main weapon, the variety in terms of gameplay should be provided by the Skills and Prosthetic tools.
But one of the major flaws of the game for me is precisely the fact that you can equip only one skill. This makes the character really limited, and it gets even worse when one realizes that most skills are either too slow or not that useful in any sense, not even to just look more stylish, since they don't feel harmonic with the rest of the character. Exceptions aside, they are more like a gimmick than an extension of Sekiro's move-set.
Ichimonji, Nighjar Slash Reversal, and the monk skills are some of the few exceptions (for me).
As for prosthetic tools, Sabimaru, the Loaded Umbrell and the spear (including their follow-ups) can extend the move-set in a relatively harmonic way as well. However, they are still not enough to give the player enough variety, and on top of this, unlike some skills, they will always consume Spirit Emblems.
Ninjutsu:
I will comment only the Puppeteer Ninjutsu technique, because the other 2 are obviously not so relevant.
I could see this one as a more elegant tactical tool if the game was adjusted and there were more forced battles vs several enemies, especially if friendly fire/slashes were removed, but generally it's really just dumb-troll fun, watching enemies fight each other. And obviously it doesn't last very long.
Danger Symbol/Kanji:
It's distracting and I suppose they added it more because of grabs and the special low attacks, since there are also some low normal attacks (normally parriable).
I doubt it's for Mikiri, since it's pretty obvious when it's a thrust attack, however they probably decided that it could help to familiarize with the new system.
In any case it would be nice if one could turn it off in the menus...
Enemy patterns and moves:
There are many normal enemies, mini-bosses and bosses in the game, and many types of move-sets. I especially liked the ninjas.
But... there is a trick that developers used too much: some moves are very unnaturally executed by the enemies to deceive the player and apply some make-up to the simplicity of the gameplay and the system overall.
Some gestures are way too artificially slowed down, to make it a bit harder to find the right timing to parry or dodge. While this has been used in past souls games and other games, in Sekiro sometimes it really feels cheap and lazy.
It's not an interesting way to increase slightly the difficulty of the game or enhance a move-set.
Another thing that I don't like is the concept of boss phases. At least not to this degree.
One thing is to make a boss with 2 phases and one health bar similar to other bosses. And another one to make a boss with 3 - 4 phases and extended posture/health bars.
If you want to learn the third or fourth phase, you have to pass the first and second each time. Of course, you learn better and better the first phases, so you can do them more consistently and faster, but it's still just tedious. And not an interesting way to make a boss fight more epic or difficult.
Slowness, lenient timings and some clunky animations:
The reason why the normal parry is so lenient is probably because the game actually wants you to parry (and not dodge) the long string-fast attacks of some enemies and bosses. At least once you have mastered the system. If the timing was very strict, keeping in mind the damage that bosses deal, it would be a bit unrealistic to parry long strings and break the posture.
But there isn't any good excuse for the Mikiri timing, and the thrust attacks of the enemies are very obvious and slow. It would be better if Mikiri had a more strict timing, but dealing significantly more posture damage. This way the player could decide how much he wants to risk. And there would be a high risk -> high reward option, if the player is willing to master Mikiri.
In its current state it's: oh, here comes a free parry.
Also the game overall feels slow... The slowness of past souls games shouldn't be any excuse for this either, especially when Bloodborne already did a step forward in this regard.
Some quick draw attacks from enemies are fast and rewarding to parry, but they are exceptions.
Another thing that keeps annoying me in souls games and the pace of the combat is how slow are usually the animations to regenerate HP with the main consumable item. If it was a PvP context, it would be understandable, but in the main game it could be re-balanced. Regenerate less health, give us fewer potions, estus (whatever), but don't force the player to run away to regenerate HP and then go back to the boss, or hide behind dumb walls.
Also in past souls games our character wasn't any blade master, which could explain why some gestures weren't very elegant or accurate. But Sekiro is an expert shinobi, and some slash animations are still a bit clunky (others are fine). This however could be merely perceptive, because of the slowness overall.
From Stealth to Fighting several enemies at the same time:
I am not a big fan of stealth mechanics, and usually find them tedious/boring. But I would say in Sekiro it's pretty agile and relatively well implemented.
It's also usually optional, and while the game isn't very suited to fight several enemies at the same time (camera, the system itself, posture damage, etc.), it's one of the ways to overcome its simplicity and create more dangerous and complex scenarios. If it goes wrong, one can use in most situations the grappling hook.
There are also some skills that help to fight more enemies at the same time. The axe, spear and Puppeteer Ninjutsu obviously help as well.
Conclusions and Suggestions:
The game has some good ideas and elements, but in the end feels a bit too slow, too simple and limited.
Fromsoftware did a brave step trying to get past their traditional formula and do a new type of game, but not brave enough to say that it's some masterpiece or reference (it could be a good start, at most).
The game already has a lock-on system and it would be possible to implement forwards, backwards and forwards - backwards inputs (at least) for 3 different skills, which could be equipped at the same time. What's more, the interaction button could be used for something more interesting during combat... It's not really about a lack of buttons / input options.
Prosthetic tools could have more inputs as well, and if it's too much work to develop so much each tool, then simply limit them to 3, but fleshed-out, with an extended and more complex addition to the move-set.
The posture - deathblow system could be somehow reworked and re-balanced. Breaking the posture could mean, for example, to make the enemy unable to block anymore, allowing the player to do some optimized combo, instead of directly dealing a deathblow pressing one button (of course HP and posture would have to be re-balanced). A minor combo/juggle system could work if some launchers or skills to stagger are implemented (not for big bosses), encouraging the player to design his own optimized combos depending on his execution and timings.
It's easy to say: yeah, of course, a DMC player wants combos and juggles in every game; but honestly, what do you expect from such videogames at this point?
I talk about most subgenres where you control a character that fights against AI/NPCs, and not other humans (obviously with focus on melee combat and of course excluding turn based combat systems).
It's not easy for developers to keep being innovative with enemy patterns and over exploited parry - dodge - hit systems. Encouraging creativity and proactivity, and not only reactivity, should be the next step to make such systems more complex and challenging to learn and optimize.
Otherwise the longevity of future games of this type will always be short. A few playthroughs and go learn the next patterns of the bosses of the next game. Because once you know the patterns of such games, there isn't really so much into them.
One can make personal challenges, no-damage boss fights, and what not, but in essence, it's about the same or similar systems over and over.
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