[PSX SEA 2018] First Impression from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice 12-min Preview

Although Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice by FromSoftware doesn’t offer a demo version during the recent PSX SEA 2018, it does provide a mini theatre that plays a 12-min preview video for the public to get a glimpse of the game. The preview showcases how the protagonist sneak through the area, use the grappling hook as well as part of the boss fight. Unfortunately, no video-recording is allowed so here is our first impression by words!

The preview starts with the protagonist hopping up to a rooftop using a grappling hook. From the rooftop, he observes the enemies’ action for a good opportunity to hop down and kill them in one shot. Similar to Dark Souls, you can assassinate the enemies when they are not prepared, however in my opinion, your weapon will still need to be strong enough in order to kill the enemies instantly.

He is then required to battle against the head of the enemies along with a few weaker enemies. Just as shown in the trailer, he can turn his arm into an axe to attack (well, apparently it is really convenient to have a prosthetic limb).

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During combat, a “Danger” (危) will show above his head to indicate that the enemy is launching an attack. He managed to avoid most of the enemies’ attacks, however there is too much for them that leads to the protagonist’s first death (a “Dead” (死) is shown on the middle of the screen). After a few seconds, a “Resurrect” (回生) is shown and the protagonist stood up from where he dies.

The enemies turn their backs to walk away from the protagonist when he dies, and were then attacked from the back when the protagonist recovers. This could be a brilliant strategy to take a break from the horde of enemies and regain your advantage! Nonetheless, we don’t know whether there is a condition to resurrect yet, guess we need to use this strategy really wisely.

Moving forward, the protagonist walks towards a cliff. Here he meets the giant snake (who made its appearance in the trailer) that crawls across the mountains and looks like it will eat you up anytime. Using the grappling hook, he jumps to another mountainside then stealth himself among the bush. As the giant snake is heading away, he enters a cave, but the giant snake noticed and charges towards the cave too. Fortunately, it couldn’t harm him due to its size that is much bigger than the cave (the visuals are really impactive here).

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice — A screenshot of the giant snake from the trailer

On the bridge full of cherry blossoms, he met the final boss – the 11-foot tall Corrupted Monk. Just like Dark Souls‘ boss fights, you always meet the bosses that have a bigger size than you. The protagonist continuously evades the boss’ attack by jumping back. A thick fog rises when the Corrupted Monk (the boss) is in her second stage. increasing the difficulty to defeat her. The preview ends with the defeat of the protagonist.

These are all we saw and discovered from the 12-min preview! The developer, FromSoftware is doing great in expressing the Japan mythology-featured worldview, the scenes in the game are full of Japanese style too. Different from their previous video games such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is having a much brighter world. Its combat system is more flexible and with the use of grappling hooks, many different strategies can be implemented during combat.