With the Souls games and even Bloodborne centering around an indefinable generic player stand-in, and being so immersed in Western culture, Sekiro being about a specific, named individual in Sengoku Japan had to have been a very refreshing game for From Software to make.
I like how the Sengoku Japan setting means “Portuguese father in European suit of armor” is considered nearly equally as fantastical as headless undead warriors and giant spirit dragons.
Winner of the most painful looking rebirth goes to….. The fact that Genichiro’s body disappears is a bit sad actually. Was wondering if it stuck around as sort of a monument to his last moments, as part of the set.
There was absolutely no reason to have expected From to break from the format and make a game with an explicitly communicated story and a main character with their own voice and opinions. I love, love, love that they did it anyway.
And it was amazing. You really have to give props to Miyazaki for being such a flexible writer, and the developers for continually nailing his vision game after game.
One nice little detail is that Isshin's health is slowly returning while the cutscene plays. When he grabs the black mortal blade his arm is that of old isshin and his voice also sounds old and unhealthy. At the end his health is now fully recovered and he became young Isshin during his prime. (Sorry for my English)
Sorry for your English? Bro you write better than 70% of native English speakers; do not worry about your English it's almost perfect my friend. In fact there were 0 flaws in your paragraph so what could you possibly apologise for 😂😂
Mechanically I don’t see it departing much from the tried and true souls formula. However, narrative and art direction need not follow the same conventions placed upon the gameplay by the game engine. Given that dark souls 3 wasn’t really the cult favorite due to its sameyness of the level design and safe approach to narrative by tying a lot of it to the events and characters of souls 1 (although it was critically and commercially quite successful), I’m confident that by taking the best mechanical aspects of all their games, rooting it in the dark souls 3 gameplay feel, and creating an entirely new universe and open world to explore that’s a little less “castles, ruins, poison swamps, and tower knights” than its spiritual predecessors, FromSoft will have created a refreshing and original game with plenty of new wackiness.
I have never played Sekiro, but I am genuinely impressed with this one. It always amazes me how game devs make cutscenes work using camera tricks even though the actual scene is so weird if seen from outside of the intended camera's perspective.
It's worth playing just for the amazing late game bosses. Do the purification route for your first play through as that way you can fight both Owl Father and Sword Saint Isshin without having to wait for the next playthrough to do one or the other (Like I did), both of those bosses are in my top 10 Fromsoft bosses for sure. Demon of Hatred and Genichiro Ashina are also some great ones
It may be weird, but goddamit if it wasn’t one of the coolest boss intros I’d ever seen. Isshin is my favorite boss of any game, and his intro is metal as hell. Cool to see under the hood of the cutscene
HOW MY BLOOD BOILS I want to call it a perfect final boss. Everything about it is just amazing, perfect end to the game. He really makes you FEEL like Sekiro.
Fighting him was one of the best experiences I've ever had in video games, and the cutscene after you defeat him made my adult self and my inner edgy teenager both equally giddy. Just fantastic stuff; you'd think that the concept of samurai and ninjas has had every ounce of possible originality squeezed out of them, but here comes fromsoft to show us just how wonderfully wrong we all are.
Sekirolike needs to be its own genre man. Having deflections as the primary form of defense rather than an dodge like rolls, combined with perilous attacks making sure you don’t mindlessly deflect spam is too good. I liked how each prosthetic and combat art felt very unique compared to each other as well. Like sure, you have a lot of different weapons in the Souls games, but the gameplay of every weapon in the same category (Greatsword, scythe, etc.) felt way too similar. And honestly, even a few weapon categories felt too similar to each other. I didn’t play Bloodborne (No PS, feels bad) but I heard each weapon felt very unique because they were trick weapons. I hope we can see more Sekiro inspired mechanics in their future games
@@aeb4865 Yeah the weapons and combat are the best part of Bloodborne, the best in the Soulsborne in my opinion. Each weapon was hugely distinct, and the fact that weapon was essentially two in one (almost, looking at you Tonitrus) AND the fact that switching between the two modes was an attack meant you could basically infinitely chain moves that adapt in real time to what your enemy was doing.
@@aeb4865 Yeah, bloodborne and sekiro are where they really knocked the combat out of the park in both directions (aggressive and defensive). They got so good at establishing "feel" of the weapons and characters, from thrashing through beasts with saw cleaver or bonking them with boomhammer, then the way Sekiro's combat arts tell the stories of the different factions in Ashina... Spectacular.
Genichiro doesn't give a fuck about the people. All he cares about is Ashina as a concept, even if that means using loyal soldiers as fodder and innocent civilians and children as guinea pigs for sick experiments. Every time he uses the black mortal blade, Isshin gets closer to death, and this is likely why Isshin is so sick in the first place. He's a nationalistic loon and the reason for a great deal of suffering in Ashina.
@@VeryCabbage Interior Ministry is the main reason why. Fuck them, Ashina took back their lands but as a result of this they will still suffer and lose everything. All we did as Sekiro is make Ashina fall down faster. Another thing to keep in mind is that lore-wise Isshin Sword Saint is probably like Legends May Never Die version or some fucked up shit like that so makes sense Genichiro goes to the lengths to get Isshin back in his prime. He does care about the people but he will sacrifice them to save Ashina.
@@diousthomas8878 the interior ministry did not invade before just because of this old man, If genechiro used the black blade not on Wolf but against the invader ashina would probably win.
@@dovahkiin_brasil When Isshin was on his last legs due to his sickness that is when they were getting ready to attack, and after he died is when they attacked. Genichiro might have been able to do it, but I think he couldn’t so he needed Isshin in his prime back to beat the breaks off them. Remember, the only way to kill Isshin Revived would be with the Mortal Blade as that is the only weapon that can permanently kill him.
@Makhi Makharadze "[Genichiro] can only swing the [Black Mortal Blade] but a few more times... And when that happens, the Tengu will be no more." -Isshin to Emma, if you eavesdrop on them after the Ministry invades Which adds up, considering that the Black Mortal Blade is "said to hold the power to open a gate to the underworld", and that anything else related to immortality in the game requires someone to pay the price.
Plot twist: Isshin was actually a Scooby-Doo villain dressed like Genichiro the whole time. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for that meddling kid, and his shinobi.
I would love for From to make another linear game in the future much like Sekiro. The experience was so focused and meticulously crafted while also trying to push the Souls-like formula beyond what was thought safe, to the point that there's nothing really like it out there. The people at From Software are nothing short of geniuses.
Sekiro is a great game. Regardless of people's mixed feeling at the time, it's an incredible game and I hope FROM continues to do cool wacky shit with each new game.
Exactly my thoughts. It feels like the perfect "Ninja" game blending aspects of stealth and action in so many ways with the design of the shinobi skills/tools, and especially the level design.
Bought the game around July, this year. Didn't know Sekiro had mixed feelings from the community and all I can say is they're a bunch of uncultured savages. Sekiro is pure art. Personally, Elden Ring has a tough fight to become my new FromSoft Favorite game, Dark Souls had that throne for so many years but now Sekiro stands tall
The black mortal blade is still so mysterious. It seems like a total asspull at first, but then I realized Isshin used it in his coup, seemingly before it was stained black, as you can see it ever so briefly throughout the prologue (and in the Sekiro spinoff manga overseen by From Software). Maybe their choice to foreshadow its existence with a convenient scroll in a story-triggered treasure chest was just an odd choice... Regardless, it's not clear why Isshin abandoned it, or how it became a mortal blade in the first place. While it does have the special ability to resurrect the dead, it still shares in being able to kill immortals, as Genichiro uses it to mortally wound Kuro. Even stranger, it can apparently be wielded by mortals as well, unlike the red blade-Owl temporarily holds it in the Shura ending. With all the reticent lore about Isshin, Tomoe, and Takeru, along with the implications of the Return ending, I really hope From revisits Sekiro in a sequel someday. Its combat system is just too good for them to relegate to a single title.
Yeah, with all the lore left on the table I thought DLC was inevitable, and since that never happened I at least hope that means a sequel is inevitable :> Not to get anyone's hopes up
Wasn't it Tomoe who was in possession Of the Black Sword and gave it to Geni??? I remember the theory with the sword in the cutscene, which is three years old btw, but it was debunked cause it wasn't exactly the same model.
I still think it is an ass pull. After all,what reason did Isshin have to fight you anyways? You weren't an enemy yo Ashina, and besides he was the one who helped you on this path in the first place.
@@MidnightatMidian I'm not sure we're thinking of the same cutscene, since the prologue is entirely pre-rendered and there's no way to compare models. But the sword Isshin used in his coup had the same double-edge, tip, and tsuba (hand guard). You have to freeze frame it to get a good look, though. Unless it was just a sword that coincidentally looked very much like the black blade, of course, in which case it certainly would seem like an asspull. As for Tomoe, all we know is that she failed to complete Takeru's immortal severance, and then tried to commit suicide, but also failed in that, having lacked a mortal blade. Her ultimate fate is still unknown, but supposedly she and Takeru eventually died among the Dragon Rot illness that previously ravaged Ashina. Perhaps her death is partly why Isshin refuses to let anyone else to use Dragon Heritage to save Ashina, having seen the tragedy unfold before his own eyes... Either way, the black blade seems to have some connection between her and Isshin, and of course with Genichiro.
@@michaelmannix1604 As I understood, it's implied that Tomoe tried the purification ending with her master, Takeru. So she should have a mortal blade to do it, and we know that' she could not get the red mortal blade, so it must be the other one. And it is also vaguely implied that she gave the black mortal blade to Genichiro as she was her mentor. But it's not directly told in the game.
Man, if only Isshin had sandals, if he did, he would've fulfilled Genichiro's wish, because the most likely reason Isshin failed was because he was stepping on rocks the entire fight and kept hurting himself LOL Edit: another reason why this would make sense is because during Isshin's phase 2 transformation, he stomps the ground and pulls out Gyoubu's spear from presumably his grave which could literally be anywhere whenever you replay this fight, he could've stomped on a bigass pointy rock and basically nailbit his foot, he may have endured the pain, but he can't endure the damage.
I certainly love Sekiro for how different it is from Soulsborne games. The gameplay and economy makes me reconsider calling it a souls-like. I really hope we get a sequel based on the Dragon's Return ending.
@@matheuscruz8574 oh, definitely. But the stamina and rpg like elements can be found in plenty of games that came before dark souls. However, those are two major aspects in dark souls. I could go into detail about what I think fully defines a soulslike, but I'd be better off making an actual video (if I ever made any videos lol)
I do really enjoy the outlandish nature of From games. Whether you're traveling thru time with ambiguity, or resurrecting the dead thru your own flesh, never a dull moment.
Even though I'm a massive souls fan, Sekiro became my favorite for how different they made it. But then again I never cared about the story, it was just a game full of really fucking cool set pieces
i mean, after bloodborne had invisible babies and amalgamations being birthed from the moon in front of us, this is pretty standard stuff. I do hope they return to another very focussed experience like Sekiro eventually. I'm sure Elden Ring will be great but there's absolutely no way the combat in it could feel as phenomenal as Sekiro.
It will probably make up for it in build variety, like most other fromsoft games. The main reason Sekiro's combat feels so good is because everything is designed around one weapon.
I really liked Sekiro's more linear story with characters that had real arcs instead of one-off side quests. One thing missing from a lot of Souls bosses is a real emotional connection with your opponent; you very rarely fight someone you have an actual relationship with in Souls games. Sekiro's boss fights aren't just exhilarating and challenging, they can be truly emotionally loaded.
I thought this game was awesome and how when you finally got good with the combat it began to feel more like a “dance”. 10/10 would recommend to everyone
Even though Sekiro was an experimental game at it's core, testing out new systems for Elden Ring and all, you can tell that the game has a lot of heart put into it. I wouldn't be averse to FromSoft releasing more single-player narrative games like this one in between their big Souls-like releases. It was a welcome departure and remains a ton of fun.
What mixed reviews? Sekiro got the game of the year award and considered a unique masterpiece. It was amazing that it was not just another game completely similar to the previous ones.
I have zero issues with the departure in storytelling that Sekiro had over Dark Souls - every artist needs to branch out now and then. My only complaint is how often the story revolved around magical macguffins without really explaining why they did what the story needed them to do, as well as finding answers in ripped out pages or dusty old books that were conveniently laying around. It's all a bit too contrived. But the cutscenes were great.
OMG YES. There's a book, a mask, a necklace, a sword, another sword, a plant, another plant, another book, another sword... Like come on man I haven't read the japanese bible of old tales give me a break
IIRC much of it is pretty entry level Japanese mythology and history but the localization team really took some steps to obscure it as much as they could for whatever reason.
The story is a prime example of ludonarrative dissonance IMO. Genichiro’s motivations make no sense given that every enemy comes back after Wolf kills them anyway.
Hear, hear. It really bugged me how the second mortal blade, which was a _huge_ deal story wise, just popped up unexplained in the last fight. There should have been a whole arc where you try to find the blade, only to find it gone, and its guardian impaled by arrows. And an unmissable hint for what its power actually was, which is to enslave the dead, not just bring them back. That way the final boss makes sense even if it's your first time playing: we saw Isshin dead minutes ago, we know Genichiro has necromantic powers now, and that he's desperate. You can save the mysteries for the Demon of Hatred, cause it's an optional enemy.
Sekiro is the most unique game of the lot and I doubt they'll produce anything that can top it for me. Maybe I'm biased because Sekiro was originally going to be a new Tenchu game and I loved Tenchu, but no one can deny how different Sekiro is from any Souls Game. It flipped the rules and actually provided the kind of challenge that can't be cheesed by using summons. I personally feel like this made me a better player in all Souls games because it made me confident to go alone.
I feel like this amazing boss was really a shift in tone for Fromsoft. Think about it: In Fromsoft games, it is very uncommon to face a boss on the height of their power and skill. And this kinda makes the acomplishment of defeating Isshin much more rewarding for me. In Dark Souls I always felt like the very reason, I even had a chance to defeat Artorias, was his broken arm and him being slowly consumed by the abyss. When you face Isshin and win, you have defeated one of the most deadly warriors ever in his pride.
May be a hot take but I enjoyed Sekiro more than any of the other Souls games. Less challenging combat, but much more fun and rewarding of skill (less rolling around and more carefully timed parries). Absolutely breathtaking visuals as well.
I'm not sure the combat is easyer... Maybe you mastered it, as there is only one real way to fight, in contrast to Soulsbornes' many builds. But imo, Sekiro is by far the most challenging, and has some of the best bosses in existence.
@@customersupportdeer6150 You may be right, you're sort of forced to master it to progress. And I completely agree about the bosses, I will never forget the man whose NAME... IS GYOUBU MASATAKA ONIWA! 😃
Fromsoft games' stories sound so reasonable and understandable in retrospect, but when you play for the first or second times all you really get is the broad strokes. I was actually still pretty foggy as to why he gave birth to his grandpa, but now it makes a lot of sense in context with everything else given
It's not even the first time I see a dude crawl out of another dude's neck, but the intensity of Isshin's resurrection is still one of my favourite game finale's ever. And the fight was a masterclass of its own!
@@AdrielMK Not "in a game" per se. In Persona 3, the first animé cutscene after the introductory one (so, the second) has the same kind of emergence - I don't wanna spoil it, in case you wanna see for yourself. It's pretty cool, if confusing.
What mixed reviews!? I thought Sekiro got universally praised by everyone and has a 90 (critics)/8.4 (users) scores on Metacritic, personally I think it's a game tuned to perfection and distills the Souls combat experience down to its most fundamental elements while also expanding them with stealth and jumping, It will take Elden Ring some effort to dethrone Sekiro for me, we will see ;)
Sekiro received a lot of positive critical review, but there was a vocal part of the Souls audience that didn't like how dissimilar it was from the Souls games, with some of the loudest complaints being the lack of multiplayer and many of the other methods players can use to mitigate difficulty, like level grinding or using stronger weapons. One the one hand, the Souls series almost definitely saved From Software as a studio, as their longtime most profitable series, Armored Core, was struggling to keep up and they had purportedly been facing some financial troubles, but on the other hand, they have somewhat typecast themselves by relying on the Souls formula so heavily.
@@ZullietheWitch I find it a bit ironic the "git gud" community would dislike a game that doesn't allow level or weapon grinding. You are forced in Sekiro to study your opponent which I absolutely adored about this game.
What Zullie meant to say is that a lot of guys in the souls community didn’t like Sekiro because it wasn’t Japanese Dark Souls which is fucking pathetic. I actually believe that’s why they went back to the souls formula with Elden Ring which is a shame. I hope they drop the souls formula in their next game after Elden Ring or this games will become just assassins creed.
@@alejandroaraiza2226 Sekiro and Elden Ring both started development at pretty much the same time, so it was always the plan to continue using the Souls formula. It seems like Sekiro was partially created as a testing ground for a few of the things they wanted to add to Elden Ring (such as jumping and proper stealth mechanics).
I was so confused and horrified when I first witnessed this incredible moment. Is it actually Isshin? Is it Isshin from the past? The fact he calls Wolf Sekiro confirms him as the same Isshin... Truly one of the best video games stories ever
Always wondered that too. But it might be just his way of thinking, because he is the one who calls him Sekiro for the first time in the game, when Wolf meets him in his tengu attire. So if it is Isshin from long ago, he might just calls him a one armed wolf since that's the way he sees him. Maybe it's just because Wolf reminds him of the sculptor?
Oh wow, I beat Gen'ichiro for the first time just today and got curious about how exactly Isshin crawls out during the cutscene and thought it's a video material for Zullie. Then a few hours later this video drops. XD Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. That upside-down Isshin face in Gen'ichiro's armpits is probably among the weirdest things even in Sekiro.
Sekiro had mixed reviews?? I mean, I guess almost every game does, but I was under the impression it was pretty well loved by most people that played it. I imagine most of the bad reviews have to do with it not being another "Soulsborne" game or Sekiro being extremely difficult. It was the hardest FromSoft game for me to get used to by a wide margin, but one of, if not, the most, satisfying to git gud at. I really hope those mixed reviews don't effect what they really want to make in the future. I'd be extremely happy to see Fromsoft develop more Sekiro, or at least Japanese-themed, content in the future, be it DLC or a new game entirely.
I think she meant this specific new approach in storytelling compared to traditional Souls' way received mixed reviews among a specific group of players, namely diehard Souls fans. Overall Sekiro received mostly positive reviews according to metacritics.
@@vincentxu8217 Ahh okay, that makes more sense. I can see why people might feel that way. A lot of fans really loved the mysteriousness of the Soulsborne series along with having to personally piece together lore themselves, so that's pretty understandable. I think you're right, Zullie does seem to be talking about the more story focused aspects of Sekiro in particular.
@@alrightalright4585 Yeah, and I don't think it's fair to categorize Sekiro as Souls game and expect it to follow the same formla in the first place. People need to realize that FS makes more than one type of game than Souls. I mean, Sekiro itself started as a Tenchu reboot! And we know that the Souls games are like this because of Miyazaki and the fact that he's deeply influenced by Berserk. But I think Miyazaki is doing the right thing now by empowering other people rather than writing everthing and calling every shot himself. This way FS will continue to deliver great games for the years to come. It's said that he only write a small portion for Elden Ring in contrast to writing everthing for Bloodborne, but I have all the confidence that Elden Ring is going to be great.
I actually get chills from this boss intro. I find this kind of body horror fascinating in this context, and it perfectly sets the mood for the fight. Yes I know, Isshin's boss fight was divisive for the player base, but I thought that it was a perfect way of culminating everything you've learned in the game, and telling to you use it all. I really hope Elden Ring has a similar boss, especially seeing as it is leaning heavily into the body horror genre.
I love this cutscene so much. They managed to make this wacky out of nowhere neck birth instill a sense of dread in the player. All through the game it’s mentioned how strong Isshin was in his prime, but since he’s old, sick, and on your side for most of the game, you never think you’ll have to fight the man from the stories. Once you realize what Genichiro did with the black blade, and that you’re about to fight the demon you thought to be long gone, it’s both an epic and terrifying feeling. And the slow reveal of the sword saint through his climbing out of his own grandchild’s body is what made that possible. This whole scene was lightning in a bottle.
After watching this cutscene several times (because Ischin kicked my ass) I believe that Genichiro didn't really intend to resurrect Ischin. He wanted to bring back Aschina itself, that was his only intention. The fact that it was Ischin who came back is really telling, he was the only person keeping Achina "alive" and the country itself cannot exist without him. It means that Genichiro's struggles were futile even since the beginning because Aschina had to die with Ischin.
+ to Damian, and an additional point: I don't think the Black Blade works like that. It opens the gates of the underworld with a clear intention of summoning a dead person. Do you really think that Genichiro metaphorically slammed open the gates of hell and yelled: "Whoever the heck's in there that can save Ashina, move along, you're on parole!"? Ashina is just the name of the province, certainly you don't imagine the whole land would crawl out of his neck. And the name was actually given to the land by the founder of the Ashina clan, guess who... Isshin Ashina.
@@hiondubs Did they change both the japanese and english or just english? There is a history of localisers make From games more ambiguous than they actually tried to be
It is too bad that some fans were upset by the experimentation away from the standard souls formula. I understand how some people miss the build variety of other games. Still, I found the combat system of Sekiro to be far more thrilling than anything else the company had done. When I want to replay a FromSoftware game, my first choice is to load up Sekiro and do a Charmless/Demon Bell run. I am sad to see the deflect system not be included in Elden Ring. I hope FromSoftware continues to find ways to experiment.
This is what I love about the Souls games, the unique and strange nature of almost every boss and NPC you meet, theirs always something unexpected or unique about them in every way.
Zullie is for electronic arts what behind the cameras are for cinematography, showing us the sleight of hand behind the most amazing images. Thanks for that witchy work Zullie
That may be... but my god what a boss. I love Elden Ring, and I fully understand why it cannot have combat like Sekiro does. But the combat in this game, and this boss fight, is perfection.
Even though I suck getting the parry timing right most of the time, Sekiro is still my favourite of the Soulsborne games and I honestly hope they either make a sequel, another game set in that world or another game more like it.
Sekiro's breaking of norms is probably the main reason it was able to be as good as it was, win game of the year and become my favorite game of theirs. It was very much needed after DS3 did so little to stand apart from previous releases.
Personally I loved the way they handled the story in sekiro. It made me have a much deeper appreciation for the characters in the story and how they interacted with the player on a first playthrough. For example hanbei the undyings story made my gut sink just because of the heart wrenching story he had to tell
Man, this channel here is cool. I'm kinda sad ER is not closer to Sekiro, but, I hope one day FromSoft makes another Sekiro style game, maybe a sequel.
Oh, with that explanation of how the black mortal blade opens a portal to the underworld this scene makes a ton more sense then it did the first time I saw it.
Genuinely, all of this game is just absolutely sick as hell. It's endlessly impressive, just looking at it. That's FromSoft's amazing pedigree, for you. They really know how to do things right.
When I was spoiled what the final boss was in Sekiro, but only by text description, I initially imagined something like Godrick from Elden Ring or the many armed monster you fight in the dark at the end of the Elden Ring network test.
Cutscenes especially for transformations or fights are a nightmare to create and always require camera angles to hide a lot of things or with fighting games like Guilty Gear or DB Fighterz they have to completely bend and stretch characters models to make it look correct.
I reckon that Sekiro may be the BEST game FromSoft has ever made yet, and I'm in love with the Demons/Dark Souls/Bloodborne franchises. But this game was maybe one inch beyond everything they've done to that point.
The "Ah yes, that one time my dead grandfather crawled out of my neck" moment. Had Genichiro survived and had kids, telling them the story of how their great grandpa came back to life
I still remember before I played sekiro and I was watching my friend play through it. Je fought genichiro way of tomoe for quite some time and when I watched this cutscene and the fight that ensued, I knew I had to play this game
![Chicken P - People's Favorite (Remix) [Feat. 42 Dugg] (Official Video)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/a6Bn8FEtxmY/mqdefault.jpg)
This cutscene foreshadows how the rest of the boss will be with spears and guns coming out of his ass
Hahaha glock go pew pew
Ashina school of swordfighting is “whatever it takes to win”, so he calls himself the sword saint so you never expect the spear or the gun.
Lmao
@@TheEyeWatching The Glock Saint. A certified Ashina classic.
Devil's advocate, you are fighting him in a field where a large battle took place so maybe he's just really lucky and keeps looting them?
it may be odd, but its still one of the coolest intros ive ever seen
*Woo Nightjar would like to remind of himself*
Naaaaah
With the Souls games and even Bloodborne centering around an indefinable generic player stand-in, and being so immersed in Western culture, Sekiro being about a specific, named individual in Sengoku Japan had to have been a very refreshing game for From Software to make.
I like how the Sengoku Japan setting means “Portuguese father in European suit of armor” is considered nearly equally as fantastical as headless undead warriors and giant spirit dragons.
That's why I was so sad to see them jump right back to that formula instantly
I sometimes wonder just how many game devs keep watch of your videos and taking down notes Zullie
I loved following Wolf through his journey. I wouldn't mind another narrative game like Sekiro.
@@hyp0782 That was a limitation of the early games. The current iteration of the engine seems to be able to handle resizing characters in real time.
Winner of the most painful looking rebirth goes to…..
The fact that Genichiro’s body disappears is a bit sad actually. Was wondering if it stuck around as sort of a monument to his last moments, as part of the set.
And now I'm imagining Wolf tripping over Genichiro's corpse and getting cut in half by Isshin as a result.
@@ladyabaxa that or having the body chucked like Gael
@@ladyabaxa That only happens if you hesitate.
@@ladyabaxa that should happen to Kuro's body since it's right there
@@ladyabaxa I'm imaging it comically ragdolling all over the place as it's trampled over.
There was absolutely no reason to have expected From to break from the format and make a game with an explicitly communicated story and a main character with their own voice and opinions. I love, love, love that they did it anyway.
And it was amazing. You really have to give props to Miyazaki for being such a flexible writer, and the developers for continually nailing his vision game after game.
at this point anything unwoke is always welcomed
@@hoang2312please tell me you're joking
@@hoang2312 I really hope gay Miquella and gay Radahn made you uncomfortable
@idzidz833
Gay =/= woke to anybody outside of a handful of idiots on the internet.
One nice little detail is that Isshin's health is slowly returning while the cutscene plays. When he grabs the black mortal blade his arm is that of old isshin and his voice also sounds old and unhealthy. At the end his health is now fully recovered and he became young Isshin during his prime.
(Sorry for my English)
I'm reminded of the animations of the intro to the Martyr Logarius boss fight.
Sorry for your English? Bro you write better than 70% of native English speakers; do not worry about your English it's almost perfect my friend.
In fact there were 0 flaws in your paragraph so what could you possibly apologise for 😂😂
@@Tallerixoo gj, u fed him exactly wot he wanted
@@Tallerixoo non english speakers either have the worst english or say "hi (sorry for bad english) there's no in-between.
I love it when Fromsoft gets experimental. Hopefully Elden Ring will grace us with more wackiness like this.
Given that a lot of the bosses are shown to have limbs grafted onto their bodies, I'd say that's likely
Heh, grace
Every fromsoft game is wacky lmao
dude that boss that is a guy with like 20 arms lol
Mechanically I don’t see it departing much from the tried and true souls formula. However, narrative and art direction need not follow the same conventions placed upon the gameplay by the game engine. Given that dark souls 3 wasn’t really the cult favorite due to its sameyness of the level design and safe approach to narrative by tying a lot of it to the events and characters of souls 1 (although it was critically and commercially quite successful), I’m confident that by taking the best mechanical aspects of all their games, rooting it in the dark souls 3 gameplay feel, and creating an entirely new universe and open world to explore that’s a little less “castles, ruins, poison swamps, and tower knights” than its spiritual predecessors, FromSoft will have created a refreshing and original game with plenty of new wackiness.
I have never played Sekiro, but I am genuinely impressed with this one.
It always amazes me how game devs make cutscenes work using camera tricks even though the actual scene is so weird if seen from outside of the intended camera's perspective.
dont worry, hollywood do this too.
You must play Sekiro, is a masterpiece!
No pressure tho
It's worth playing just for the amazing late game bosses. Do the purification route for your first play through as that way you can fight both Owl Father and Sword Saint Isshin without having to wait for the next playthrough to do one or the other (Like I did), both of those bosses are in my top 10 Fromsoft bosses for sure. Demon of Hatred and Genichiro Ashina are also some great ones
@@wayoftheredpanda2898 I beat the game 4 times in a row and is incredible! Doing all the endings too.
My hardest fights are both fights with Isshin xD
When people tell me they're getting into Sekiro I make sure to warn them ahead of time that the final boss is a real pain in the neck.
Goddamnit lmao
Spam parry like you did from minute 1 and you're good, let the visages of other players teach you the proper technique throughout the game
It may be weird, but goddamit if it wasn’t one of the coolest boss intros I’d ever seen. Isshin is my favorite boss of any game, and his intro is metal as hell. Cool to see under the hood of the cutscene
For real, such a fun fight. Beating him was super satisfying.
Yo, I agree and when you take control of the character his first words are "face me, sekiro!"
HOW MY BLOOD BOILS
I want to call it a perfect final boss. Everything about it is just amazing, perfect end to the game.
He really makes you FEEL like Sekiro.
not to mention his HONOURABLE defeat. so real.
Fighting him was one of the best experiences I've ever had in video games, and the cutscene after you defeat him made my adult self and my inner edgy teenager both equally giddy. Just fantastic stuff; you'd think that the concept of samurai and ninjas has had every ounce of possible originality squeezed out of them, but here comes fromsoft to show us just how wonderfully wrong we all are.
Isshin Ashina, always arriving just in the _neck of time._
I honestly love Sekiro, seriously think it's Fromsoft's best game.
Yeah. It's probably one of the best executed games of all time.
Sekirolike needs to be its own genre man. Having deflections as the primary form of defense rather than an dodge like rolls, combined with perilous attacks making sure you don’t mindlessly deflect spam is too good. I liked how each prosthetic and combat art felt very unique compared to each other as well. Like sure, you have a lot of different weapons in the Souls games, but the gameplay of every weapon in the same category (Greatsword, scythe, etc.) felt way too similar. And honestly, even a few weapon categories felt too similar to each other. I didn’t play Bloodborne (No PS, feels bad) but I heard each weapon felt very unique because they were trick weapons. I hope we can see more Sekiro inspired mechanics in their future games
Agreed
@@aeb4865 Yeah the weapons and combat are the best part of Bloodborne, the best in the Soulsborne in my opinion. Each weapon was hugely distinct, and the fact that weapon was essentially two in one (almost, looking at you Tonitrus) AND the fact that switching between the two modes was an attack meant you could basically infinitely chain moves that adapt in real time to what your enemy was doing.
@@aeb4865 Yeah, bloodborne and sekiro are where they really knocked the combat out of the park in both directions (aggressive and defensive). They got so good at establishing "feel" of the weapons and characters, from thrashing through beasts with saw cleaver or bonking them with boomhammer, then the way Sekiro's combat arts tell the stories of the different factions in Ashina... Spectacular.
I feel really bad for Genichiro. He was willing to sacrifice his own humanity to save Ashina because he himself was saved by it's people
Genichiro doesn't give a fuck about the people. All he cares about is Ashina as a concept, even if that means using loyal soldiers as fodder and innocent civilians and children as guinea pigs for sick experiments. Every time he uses the black mortal blade, Isshin gets closer to death, and this is likely why Isshin is so sick in the first place.
He's a nationalistic loon and the reason for a great deal of suffering in Ashina.
@@VeryCabbage Interior Ministry is the main reason why.
Fuck them, Ashina took back their lands but as a result of this they will still suffer and lose everything.
All we did as Sekiro is make Ashina fall down faster.
Another thing to keep in mind is that lore-wise Isshin Sword Saint is probably like Legends May Never Die version or some fucked up shit like that so makes sense Genichiro goes to the lengths to get Isshin back in his prime.
He does care about the people but he will sacrifice them to save Ashina.
@@diousthomas8878 the interior ministry did not invade before just because of this old man, If genechiro used the black blade not on Wolf but against the invader ashina would probably win.
@@dovahkiin_brasil When Isshin was on his last legs due to his sickness that is when they were getting ready to attack, and after he died is when they attacked.
Genichiro might have been able to do it, but I think he couldn’t so he needed Isshin in his prime back to beat the breaks off them.
Remember, the only way to kill Isshin Revived would be with the Mortal Blade as that is the only weapon that can permanently kill him.
@Makhi Makharadze "[Genichiro] can only swing the [Black Mortal Blade] but a few more times... And when that happens, the Tengu will be no more." -Isshin to Emma, if you eavesdrop on them after the Ministry invades
Which adds up, considering that the Black Mortal Blade is "said to hold the power to open a gate to the underworld", and that anything else related to immortality in the game requires someone to pay the price.
Plot twist: Isshin was actually a Scooby-Doo villain dressed like Genichiro the whole time. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for that meddling kid, and his shinobi.
I would love for From to make another linear game in the future much like Sekiro. The experience was so focused and meticulously crafted while also trying to push the Souls-like formula beyond what was thought safe, to the point that there's nothing really like it out there.
The people at From Software are nothing short of geniuses.
I have so much fun with Sekiro, specially mods redesign bosses
it doesnt get much more linear than dark souls 3. at least i hope not.
Sekiro was a game I really hated because of the rhythm game combat.
@@theatheistbear3117 get good lmao
@@CharinVZain It’s not that I’m bad at it. It’s just a boring slogfest.
Sekiro is such a gorgeous masterpiece.
Sekiro and bloodborne were honestly my favorite single player experiences. I hope for more like them
Sekiro is a great game. Regardless of people's mixed feeling at the time, it's an incredible game and I hope FROM continues to do cool wacky shit with each new game.
Exactly my thoughts. It feels like the perfect "Ninja" game blending aspects of stealth and action in so many ways with the design of the shinobi skills/tools, and especially the level design.
Bought the game around July, this year. Didn't know Sekiro had mixed feelings from the community and all I can say is they're a bunch of uncultured savages. Sekiro is pure art. Personally, Elden Ring has a tough fight to become my new FromSoft Favorite game, Dark Souls had that throne for so many years but now Sekiro stands tall
I hope we get a sekiro 2, I really enjoyed the sword clashing, ER is going to be amazing !!!!
Same!
Bruh the cling cling cling will always be seared into my brain. Sometimes I replay the game just to hear it. Max volume is eargasmic.
I know! Sekiro feels like the middle child that doesn’t get any attention! It was so different yet familiar I loved every second of it.
Not before Bloodborne 2 though.
@@thespicyboys3252 I mean it did get game of the year
The black mortal blade is still so mysterious. It seems like a total asspull at first, but then I realized Isshin used it in his coup, seemingly before it was stained black, as you can see it ever so briefly throughout the prologue (and in the Sekiro spinoff manga overseen by From Software). Maybe their choice to foreshadow its existence with a convenient scroll in a story-triggered treasure chest was just an odd choice...
Regardless, it's not clear why Isshin abandoned it, or how it became a mortal blade in the first place. While it does have the special ability to resurrect the dead, it still shares in being able to kill immortals, as Genichiro uses it to mortally wound Kuro. Even stranger, it can apparently be wielded by mortals as well, unlike the red blade-Owl temporarily holds it in the Shura ending.
With all the reticent lore about Isshin, Tomoe, and Takeru, along with the implications of the Return ending, I really hope From revisits Sekiro in a sequel someday. Its combat system is just too good for them to relegate to a single title.
Yeah, with all the lore left on the table I thought DLC was inevitable, and since that never happened I at least hope that means a sequel is inevitable :>
Not to get anyone's hopes up
Wasn't it Tomoe who was in possession Of the Black Sword and gave it to Geni??? I remember the theory with the sword in the cutscene, which is three years old btw, but it was debunked cause it wasn't exactly the same model.
I still think it is an ass pull. After all,what reason did Isshin have to fight you anyways? You weren't an enemy yo Ashina, and besides he was the one who helped you on this path in the first place.
@@MidnightatMidian I'm not sure we're thinking of the same cutscene, since the prologue is entirely pre-rendered and there's no way to compare models. But the sword Isshin used in his coup had the same double-edge, tip, and tsuba (hand guard). You have to freeze frame it to get a good look, though. Unless it was just a sword that coincidentally looked very much like the black blade, of course, in which case it certainly would seem like an asspull.
As for Tomoe, all we know is that she failed to complete Takeru's immortal severance, and then tried to commit suicide, but also failed in that, having lacked a mortal blade. Her ultimate fate is still unknown, but supposedly she and Takeru eventually died among the Dragon Rot illness that previously ravaged Ashina. Perhaps her death is partly why Isshin refuses to let anyone else to use Dragon Heritage to save Ashina, having seen the tragedy unfold before his own eyes... Either way, the black blade seems to have some connection between her and Isshin, and of course with Genichiro.
@@michaelmannix1604 As I understood, it's implied that Tomoe tried the purification ending with her master, Takeru. So she should have a mortal blade to do it, and we know that' she could not get the red mortal blade, so it must be the other one. And it is also vaguely implied that she gave the black mortal blade to Genichiro as she was her mentor. But it's not directly told in the game.
Man, if only Isshin had sandals, if he did, he would've fulfilled Genichiro's wish, because the most likely reason Isshin failed was because he was stepping on rocks the entire fight and kept hurting himself LOL
Edit: another reason why this would make sense is because during Isshin's phase 2 transformation, he stomps the ground and pulls out Gyoubu's spear from presumably his grave which could literally be anywhere whenever you replay this fight, he could've stomped on a bigass pointy rock and basically nailbit his foot, he may have endured the pain, but he can't endure the damage.
Even though Isshin was resurrected in his prime age as the sword saint, all his skills doesn't prepare him to face the power of stepping on LEGOS
Not funny did not laugh
I'm sure Miyazaki has some kind of opinion on this, not sure what though
I certainly love Sekiro for how different it is from Soulsborne games. The gameplay and economy makes me reconsider calling it a souls-like. I really hope we get a sequel based on the Dragon's Return ending.
I personally wouldn't call it a Souls game either. It's too unique and lacks many many traits of Souls.
It's not an RPG and doesn't have a stamina bar. That alone disqualifies it from being a Soulslike
@@matheuscruz8574 oh, definitely. But the stamina and rpg like elements can be found in plenty of games that came before dark souls. However, those are two major aspects in dark souls. I could go into detail about what I think fully defines a soulslike, but I'd be better off making an actual video (if I ever made any videos lol)
@@matheuscruz8574 there is "door doesnt open on this side." dodging and sword hit sword but difficult. i think that is enough for a soulslike
I know, Nioh is a lot more Dark Souls in Japan than Sekiro is
my favourite game combat-wise
I do really enjoy the outlandish nature of From games. Whether you're traveling thru time with ambiguity, or resurrecting the dead thru your own flesh, never a dull moment.
Thank you Zullie, these videos remain informative and nightmare fuel.
Even though I'm a massive souls fan, Sekiro became my favorite for how different they made it. But then again I never cared about the story, it was just a game full of really fucking cool set pieces
Your loss, the story was amazing.
Honestly the story felt better to me due to all the personal connections and an actual ongoing plot.
i mean, after bloodborne had invisible babies and amalgamations being birthed from the moon in front of us, this is pretty standard stuff. I do hope they return to another very focussed experience like Sekiro eventually. I'm sure Elden Ring will be great but there's absolutely no way the combat in it could feel as phenomenal as Sekiro.
It will probably make up for it in build variety, like most other fromsoft games. The main reason Sekiro's combat feels so good is because everything is designed around one weapon.
Shoutout to all the casually weird stuff like crawling your way out of your grandson's neck.
*sees Isshin's upside down head protruding from Genichiro's ribcage*
"Is this...the Eldritch Truth?"
I really liked Sekiro's more linear story with characters that had real arcs instead of one-off side quests. One thing missing from a lot of Souls bosses is a real emotional connection with your opponent; you very rarely fight someone you have an actual relationship with in Souls games. Sekiro's boss fights aren't just exhilarating and challenging, they can be truly emotionally loaded.
I thought this game was awesome and how when you finally got good with the combat it began to feel more like a “dance”. 10/10 would recommend to everyone
1:43
Hesitation is the feet
Even though Sekiro was an experimental game at it's core, testing out new systems for Elden Ring and all, you can tell that the game has a lot of heart put into it. I wouldn't be averse to FromSoft releasing more single-player narrative games like this one in between their big Souls-like releases. It was a welcome departure and remains a ton of fun.
What mixed reviews? Sekiro got the game of the year award and considered a unique masterpiece. It was amazing that it was not just another game completely similar to the previous ones.
That explains where he stores his sword, spear, machine gun and nuclear bomb.
I have zero issues with the departure in storytelling that Sekiro had over Dark Souls - every artist needs to branch out now and then. My only complaint is how often the story revolved around magical macguffins without really explaining why they did what the story needed them to do, as well as finding answers in ripped out pages or dusty old books that were conveniently laying around. It's all a bit too contrived.
But the cutscenes were great.
OMG YES. There's a book, a mask, a necklace, a sword, another sword, a plant, another plant, another book, another sword... Like come on man I haven't read the japanese bible of old tales give me a break
IIRC much of it is pretty entry level Japanese mythology and history but the localization team really took some steps to obscure it as much as they could for whatever reason.
The story is a prime example of ludonarrative dissonance IMO. Genichiro’s motivations make no sense given that every enemy comes back after Wolf kills them anyway.
@@theatheistbear3117 Is it bad that Genichiro is my favorite Soulsborne character?
Hear, hear.
It really bugged me how the second mortal blade, which was a _huge_ deal story wise, just popped up unexplained in the last fight.
There should have been a whole arc where you try to find the blade, only to find it gone, and its guardian impaled by arrows. And an unmissable hint for what its power actually was, which is to enslave the dead, not just bring them back.
That way the final boss makes sense even if it's your first time playing: we saw Isshin dead minutes ago, we know Genichiro has necromantic powers now, and that he's desperate.
You can save the mysteries for the Demon of Hatred, cause it's an optional enemy.
As a new upcoming game designer. This video is a really good learning experience for me. Thanks!
set up perfectly well by all the centipede imagery. centipedes molt
"sekiro's departure from the norm had mixes reviews"
*laughs in GOTY 2019*
but seriously great vid! I was very curious about that cutscene's dynamics
Sekiro is the most unique game of the lot and I doubt they'll produce anything that can top it for me. Maybe I'm biased because Sekiro was originally going to be a new Tenchu game and I loved Tenchu, but no one can deny how different Sekiro is from any Souls Game. It flipped the rules and actually provided the kind of challenge that can't be cheesed by using summons. I personally feel like this made me a better player in all Souls games because it made me confident to go alone.
I feel like this amazing boss was really a shift in tone for Fromsoft. Think about it: In Fromsoft games, it is very uncommon to face a boss on the height of their power and skill. And this kinda makes the acomplishment of defeating Isshin much more rewarding for me. In Dark Souls I always felt like the very reason, I even had a chance to defeat Artorias, was his broken arm and him being slowly consumed by the abyss. When you face Isshin and win, you have defeated one of the most deadly warriors ever in his pride.
May be a hot take but I enjoyed Sekiro more than any of the other Souls games. Less challenging combat, but much more fun and rewarding of skill (less rolling around and more carefully timed parries). Absolutely breathtaking visuals as well.
I'm not sure the combat is easyer... Maybe you mastered it, as there is only one real way to fight, in contrast to Soulsbornes' many builds. But imo, Sekiro is by far the most challenging, and has some of the best bosses in existence.
@@customersupportdeer6150 You may be right, you're sort of forced to master it to progress. And I completely agree about the bosses, I will never forget the man whose NAME... IS GYOUBU MASATAKA ONIWA! 😃
Fromsoft games' stories sound so reasonable and understandable in retrospect, but when you play for the first or second times all you really get is the broad strokes. I was actually still pretty foggy as to why he gave birth to his grandpa, but now it makes a lot of sense in context with everything else given
This is by far one of my favorite boss intros. So ominous and sad at the same time. Gave me goose bumps the first 100 times trying to beat him.
It's not even the first time I see a dude crawl out of another dude's neck, but the intensity of Isshin's resurrection is still one of my favourite game finale's ever. And the fight was a masterclass of its own!
In what other game did you see another dude crawling out of another dude's neck?
@@AdrielMK Not "in a game" per se. In Persona 3, the first animé cutscene after the introductory one (so, the second) has the same kind of emergence - I don't wanna spoil it, in case you wanna see for yourself. It's pretty cool, if confusing.
I will never stop loving this game, Sekiro is a masterpiece🖤
I hope Sekiro didn't discourage them from experimenting, I mean it was game of the year.
I missed the detail that the black blade could bring people back to life, so I was just so confused when Genichiro showed up
of course his feet are modeled even when the player can't see it. thanks miyazaki
What mixed reviews!? I thought Sekiro got universally praised by everyone and has a 90 (critics)/8.4 (users) scores on Metacritic, personally I think it's a game tuned to perfection and distills the Souls combat experience down to its most fundamental elements while also expanding them with stealth and jumping, It will take Elden Ring some effort to dethrone Sekiro for me, we will see ;)
Sekiro received a lot of positive critical review, but there was a vocal part of the Souls audience that didn't like how dissimilar it was from the Souls games, with some of the loudest complaints being the lack of multiplayer and many of the other methods players can use to mitigate difficulty, like level grinding or using stronger weapons. One the one hand, the Souls series almost definitely saved From Software as a studio, as their longtime most profitable series, Armored Core, was struggling to keep up and they had purportedly been facing some financial troubles, but on the other hand, they have somewhat typecast themselves by relying on the Souls formula so heavily.
@@ZullietheWitch I find it a bit ironic the "git gud" community would dislike a game that doesn't allow level or weapon grinding. You are forced in Sekiro to study your opponent which I absolutely adored about this game.
What Zullie meant to say is that a lot of guys in the souls community didn’t like Sekiro because it wasn’t Japanese Dark Souls which is fucking pathetic. I actually believe that’s why they went back to the souls formula with Elden Ring which is a shame. I hope they drop the souls formula in their next game after Elden Ring or this games will become just assassins creed.
@@alejandroaraiza2226 Sekiro and Elden Ring both started development at pretty much the same time, so it was always the plan to continue using the Souls formula. It seems like Sekiro was partially created as a testing ground for a few of the things they wanted to add to Elden Ring (such as jumping and proper stealth mechanics).
@@ty811 This is the same 'git gud' community who review-bombed DS2 for having less i-frames.
I was so confused and horrified when I first witnessed this incredible moment. Is it actually Isshin? Is it Isshin from the past? The fact he calls Wolf Sekiro confirms him as the same Isshin... Truly one of the best video games stories ever
Always wondered that too. But it might be just his way of thinking, because he is the one who calls him Sekiro for the first time in the game, when Wolf meets him in his tengu attire. So if it is Isshin from long ago, he might just calls him a one armed wolf since that's the way he sees him. Maybe it's just because Wolf reminds him of the sculptor?
@@idraigirtm should call him sekijo then
Yoga, my dear grandson, is what it needs to conquer the world
Oh wow, I beat Gen'ichiro for the first time just today and got curious about how exactly Isshin crawls out during the cutscene and thought it's a video material for Zullie. Then a few hours later this video drops. XD Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. That upside-down Isshin face in Gen'ichiro's armpits is probably among the weirdest things even in Sekiro.
Sekiro is my favourite from soft game. This boss fight will forever be the coolest.
I love Sekiro! This makes me want to play it again...
Sekiro had mixed reviews?? I mean, I guess almost every game does, but I was under the impression it was pretty well loved by most people that played it. I imagine most of the bad reviews have to do with it not being another "Soulsborne" game or Sekiro being extremely difficult. It was the hardest FromSoft game for me to get used to by a wide margin, but one of, if not, the most, satisfying to git gud at. I really hope those mixed reviews don't effect what they really want to make in the future. I'd be extremely happy to see Fromsoft develop more Sekiro, or at least Japanese-themed, content in the future, be it DLC or a new game entirely.
I think she meant this specific new approach in storytelling compared to traditional Souls' way received mixed reviews among a specific group of players, namely diehard Souls fans. Overall Sekiro received mostly positive reviews according to metacritics.
@@vincentxu8217 Ahh okay, that makes more sense. I can see why people might feel that way. A lot of fans really loved the mysteriousness of the Soulsborne series along with having to personally piece together lore themselves, so that's pretty understandable. I think you're right, Zullie does seem to be talking about the more story focused aspects of Sekiro in particular.
@@alrightalright4585 Yeah, and I don't think it's fair to categorize Sekiro as Souls game and expect it to follow the same formla in the first place. People need to realize that FS makes more than one type of game than Souls. I mean, Sekiro itself started as a Tenchu reboot! And we know that the Souls games are like this because of Miyazaki and the fact that he's deeply influenced by Berserk. But I think Miyazaki is doing the right thing now by empowering other people rather than writing everthing and calling every shot himself. This way FS will continue to deliver great games for the years to come. It's said that he only write a small portion for Elden Ring in contrast to writing everthing for Bloodborne, but I have all the confidence that Elden Ring is going to be great.
What's weirder is that this guy manages to get hold of a Glock 17 in feudal japan
I actually get chills from this boss intro. I find this kind of body horror fascinating in this context, and it perfectly sets the mood for the fight. Yes I know, Isshin's boss fight was divisive for the player base, but I thought that it was a perfect way of culminating everything you've learned in the game, and telling to you use it all. I really hope Elden Ring has a similar boss, especially seeing as it is leaning heavily into the body horror genre.
I personally loved Sekiro and hope they continue to try strange things like this.
I love this cutscene so much. They managed to make this wacky out of nowhere neck birth instill a sense of dread in the player.
All through the game it’s mentioned how strong Isshin was in his prime, but since he’s old, sick, and on your side for most of the game, you never think you’ll have to fight the man from the stories. Once you realize what Genichiro did with the black blade, and that you’re about to fight the demon you thought to be long gone, it’s both an epic and terrifying feeling. And the slow reveal of the sword saint through his climbing out of his own grandchild’s body is what made that possible.
This whole scene was lightning in a bottle.
After watching this cutscene several times (because Ischin kicked my ass) I believe that Genichiro didn't really intend to resurrect Ischin. He wanted to bring back Aschina itself, that was his only intention. The fact that it was Ischin who came back is really telling, he was the only person keeping Achina "alive" and the country itself cannot exist without him. It means that Genichiro's struggles were futile even since the beginning because Aschina had to die with Ischin.
+ to Damian, and an additional point: I don't think the Black Blade works like that. It opens the gates of the underworld with a clear intention of summoning a dead person. Do you really think that Genichiro metaphorically slammed open the gates of hell and yelled: "Whoever the heck's in there that can save Ashina, move along, you're on parole!"? Ashina is just the name of the province, certainly you don't imagine the whole land would crawl out of his neck. And the name was actually given to the land by the founder of the Ashina clan, guess who... Isshin Ashina.
@@hiondubs Did they change both the japanese and english or just english? There is a history of localisers make From games more ambiguous than they actually tried to be
And he indeed saved ashina.. I couldn’t beat him and gave up
It is too bad that some fans were upset by the experimentation away from the standard souls formula.
I understand how some people miss the build variety of other games. Still, I found the combat system of Sekiro to be far more thrilling than anything else the company had done.
When I want to replay a FromSoftware game, my first choice is to load up Sekiro and do a Charmless/Demon Bell run.
I am sad to see the deflect system not be included in Elden Ring.
I hope FromSoftware continues to find ways to experiment.
Animating this must have been a real pain in the neck.
2:06 - I love it as much as Bloodborne, although in a very different way. I think it's a timeless classic that will age extremely well.
This is what I love about the Souls games, the unique and strange nature of almost every boss and NPC you meet, theirs always something unexpected or unique about them in every way.
Zullie is for electronic arts what behind the cameras are for cinematography, showing us the sleight of hand behind the most amazing images. Thanks for that witchy work Zullie
It might be a weird opening, but it’s an amazing boss.
That may be... but my god what a boss.
I love Elden Ring, and I fully understand why it cannot have combat like Sekiro does.
But the combat in this game, and this boss fight, is perfection.
Even though I suck getting the parry timing right most of the time, Sekiro is still my favourite of the Soulsborne games and I honestly hope they either make a sequel, another game set in that world or another game more like it.
Hesitation is defeat. Live this words and become strong. One of the hardest boss fights i've ever had in Fromsoft's games. Took me 4 hours.
wow, that guy isn't just popping out the other guy from his body,
but also complete with the attire and even helmet.
Didn’t even realise that this is what geni was doing. I thought it was some master plan
Isshin is such a Chad, his grandson murders himself to revive him and he's just like "what a fucking loser LOL"
Sekiro's breaking of norms is probably the main reason it was able to be as good as it was, win game of the year and become my favorite game of theirs. It was very much needed after DS3 did so little to stand apart from previous releases.
YOU ARE THE QUEEN, of Souls, Thank You Zullie for your INCREDIBLE work, for the Souls Community!!
That fucking shot of Isshin's face upside-down has some real "You're probably wondering how I got here" energy to it.
Personally I loved the way they handled the story in sekiro. It made me have a much deeper appreciation for the characters in the story and how they interacted with the player on a first playthrough. For example hanbei the undyings story made my gut sink just because of the heart wrenching story he had to tell
the way his bow looks on his back always made me think he had 4 arms, and then we get this. so cool to see what we couldnt see before.
Even tho its a game and you can do anything.
That perfect swing by Ishin at the end not flinching an inch always got me like "....hoooboy...."
One thing I have always wondered is if the enormous Black Blade shrinks when Isshin wields it. Thanks to you, I now know that it indeed does.
Man, this channel here is cool.
I'm kinda sad ER is not closer to Sekiro, but, I hope one day FromSoft makes another Sekiro style game, maybe a sequel.
*HUGE sigh* the ONLY Fromsoft boss from demons souls to sekiro that iv never beat and this is how he's introduced
Thanks for showing us how the sausage is made once again!
The Sekiro story narrative was a LOT more trippy than I was expecting. FromSoft just has a way with about them.
Oh, with that explanation of how the black mortal blade opens a portal to the underworld this scene makes a ton more sense then it did the first time I saw it.
I like that Genichiro knew his neck would be the open gate his grandfather would shimmy and shake through and thought "For Ashina?? This is fine."
It still bums me out that we never got any DLC for Sekiro. I really wanted to fight Tomoe.
Sekiro was amazing and deserved DLC
Genuinely, all of this game is just absolutely sick as hell. It's endlessly impressive, just looking at it. That's FromSoft's amazing pedigree, for you. They really know how to do things right.
Thank You for including the lore as well :)
When I was spoiled what the final boss was in Sekiro, but only by text description, I initially imagined something like Godrick from Elden Ring or the many armed monster you fight in the dark at the end of the Elden Ring network test.
Cutscenes especially for transformations or fights are a nightmare to create and always require camera angles to hide a lot of things or with fighting games like Guilty Gear or DB Fighterz they have to completely bend and stretch characters models to make it look correct.
Well, I just wanted to make my poor grandson's wish come true.
Video idea:in artorias cutscene where does he drop from
I reckon that Sekiro may be the BEST game FromSoft has ever made yet, and I'm in love with the Demons/Dark Souls/Bloodborne franchises. But this game was maybe one inch beyond everything they've done to that point.
The "Ah yes, that one time my dead grandfather crawled out of my neck" moment. Had Genichiro survived and had kids, telling them the story of how their great grandpa came back to life
1:11 Yup Isshin definitely loves his grandchild
The best Souls game, and they're all perfect.
I still remember before I played sekiro and I was watching my friend play through it. Je fought genichiro way of tomoe for quite some time and when I watched this cutscene and the fight that ensued, I knew I had to play this game