TLDR: git this. git killed. git gud. praise the anime tiddies.

So... I finally got around to getting this game.

Being a long time soulsborne veteran, I figured that I would pick it up and feel right at home. That is, until I got my as s handed to me repeatedly. I would consider myself a "very good" or even an "excellent" dark souls player. Sekiro on the other hand, i feel like a complete meatball. I died more in the first couple of areas before the first boss than I did on my most recent 4-6 characters on all other souls games combined. Playing this gave me flashbacks to the first time I ever played DS1 on the xbox360 and had no idea how to play the game (I fat rolled, turtled, and chugged).

However, once I got the hang of the controls, the combat in Sekiro is without a doubt the most fluid and beautiful of any From Software game to date. One of my biggest issues on my quest to "git gud," is that I had to first realize that this was NOT darksouls. You have to break out of the habit of trying to play like DS and dodging every attack. In DS, you can I-frame through any attack with a good roll. Not this game. You barely have any I-frames on your dodges. Instead, you are forced to deflect and use counters. Once you get that drilled into your head, you can then move on to one of the most important parts of the combat.

In DS, combat was almost entirely about learning the enemy's move-set and simply moving out of the way (2EZ). Sekiro is vastly different. Along with learning the move-set (obviously cause the enemies move, duhh), you need to learn the enemy's rhythm. Each attack, deflection, and mikiri counter are the musical notes that crescendo into the ultimate masterpiece-- the deathblow. I hate to sound like such a neckbeard, but it's true. The combat in this game is a dance that you must learn how to master gracefully. Sure you may be able to play without doing all that, but to play this game the way it was meant to be played involves learning how to dance.