Sekiro is one of my favourite games ever. The combat, music, environments, lore, characters; everything is absolutely incredible from top to bottom. I've played through it multiple times and 100%'d it years ago, but I still come back periodically just to replay some of the boss fights and I'm always impressed with just how much I remember from pure muscle memory alone.

I've seen some people call Sekiro a rhythm game, owing to how you sometimes wait for the enemy to attack to deflect, but I have to admit that's only half the battle. The game actively rewards you for putting pressure on the enemies with the posture system. Enemies can deflect and counter just like the player, making the combat feel more like the enemies react to your moves rather than simply dishing out their attacks in the same pattern every time you fight them. Even bosses react if you manage to cut off their combos with an attack of your own, or even move out of the way; Genichiro, for example, can be caught off guard and stumble backwards trying to block if you attack him after his jumping spin slash, just before he does his backhand grab. If you also move away during his big combo, Floating Passage, he'll actually adapt mid-combo and chase you down with his bow instead. Many of the bosses even follow up on their combos differently depending on if you deflect, block, Mikiri Counter or even jump counter their final attack. It's honestly really hard to put into words how cool I think it is that enemies react so varyingly just by how YOU react.

Compared to its Souls cousins, the game is far more linear and personal with its story, and if you expect more than some minor variation of katana combat, you'll probably be disappointed expecting something as diverse as Dark Souls or Elden Ring. Despite that, the Combat Arts the game gives you are each extremely cool and add some extra spice. I still would've liked some kind of hotbar or selection wheel to switch between these mid-combat instead of having to go to the menu to switch them out.

Sekiro also doesn't overstay its welcome, being just concise enough to have every location be relevant while also being expansive enough to reward you for exploring them thoroughly with cool items and even new prosthetic tools and NPCs (we love you Kotaro). You do however revisit some of the locations, but the game manages to freshen them up to make it interesting still. I also can't overstate how cool the music is, Yuka Kitamura absolutely killed it.

I honestly could go on and on about how much I love this game, but I feel like it would just be a wall of text, more than the one I've already written. All in all I obviously recommend you get the game. There's a good reason why this game won GOTY, even while developed alongside the much bigger Elden Ring (which also won GOTY 3 years later).

Sekiro is one of my favourite games ever. The combat, music, environments, lore, characters; everything is absolutely incredible from top to bottom. I've played through it multiple times and 100%'d it years ago, but I still come back periodically just to replay some of the boss fights and I'm always impressed with just how much I remember from pure muscle memory alone. I've seen some people call Sekiro a rhythm game, owing to how you sometimes wait for the enemy to attack to deflect, but I have to admit that's only half the battle. The game actively rewards you for putting pressure on the enemies with the posture system. Enemies can deflect and counter just like the player, making the combat feel more like the enemies react to your moves rather than simply dishing out their attacks in the same pattern every time you fight them. Even bosses react if you manage to cut off their combos with an attack of your own, or even move out of the way; [spoiler] Genichiro, for example, can be caught off guard and stumble backwards trying to block if you attack him after his jumping spin slash, just before he does his backhand grab. If you also move away during his big combo, Floating Passage, he'll actually adapt mid-combo and chase you down with his bow instead. [/spoiler] Many of the bosses even follow up on their combos differently depending on if you deflect, block, Mikiri Counter or even jump counter their final attack. It's honestly really hard to put into words how cool I think it is that enemies react so varyingly just by how YOU react. Compared to its Souls cousins, the game is far more linear and personal with its story, and if you expect more than some minor variation of katana combat, you'll probably be disappointed expecting something as diverse as Dark Souls or Elden Ring. Despite that, the Combat Arts the game gives you are each extremely cool and add some extra spice. I still would've liked some kind of hotbar or selection wheel to switch between these mid-combat instead of having to go to the menu to switch them out. Sekiro also doesn't overstay its welcome, being just concise enough to have every location be relevant while also being expansive enough to reward you for exploring them thoroughly with cool items and even new prosthetic tools and NPCs (we love you Kotaro). You do however revisit some of the locations, but the game manages to freshen them up to make it interesting still. I also can't overstate how cool the music is, Yuka Kitamura absolutely killed it. I honestly could go on and on about how much I love this game, but I feel like it would just be a wall of text, more than the one I've already written. All in all I obviously recommend you get the game. There's a good reason why this game won GOTY, even while developed alongside the much bigger Elden Ring (which also won GOTY 3 years later).