Elden Ringis now officially complete following the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. With the expansion still fresh in the minds of players around the world, many are wondering howFromSoftware will continue to evolve its signature Soulslike formula, upon which the developer has built its reputation. But while there’s certainly still room for the Soulslike genre to grow, FromSoftware ought to take another crack at the stellar gameplay on display inSekiro: Shadows Die Twicebefore anything else.
Sekirois among the greatest departures FromSoftware has made from its nearly ubiquitous Soulslike formula, cemented into the public consciousness with the two-punch knockout ofDemon’s SoulsandDark Souls. ThoughSekirofollows many traditional Soulslike rules, such as checkpoints that respawn enemies, minimal hand-holding, and storytelling through item descriptions, it breaks far more. Its transgressions come mostly by way of its combat, which eschews the slower, I-frame-dependent mechanics of its Soulslike brethren in favor of a more reaction-based system designed around parry timing and constant aggression.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Deserves Some Sort of Reprisal
Sekiro’s Gameplay Is Too Good to Be Left Behind
AlthoughFromSoftware incorporated some ofSekiro’s gameplay elementsinElden Ring, specifically stealth and mobility mechanics, the void left behind by the samurai game’s combat system is hard to ignore. It’s true thatSekirolacks the build variety and freedom of games likeDark Souls,Elden Ring, and evenBloodborne. But what it lacks in flexibility, it more than makes up for in depth and complexity.
In a nutshell,Sekiro’s combat operates around the depletion of an opponent’s posture, which can be reduced by dealing direct damage and deflecting attacks. The lower their health is, the more posture damage players will deal, and the longer it will take for the enemy to recover their lost posture. What all this means is that fights inSekirohave a constant sense of progression, as even defensive options have an offensive benefit. This is remarkablydifferent from combat inElden RingorDark Souls, where defense generally just means avoiding taking damage, which makes fights feel slower and less dynamic.
Folding mechanics like Combat Arts and Prosthetic Arts into the mix just makesSekiro’s combat even more rewarding and satisfying, as players have a far greater degree of gameplay freedom than they may at first realize.Sekiro’s style of progression, and its RPG systems by extension, may not offer the same sort of replay value or variety as FromSoftware’s other games, but its finely tuned combat makes it endlessly enjoyable in its own way. Even so, it may have more room to improve, and it would be a shame for FromSoftware to abandon it after a single release.
The Next Sekiro Game Doesn’t Necessarily Have To Be ‘Sekiro 2’
One of the reasons why the future of theSekiroIP is so uncertain is that the game doesn’t exactly set itself up to be a franchise starter. For one thing, it’s set in a fictionalized version of the real world, unlike the pure fantasy realm of Lordran or The Lands Between, making a sequel harder from a narrative perspective.FromSoftware also seems to shy away from sequelsin general, making a direct follow-up toSekiroseem even less likely.
That said, the nextSekirodoesn’t need to be a literal sequel, in the way thatElden Ringisn’t a literal sequel toDark SoulsandDark Soulsisn’t a literal sequel toDemon’s Souls, but they clearly exist within the same design framework.FromSoftware could transplantSekiro’s core mechanicsonto a new IP, making an experience that is fresh while still building upon strong foundations.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
WHERE TO PLAY
Carve your own clever path to vengeance in the critically acclaimed adventure from developer FromSoftware, creators of the Dark Souls series.In Sekiro™: Shadows Die Twice you are the ‘one-armed wolf’, a disgraced and disfigured warrior rescued from the brink of death. Bound to protect a young lord who is the descendant of an ancient bloodline, you become the target of many vicious enemies, including the dangerous Ashina clan. When the young lord is captured, nothing will stop you on a perilous quest to regain your honor, not even death itself.Explore late 1500s Sengoku Japan, a brutal period of constant life and death conflict, as you come face to face with larger than life foes in a dark and twisted world. Unleash an arsenal of deadly prosthetic tools and powerful ninja abilities while you blend stealth, vertical traversal, and visceral head to head combat in a bloody confrontation. Take Revenge. Restore Your Honor. Kill Ingeniously.
