"This grappling hook is so cool!"
Upon entering the game, Zack quickly got to experience what he had seen in the promotional videos and at the launch events.
The wolf, now with a prosthetic arm, could use the grappling hook to reach specific locations.
Hooking onto tree trunks and walls, he felt like he was flying through the air – it was incredibly awesome.
Combined with the wolf's double jump in the game, the freedom of movement was indeed much greater than in Bloodborne or Dark Souls, and it looked especially flashy.
But this cool feeling quickly vanished without a trace, as Zack began to feel the deep malice of the game.
The few regular enemies he encountered earlier were not difficult at all; they were the kind that could trigger a fatal blow in just two hits.
However, after passing through a narrow path and entering a patch of reeds, Zack felt the malice.
This was because an enemy was hidden in the reeds, and he hadn't noticed it at first.
And guarding the main gate in front were a common enemy and a ranged soldier with a fire-arm.
Then he thought about taking care of the ranged soldier at the gate first, but behind the gate, there was another wolf. And after attracting that wolf, it actually called for backup, and immediately two more wolves came running.
It instantly created a "three wolves slaughtering a god" situation. Although they were fragile and died in two hits, combined with the nearby soldiers, they took away his first life.
"What the heck! This is completely different from Dark Souls and Bloodborne!" Zack felt a headache looking at the dark screen in front of him.
It's a characteristic of Soulslike games that regular enemies are more difficult to deal with than bosses.
But compared to Dark Souls and Bloodborne, he clearly felt that the regular enemies in Sekiro had more prominent AI, being very agile.
Of course, even so, the regular enemies in the game still have a certain aggro range. Upon approaching, a yellow triangle bar appears, putting them in an alert state, which then turns red, drawing aggro and entering combat.
How to tell the difference is actually very simple: listen to the background music.
If you're out of combat, the music stops.
While Zack was feeling frustrated, a drop of bright red blood suddenly fell onto the dark screen in front of him.
Kuro's voice came to his ears.
'Wolf... Live on with my blood!'
After that, Zack's screen switched back to the game, with the beautifully stylized font: Death.
Below were two different options: [Die Here] and [Resurrect].
"Here it comes, the second resurrection!" Seeing this prompt, Zack couldn't help but feel energized.
He had wondered why the wolf couldn't resurrect when he was in the Dilapidated Temple before, but it was clear this was tied to the game's progression.
Furthermore, by continuously performing fatal blows on monsters, one could also absorb the power of regeneration.
After a quick look, as an experienced gamer, Zack had pretty much figured out this mechanic.
"Surprise! I can still live!" Seeing the enemies around him that had lost their aggro, Zack decisively chose to resurrect. A red glow emanated from the wolf, and then a half-health wolf stood up from the ground.
Ignoring the nearby regular enemies, Zack ran forward. His sharp eyes immediately spotted the Sculptor's Idol on the stone wall to his right.
Then, on the second floor, he found a shuriken item. Returning to the Sculptor, he had this prosthetic arm tool installed, and after that, he could use projectiles in the game.
"But the damage is pathetically low!"
Zack looked at the damage and shook his head in disappointment.
It felt like a weapon for pulling enemies, completely useless in actual combat!
And just like the Quicksilver Bullets in Bloodborne, using the shuriken prosthetic consumes a paper doll with each use.
Furthermore, unlike the Quicksilver Bullets in Bloodborne, the paper dolls are quite expensive.
This is mainly because the method of acquiring money is a bit different.
In both Bloodborne and Dark Souls, after defeating enemies, you automatically gain Souls or Blood Echoes.
But in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Zack found that you need to actively collect them.
Although you don't have to run to the corpses to loot them, just holding down an interaction button allows you to absorb the money into yourself. But he always forgot after fighting.
When he came back to install the prosthetic arm earlier at the gate Idol, he had forgotten to absorb the money dropped by the regular enemies he had defeated.
What made Zack even more frustrated was that the death penalty in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice felt even harsher than in Bloodborne and Dark Souls.
In Sekiro, when you die, half of your dropped gold is lost. It sounds humane.
After all, in Bloodborne and Dark Souls, it's all dropped at once.
But the key point is that in Bloodborne and Dark Souls, you could run back to the corpse to retrieve it, only losing it permanently if you died again before reaching it.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is different; once dropped, it's gone forever.
This means that before fighting a boss, you absolutely must spend all your money, otherwise, you will only have less and less.
"Never mind, I'll think about it later. Anyway, I don't have much money now. But how do I get Prayer Beads, Combat Memories, and Gourd Seeds?"
Zack spent all the little money he had at the Sculptor's Idol, exchanging it for paper dolls, and he was also a bit puzzled.
Unlike upgrading and allocating stats with Souls in Dark Souls and Bloodborne, Sekiro is much simpler and more direct. You need four Prayer Beads to increase health and Combat Memories to increase attack, but where can you buy these items?
"Oh well, I'll just keep pushing forward." Seeing that the Idol only sells paper dolls, Zack shook his head and prepared to proceed.
He used the Sculptor's Idol to teleport back to the previous save point.
This time, Zack was smarter. He traveled entirely on the rooftops, avoiding some of the enemies from before.
He then arrived at a courtyard of a watchtower.
There was only one guard at the gate, a samurai named Kashiwagi Naomori.
There were no other soldiers nearby.
"This must be a boss fight!" Zack smacked his lips as he looked at the boss in front of him.
The small courtyard was a large open space, clearly reserved for the player to fight the boss.
But Zack also noticed a small detail: like the previous samurai, the surrounding paths didn't seem to be blocked. And in another shed beside the general, there was a small path leading behind, indicating that this samurai was not a mandatory fight.
But this time, Zack decided not to avoid it. He wanted to test in practice how much difference a boss would make compared to regular enemies.
After all, the regular enemies were no match for him, and without a stamina bar, this boss shouldn't be too difficult, right?
Of course, this thought changed the moment the boss fight began.
"Whoa, why did this boss suddenly speed up?"
"This move, 'Mountain Splitter,' has such high attack power, and it filled my posture gauge instantly!"
Facing a completely new boss, Zack was dumbfounded. He realized the water temperature was starting to get hot.
It was completely different from what he had fought before.
The aggression was stronger, and crucially, there was a sweeping unblockable attack, as well as a two-hit combo and a cleave.
Two lives, one healing gourd. It seemed like the tolerance for error was high.
But the boss also had two lives.
And when the actual fight began, Zack also felt what Ben had been confused about before: although the combat style of this game was exhilarating, it was a bit difficult to adapt to.
However, as an experienced veteran player, he still summarized some characteristics.
Unlike Bloodborne and Dark Souls, Sekiro does have some mercy for its bosses.
For example, the samurai general's moves, except for those with '危' appearing above his head, cannot be parried. As for whether a perfect deflection, similar to a shield parry, can block them, he didn't know.
Because by this point, he had already seen the red "Death." screen twice.
(End of chapter)
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