After the opening cinematic finished playing, the protagonist "Wolf" awakened inside an underground cave.
The game officially began.
Umaru controlled Wolf as he hopped around, getting familiar with the buttons and controls.
As a top-tier gamer, Umaru adapted to Sekiro's control feel extremely quickly—it was absolutely amazing.
The clear, lag-free visuals, the controller vibration, and the smoothness of the animations were all very pleasantly surprising.
"Everyone, just based on how insanely smooth the controls feel and how crystal-clear the visuals are, this game is definitely top-tier!"
Hamster Umaru smiled brightly, her eyes shining as she stared at the game screen. This was the first time she had ever played such an exquisitely polished game, so she eagerly shared her excitement with her viewers.
"Anyone with eyes can see how sharp Sekiro's visuals are and how smooth the controls feel, right? Among all the high-quality games I've played, I can confidently say that in these aspects, Sekiro is ridiculously strong!"
The barrage filled with donations and praise from viewers. They weren't blind—Sekiro's visuals were stunning, and the physics engine was clearly top-class.
(No doubt about it. This transformation project by Raiden Game Company is obviously something they put real effort into.)
(The opening already made me want to keep watching. The streamer's gameplay is making me want to preorder it. Show us more!)
(Sengoku–themed games are totally my thing. As long as Sekiro's quality holds up, I'm definitely buying it!)
Umaru smiled slightly and continued controlling Wolf, jumping and climbing around. But after wandering through the environment for a bit, she suddenly realized there was no map indicator.
The hamster girl carefully searched through the controls and settings for a long time, but still couldn't find any map option.
That didn't make sense. With her reliable big brother working at that company, they shouldn't have made such a mistake.
"Everyone, I think you've all noticed that this game doesn't have a map. A game capable of visuals this refined would never make such a low-level error. I think the lack of a map is actually part of the gameplay."
Because there was no map, Umaru explained it out loud to prevent her viewers from misunderstanding.
Whether it's an action game or an RPG, games of this type usually have maps. That's one of the most basic settings.
But in Sekiro, no matter how much she searched, there was no map option. In other words, the game had removed maps entirely.
All routes had to be memorized by the player, relying on intuition and exploration.
(No map is fine. It's a great chance to enjoy the scenery together with everyone. I'm not quitting just because there's no map!)
(We don't have weapons at the start, so we need to follow the guidance. Since the protagonist is a shinobi, stealth and climbing are definitely his basic skills!)
Relying on her sharp gaming instincts, Umaru controlled Wolf carefully and quickly found the Divine Heir, Kuro, without alerting the guards.
Looking at Kuro's delicate face on the screen, Umaru paused briefly before commenting,
"This Divine Heir looks pretty refined…"
Indeed, compared to Wolf's weathered and resolute appearance, Kuro looked rather delicate and pretty.
The lively chat immediately filled with comments like "yoooooo," "calling a pretty girl a man," "the Divine Heir is my wife," "I'd go through fire and water for my wife," and "now I finally understand why Wolf had to find him."
Amid the laughter, Umaru noticed she had obtained a weapon. Wolf received the famous blade Kusabimaru that Kuro had been safeguarding, along with a healing gourd.
After drinking from the gourd to restore health and equipping Kusabimaru, both Umaru and the viewers knew that the game had truly begun.
The door opened, revealing two wandering soldiers outside.
"Alright, my first stealth kill is coming!"
Excited, Umaru guided Wolf swiftly behind the first soldier. After a red dot appeared, she quickly pressed the attack button.
Wolf's blade flashed, and the soldier was smoothly taken down.
Slash—
The blade pierced the soldier's neck, blood spraying everywhere.
Next came the second soldier. This time, approaching from the front did not trigger the red dot.
Umaru's fast-thinking gamer brain immediately understood that the previous move had only been triggered by a stealth attack.
"That slick assassination animation only triggers from stealth. The effects and movements are incredible—it's cool right from the start!"
She then engaged in direct combat. She thought she could quickly kill the enemy, but the soldier precisely raised his blade and blocked her attack.
Clang!
A perfect block.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of blades colliding rang nonstop. The crisp metallic sounds and the sparks flying out delighted both Umaru and the viewers.
The controller vibration, the sharp sound effects, and the sparks bursting across the screen—
"So cool! This combat system is insane!!"
Facing an enemy that couldn't be quickly dispatched, Umaru wasn't annoyed at all. Instead, her interest grew even stronger.
The vibration from the controller made her feel as if she were personally clashing blades with the enemy.
She shared all these sensations with her audience.
"I've played so many action games, and I guarantee this—Sekiro's combat feedback feels the best!"
While explaining her impressions, Umaru gradually mastered the correct way to play.
"Hehehe, you can't hit me! I've already figured out how this game works."
She teasingly taunted the enemy, then rushed forward, slashing once, twice, quickly sending the foe to the afterlife.
Although she loved the feeling of blades clashing, she wanted to push the story forward even more.
"It's easy for me, but everyone needs to be careful. Going full hack-and-slash is impossible in this game. Even regular enemies deal absurdly high damage, and the protagonist's health bar is pitiful, so you have to react carefully and not get greedy."
"Dodging wide attacks, deflecting enemy strikes, then counterattacking—this game demands reaction speed and adaptability!"
With her exceptional skills, Umaru cut down several soldiers and elite mini-bosses along the way. As enemies were executed, the intense sword clashes and fluid animations felt unbelievably satisfying.
The finishing Shinobi Executions were especially explosive. Every time one happened, the chat would erupt with excitement.
Eventually, she reached the stage of the first story boss, Genichiro Ashina. Realizing how troublesome he would be, Umaru focused completely.
She had already figured out the game's system. Even regular enemies and elite mini-bosses took effort, so a story boss was obviously no joke.
"Just looking at him, you can tell this boss is something else. The enemies before already took a lot of effort, and their damage was crazy. This first boss is definitely serious business."
While explaining to the viewers, Umaru didn't retreat at all. She charged straight at Genichiro.
She wasn't reckless. Based on earlier damage, she knew that with her tiny health bar, one hit would mean game over.
So she focused thirty percent on offense and seventy percent on defense, carefully learning the boss's attack patterns.
Some people in anime-style worlds with gaming talent are just terrifying. Even on their first playthrough, they're this sharp and skilled. Umaru was among the very top players.
In Raize's previous world, she could have been a top professional gamer.
Clang! Clang-clang!!
Under Genichiro's storm-like assault, viewers watched with intense focus. This boss fight had no flashy magic or sci-fi effects—just practical, deadly techniques with no wasted movements.
Watching Umaru and the boss trade attacks, deflect, parry, and dodge, viewers felt like they were witnessing a real duel between warriors. The realistic style was deeply appealing.
Slash!
After fully understanding Genichiro's patterns, Umaru seized a fleeting opening and executed a Shinobi Execution, wiping out one of his health bars.
After losing one bar, Genichiro's attack patterns clearly changed.
Umaru didn't panic. She expected this. In games she had played before, bosses would unleash new moves, transform, or change behavior after losing enough health.
This was exactly what she anticipated.
She slightly widened the distance and noticed Genichiro pulling out the bow on his back, immediately putting her on alert.
In a realistic combat system like this, a boss's bow was definitely not just decoration.
Under Genichiro's relentless assault, Umaru took some damage, her health dropping dangerously low. Viewers were sweating on her behalf.
They all commented on how insanely brutal this boss was. Frowning, Umaru directly controlled Wolf to close the distance instead of retreating.
Having already figured out this phase of the boss's pattern, she switched to offense. When the "Danger" prompt appeared, she nimbly dodged or deflected.
It looked like a head-on clash, but it was actually the result of careful control, given the clear disparity between the two sides.
Finally, with only a sliver of health left, Umaru seized the chance and performed another Shinobi Execution, killing Genichiro.
"Heh heh, the enemy is defeated, I shall remove his clothes~ (The enemy general has been slain!)"
Umaru said smugly. The chat exploded into a flood of hohohohohohohohoho.
But after the following cutscene, Umaru's expression completely froze.
"You bas…tard…"
On screen, Genichiro clutched his chest and knelt on one knee, looking like a defeated warrior.
Wolf stood silently with his blade ready, but suddenly sensed something wrong and turned his head.
Whoosh!
A spinning shuriken shot toward him. Wolf sidestepped and deflected the sneak attack with a single slash.
But when the camera returned to Genichiro, he was already poised to strike.
Slash!
Under the moonlight, a blood-soaked arm flew into the air.
Wolf couldn't react in time. Taking advantage of the opening, Genichiro severed one of his arms with a single strike.
The protagonist didn't scream, only letting out a muffled groan as he clutched his wound, staring unwillingly as Genichiro finally collapsed to the ground.
This sudden scripted defeat completely caught Umaru and the viewers off guard. With anger in her eyes and her face twitching, she watched Genichiro sheath his blade, turn around dramatically, and calmly say,
"Shinobi, don't call me despicable."
"The Divine Heir is coming with me."
A wave of pure malice washed over the players. Before beating Genichiro, he just felt strong. But after clearing him, both Umaru and the viewers had one big MMP stuck in their hearts—Umaru almost swore out loud.
Damn it, you lost and only won by a sneak attack, and you still dare act cool?!
Don't just say you're despicable—I'll not only call you despicable, I'll even send my regards to your entire family!
Originally, Umaru and the viewers thought this boss was pretty cool. Now they only felt he was utterly scummy.
"Aren't you supposed to be a samurai-type character? Isn't it a bit too shameless to fight so dirty?!"
Umaru was so angry she wanted to curse, but forcibly swallowed it back. Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes as she could only complain that the opponent had no sense of honor.
Although the game continued under Umaru's progress, and she even turned misfortune into fortune by obtaining a Shinobi Prosthetic, whenever she recalled the hand that had been chopped off earlier by that scumbag Genichiro, she felt anger surge up uncontrollably.
Hopefully, when this kid advances the story to the even scummier Sword Saint Isshin, she won't end up crying from rage.
This game is downright toxic!