Let's Play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Sekiro is You - Hesitation is Defeat

I’ve been playing since the game came out and I don’t think I’ve even hit the halfway point of the game. I think I’ve hit my skill cap so I don’t think I’ll ever beat it. Which is fine. I just don’t have the time or motivation to attain shinobi mastery.

As long as you got some satisfaction and joy out of the experience. It’s totally fine to be unable to beat Sekiro, I really don’t like when people consider it a negative mark on someone’s character or even abilities. While I find this game easy many do not, and there are parts of this game where unless you can flawlessly do a fight if you don’t look up a weakness or where to find a tool, it’s practically unbeatable.

Also from talking to others and looking at the poll I’ll be showing mods in videos, mostly just different outfits for Wolf. As well as things that help like PS4 button displays(I’m using a PS4) controller.

And thank you GreaJoe(GreatJoe was helping me figure out a post issue).

EDIT: Testing Alt Image code below for screen readers.

Let’s Play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Ep 2 - The Basics

In the second episode of the Sekiro LP we examine more of the basics of how to play the game, we talk to our new friends at the hub, and we get early on into the Ashina Outskirts. This is a very simple episode that introduced a lot of the game to us. We meet the Sculptor who saved us and his past a bit, we meet Hanbei the Undying(Infested) who is an immortal that wishes to be a sparring buddy, and Emma who wishes to see Lord Kuro’s rescue, and who aids us with our Healing Gourd. Wolf faces off against a general of the Ashina as well. It is also revealed that thanks to Kuro’s blood and the pact made with his master that Wolf can revive from death.

Character Introduced


Sculptor


Hanbei the Undying(Infested)


Emma the Physician

Other Images and Details


Ceramic Shard - A piece of pottery that breaks with a satisfying crack when thrown. Throw it at an enemy to draw their attention. Throwing and smashing such pieces made for a popular sport amongst Ashina boys. Even after growing up they remember the old games well.


Light Coin Purse - A purse filled with a small amount of sen. t can be used to acquire the sen inside. Has a somewhat satisfying weight to it. The den in this purse is not lost upon death.


Shuriken Wheel - A mechanical device made by the mechanical genius Dogen. Can be fit into the Shinobi Prosthetic to become a working Prosthetic Tool. While it is palm-sized, a surprising number of shuriken can fit into the Shuriken Wheel, as the edges were designed for stacking. A fine example of what can be achieved when one matches mechanical finesse with a Shinobi’s talent.


Loaded Shuriken - A Shuriken Wheel Prosthetic Tool, fitted to the Shinobi Prosthetic. Costs Spirit Emblems to use. Pull a shuriken loaded into the wheel and launch it at a target in a single, flowing motion. The swiftly thrown shuriken damages enemy Vitality and Posture, particularly against those with a tendency to take to the air.


Gourd Seed - Seed from which healing waters continuously spring forth. Give to Emma to increase the maximum uses of the Healing Gourd. The twisted gourd of medicinal waters was known throughout Ashina since long ago, but it was the extraordinary healer Dogen and his pupil Emma who discovered the self-replenishing nature of this seed.


Prayer Bead - A loose prayer bead. Offering 4 of them at a Sculptor’s Idol will increase maximum Vitality and Posture. Currently the Wolf has 1 bead(s) in his possession.

2 Likes

How do you say “eyes on the inside” in japanese?

Well I mostly know historical and cultural terms. I don’t actually speak Japanese. :sweat_smile:

Oh yeah at the end of the LP I might also post my NG+2 Charmless Demon Bell videos, just so people can see those. I technically might have a world first with them since it seems like no one else has uploaded any videos of them beating that challenge level(Though I can’t check Japanese sites). But I’m about to start my NG+3 Charmless Demon Bell run so if that’s done before the LP I might post those instead.

Supplemental Material Also Known as: Tolvo Destroys Herself

So hey there I’ll be doing some supplementary videos and things for the LP. One I made prior to the LP is actually a Mikiri Counter Guide, it is text only but goes over how to Mikiri Counter. A warning though the final part contains an end game miniboss as it is a type of spear boss in Sekiro that is important to learn and it was the only one alive when I was recording.

So I’ve already done NG+, then done an NG+2 Charmless Demon Bell run of Sekiro. Each NG+ multiplies enemy damage, health, posture, posture damage, and posture damage done to you on deflection. Kuro’s Charm is an NG+ difficulty you get, without this charm you will take chip damage when you block instead of deflect. Demon Bell is hard mode for Sekiro, it greatly multiplies all stats of enemies and supposedly makes more items drop.

I have made a poor decision, and have started NG+3 Charmless Demon Bell No Hit All Bosses, for Sekiro. I will only post videos of things we have seen in the LP. If you’d like to see some of this you can below.

The Start

Leader Shigenori Yamouchi

Ashina Genichiro Prologue

2 Likes

No worries. I just wanted to make a Bloodborne joke.

Let’s Play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Episode 3 - Bells of Awakening

In this episode we get to know some of the residents of Ashina. We meet a few of them and learn more about the land and its people. This is a very simple episode with a lot of the setup for things to come. Because of this I’ve decided to upload more episodes than just one today. I’ll actually post Episode 6 as well today but a bit later as its own post.

Let’s Play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Episode 4 - The Visitor

Finally we reach Hirata Estate. The events seen here took place three years prior to the main game’s events. Hirata is not really time travel, it s more of entering a dream or memory, in game it is called a dream. In Hirata we will get to learn more about the past of Sekiro and the Divine Heir as well we will get glimpses into the events behind the main story. On top of that we find some cool Shinobi Prosthetic Tools.

Let’s Play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Episode - Oops All Minibosses

Well it’s time to enter the thick of it. Sekiro starts a bit slow, talking to NPC’s and merchants and setting everything up takes a moment, but now it’s time to fight FOUR minibosses in a single video. I show how to fight three of them with one being saved until we have the right tools to reasonably beat him. Through these bosses we are able to get closers to Ashina Castle and to rescuing Lord Kuro.

Characters Introduced


Nogami Inosuke


Nogami Inosuke’s Mother


Anayama the Peddler


Crow Mob Merchant


Pot Noble Harunga


Anayama the Bandit???


Dying Hirata Samurai

3 Likes

Let’s Play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Episode 6 - Dynamic Entry

It is TIME. In today’s episode we deal with Liquid Snake. After dealing with him we move on towards the Ashina Fort and learn a little bit extra about the things going on in Ashina. But then it happens, we face our first true boss. This bombastic big boy Then we meet some weirdo with a long nose that kind of resembles a bird beak if you squint your eyes, he hates rats which is strange because they can be quite adorable animals. But this brings us to just before getting to Ashina Castle proper. Also below for the LP I recorded the intro in all the languages available, and made a separate video for that if you need the clip.

Characters Introduced


Tengu of Ashina


Battlefield Memorial Mob


Old Ashina Priestess

1 Like

Four episodes in one day. That’s a hell of a pace. How often can we expect updates in the future?

It’s hard to tell at the moment, the reason I did this was due to some things coming up and having to wait, then uploading things to make up for it. For the first three as well it was so that we got the stuff that’s not quite as interesting to some like talking to all the NPC’s out of the way and could get to boss fights. Gyoubu I’ve been wanting to reach to show people how silly the game can be at times and that it has fun with itself. My goal would be every other day, unless an episode has a lot of talking then I might upload a 2nd part where there’s a big fight. This weekend I’m a bit busy so I’m unsure if I’ll manage to upload over the weekend given the holiday. Rendering can take quite some time, I actually record the footage a week ahead, then record all my voice over, then slowly render each completed video. This is more time efficient.

I’m not sure if this is how you’d want to do it, but one idea is to make every video beforehand, upload them to YouTube and then make them public when you’re ready to do so.

Usually I just upload them public and post them in the thread when the time comes, no one really subs to my youtube so it’s not really a worry of people watching an episode early, and if they do mostly the thread is for additional info and videos.

Supplemental Content: Killing an Enemy Before Getting Your Sword

So I always wondered if it was possible, but just a neat thing I finally got to test, in Sekiro using Jump Kicks you can kill enemies before you get Kusabimaru(The Sword) in the prologue. Does not allow you to kill the miniboss since you can’t deathblow.

2 Likes

Let’s Play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Episode 7 - Medicinal Beef


Warning for animal cruelty and flashing lights in this episode.

We are now on our way to Ashina Castle proper, before that we need to get past the beast guarding the gates of Ashina Castle. A strange creature, which shows the inhumanity of man and other such concepts that like to play upon contradictory terminology. From the Tengu we get a new skill tree that is incredibly useful for deflection, we meet an NPC, and get a small intro to the castle. Do not forget to kill the short guys with basket hats, they’re important if you don’t you’ll miss the Ashina Text.

Characters Introduced


Rice Oracle

2 Likes

NG+3 Charmless Demon Bell No Hit No Damage Fights Part


General Naomori Kawarada

General Tenzen Yamauchi

Chained Ogre

Gyoubu

Blazing Bull
2 Likes

Let’s Play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Episode 8 - Forks in the Road

In this episode we get into Ashina Castle, but first we look at our new skill tree of the Ashina School which is a robust but small skill tree. We head to the Ashina Reservoir which is actually the area the prologue took place in. There we gain a spear prosthetic tool for stripping enemy armor, we also face one of the dread Seven Spears of Ashina. This boss trips up many as he can counter the Mikiri counter. Afterwards we take a trip into the well where this all started, fight the Lone Shadow there, meet an Ashina Samurai who is vexed by music, and enter the darkness that is the Ashina Depths yet we aren’t going to be completing that area yet.

Let’s Play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Episode 9 - Iron Codified

Warning for rotting bodies, torture, bugs, body infestation, medical experimentation.

In this episode we return to Hirata and go about discovering more of what the hell is going on there. The estate is burning down and there we get a new Shinobi Prosthetic Tool the Mist Raven. It allows us to teleport when hit to avoid damage and get behind enemies. Our father also turns out to be dying and misquotes himself. We press on into the burning estate, then return to Ashina and enter another part of the Abandoned Dungeon and meet all the really disturbing stuff there.

Characters Introduced


Doujun


Kumano Jinzaemon

1 Like

Maybe Owl changed the quote because he’s dying so there isn’t any point in Wolf obeying his father anymore? Were you able to check the japanese version?

Well in regards to that, vague spoilers ahead. Oh there is actually a reason for this. I am drawing attention to it so later when certain things happen people can go “Oh so that’s why that happened!”

Let’s Play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Episode 10 - Ashina, Ash, Get It?

In this episode we get into Ashina Castle and find the Info Broker, after helping him out he heads back to the Dilapidated Temple to become one of the best merchants in the game. Through the rooftops we manage to get to the Antechamber and Dojo of Ashina Castle, which are just below the top of the Castle. Beneath the keep we find a new prosthetic tool, Sabimaru, my favorite tool in the game. It poisons enemies and makes many bosses quite a lot easier. Behind the Castle we discover the Old Grave which we’ll check out later, and the Serpent Shrine leaing to Sunken valley where we run into some monkeys. Seen here in this artwork based on the Hellboy comics(Note the art is excellent, I cannot verify the character of the artist but in either case I want to credit them).

Let’s Play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - Episode 11 - Thunderstruck

In the Dojo we face the Ashina Elite Jinsuke Saze. He is a boss that is there to teach you how to parry/deflect. He does quick double swings, a sort of lesser Ashina Cross. This attack causes chip damage on blocks but can be deflected with no chip damage. As well he will do quick little swipes or punches, the main meat of the fight is deflecting his double swings. Doing so will easily break his posture and get you deathblows. After defeating him you can learn Lightning Reversal. When an enemy uses lightning attacks you want to leap into the air and get hit by it, doing so will cause it to course through your body. You want to hit attack a moment after, sending the lightning away from you usually into an enemy. If you do it right it stuns the enemy and deals massive damage. If you’ve ever seen Avatar: The Last Airbender or Avatar: Legend of Korra the concept should be very familiar.

Afterwards we finally go to the top to face Ashina Genichiro. There we interrupt him trying to form a pact with Kuro, Kuro having blown the Reed Whistle calling for us. He refused Genichiro and Genichiro seeking to bring Ashina back to greatness saw no other way than through the blood of the Divine Heir and through killing Wolf who is also called Sekiro. It is here in a great battle we defeat Genichiro who is a boss that combines everything we’ve learned up to this point. However this doesn’t seem to be enough, as he sheds his armor and gives up his form as a mortal. Genichiro shows the teachings of his mentor Tomoe and unleashes upon us lightning, but with the power of Lightning Reversal he is no match for Sekiro. With him dead it means an end to the game and the LP thank you for joining-BUT WAIT! Genichiro is able to come back from death. It is revealed he is now an immortal after drinking the Rejuvenating Sediment. He escapes with plans to return. This is where the game really opens up allowing us to go down many paths. We are able to talk to Kuro and Emma and finally meet Isshin, who we actually may have met before. This marks the end of Sekiro’s early game, we are now in the Mid-game.

I apologize for how long this took, I’ve been busy with all sorts of raw data collection, guides, challenge videos, lore analysis, and behind the scenes work and ensuring I have proper save file copies and all sorts of things. The LP should continue at a steady pace. I actually plan to upload more tonight and work on posts, I have learned picture in picture in Sony Vegas so I can now put the actual statues and art on screen for what I’m talking about in regards to Buddhist figures and such matters. I hope this will help people visualize things more clearly.

Characters Introduced

Fujioka the Info Broker

3 Likes