Elden Ring is 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 how FromSoftware 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 in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice before anything else.
Sekiro is among the greatest departures FromSoftware has made from its nearly ubiquitous Soulslike formula, cemented into the public consciousness with the two-punch knockout of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Though Sekiro follows 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.
One Underrated Sekiro Mechanic Deserves Another Shot in a Future FromSoftware Game
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is filled with original ideas and novel mechanics, one of which deserves another chance in future FromSoftware games.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Deserves Some Sort of Reprisal
Sekiro's Gameplay Is Too Good to Be Left Behind
Although FromSoftware incorporated some of Sekiro's gameplay elements in Elden Ring, specifically stealth and mobility mechanics, the void left behind by the samurai game's combat system is hard to ignore. It's true that Sekiro lacks the build variety and freedom of games like Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and even Bloodborne. 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 in Sekiro have a constant sense of progression, as even defensive options have an offensive benefit. This is remarkably different from combat in Elden Ring or Dark 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 makes Sekiro'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 the Sekiro IP 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 sequels in general, making a direct follow-up to Sekiro seem even less likely.
That said, the next Sekiro doesn't need to be a literal sequel, in the way that Elden Ring isn't a literal sequel to Dark Souls and Dark Souls isn't a literal sequel to Demon's Souls, but they clearly exist within the same design framework. FromSoftware could transplant Sekiro's core mechanics onto a new IP, making an experience that is fresh while still building upon strong foundations.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Released
- March 22, 2019
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.
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Violence
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
