Sakura Blossoms: A Sekiro Retrospective.

[@FulvioMaffiodo]

Man, I really love your work!! Thanks for this new great video and I really looking forward for the next one!!

[@kaidorade1317]

Sekiro may be a one trick pony, but it’s my third favorite FS game! Can’t believe it never got a sequel or even a dlc! Thank you for your retrospective. May it grant you much positive karma 🙏

[@AGuyCalledHarry]

If not a Sekiro sequel, I really hope we at least it's combat return in another game.

[@Barney_rubble983]

​@@AGuyCalledHarryIshan prequel?

[@zlodrim9284]

While everyone tends to focus simply on the challenge, the difficulty and the brilliant, highly intuitive combat system Sekiro has, I'm glad you've taken a more rounded look at the game and gave a lot of the time of your video to its story, lore and the larger themes and motiffs that are integral to the game. And given you have spent some time living in Japan, it gives your video a more interesting lense through which you take a look at the game, the influences behind it and also makes it your best video to date, all things considered. It was worth the wait and it deepened my understanding of the game, so thanks for that! Great video, really enjoyed watching it!

[@arkham666]

Glad you enjoyed it. Narrative and themes are the best part of any game for me. The deeper the better.

[@charaznable8072]

Dude you did it this is my favorite soulsborne, you need more exposure my boy cause your content is way too good.

[@arkham666]

@@charaznable8072 I'm going to remake the thumbnail tonight. I was browsing other sekiro retrospectives and this image has been way overused. It might help drive some traffic here. I might DM a mod at R/sekiro and check if it's okay to share the video there too. And thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@charaznable8072]

@@arkham666 I was telling them on Strife Hayes Live about your videos hope you get some new viewers you deserve it bro.

[@austindecaux7895]

Agreed!

[@JuliusCaesar103]

Maybe give Nioh a shot. The swordplay isn't as flashy and deflections are certainly not center stage, but there are some cool parries that require great skill, you can even parry swords of big demons with the big odachi, and using the swords feels just as good as it does here. They're very cheap nowadays, people usually recommend starting with the second game since it's more polished and has some good new mechanics that 1 didn't, but 1 is also one hell of a game so get 1 if you're on a budget.

[@arkham666]

@@JuliusCaesar103 I've got the first from a free epic giveaway. I've played a few hours. It's fun. I'll get back to it eventually.

[@njp4321]

Ah yes, Sekiro, the Ninja Gaiden/Bionic Commando/Dance Dance Revolution chimera that I never knew I needed so badly, until I played it and it took over my life for months. Great breakdown and retrospective.

[@arkham666]

@@njp4321 I need to play the 360 era ninja gaidens. I've heard the steam port is sub par though.

[@njp4321]

@@arkham666 I haven't played any of those, either, but I've heard the same about the Steam port. I'm middle-aged, so my Ninja Gaiden is the original (NES version, not so much the arcade) and its early sequels (ditto with my Bionic Commando reference point). In my mind Ninja Gaiden blends into Sekiro in its shinobi aesthetic and precision-driven difficulty curve.

[@thatguitarguy9157]

​@arkham666 they aren't that terrible original NG2 is better however you're still getting the same games essentially

[@JuliusCaesar103]

NG1 version of the remaster is preferred by some, so you're not getting the inferior version. For NGS2, that version in the remaster is almost certainly the inferior version to the Xbox 360 NG2. NG3 is the correct version included.

[@michaelherskovitz4747]

Fantastic review man. This inspired me to start a Sekiro over again in lieu of my gaming backlog. LOL. Keep up the great work. I very much appreciate your videos.

[@geordiejones5618]

Bloodborne and Sekiro might just be the two greatest examples of merging gameplay/mechanics, story/lore and setting/atmosphere. They each do so very differently, but accomplish true synthesis of what the player does, what the player sees, and what the player learns. So many games have such a disconnect between style and story, but FromSoftware absolutely nailed that cohesion in Dark Souls and did so even better in Elden Ring, but absolutely perfected it in Bloodborne and Sekiro. My dream game from them now is to combine the trick weapons of Bloodborne, the fluidity of Sekiro and the verticality of Elden Ring. I can imagine some giant crumbling city inspired by Minas Tirith, and you're constantly fighting both the environment and the deranged inhabitants with unique tools that function both as weapons and traversal tools.

[@leophoenix1452]

Great video❤

[@leophoenix1452]

The "one armed wolf" is cool!❤❤❤😊

[@arkham666]

@@leophoenix1452 you're preaching to the choir.

[@thesummerofmark]

Excellent work. One of your best videos

[@arkham666]

@@thesummerofmark Thanks my man. I had a good time making it.

[@vladimirsabol808]

Great video, man! Sekiro is awesome!!!

[@arkham666]

@@vladimirsabol808 thank you and agreed.

[@IloveGorgeousGeorge]

I love this video as Sekiro was there for a year of the best part of my life, starting when I proposed to my fiance and culminating with me beating Demon of Hatred at our vacation rental the night before our wedding 9 months later while my wife cheered me on. Unfortunately, I do have one criticism of your video-- it needs to be about 3 hours longer.

[@Sakuna451]

A one hour long Sekiro video? I'm watching this

[@andip278]

This was poetry❤

[@arkham666]

@@andip278 thank you. That's very high praise.

[@gregorymifsud5389]

thank you for the insight on the sekiro translation. Never heard it explained quite like that.

[@emptyshogun]

39:05 I love sekiro dearly, but Nioh 2 has better sword play with more ability for expression.

[@arkham666]

@@emptyshogun it's on the wishlist :)

[@Carlisle-mn3fv]

You do know what this means right? You’re now OBLIGATED to do a souls retrospective, I don’t make the rules just enforce them 😤

[@arkham666]

@@Carlisle-mn3fv That might fill the time from now until Perfect Dark drops.

[@demifull4339]

I concur.

[@Barney_rubble983]

​@@arkham666He's correct you know? Great video btw.

[@wacawgregorczyk807]

There is a ton of videos saying that sekiro is a great game, because it is but your perspective of a person that lives in Japan made it unique. I really enjoyed those parts. When it comes to from soft games the first dark souls came to me at the right place and in the right time. I was getting bored with gaming. For example I love Batman: Arkham City, it's probably on my personal top 10 games ever but you have to intentionally try to see the game over screen. I bought the pc port of dark souls to see what the fuss is about and I got a game that doesn't like to explain itself, is unfair and likes to kick the player in the balls from time to time. I found it refreshing in an era of handholding. Btw. now I'm playing thief: the black parade and I was wondering. Do consider making a video on those old Thief games? Did you like them?

[@arkham666]

@@wacawgregorczyk807 short answer yes. I love immersive Sims. I never finished og thief but it's very much on my to do list.

[@wacawgregorczyk807]

@@arkham666 Great to hear. I personally prefer thief II, great level design, world building and Eric Brosius sound design is still imrpessive even nowadays, it's one of the reasons I chose working with sound as a job. So thief is a very important series for me (except thief 2014, that didn't happen, lets forget about it). But I get Warren Spector, who said the thief was focused only on stealth and that inspired him to create deus ex. So I'm really interested in your retrospective on those games.

[@BigB70]

'Hesitation is defeat' 🫡

[@NikoTeaJay]

Sekiro is fantastic if the core combat system clicks for you. It's almost hypnotic the way it looks and sounds as you chain up a bunch of attacks and deflects in a row. And good for you for giving Souls a chance. They are punishing, but overall the difficulty aspect is overblown.

[@arkham666]

@@NikoTeaJay I think it's a bit of a marketing ploy these days. "Come play the game that will kick your ass!" But honestly they're not as hostile as the first couple of hours make them seem.

[@YeOldeMachina]

I think Sekiro is the closest thing to a perfect game i've ever played

[@Hyde_Lawrence]

Sekiro is the best fromsoftware game, its not even close

[@lucasverde8817]

I've never understood why people consider FromSoft games stressful. The games *want* you to succeed. There's hardly any punishment for death unless you bring it upon yourself by carrying a ton of souls for some reason. You won't ever *fail* by dying too much. You can try over and over again until you get it, the game lets you take all the time you need. I find it relaxing - a stressful game is one like a competitive multiplayer game, or a game with limited lives or some actual punishment for death, something where there's a fail state (and, in the case of multiplayer games, where my performance can cause *others* to fail as well). There's no fail state in FromSoft RPGs, the only way you can fail is by giving up. And not giving up, not losing hope is always a central theme in all of them. It's a singleplayer game. Nobody's waiting for me. Nobody's counting on me. I'm not feeding the enemies by dying. I'm not losing anything but a bit of time when I die. I can keep trying, over and over again, getting better at it little by little until it's second-nature. My only opponent is my own limitations, which I get to feel the satisfaction of overcoming. There's few games more relaxing to me than these.

[@arkham666]

Eh we all react to different stimuli in different ways.

[@alexmediato299]

25:40 - 27:31 beautiful

[@asdfghjkllkjhgfdsa8725]

You explained kurro charm incorrectly. You had it all game, youre actually allowed to get rid of it in ngplus. Its an optional challenge where you must land the parry in order to take no damage. If you dont give it to kurro, youre just playing the same as youre used to. It doesnt add anything.

[@arkham666]

Thanks for the correction. Never noticed it before NGplus but I guess that's my bad.

[@matthewalves3855]

Do you think they’ll do a Sekiro 2?

[@arkham666]

@@matthewalves3855 I think if they were going to, they probably would have buy now. Still it'd be awesome to have a part 2 or a spiritual successor.

[@matthewalves3855]

​@@arkham666 yeah I want to see what happens. Maybe one day hopefully!

[@UnEclipsable]

Might be a hot take, but I think Lies of P does better sword play than Sekerio. Although this doesn't diminish the impact of Sekiro (still my favorite fromsoft game), I think LoP is the best souls game full stop.

[@arkham666]

@@UnEclipsable you're not the first to say this to me. :)

[@pouihurmen]

Only game that has been able to truly scratch the Sekiro itch for me is Nine Sols

[@arkham666]

@@pouihurmen people have recommended lies of p to me.

[@ExWhyZedd]

Upload this on Spotify good for travelling atleast for me

[@hyperdeath84]

Sekiro is 5 years old now, and has clearly influenced several games that have come since. It’s odd to me that FromSoftware haven’t either done anything else with the IP or made a game with similar mechanics. The basic souls formula has been iterated on since 2009 all the way up to 2024 with Elden Ring’s DLC, but Sekiro merely got a boss rush and a message system. Sekiro arguably leaves its story open to a follow up depending on the ending, I would love them to make another one.

[@arkham666]

@@hyperdeath84 yeah it would be pretty cool. They could even push time forward a few years and introduce different historical elements or just straight up set it in China.

[@comradecatbug5289]

Nah I wouldn't want that. Sequels are always constrained to conform to established principles and (though not always) often fail to match the original. What I would like to see instead is a spiritual successor. A game that hits the same notes without being held back creatively. Like what Dark Souls was to Demon's Souls.

[@leophoenix1452]

We need a remake with game play graphics higher than the opening cinematic trailer...

[@leophoenix1452]

He lost the arm actually due to his loss of memory...

[@martijnhertog4802]

The one game series with better swordplay is ninja gaiden. 1 feels sorta like a soulslike (and was part of the inspiration to the souls series) and 2 turns it into a mix between a hack and slash with some fluidity that even dmc cant match

[@arkham666]

Sounds good. I've been meaning to take a crack at those.

[@christopherpease8998]

Hesitation is defeat

[@leophoenix1452]

I don't think the creator of this video had ever played ninja gaiden in the days of the first xbox...

[@arkham666]

@@leophoenix1452 I didn't since I never owned and og Xbox. While I've had a Dreamcast, ps2 and a 360 I've been primarily a PC gamer since the late 90s. I was recently considering dipping my toes into modern ninja gaiden but unfortunately the steam port seems to have issues so I'll hold out for now.

[@eldudereno204]

challenging and difficult, can be looked at. As the same thing.

[@arkham666]

@@eldudereno204 Sure but I see it differently and I'd say I explained how I see it very well.

[@eldudereno204]

@@arkham666 for sure, I am quite enjoying the video.

[@arkham666]

@@eldudereno204 I'm glad to hear that. I was just concerned I hadn't explained myself or that I was coming off wrong. You worry about these things when you write ya know.

[@darkodev6961]

Subbbbbscribed amazing video

[@arkham666]

@@darkodev6961 thank you

[@mdd4296]

If Sekiro is so good where is Sekiro 2

[@xingwang9246]

Funny, 4 out of 5 old paintings you referred as old Japanese art, are actually Chinese....The only Japanese one is the 3rd one.

[@arkham666]

kay

[@jwalton1915]

You start with kuro’s charm the moment you play for the first time. The challenge comes with whether you keep it (easier no chip on normal block) or give it back to kuro (take chip on block, unless perfect deflected). Basically it doesn’t require NG+, most players first play throughs will be with kuro charm.

[@arkham666]

@@jwalton1915 yeah I got another comment about this. It's my bad for rapid fire skipping through text on my first replay. Ah well you live and learn.

[@Zayd-bg1pt]

You only get the option to give kuro the charm in ng+

[@hasuramapa4639]

Ghost of Tsushima. Equally good swordplay imo

[@arkham666]

@@hasuramapa4639 I'll be on that soon enough. I'm hoping to actually get out to the island later this year.