RAVE: Mortal Shell

 " For that in sleep of death, what dreams may comes

when we have shuffled off this mortal coil

must give us pause" - William Shakespeare

 

    When the trailer for Mortal Shell 2 dropped, I was reminded how much I love the world Cold Symmetry had created and it made me want to dive back into the original. When I finally played it on PS4, the first couple of hours was some of the most frustrating, non intuitive gaming I had ever experienced. I kept dying to regular enemies, the parry felt weird and because Mortal Shell is very open ended in where you can go, I found myself in the 'hardest' area first with no way to return to the opening hub so I could start over. In a strange way, it reminded me of my first couple hours with Dark Souls 3, my first real Souls game. It is funny then that much like Dark Souls 3 has now become one of my favorite Souls game once I finally understood Mortal Shell and it started clicking, it has become now become my favorite Souls-like of all time. Now after I have 100% both the main game and its incredibly well made DLC 'The Virtuous Cycle' I happily present my RAVE of Mortal Shell.

Empty Vessels

    The story of Mortal Shell revolves around the Foundling. A mysterious entity that possess unique abilities that allows them to turn into stone aka harden and to possess the empty bodies of long dead warriors. When the Foundling possess them, they take on the attributes of the warrior they have commandeered. For example, when they possess the speedy thief/ assassin Tiel, they become a master of poisons and hit and run tactics. When they possess Eredim, they become a tank powered by a their righteousness beliefs. Along the way, the Foundling also finds a couple important figures, Hadern, the ruthless taskmaster who challenges them at certain points to teach them their true powers, Sester Genessa, the lore-smith who tells them about the world and the shells they inhabit and the Old Prisoner; a mysterious being who gives the Foundling purpose. There is more to the story of course with the plot twists and labyrinthine connections between the shells and each of the important characters in this dark world but this review is not about the lore, those can be found on YouTube. Instead this is my personal take on why Mortal Shell is worthy of your time especially if you enjoy the Souls/ Action RPG games.

    One of the most impressive things about Mortal Shell is how it was developed by a relatively small indie team and despite some jank (which we will address later) it is still a very concise, well crafted entry into a fast growing (some might say, over-saturated) Souls-like genre. The developers Cold Symmetry (CS) wear there inspirations on their sleeves and it pays homage in many ways to the games that has inspired them but not without their own takes to make it unique it is own way. Also impressive is how just how good it looks. For their debut title, CS has shown they know how to use the Unreal engine to make a game filled with impressive environments and impactful action. One area in particular, the Seat of Infinity is a sight to behold, with dramatic lighting, impossible architecture and obsidian landscapes as far as the eye can see. When it comes to visuals, CS are definitely punching above their weight class. The shells and NPCs are well detailed as well, each having their own distinct flair. Each of the three main areas also have some distinctive enemies and a main boss, catered to the area. Equally impressive is when Mortal Shell came to the next generation consoles, like the PS5 and the Xbox Series, they even upped the visual fidelity even more. Mortal Shell maybe be made by a almost indie studio but they delivered a double almost triple A visuals, something that needs to be applauded. The audio is top notch too with crunchy sound effects, well done voice acting for all the major characters and a great soundtrack. The bosses even have special soundtracks done by heavy metal band, Rotting Christ which you can turn on and off at will and I say turn it on because it really adds to the epic nature of the battles. I am happy to say, it seems they kept the metal soundtrack for the sequel as well judging by usage of Behemoth in the trailer. I have played it on my base PS4 but this review is based on my time using my Steam Deck and it looks great most of the time. The frame rate can get choppy at times in certain areas and you definitely need to play with the settings especially when the fog comes in because at one point until I made some graphical adjustments I could not see anything.

    Mortal Shell is a great game but it does have some flaws. The main area which links the three mission areas, Fallgrim is very same-y and lacks any visual oomph. It is very easy to get lost especially when you first start the game because most of Fallgrim has the same look, the color palate is bland and it gets less appealing when the area gets completely covered in fog. In all honesty, I can see a lot of people drop the game if the only areas they experience are the opening areas and the game is very challenging especially when you are unfamiliar with how it plays. But stick with it and you will find a diamond in the rough.

Shell Game

    Mortal Shell plays like your typical Souls-like at first. It is third person, you have a stamina bar, you can dodge and roll and even minor enemies are tough to overcome. When you die and trust me you will die, you will respawn at your last save point and you'll need to regain your corpse and gain back all the currency you had with it (called 'tar' in this game). However Mortal Shell does play with the genre too and adds some distinct changes to make it its own thing. First off, you do not level up the way you do in most Souls games, instead you choose a shell to level up. Treating each shell like its own class, you unlock skills in your shell of choice. These skills are built around your shell too, Solomon for example, most of his skills focus on 'resolve' a special meter you need to parry and use weapon skills, Harros on the other hand leans more into the game's harden mechanic. You are also not locked into one shell and you can change between them at anytime once you find all of them. In a way, Mortal Shell leans hard into a Dungeons and Dragons approach to classes, you choose the class that suits your playstyle the most.

    Combat is also diversified by how flexible it is. Mortal Shell has your typical light and strong melee attacks and running attacks but it also allows you to chain any of these skills into each other like a fighting game. One of the best attacks in the game is light, light, heavy but you can also do light, heavy, heavy or even light, heavy, jumping attack. These combos can also be cancelled at anytime thanks to Mortal Shell's most unique mechanic, hardening. No shell in this game has a shield, instead, you are taught very early on the best way to combat enemy aggression is to get hard... literally. Your shell turns into stone and enemy attacks just bounce off you. This unique mechanic is first thought of as purely a defensive maneuver but with time and experimenting, you can use offensively as well and this is where instead of slowing your attacks down and backing off you use your harden to stay up close and personal. Combine this with a very robust parry system that is not locked to a shield or class, Mortal Shell more like Sekiro and Bloodborne where aggression is key and you turn your enemies offense against them. I called the parry system robust because when you first learn to parry, its main purpose is to restore health but over time and as you unlock more upgrades, you can made your enemy explode in a ball of fire (and take out their allies), freeze time and even unleash the full power of the Foundling in a flurry of attacks. The parry timing itself is not strict and a lot of people who first play the game do not get it. Mortal Shell's parry is more about timing it just before the enemy attacks and as a gamer who loves him a good parry, it is very satisfying when you pull it off visually and audibly thanks to the game's great sound design. This gameplay loop is one of the reasons I come back to MS, its combat is actually very intuitive and rewarding once you master it.

    Another way Mortal Shell is not like the others is in how you use consumables. Mortal Shell's consumables have a familiarity levels and the more you use them the more familiar you become the better the benefits are. This actually encourages you to use consumables and to use them often to really reap the benefits. Again, Cold Symmetry has taken a system that taken for granted and adds its own unique spin on it which I appreciate. Mortal Shell is one of the few games where I actually use 90% of the items I collect where-in most Souls games I just ignore them. These unique twists on a well worn genre is one of the reasons why Mortal Shell is not just a Dark Souls clone but its own unique take on the familiar gameplay of "attack, roll, await for the stamina to refill, attack again" loop.

Beautiful... yet so Sparse

Cracks in the Surface

        However not all aspects of Mortal Shell scream quality and there is definitely some flaws. One of the flaws is its length, the game only has 3 main areas as well as the hub area and even with the runback necessary after beating each main boss; the game isn't that long. The DLC does not add any additional areas either if anything, they simply remixes them (certain enemies show up earlier or in different locations then in the main game). This probably comes down to what was do-able with such a small team but a even bigger issue is that some areas feel empty. Even through I sang it praises earlier in this review, certain parts of the Seat of the Infinity is purely there just to be there and there is some empty spaces filled with no enemies or anything of importance. In a way, it kind of reminds me of the later parts of the original Dark Souls; which was also lacking in polish compared to the earlier areas (Undead Burg vs Lost Izalith). The enemy variety also takes a hit with certain areas sharing the same enemy type but with different outfit and the mini-bosses being either reskinned Grishas or regular enemies with boss health bars. During the fog events which happens during the mandatory runback after beating major bosses, all enemies are also replaced with one of the most annoying enemies and Grishas which isn't that thrilling. Speaking of the fog runback, it does artificially extend the length of the game and is kind of tedious (especially on the second or third time it happens) it is at least not egregious like it was in Ghost Song, where it was just too long.

    A couple of minor flaws is the DLC weapon, the axetana (a transforming axe/ katana) has a very flawed weapon skill for the katana which cause you to get stuck in terrain and you have to use the skill again to get loose or quit out and originally the axe weapon skill would get you stuck on top of enemies and other jank so you could tell it was not fully tested (that and the fact the katana's running attack is kind of OP). Also for some strange reason, your character does not have invincible frames when you exit the traversal tunnels (which this game has plenty of) which is a massive oversight and was never patched out surprisingly. Enemies can also get a bit glitched when they are killed by the range weapon the aptly named 'Ballistazooka' and just bad collision with enemies and the arenas. Nothing horrible but it is definitely noticeable and has never been fixed despite update patches. What however can not be excused is the final boss. This final boss is a spectacle and its arena is impressive but the battle itself is a battle of patience and frustration. They have way too much health and even with a maxed out weapon takes forever to die (especially compared to every other boss) and said boss even has a mechanic where it can heal themselves to prolong the fight even more. This boss is so frustrating to fight against I try to avoid the battle for as long as humanly possible and during my no-shell run, where one hit can kill I became so very frustrated fighting them. This boss is so badly designed and the fact you need to fight him no matter what (at least in the main game) almost dropped this game's final ranking from the highest rank RAVE to the second highest rating which is Rave (not all Caps). Yes, they are that annoying to fight. However, this final battle and even some other flaws are rectified in this game's well thought-out DLC 'The Virtuous Cycle'.

Ouroboros

    The Virtuous Cycle is Mortal Shell's only DLC but if you enjoyed Mortal Shell, it is an essential purchase. Taking the best parts of the game; it re-imagines it as a rogue-lite ala Hades and becomes a endlessly re-playable mode with some new elements. Death is now permanent and their is no respawning and like all good rogue-lites, it has meta progression and it encourages you to keep going. It also adds Hadern, the foreboding weapon master as a playable character with a variable skill kit where he can draw from any other shells abilities and mix and match them and is easily the most strongest shell when mastered. Also added is the aforementioned axetana which is 2 weapons in one ala Bloodborne's trick weapons and a brand new NPC, the twin sister of the Foundling who provides more lore and a little bit of snark as well: "do you think you can just... git gud?"  is one of my favorite lines from her. Hadern and axetana are also available in the main game too now as well which is nice.

    This mode also does away with the regular healing items and instead has power up pillars which gives you a variety of skills to choose from and allows you to make your own class/ build as well as heal you too. You can also heal via picking up consumables and you can still use your parry to siphon back health too. Each run is randomized as well so each run should be unique in their own special way. Unexpected enemies show up in unexpected places and another cool addition is that the alternate colors/ shades can be earned through completing in-game tasks now and they all have some pro and cons for using them (unlike in the main game where its just simply for aesthetics). There is also a on-going progression unlocks which you can upgrade over time to make runs easier. Again, this mode draws heavily from Hades but again like how it showed homage to Dark Souls in the main game with its own spin, they do the same in this mode as well. Nothing beats the feeling of a later Virtuous Cycle run where your roll not only freezes enemies in their place but you can also roll twice as far combined with near infinite stamina. Like all good rogue-lites when your character gets strong, nothing can stop them.

    Mortal Shell is already a shorter game so turning it into a rogue-lite is something that was do-able without changing too much of its core DNA. If anything, it is streamlined even more and two of the main annoyance in the main game, the backtracking after killing a major boss and the final boss are both removed and in place of the final boss, we have a much more challenging but much better battle which I will not spoil (despite the game being 5 yrs old now). The irony is this game mode is Elden Ring Nightreign before Nightreign was even a thing. A souls rogue-lite? Yeah, we already did that Cold Symmetry said. All in all, the Virtuous Cycle adds even more re-playability to a game that was already fun to play.

Immortal Souls

    I was inspired to play Mortal Shell again and write this review because the Mortal Shell 2 trailer really got me excited and reminded me how much I enjoyed playing it the first time. As I played it again I was quickly reminded how much I enjoyed it and it actually inspired me to 100% it this time so with no qualms I locked in and got to it. Some of the achievements like the no shell run were some real challenges but here is the thing. I love most of the experience (with the exception of fighting the final boss... they can go to Hell) and I only really want to 100% a game if it really taps into something in me. The grim setting, each shell's backstory, the Virtuous Cycle's lore and so much more really appealed to me. The combat loop, harden mechanic and parry focus kept me playing and despite some minor flaws, this is my favorite Souls-like. It is the closest to Dark Souls experience you can get without actually playing a Souls game but at the same time, it has its own flair and flavor that you feel like you are not playing a carbon copy. Mortal Shell is its own beast and its savage. I wish more people would give it an honest try because I think once it clicks, you'll enjoy it as much as I have. Also if they did this much with their debut, I am excited to see what Cold Symmetry can cook up with a hopefully a bigger budget and scope. I feel the trailer shows a team ready to shock us all over again. Whilst we wait for that, the original deserves it flowers and definitely the highest rating I can give a game.

AV

LIST: My Top From Software games!

 Keeping with the promise to keep the blog's diverse, we now have our second LIST. This one is an obvious one for anyone who knows me. For the people who do not know me, I love... LOVE me some From Software (aka Fromsoft) games especially their Souls and Souls-like games. I own most physical copies of them and proudly display them. Fromsoft has truly re-defined and mastered the Action Role Playing Game genre to the point where now they are so many 'Souls-like' or Souls clones. I have played a lot of them and now I feel I can make a LIST that talks about my favorites.

NOTE: I have not completed Dark Souls II or Demon's Souls so these games will not be listed. I aim to play Demon's Souls (I pretty much bought a PS3 to do so) and I do own Dark Souls II but have just never got around to playing it. I started both but never got into them but as I said, eventually I will get back to them. Without more to say...

Coming in at the bottom spot

BLOODBORNE: This maybe surprising for some because a lot of From fans have Bloodborne as their favorite game or one of their top ones and for me it is my least favorite especially compared to its cousins. Also funny is this is technically my first Fromsoft game I played and beaten. I have the platinum for this game so I've invested time in it and I love the setting and story so why is it at the bottom?

Honestly, I feel Bloodborne is a great gateway drug to how good Fromsoft games are but when you dig deep, like really deep it also shows a lot of things I can did not like about their games. BB has one of the most archaic control schemes when it comes to 'jumping' and tying it into a the run button causes a lot of errors which should be able to be avoided. The middle of the game is bogged down with one of the worsts areas (The Forbidden Woods) to me and every-time I arrived their I always try my best to rush through it. The 'builds' or lack of them also restricts the game in ways I did not enjoy. I remember trying to do a 'Arcane' build and focus on being a mage type but you truly do not see the benefits in investing into it till very late in the game and everything before that is a real struggle. The bosses in the base game are also pretty underwhelming, ranging from Rom's spiders constantly swamping you and chasing after it to the very frustrating Micolash 'fight'. People who have played BB know exactly what I am talking about. The healing system is a massive step back and constantly having to farm healing vials whilst in the middle of play session is a real dampener on immersion. Now one of the faults above is corrected with the 'The Old Hunters' DLC where most of the bosses are amazing and rank up there with some of From's best efforts but despite that and 'The Old Hunters' being one of the best DLCs From has ever made, Bloodborne ranks at the bottom for me now.  My last time playing this game I really stopped enjoying myself and I feel it might have given me a negative bias against it. I do feel if I ever play Dark Souls II it would no longer be the bottom of the bottom because let's be honest, we know how jank DS II is, but out of the games I have completed, this is where it ranks.

Up Next: This was a tough one and I went back and forward with it

DARK SOULS REMASTERED: Full disclosure; I have only played Dark Souls Remastered. I would love to play the original but 24 frames Blight-town is not how anyone should played the game. However the 'Soul' of Dark Souls Remastered is still From despite it being done in partnership with another company (QLOC I believe). Also I need to discuss context wise when I played DS. I played DS after I had firmly became a Fromsoft fan, I had, at the time completed Bloodborne, Sekiro and Dark Souls 3. Therefore I knew exactly what I was getting myself into.

DS at its core is why I love Fromsoft games. The challenge is great, the bosses are amazing, the level design and the thought that goes behind them shows real craftsmanship and the game just feels amazing to play. Sure, we still have the jank run to jump mechanic but I did not notice as much in DS because the enemies in DS are a bit less aggressive then say Bloodborne enemies. I also love the mechanics in DS much more than BB. I love the parrying with shields, the ability to cart around enemies and backstab them and the weapons on offer allow a lot of different approaches. DS also adds challenges like decapitating bosses tails for different boss items which sadly has not continued in other From games. Magic is fun to use in this game too and you do not have to only spec into that before it becomes helpful. I have beaten it a couple times and every-time as I play it I always find enjoyment in it. Even at my most frustrated (fighting against Manus in the DLC is the closest I got) I still wanted to keep playing it.

Some of the things I do not enjoy about it are few and far between. Of course the Bed of Chaos boss is horrible, the backend of the game's areas do overstay their welcome (especially the Demon Ruins *shudder*) and I do not like how restrictive the endings are where you basically pick one or the other but the bad is nothing compared to the good. As I said, it was up in the air who would take this place for a while before I finally decided but overall, it is an amazing game that I can replay at anytime.

Speaking of, up next.

ELDEN RING: I personal feel you can not upload anything Elden Ring related without the amazing theme song coming on and blowing out your speakers. It is such a amazing tune and it really gets you in the mood for the epic that lies before you and an epic it is.

ER, From Software's magnus opus is truly the pinnacle of From lessons it learned while making all their previous Souls games. It takes everything enjoyable about those games and amps it to eleven. More bosses, more areas, more exploration, more classes and viable builds. Techniques are enhanced to include 'Ashes of War' to include more variety in your attacks and on top of all that, multiple ways to complete the games that truly changes it. It is understandable that after doing so much in ONE game why From had to take break from it and make something completely different in Armored Core 6 and why the 'Shadow of the Erdtree' DLC is taking so long. There is so much done so well that following this up becomes a almost impossible task and I do not envy them. So why is this my third favorite From game? Well I kind of answered it above, it is just too much sometimes.

I can not call myself a completion focused gamer but I will not lie that if I truly enjoy something, I do go in and when I go in it means I want to do everything possible. I want to see every area, fight every boss and pick all the items and thoroughly look in ever nook and cranny for gameplay. I am also very pedantic when it comes to playing games, I seldom like to get lost and I like doing things with a purpose. If I am going to an area, I am going so I can pick up a item or fight a boss. So when I first dug into ER, I did that. I explored nearly every side quest with each NPC, I explored catacombs after catacombs and made sure I fought every boss I could find. I was all in. My final time in ER on my first playthrough clocked in at over 200 hrs and I enjoyed almost all of it. ER also learned from previous From games and it does not waste your time with long runbacks to the bosses (cough DS II cough), ways to make fights easier without having to summon fellow players (which I do not like as a solo player) in the form of Spirit summons and fast travel being unlocked from the beginning. Also Torrent, your trusty stead helps you traverse the lands so much faster to so you do not have to walk everywhere. It fixed so much issues but the problem is after your first amazing playthrough, if you explored everything and did everything it becomes least incentive to do it all over again. Sure you can rush pass certain areas and only focus on the major storyline bosses but it feels like a dis-service to ignore some of the best content just to rush to a respective ending. Unlike some people I do not mind fighting challenging bosses like Melania if I am ready for the challenge. She is one of my favorite bosses, design-wise and fighting against her really is a thrill when tackled with the right mindset. Also sadly ER is also where Fromsoft constantly caved to the 'patch' culture that is running rampant in videos games, where if enough people complain about something it gets nerfed as a result and the continuously nerfing of really strong tools constantly meant some endgame builds were ruined as a result (my favorite 'Dagger and Flame' build for example) and some weapons were not as strong. Balance makes sense in a PvP focused game but they even nerfed it in the PvE where your only enemy is the CPU and that does not sit right with me. If we want to rock OP builds, we should be allowed to.

In the end, I have only beaten Elden Ring once and I have tried now 3 separate times to do it again but just the scope of all I want to do is what I can do always stops me. It is a big investment and sometimes you only have enough hours to game. Also the reskinning of bosses kind of gets egregious especially near the end, a person can only fight a gargoyle or tree spirit x amount of times before it becomes too much of a good thing.  As a one off experience, ER might be my number one game but as an ongoing experience and making me want to dive in again and play it all over again like I did with previous Fromsoft games it is much lower, hence number 3. I know I'll come back for the forthcoming DLC tho so maybe that might change its ranking but we shall see.

Up next, our silver medal winner.

DARK SOULS III: Oh my gosh, the stories I can tell about my experience with this game. If Dark Souls III was based completely on my first couple experiences with it, this would have ranked last. The first couple times I played DS III, I remember getting stuck at the brick wall that is its first boss, Gundyr. I died so many times against him and at this time, I had beaten Bloodborne and started and was enjoying Sekiro so I was wondering what was wrong with me. Eventually I won and I continued to play but soon I got lost in the numerous side paths and one night I was so bored playing it on stream I stopped playing and went to sleep instead. I continued through and soon I encounter arguably my least favorite area in Souls games and to this day, one of my areas I always dread entering; Farron Keep. A lot of people hate Sen's Fortress or Lost Izalith in DS or Cathcombs of Carthus (which I do not like either). But Farron Keep and it poison, it slow moving sludge that restricts movement, windy paths and the insanely OP enemies really made me doubt why I was playing this game. I eventually got to the boss, the Abyss Watchers, one of the best bosses I heard and I struggled against them too. I struggled so hard (the runback was also particularly long too) that after I beat them and saw my next stop was a rather mid area (aforementioned Cathcombs) I rage quitted the game. Yes, I rage quitted on my second favorite Fromsoft game after beating a boss. It got my down that much that I knew I did not like it. If the Abyss Watchers was one of the best bosses this game had to offer and I barely enjoyed fighting them how else could this game appeal to me I thought. Again, the context is important. I just finished BB, I was playing Sekiro and really enjoying it but for some strange reason, at that time, the Souls formula did not click for me so I was done with it.

And I was done with it, for many moons and after a lot of time away (during this time off I completed Sekiro and really enjoyed myself, I believe I replayed Bloodborne too) in the back of my head I was thinking, maybe I was too harsh on DS III. I realized I did enjoy Fromsoft games. So I decided to try it again but this time from a complete different approach. I realized I was playing it but BB rules or Sekiro's rules and I had to play it by Dark Souls way of thinking. Maybe I needed a shield, maybe I need to work on strafing and incorporating movement into my battles and than it clicked and when I say it clicked, I was locked in. Now I understood when to move instead of the frantic dashing I was doing in BB, I was not locked into using one weapon like I was in Sekiro so when one weapon's moveset did not suit me I changed to a different one. I had guides to tell me where to go and where to get important items and I had a plan. Every-time I played I had goals to aim for and this mindset has taken me into every Souls I have played since. By playing it by its terms, I embraced DS III vision and than I really started enjoying myself. I have now beaten the game multiple times with multiple builds and I can honestly say I can start up a new run today and still have a ball playing it. It is why it comes above ER because ER I have to psych myself up to play it whilst DS III is like a well-worn shoe. I can pick it up and slip right back into what I enjoy about it and there is so much to like.

The combat system in DS III takes everything I enjoyed about DS Remastered and just makes it better. Parries are more fun and you have other ways of parrying, backstabbing is still as amazing as ever, the bosses are still challenging but with the signature tells which helps you learn their patterns so you can conquer them. I know now the Abyss Watchers love to do this flourish of attacks into a massive diving attack which is prime back stabbing opportunity. I know the Nameless King (one of my favorite bosses of all From games) openings and when to exploits them for maximum gain. Slave Knight Gael and me have had many epic battles trading blows till only one of us is left standing and I loved every minute of it. DS III takes everything I love about Fromsoft Souls' games and just make its better. My best comparison is the leap Namco made from Tekken 3 to Tekken 5 (and strangely Tekken 4 is their Dark Souls II). We took what you liked and just made it better. Your Welcome! they said. However as I said above, its is my favorite Souls' game not my favorite From Software game. No, that honor belongs to another.

SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE: I could gush about this game for days but the sake of brevity and the fact that this has already been a long rambling read I will keep it concise. I LOVE Sekiro. I love the setting, I love the characters, I love the lore, I love the fact that I can kill the most annoying From enemy (dogs) with a single shuriken and most of all, I love the combat system and the fact that it is the most skill rewarding game I have ever played. In Sekiro if you suck, you can not go farm another area so you can get a bigger life bar or rely on spirit summons or magic builds to help you win. If you want to win, you truly need to 'Gid Gud' as the Fromsoft fans love to say. However the feeling you get when you conquer your enemies is second to none.

Let it be known, beyond a shadow of a doubt, my favorite concept in action games is parrying. I enjoy it so much that my wife whom I frequently discuss my adventures with in these games has gone on to call me 'Parry Park' (Park being a Korean last name as we love tons of Korean media so its ingrained itself into our lives). I mentioned it the previous games in this list and From has made it a point to include it in some way in all their games. Well Sekiro takes that and amplifies to the point where if you aren't parrying and engaging in a parrying competition with your enemy, you are not winning. This concept is daunting for some but once you get into the rhythm of it, it is addictive. It is true to the core of the game and its philosophies too so that if you embrace it it becomes second nature to you and you become a true sword saint.

Yes, Sekiro has great areas to explore, yes, Sekiro has a dedicated jump button (which Elden Ring incorporated into its design too, thank goodness), it also started the dedicated save spots before bosses so the runbacks become less frequent and less annoying (which ER also borrowed, again thank goodness) but the combat system and it succinct skill trees that enhances its combat is where it shines. Some people bemoan it only has one weapon and you are limited to the builds you can make and that is true but Sekiro's combat system is not built around that. It is all about engaging with the enemy and making them see the fearlessness in your eyes. I have beaten this game so many times and got multiple endings, I have explored every area and I still find things to do every-time I replay it. When this game added the boss rush as its only post launch content, I dedicated many hours to just replaying it on that alone and earning all the prizes from it. Some say its replay-ability is lower than other Fromsoft games and I say it is only lower if you do not love what it gives you. If you love the challenge it gives you, you will never get bored.

Sure its not a perfect game. Some mini bosses and even bosses are re-used and the Demon of Hatred can eat a bowl of penises but what it does well, it does really well and it is my favorite From Software game.

AV

IT HAS BEGUN: Remnant 2 kick-off

WE ARE BACK ON OUR B.S. I hope you like Remnant cause this blog is going to be Remnant obsessed for a couple blogs. I've picked up my copy, got it running on my Steam Deck and hit some hitches but mostly solvable and we are going to dig deep with this one. AV