Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is an action-adventure video game developed by FromSoftware and published by Activision. It was released in 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows with a Stadia port being released in 2020.

Plot
Taking place in feudal Japan, the game follows a Shinobi known simply as Wolf, who loses an arm in a futile attempt to protect his young master. Grafted with a mythical prosthetic, he sets out to strengthen himself and rescue his lord.

Why It Never Dies Twice

 * 1) FromSoftware have found a way to completely innovate from their souls formula. The game is still quite difficult, but instead of relying on stats and power, it relies on player skill, as players can be killed quite easily even with high stats if they keep spamming attacks or don't know how to block properly.
 * 2) Gameplay is much faster paced than the souls series. As stated before, it relies on skill over power, meaning that you need to block your enemies' attacks at just the right time in order to startle them and break their posture, which allows you to launch a critical attack. Just spamming attacks will often lead to your death instead, as enemies will find an opening to attack you as well, and they all know how to dodge accordingly. Also, just spamming the block button will lead to your block being broken over time, and there's no slow-mo effect for a perfect block, which makes gameplay all the more dimensional and fun.
 * 3) You can now platform in this game. You can jump any time you want, wall jump to go higher, and even use a built-in grappling hook in your Shinobi Prosthetic to get up to higher places. You can also swim in water.
 * 4) Incorporates stealth quite well, attacking an unaware enemy leads to an immediate critical attack or fatality, but doing stealth against a whole bunch of enemies is near impossible as they're smart enough to travel in groups and notice when one of their own is getting attacked, which offers the game a whole new dynamic.
 * 5) Excellent level design. You can even bypass some boss fights to fight more enemies and get more money and skills. Of course, you still need to fight some of those bosses in order to progress, but some you can avoid until you feel you've gotten strong enough to beat them. Each area is also vast and has plenty of areas to explore and enemies off the beaten path.
 * 6) When you die, instead of losing all your "souls" (from Dark Souls), you only lose a percentage of your experience points and money, which gives an even greater incentive to keep trying and learning the ropes of the game.
 * 7) Incredible graphics, even by FromSoftware standards, with environments given absolutely breathtaking detail.
 * 8) Ridiculously awesome soundtrack.
 * 9) Great voice acting in both English and Japanese version, especially by Brian Cummings for The Sculptor.
 * 10) The protagonist, the Wolf, actually talks this time, which makes him feel alive.
 * 11) Interesting storyline, which is more the focus of the game than in Dark Souls, and it's simple enough to not get confusing despite the difficulty.
 * 12) The setting is also pretty unique, taking a less fantastical approach than Dark Souls and a more realistic one instead. There are still some fantasy elements, which make it feel even more unique.
 * 13) At each Sculptor's Idol, there's a chance for receiving Unseen Aid and not losing any of your experience points or money. However, that chance decreases the more you die, due to the Sculptor suffering more Dragonrot.
 * 14) Super fun boss fights that likewise rely on skill, and each have their own move sets and unblockable abilities, which makes each one unpredictable and increasingly challenging.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Fewer weapon types in this game than the Souls series, being that the Katana is the most useful (and most used) weapon in the game.
 * 2) The difficulty, while it often helps to make the game fun, can feel a little out of place as the story is a much more prominent focus rather than the lore, which can make getting through the story somewhat laborious.
 * 3) No multiplayer elements.
 * 4) Some gameplay elements can feel very familiar, like the skill tree replacing the role-playing elements of the Souls series.

Reception
The game won The Game Award for Game of the Year in 2019 and has received praise from critics and fans of the Souls series alike.

Trivia

 * 1) Brian Cummings, who voices the Sculptor, also voiced Sokolov in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.