Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice



Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a 2019 Hack and Slash Action Game developed by From Software. The game was self-published by From Software in Japan and by Activision internationally.

In the closing years of the Sengoku Era, Japan was consumed by perpetual conflict. The fires of war raged on, spreading deep into the mountains, into the land of Ashina. Master Swordsman, Isshin Ashina, staged a bloody coup, and wrested control of the land.

On that day, a young cub was taken from the battlefield. He trained relentlessly and indeed went on to become a master shinobi. Some twenty years, after Isshin’s coup, the Ashina clan was on the brink of collapse. And the Shinobi known as Wolf had lost everything. Both the man who had took him in… And the boy he had sworn to protect.

Well that is the starting narration. Then a woman with a face we don't see throw a letter at Wolf, who is sitting on a cavern. After receiving it, without further delay, he departs to the Hirata State to rescue his master, Kuro. The reason the Ashina clan desires him so much is that Kuro can bestow upon other people the power to resurrect once they are killed, which is called the Dragon Heritage. Their leader Genichiro Ashina seeks to use that power to win against the forces of the Interior Ministry which, considering it's the Sengoku Era, it's another name for the shogunate.

Directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, who also directed Dark Souls III, and Kazuhiro Hamatani.


 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Giant snakes, apes, and cocks are common enemies/bosses in this game.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking:
 * Your hear a lot about Isshin's prowess in combat in the past, and he was the leader of the Ashina clan.
 * In the present, his adopted grandson Genichiro is also the leader of the Ashina clan and the most powerful warrior they have.
 * Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Sekiro and Emma share this dynamic, with her even teasing him over how serious he is.
 * Cardboard Prison: Sekiro's prison at the start of the game is an open cave. By dialogue of the guards and the Long Shadow Guardsman, it's explained he had entered a catatonic state, having lost the will to live before Emma had given him the letter.
 * Enemy Civil War: The Interior Ministry and the Ashina fight rages on at the same time Sekiro walks around the game setting.
 * Hopeless Boss Fight: Played with in the first boss battle with Genichiro. The player may win despite its immense difficulty, but the result is only a slightly different cutscene of the one where you lose where a Nightjar who was watching the fight interferes and the protagonist still loses his arm. In other words, winning gives you no benefits.
 * Hopeless War There is no way the Ashina are winning the war against the Shogunate, who only gains more territory and reduces the latter's supplies as the game goes on, and that is why Genichiro wishes to obtain the Dragon Heritage, to give him a tactical advantage.
 * One-Man Army: Wolf is fighting against the forces of Ashina basically alone with support from other characters being completely indirect. Though hardly necessary or recommended, Wolf can kill a lot of their soldiers and high-ranked commanders.
 * My Country, Right or Wrong: Genichiro's motivations get down to that: he will do anything to preserve Ashina. No matter how cruel or deviant.
 * Non-Malicious Monster: The Blazing Bull mini-boss is just a giant animal in panic thanks to a flaming stack attached to his head.
 * The Quiet One: Wolf speaks very little and not using a lot of words.
 * Resurrective Immortality: What the Dragon's Heritage grants to those blessed with it. They fall but they rise to fight again.
 * Shock and Awe: The Lightning of Tomoe technique allows those who master it to manipulate lightning of thunderstorms to imbue swords and arrows with electricity.
 * We Can Rule Together: Genichiro offers Wolf to join his cause after the first phase of his second boss fight ends. Wolf flat out refuses.
 * Wise Beyond Their Years: Kuro hasn't even reached puberty, but has come to the understanding that though incredible, the existence of the Dragon's Heritage is corrupting as people will kill each other to obtain it, and tells Sekiro once he has been rescued that he wants to sever it.