when you said “i know you some of you enjoy watching this whilst falling asleep” i had my eyes closed trying to sleep and instantly sat up and thought “oh my he knows”
Leaving notes as I go through the video: * 丸 (-maru) is a simple suffix for the names of things or animals. So a sword called 楔丸 would just be known as "Bond", and in the same vein the Sabimaru (錆丸) is merely "Rust"; as to why this sword in particular should inflict Poison, it's because japanese people used to think rust itself was poisonous. * Promotional materials mention that Kuro is "a prince in name only" and was adopted by the Hirata Clan. His title 御子 does mean "divine child" (it's the same used by the Holy Girl of Senpou Temple, but was mistranslated), but also "son of the emperor" who was considered himself a god and here another tidbit was lost in translation as the Fountainhead Palace is specifically in japanese the "Imperial Palace of the Minamoto" (源の皇居) with 源 being a double entendre as it means "Fountainhead" and the place is the source of the Rejuvenating Waters (変若ち水), but it was also the name of one of the four prominent clans of the Heian period (Tomoe Gozen herself was also part of it), hence the older design of the armor and weaponry wielded by the Okami. All this to say I suspect it's strongly implied Kuro descends from the same bloodline of Takeru and this is precisely the reason why upon the latter's death the curse of the Dragon's Heir moved onto the young lord. * A term for "female ninja" exists as くノ一 (kunoichi), which is just the kanji for "woman" 女 disassembled. * The Sculptor's shinobi name is indeed 猩々 (Shōjō), but instead of "orangutan" (which isn't even a species endemic to Japan), it probably refers to the folkloristic spirit described as a red-furred monkey with a habit of drinking sake. Furthermore, Shōjō being a mask of Kabuki theater is most likely a nod to some of the poses struck by the Demon of Hatred during its fight, which resemble that used by actors to express "wrath". * The shrine inside the Dilapidated Temple probably hosted either the kind-faced Buddha the true Buddhist Sculptor carved or the Prosthetic Arm itself; the temple being abandoned is another hint at the Divine Dragon and its cult of immortality overtaking the religions of Ashina, burying the Buddha and the Great Serpent. * Emma's adoptive father and mentor, Dōgen, is probably based on Manase Dōsan (曲直瀬 道三), as she's internally called Daughter of the Great Physician (医聖の 娘) which was the title this doctor earned during the Sengoku Period. Interestingly, during the dialogue of Kuro's Remnant before the Chained Ogre, Emma says "there are very few of us left" when Kuro laments the death of a Hirata survivor and later, while discussing the work of Dōgen on the Rejuvenating Water, she says that all his documents were burned: considering the Shinobi Axe of the Monkey that belonged to the Sculptor is found in the shrine of a residence in Hirata Estate, I think the doctor lost his life during the siege and his researches were lost alongside him. * Another source of general inspiration for characters and story (especially the experiments with the Rejuvenating Waters in the Abandoned Dungeon) is Hiroaki Samura's manga "Blade of the Immortal". Highly recommended read, Miyazaki has good tastes. * The Chained Ogre is actualy called 赤鬼 (Red Oni), a notorious figure of japanese mythology often accompanied by his blue counterpart (青鬼), which is in fact how the japanese community often refers to the Giant Palace Noble who attends the Great Colored Carp (called the Master's Chamberlain in FuturePress Official Guide). Since this Mini-Boss is internally named 白人奴隷 ("Enslaved White Man"), it's more likely that it's just an european captured and experimented on by Dōjun, as the Second Prayer Bead reads slightly differently in the original script: "In Ashina, there's a gigantic man called Red Oni. How did he get Red Eyes and go insane? It is said that he was imprisoned in an Abandoned Dungeon..." (葦名には、赤鬼と呼ばれる大男がいる 赤目となり、暴れ狂うは何ゆえか 長く捨て牢に囚われていたというが…). The use of wrestling moves may stem from Miyazaki's love for Kinnikuman. * Gyoubu's full name is 鬼庭 形部 雅孝 (while the healthbar simply reads 鬼形部 and was correctly translated as "Gyoubu the Demon" in version 1.0) , which following japanese naming convention tells us that Masataka (雅孝) is his first name, Oniwa (鬼庭) is his clan's name and "Gyoubu" (形部) is his title with the meaning of "Minister of Justice". This is also brought up in Hanbei's manga, when the main antagonist laments Isshin giving such a position to one who used to be an enemy of the clan not too long before, and the same pattern is followed by the two Seven Ashina Spears with Toshikatsu Yamauchi (山内 利勝) helding the role of "Master of Ceremonies" (式部) and Oniwa Masaji (鬼庭 雅次) of "Equerry" (主馬); the latter is also a relative of Gyoubu given the same clan's name. The horse being called "Onikage" is clearly a homage to the boss from Tenchu. There's also an interesting cut dialogue regarding Gyoubu: Soldier #1: = Who would you say is the strongest in all of Ashina? Soldier #2: = It's gotta be Lord Gyoubu Oniwa. Soldier #1: = "Gyoubu, the Demon of Ashina". That mountain of corpses on the battlefield past here says it all. But they say that even Gyoubu the Demon was once felled. His beloved steed Onikage was spooked by some "shinobi firecrackers". Soldier #2: = Oh ho, that massive horse? Frightened by firecrackers? Soldier #1: = Said the shinobi went by the name of Horned Owl... Had "special gunpowder" made for him by his mates at the "Hirata Estate".
* The concept of the Blazing Bull might have been inspired by the battle of Kurikara, in which the Yoshinaka army tied torches to the horns of hundred of bulls and sent them into battle (allegedly). * Hōzōin-ryū and Negoro-shū were sects of warrior monks whose most common weapons of choice were spears and naginata. The power struggle between these monks and samurai was the main reason war erupted in Japan and led to the Sengoku Era. I find it interesting that mercenaries from Misen are found among the Bandits, especially since Lone Shadows too drop Gokan's Sugars, which are exclusively produced in Misen Temple, and Masanaga even use a Yashariku's Sugar: I believe the Senpou Monks have been working with the Interior Ministry behind Ashina's back to either kidnap Kuro or simply survive the inevitable battle. * Purely my headcanon, but his Prayer Necklace says that Juzou once served a great "feudal lord" (大名), which makes me think of Oda Nobunaga, who had a notorious love for Sumo matches. This could be the reason why he in particular was recluted by the Interior Ministry (内府) for the attack on Hirata Estate, as internal files confirm the invasion of Ashina is being orchestrated by Ieyasu Tokugawa, who was a retainer of Nobunaga. * I think Owl's plan back in Hirata was more twisted: he's the one to give Wolf the Hidden Temple Key, meaning Lady Butterfly must have been inside from the very start. She has the Sakura Droplet, which Kuro reasons it's from Takeru, meaning it could have come to be as Owl and the Butterfly attempted to coerce him to make them part of his oath in exchange for the Aromatic Flower the shinobi ripped from the Everblossom or after Takeru's bond with Tomoe was severed, in either cases it implies they already attempted to pursue immortality before, so they could be working together again in the siege (idea reinforced by Juzou guarding the entrance to the Main Hall): that said, Owl would want Wolf to fight his ally, because no matter who wins the battle, he'll come to finish off the victor isolating Kuro further from any protection to take the role of his only savior, as seen in the confrontation between the two during the shinobi raid of Ashina Castle. * Shirafuji's title in japanese is written as 蛇の目, which can be read as both "Serpent Eyes" and "Eyes of the Serpent", but it also refers to a particular kind of umbrella with a bull's-eye pattern, which could be a hint about using the Loaded Umbrella against the numerous gunmen and women of the Sunken Valley Clan. * The name "Centipede" (ムカデ) was the nickname of the Takeda's clan miners due to their specialization in crawling inside the narrowest spots to collect ores, which I think served as inspiration for these creatures as they're often found in caves working for the Senpou Monks: the Gun Fort Shrine presents a Buddhist statue holding serpent skin, the same found deep within the cave of the Serpent God (located in the Bodhisattva Valley no less), which to me suggests a mixture of these two religions in the Sunken Valley, maybe the Monks used to trade the materials collected by the Centipede to the Snake Eyes that used them in forging their firearms. Both Long-arm Centipedes have a fixed drop of Yellow Gunpowder, an item produced only in the Sunken Valley. The Monks are not originary of Mount Kongo, as the Large Fan specifies they were "spirited-away" there and this is the exact reason why a second abduction is fatal to them. In Nioh 1, one of the early missions takes place in an abandoned mine of the Takeda clan and the area boss is, in fact, the "Great Centipede". * Longswordsman's original name is 太刀足, which roughly translates to "Tachi-Leg" with Tachi being a longsword used by samurai when they still fought on horses and that was later replaced by the Uchigatana; the other Lone Shadows follow this same name pattern to describe their fighting style, but Masanaga's title was mistranslated as Spear-Bearer instead of "Spear-Leg" (槍足). Longswordsman is vulnerable to a Plunging Deathblow by default, one just needs to jump atop him from the crack on the ceiling of the well. Unlike other shinobi, Lone Shadows wield 忍刀 (Ninjatō) which stand out from all other katana due to their straight blade: it's hard to say if these are simply a myth that carried through history or if ninja really reverted back to an older design for their weapons, but it would definitely make sense for them to employ shorter non-curved swords to conceal them more easily and use them to stab. The inspiration behind these enemies is most likely the Iga Ninja Clan and his headmaster Hattori Masanari that served under the Minister of the Interior, Ieyasu Tokugawa. * A visual-only subplot in Mibu Village is the purge of Buddhists: the temple of the forest has become the home of the Mist Noble from where he guards the entrance to the village and dead monks are found hanging from the tree just outside, the Buddha statue inside the Mibu Head Priest's temple is destroyed and the man himself dons the a Shintoist attire.
* Doujun's questline was laid out differently in development, as Blackhat Badger could also be sent to the Abandoned Dungeon and Wolf had to first defeat the experiment and bring back his liver to the doctor to continue his story. * The loot in Senpou is definitely the best for any player, as all kind of sugars are easily available for infinite farming. The amount of Sen accumable this early is also convenient as nearby merchants like the Info Broker and the Dungeon Memorial Mob sell key items for 1500 - 2000 Sen. * The Armored Warrior is confirmed of either Portuguese or Spanish origin by his Prayer Necklace referring to him as 【南蛮】, which is why calling his son "Robert", instead of "Roberto" (like the japanese voice actors reads it) is a mistranslation. * Centipedes became a symbol of war, because their very nature of not being able to retreat was interpreted as the figure of a relentless warrior and this is also reflected in the fighting style of the Long-arm Centipedes. * The japanese name of the "Folding Screen Monkeys" actually hides a clue about the bossfight in japanese, since it's written as 【見る猿、聞く猿、言う猿、】, with a space left after the final comma to indicate the presence of the fourth invisible monkeys: I understand that translating the whole thing would turn awfully long (although it did anyway for the two Seven Ashina Spears Mini-Bosses), but I believe a better localization would have been "The Four Wise Monkeys", which keeps intact both the original intention behind the name and the inspiration behind the characters. The names of the monkeys are, in itself, a play on word as 【ざる】, which accompanies the verbs for the actions of the monkeys, is an archaic negative and sounds similar to the kanji for "monkey" 【猿】, meaning they could be translated as the "See No Evil Monkey, Hear No Evil Monkey and Speak No Evil Monkey". Gameplay-wise, this is no short of the best gimmick boss in the entire series, not only because Wolf can actually interact with the environment in a way previous terrain-bounded protagonist could not, but because the gimmick itself isn't forced on the player, meaning that a Gachiin's Sugar and a studied route can end this boss in under a thirty seconds: gimmicks offer no replayability whatsoever, so I see no reason why the developers should waste my time going through the whole process in subsequent playthroughs (and this applies to the Divine Dragon too, even if it can be sped-up by by attacking his arm with a jumping-Mortal Draw inbetween lightning strikes). Interestingly, the Illusory Hall Monk mentions that somebody else attempted to chase the monkeys some time ago, probably hinting at either Tomoe for the Mortal Blade or Genichiro for the Divine Child of Rejuvenation. * The Mortal Blade has no clear origin, but the Fountainhead Crest is visible on the custody and it follows that it was either created after the Dragon reached the Palace or came with him even (a mirror to the Northern Regalia being left in the world alongside the Old One in Demon's Souls): the only way I can see it reaching Ashina is through trading between the Palace and Senpou Temple, as indicated by the Corrupted Monk carrying the Dragon's Tally Board; continuing from this, her name in japanese is more specifically 【破戒僧】(translates to "Sinful Priestess") with【破戒】meaning "offending the Buddhist commandments" and her real name being "Yao Bhikkhuni" is a clear reference to the legend of the "800 years old Buddhist nun" (八百比丘尼), so given the complete absence of Buddhist imagery in the Palace, it's most likely she came from Mount Kongo (there are also depictions of other nuns in the Inner Sanctum and many candies, Yashariku included, are found through the Palace). The Black Mortal Blade is more mysterious: I don't believe Isshin is wielding it in the CGI intro (these are often produced early in development and in Hanbei's manga it appears clearly different) and, if he is, it's probably because it was just meant to be his katana from the start and was later repurposed, which can easily explain why such an important key item only pops-up all of the sudden through a chest that materializes outside the old man's room during an invasion. Still, the fact that Genichiro knows where the other sword is makes me think that, before hiding it away, is used to be Tomoe's sword, that she used to kill Takeru: gameplay-wise it's interesting to me that Genichiro knows how to draw the power of the Black Mortal Blade, but Sword Saint Isshin doesn't, as it would make sense that only the one who trained with its original wielder can use its full strength (as for Inner Isshin, both Genichiro and Owl are described as "training inside the memory" and "beyond what he could possibly achieve in reality" respectively, so both answers can apply to him). It's important to note that Tomoe and Takeru had no means to reach Purification, as only the red sword can draw the tears from the Dragon. Speaking of which, "Gracious Gift of Tears" is a heavily-localized take on【拝涙】, which is more akin to "Prayer for a Tear", as【拝む】means manifesting reverence or worship in face of a divinity through a bow or a praying pose: this is not usual "killing God" ending of many japanese games (, even), we enter the Divine Realm (仙境, a pure region far away from the mundane world) probably through the Shrine Maiden's (巫女) dream and leave with the Boss still having some health left even after the final lighting reversal. There's even an unused cutscene of Wolf further paying respect to the Dragon for his Tears: SEKIRO:没カットシーン「拝涙」(rather post the title than a link, because YT is finnicky with them). * While【獅子】is the guardian statue outside a temple, it also simply means "Lion" and given the crest around the Guardian Ape's neck is probably meant to be read like that (there's even a species of monkeys called "Lion Tamarin" whose japanese name is also【獅子猿】, but they aren't indigenous to the island). I'm more weirded out by the fact that they decided to translate【猿】with "Ape" in this instance and this instance only, which is clearly disproven by the fact the boss has a tail. The inspiration behind this boss is given by its internal name being【夜叉猿】(Yasha-Zaru), which is a character from Baki. Additionally that【夜叉】, the demonic buddhist guardians, is also part of the kanji for Yashariku's Sugar, which are in fact dropped by the Monkeys during the final invasion of Ashina Castle.
This video is so good it’s almost absurd. I hope you really love doing this and don’t get discouraged by not being a “massive TH-camr” yet. I hope that happens eventually, but if it doesn’t, I hope you know how much pleasure people (like me) get out of videos like this.
This is the Megacomment where you are encouraged to contribute corrections in case I (inevitably) got some stuff wrong. Corrections: -Shinto as we understand it today DID exist pre-Meiji restoration, it just became a bigger deal during it. -The Bandaged Sharpshooters were from Princess Mononoke, not Nausicaa. -The localization was done by Activision Central Tech, not FrogNation.
at 4:48:13 you mention that dying in soul form would shift world tendency to black. It's the other way around, you have to die while *not* in soul form
The white strands in wolf's hair is due to being a part of the Dragon's heritage or rather his mark of immortality as an abnormal change to his body, not Dragon rot. In much the same way the Divine Child of the Rejuvenating Waters also has a similar change in her hair.
The kids' corpses are also all over the mountain of Kongou in fact they're also thrown off of the cliffs. Such is the treachery of those who reject the teachings of Buddha
Minor point, but you mix up "parental" and "paternal" a lot in this. Paternal specifically means relating to fatherhood, in the same way maternal does for motherhood.
It's exciting that this project is finally out! Sekiro has quickly become my favourite FS game so I'm keen to see your thoughts (and more) about the whole project. This is going to keep me company for some nights to come! Thanks for all the effort!
Yes while I loved dark souls and Elden Ring, nothing has grasped me like Sekiro has. The combat is just so damn satisfying and engaging, I think it’s becoming my favorite game as well. The setting and atmosphere is awesome, the traversal and fast paced combat is exhilarating. It is definitely challenging, dying in 2-3 hits from bosses from beginning to end with little room for error and a high demand for skilled play. It is fun and rewarding like no other. We’ll see how it holds up in repeat playthroughs, but I think this is from soft’s combat at its finest. There’s something to be said about having a mostly linear and enclosed game with no spirit summons, only one weapon, it means that they can tightly control and balance the experience, which is of great benefit compared to a game like Elden Ring. You sacrifice build variety and customization, and some freedom, but losing the ability to overlevel and pump vigor, or use super broken strategies for the most part; creates the most optimal experience for the player to experience the unparalleled satisfaction of victory. In their other games you can overlevel and rob yourself of the intended experience, which is fine if you’re struggling I guess, but it’s never as rewarding as going head to head 1v1 in a sword fight with a consistent difficulty and challenge. Consecutive deflects and deathblows on tough foes is just so satisfying
2:32:34 you can actually get a plunging attack on him if you go a little higher above ground, there’s a hole where you can jump on top of him and that makes it easier.
I really like how you can permanently kill Hanbei The Undying, I was thinking that may crop up somewhere down the line when he tells us about how he can’t die. It fits in with the theme of the game and main story, and it marks a turning point in the player development where you feel you have achieved a level of aptitude in combat and no longer require his training. It shows growth in you and you’re able to finally end his suffering. They’re depicting immortality not as a gift but as a curse, and he thanks you for putting him out of his misery. FS games are so poignant, they’re dark and tragic, but you can still find that glimmer of solace and beauty within the unforgiving world.
This commentary is great. I feel a bit sad that there is so much in the game that had to be literally told to me by someone else, because I literally have no way to pick that up. But that actually explains why Fromsoft games feel so much deeper than what it's immediate narrative suggests, while some copycats feel so incredibly shallow. (I really burned myself on Lords of the Fallen back in 2014). On Isshin being a final boss: He is romanticized a lot in the game. he is some kind of perfect warrior of his (already gone) era. It multiple times tells us how actually great and strong he is. Ministry forces literally won't invade Ashina while he's alive and only send some spies because he seemed to be sick. And him being the only powerful NPC not seeking immortality and just accepting life as it is makes him not only strong, but also virtuous (at lest by the game's standards). With all that game simply couldn't let him die without some kind of last hurrah. And it is incredibly awesome that we get to fight him in what seems to be his prime. I can see why people can feel bad about difficulty of Sword Saint boss fight, but I also completely disagree on that. His difficulty really makes him a crown jewel for the whole game. It really fits this game thematically that it's hardest fight is not some optional boss somewhere away from main story (like it was pretty much for all souls games), but it's final mandatory challenge for the player.
I love the sword saint fight, but for me, the demon of hatred was harder to get down, and that guy is completely optional. So I’d say the opposite is true for me. Both isshin fights are hard but easy to master, the demon of hatred just has weird hit boxes that will sometimes clip u for no reason.
@@thefreshprince310 if you grind for the umbrella it becomes much more balanced since the fire umbrella will protect you plus the malcontent finger whistle and divine confetti can create a cakewalk first phase second phase is hardest that's where you'll use the umbrella the most then third phase stay in him jump his first giant whip then the second spin of the whip won't hit if you're on him those are free hits usually he will do his 2 running attacks after the giant fire whip which are easy hits again or you can cheese TF outta him with the tower glitch
I agree with this pretty much wholeheartedly. Most other FromSoft games like to keep the main bosses easy and make optional or DLC bosses harder. Even the final bosses usually aren’t that hard. Gehrman in Bloodborne, for example, was probably barely a top 10 hardest boss in the game. Sekiro is a different beast altogether. The main bosses are meant to be hard as hell. There are no summons, and no possible easy mode outside of glitches. Hell, you can’t even overlevel yourself. So it makes sense to make the final boss the most difficult boss in the game (though it’s subjective; many might say Demon of Hatred or Father Owl are tougher, which are fair choices and optional bosses).
I was playing through the game while watching this video, stopping whens it got to where I was--definitely one of my new favorite TH-cam videos ever and ill be coming back
I find myself an hour in and still very interested in watching more. Your ability to fill every second with meaningful dialogue about the game is astounding.
Man, I'd love to write an essay on how great this video was - but it was so long that I already forgot everything I was going to say hahaha, but this was an amazing piece of work and I basically agree with 99% of your statements. Your knowledge of from and japanese culture in general is impressive and absolutely elevated this analysis, 2 videos in and you've already de-throned dozens of my other favorite critics in the in depth gaming sphere - massive respect and I'll be enjoying the SH and MGS videos next, thank you so much for creating these and keep it up!
I'll always say this whenever someone mentions the absence of the Moonlight Gtreatsword. The Divine Dragon, a crippled, completely white dragon save from some pink details on his body wielding a giant, shining teal-colored sword in what's FROMSOFT's best set-piece fight ever is their way of giving us the Moonlight Greatsword in Sekiro.
a lot of people say this, but ive never subscribed to the idea myself. the *only* similarities between the moonlight greatsword and the dragon's sword is the color. that's it. it looks nothing like the moonlight greatsword. it's an interesting idea, but doesn't hold enough weight in my opinion
We’re reaching here. Moonlight Greatsword isn’t in this game because there isn’t any builds or weapons outside of prosthetics and your sword. And making Moonlight a prosthetic would be difficult and wouldn’t really fit thematically. So it’d feel like such a reach to include it in the game.
I finally finished this video- god I loved this. I love Sekiro so much and I do dearly wish there was more content for it. This analysis was really interesting! It was so in-depth, informative, speculative, thought provoking, and.. even bittersweet when I reached the end. I don’t want it to ennddddd-
2 hours into the vid, I think they made Hirata into a flashback bc the cutscene at the end implies that that's the first time Wolf received Dragon's Blood from Kuro, so there was no narrative reason for the player being able to resurrect if Hirata was used in the start of the game; in the "canon" version of events that happens before we begin the game, I think it's plausible that Wolf didn't have the white mark that signifies resurrection and did everything the player does without dying, before he gets backstabbed
Sure, but I'm pretty sure he meant to imply that that cutscene and the one with the sculptur could've easily been swapped, on top of them being in a different order - of course you can't just swap them both unless you also change some of the lore and timings
Hey man, I´ve been a fan of your channel for quite some time now ( found you through your Silent Hill videos ) and I am always impressed with the amount of thought and effort you put into these videos knowing full well that, relatively speaking, only a small amount of people will see them. This makes me a bit sad, as I really believe that your videos deserve to be seen by more people. Therefore I want to thank you as much as I can and I hope that the gratitude we can show is enough for you. About the game: Sekiro is probably my favorite Fromsoft game and I enjoy the rhythm like combat system. I am of the opinion that Sekiro´s challenge is probably the purest that it has ever been in any Fromsoft game as you really have to engage with the combat and its systems to be able to beat it in a competent fashion. This is, of course, a negative for people who mainly relied on summoning, grinding, or cheesing in other Souls games but I think that it makes for a much more coherent experience if you are willing to agree to the game's terms so to say. I also admire Fromsoft for scaring away people who do not want to spend time learning the combat system or just don't like it. As I have mentioned this allows them to focus the game on this one play style instead of having to account for many different ones. Due to this fights like Genichiro and Sword Saint Isshin are my favorite bosses in all of Fromsoft´s games, as they really test the player on their skill with the combat and are incredibly well designed therefore making for a fun fight if you mastered the combat. From my experience, many of the fights also lack this sense of randomness many other bosses in the Souls games had, as it was a lot easier to finish a fight without a death or hit, which is really satisfying. This could make the bosses somewhat trivial on subsequent playthroughs but I think it is also great to be able to see your mastery of these encounters and just take them apart. All in all, I think that Sekiro´s gameplay is the best for me in any Fromsoft game and I would really like a second game with the same combat style. The only note-worthy thing I would add would be a skill that counters grabs as they are the most annoying attacks to deal with and often break the flow of combat for me. I think something like a counter move that also requires precise timing (like the one in Nioh 2 ) would be great. I also agree that the dialogue-heavy section after a Genichiro fight is a real slog, especially on subsequent playthroughs. Therefore it would be nice to see Fromsoft design the second game in a way that makes it possible, at least for people who already played it, to not be required to again deal with such story-heavy parts of the game. To be honest I would probably just want something like a boss rush game with Sekiro´s combat, although I doubt that I am in the majority with that. In general, I have the feeling that Sekiro will remain a unique experience as most people seem to like the structure and gameplay of the Darks Souls games a lot more as well the number of choices it gives you to beat the game. I am really happy that you decided to do a video on this game ( which I did not expect in the slightest ) and I hope that my thoughts on the game can be at least somewhat of interest. Again, thank you for your content and I look forward to your next videos!
I can't wait! Great Job! - I would like to add one more detail that I always found pretty cool. In the tutorial section after you defeat the first mini-boss and go under that bridge where you can eavesdrop the guards there is that one small "rat" enemy. I think this greatly informs the players who don't have any prior information about this game, that's it's not going to be grounded in reality. As this enemy clearly has a fantastical element to it. Which is in a way pretty important as the game much to that point could be viewed as a historic fiction. This small detail with just this one enemy always makes me think about it, how it greatly informs the player. Edit 1: I would also comment that when you fight the Lone Shadow in the well, you can sneak attack him much easier, by just being up there above the well and going further, you then got obvious view on him from above and you can sneak jump attack him from above and there is no prompt for the dialogue and you hit him.
I've been ruminating on leaving a comment since watching this commentary, which helped me get through a depressing few days with its beautiful visuals and thoughtful examination on some pretty fascinating themes. I'll just say it as plainly as I can. I just like what you do. I like your professionalism, your even, friendly tone of voice, your dedication to research, your insight on the industry, how you bring wider influences into the discussion on these powerful forms of media, inspiring me to learn more. I have listened to a lot of long form analysis and so many creators are rather cutting, sarcastic, or use slurs or inflammatory language, and it's just nice to sit and listen to you talk and feel comfortable and safe. You seem like a really nice person and have made me laugh and brightened my day many times. Maybe it's weird to say this on a video about a game that deals with such grim subject matter, but you give me a hopeful feeling, and that means a lot right now. In all of your discussions with others in your videos you always have such a calming and respectful demeanor, you’re organized and gracious, all your “hot takes” are well informed and well intentioned, and even in your Ratchet and Clank livestream when you got frustrated it was just really cute and never impacted your positivity, I love your sense of humor, and just…your character really shines in your work, it’s irrepressible, it’s inspiring. I know you put a ton of hard work into your videos and wanted to express my gratitude and say what’s been on my mind. I hope you’re well and I hope I get the chance to play your game when it’s released.
As someone who bounced off Sekiro hard when it released, then finally had it click earlier this year leading to me completing it, so I'm really enjoying this. Fun to watch while my memory of my own play through is fresh.
Just a small correction @ 5:49:50, you get ceremonial tanto by defeating shichimen near the bottomless hole and players do get access to that area quite early in the game. Great vid btw, appreciate the effort.
Another excellent essay, Aesir! It was well put together with the visuals of your Demon bell/No charm playthrough. A very impressive project that you have presented in a very engaging manner. Hats off to you, sir!
This was an amazing video. I was wondering if you'd be able to make something on the level of your Bloodborne commentary, and I think you've definitely succeeded. I learned a lot and gained a lot of new perspective in how to view the game. It gave me a lot of food for thought and I just might just watch this again sometime to catch on to what I may have missed or might now see differently in hindsight. Thank you for taking the time and effort to make this analysis. It was very enjoyable from beginning to end.
Finally finished it. This is an absolutely incredible piece of work you've made and I feel grateful for being able to see it. Sekiro is the one modern fromsoft game I haven't played and honestly don't have a huge interest in playing. Maybe eventually. I love souls, Bloodborne and elden ring, and I can get by in those games with the aid of builds and coop if I'm having too much trouble with a boss. I've always been horrible at timing parries so I fear sekiro would be a huge jump in challenge for me. I'd like to give it a try eventually, but this great video has let me at least experience the amazing work from has created. I always love what you have to say and look forward to whatever you make next. Thank you!
This Analysis is AWESOME. A commendable feat, truly, and thank you for having me relive this masterpiece. You won the "honor" to be the first youtuber ever to win my money on patreon or Kofi ahah
I love it when you do these super in-depth analyzes! I've actually referred to the silent Hill ones more than once, and now Sekiro is a game I really like too. so I can't wait to hear what you have to say
this is so criminally underrated, and you're spot on. as someone who has been rather deep in the long term community for these games I do really appreciate you going over and clarifying some of the mistranslation stuff, one of the only other folks I know who could/would do stuff like that is agermanspy, who did a lot of work on the official game guides for a few of the games. I would suggest hitting him up sometime if you ever have anymore to talk about with Demons, DS2, or Bloodborne
It's great to see a video covering Sekiro in such a comprehensive manner since I get the impression it's the least discussed game of the post-Demon's Souls From Soft catalog. I loved Sekiro, the combat is incredibly intuitive once that click happens and it has such a good difficulty curve, no sudden spikes but a logical next step and I feel SSI embodies that extremely well. It's a difficult fight, especially without Kuro's Charm, and it took me a 3-4 months long break until I first defeated him and could actually start playing the game in the NG+, but it's not even that sense of accomplishment and the accompanying catharsis that made me love it, masochistic as it sounds, but the fact that it feels like the final test you need to pass because the boss is merciless, extremely difficult and punishing mechanically, and you need to put all the lessons learned into practice in order to beat him and really raise your game. It's a no bullshit fight and I had tremendous respect for From Soft because they respected me as a player and had enough faith in me that I would overcome this test and come out a victor. It's probably my favorite sword fight in any game because it feels like a true duel between two masters that are equal to one another and the unrelenting, fast-paced rhythm of this fight in particular is incredibly satisfying when you time your parries perfectly and trade his combos, then punish him and do so until you've beaten him. It's my favorite boss fight in all From Soft games because everything about it just works and is masterfully crafted. Saw the video twice and took plenty of notes from it for further research, so thanks for yet another great commentary on one of my favorite games. It was well worth the wait!
I don't really have anything insightful to comment, but I had to say that this is probably the best video essay that I've ever seen. You putting the game into the cultural context helped me so much in understanding the game and appreciating it more.
I had been looking forward to this one for a long time - thanks so much for another quality video. This’ll be in heavy rotation over the next few weeks!
I have already felt in love in the ebb and flow of the combat in the Sekiro, but listening to your analysis made me appreciate it even more, where challenge, even after dying to the Sword Saint, like 90 times, trying it for days, but eventually beat this Legend was so unbelievable, that I had hard time believing I did it...
I’m five and a half hours through and I’m nowhere near ready for this to end. This has been GREAT. I’m both proud of myself for picking up a lot of what young talked about by myself, but also incredibly happy that’s there’s so much I missed. I’m going to be coming back to this game and this video for a long time! Ty for putting in the time and effort to make it 🎉
Perhaps the most comprehensive analysis of this game on the entire platform. Thank you for your hard work, I can't imagine how long this took, well done.
Recently finished this, it was unlike something I played before, the combat was like a dance, once you understand them sword clashing noises there's no stopping 🔥
I bounced of this game 3 years ago and thought I would never bother with it again. But after watching your video I started a new playthrough and now I'm kind of obsessed with it. Finished it a few days ago and I'm now deep into a ng+ playthrough. So thanks for the video and thanks for helping me reconsider a game I had already written off as something that was not for me.
Dude, same. At release I gave up shortly after the guardian ape. Now 3 years later I'm actually poised to get the platinum trophy. I never thought in a million years that would happen.
Nice work, pretty interesting commentary. One thing you mentioned was that Jirafu's name is written in katakana and this suggested a pun or similar to you. That could be, but keep in mind that names of plants and animals are very often written in katakana, including the word "Jirafu". It's not just for foreign words, even native japanese words for animals are often written in katakana because it lends a scientific or neutral air to referring to the animal. There is another word for giraffes though 'kirin' like you mentioned so it's possible they chose Jirafu for the reason you mentioned. That strategy for saving solaire in a less time sensitive way was a new one for me too!
This video was fucking amazing. I listened to every second of it over the course of my work day today,, and I can't commend you enough for this one. I also look forward to the eventual release of the EldenRing commentary.... although given the amount of content it already contains, I'll aim low and give it a generous 2040 release date.
I've watched hundreds of game analyses. This is by far the most thorough one I've come across. God I wish every game got this much love from someone so capable at it. I sumashed those sub and bell buttons.
Talking about character posing and first impressions, mentioning that audio stimuli have a lower reaction time than visual stimuli... The Matthewmatosis inspiration is very clear! Love the video, Sekiro is as masterpiece, my favorite Fromsoft game personally.
Bravo. This is an excellent piece of analysis. While my videos on Sekiro barely scratched the surface, you have gone into great detail to describe almost every aspect of this game thoroughly.
Thank you so much for making this video! I’ve been wanting to dive into the lore of Sekiro for a while now and I really enjoyed listening to this while I drove.
Thank you so much for this. I feel like Sekiro has left the collective memory of soulsborne analysts / essayists way too fast, maybe due to a lack of DLC. However, I feel like this is the game that warrants the most discussion and retrospective since it strayed so far from the typical open ended style of combat and storytelling and really stands out among the soulslikes. I will enjoy this video thoroughly and hope it sparks some further discussion on this gem of a game!
I think it fell out of discussion mostly BECAUSE it's so different. It's more of a character action game with some stealth elements, whereas I feel typical souls games fall more into the survival and role-playing genre, combat is punishing but not technically challenging or complicated, and resource management is your best friend. Sekrio has little resource management, very technical combat, and zero roleplaying.
@@morganlak4337 Doesn't it have essentially as much actual roleplaying as the other soulsborne games? You mostly follow a linear story with a few branches that you can pursue instead, but you don't develop your character far either. I wouldn't call equipment variety and multiple character builds roleplaying, even though they're usually present in most RPGs.
Took me longer then I'd like to finally get to this video but I'm glad I set aside the time! I still haven't seenevery piece of content you have released yet such as Kingsfield but I'm looking forward to it. Some fantastic intellectual content that can really stimulate the love and coversation of the medium. Thank you Aesir for dedicating your time to these endeavours, it is deeply appreciated.
As someone who beat the game for the first time this year (and as my first Soulsborne game), this video was amazing. I'm absolutely in love with the world design and lore of this game and having you elaborate on it in such detail was great. :)
6:31:37 The Moonlight sword is technically in the game, just not as a weapon for the player. The Divine Dragon's blade though different in shape is very similar to the Moonlight sword in both color and its ability to shoot magical projectiles.
Dang dude I gotta say this was fucking excellent. You have a real talent for distilling informative and interesting points and perspectives clearly. When you broke down the Sakura dragon stuff you reallllly conveyed the nuance of how those slight changes aren’t thematically appropriate and why. Anyway. Great shit. Subbed for sure.
Finally found the time to finish this behemoth of a video.. and all i gotta say it's my favorite essay/analysis i've watched yet. The way you present your arguments and make your points is very straightforward, sensible and very logical, while i don't agree with every single point you made, i could see where you're coming from, because you always gave a good reasoning. Watching you analyze and interpret this game's lore and story was very entertaining and super insightful and i really respect you the most out the fromsoft critics, especially because i feel like you understand this company better than anyone else.. You Sir are the kind of analyst/critic we need for this community and while i consider sekiro a masterpiece (for me and my enjoyment, not ignorant of some flaws), your video is to me the best a essay can be! Amazing keep up the amazing work and i'll be binging the Bloodborne Analysis (My favorite game) next. PS: Can't wait for the Elden Ring Essay in 1-2 years :)
I really like your take on the idea of the Armored Warrior becoming an ally and a potential questline for him joining Wolf. I didn’t know I wanted that until you brought it up.
Ho-lee shit dude, this was an incredible work. Seriously. I don’t know which must have been more effort, playing the game the way you did for the footage, or making the video itself. I love how you flawlessly interwove discussion of gameplay, lore, larger context in terms of games in general, history, philosophy, along with your own opinions and editorializing ...this is just, hands down, one of the most masterfully wrought video essays I’ve ever had the pleasure of consuming. You’ve absolutely got my subscription, and I think you deserve way, WAY more than you have at present. Best of luck, and thank you so much for taking the time to put this together. I’m gonna go see what other treasures are sitting in your catalogue now.
@@AesirAesthetics I haven’t yet, but it’s next on my list of things to watch! It’ll be an interesting comparison - I’ve never played Sekiro, although I’ve done a fair bit of reading/research on it, whereas I’ve actually played all the way through Bloodborne (once, and it literally took me about 3 months lol).
Really great work on this, hearing so much insight that I have never heard before. Are you planning on doing a video like this for the other two Dark Souls games or Elden Ring?
I think if any of you is interested in more Japanese folklore, Nioh are perfect games to start, especially as Sekiro fans. Super smooth gameplay, difficulty that keeps you on your toes, you can learn a LOT of Japan's history, mainly the Sengoku Jidai, and from folklore. I seriously recommend these games to anyone, they're extremely underrated.
Your theory on Sekiro being a sort of Bloodborne but a Ninja Fantasy in Japan makes so much sense to me, but I'd like to phrase it a tad differently, instead of it being derived directly from Bloodborne's development, I just think the team is really in love with some ideas, which they reuse in almost every game, e.g. the fire fading even in Armored Core VI, the maid in the manor close to Demon of Hatred saying that if war continues, the entire world will turn to ash, and they use these ideas continuously. Also the Laurence/Bloodletting Beast being revived (missing the correct term here) by a vermin seems to me to have the same source of inspiration as Sekiro, as opposed to that idea influencing Sekiro, since they are both inspired by the immortality worms from Japanese folklore. And also Miyazaki and water based levels with people trying to ascend and turning into slug like creatures is obviously a Lovecraft inspiration, as opposed to that Bloodborne idea influencing Sekiro.
I think the missing link for these videos to get the attetion they deserve is most likely a subtitle, there's another long Sekiro video that's not even half as insightful as this and it has 1M views, which doesn't make sense, so perhaps it is the subtitle that's responsible for it.
I Have just finished the video,and it has made me remember two things i have associated with the game since its launch:Inspiration and Stress. I Remember when i first played the game the visuals and scenario absolutely captivated me,i have a hobby as a TRPG GM and it actually inspired me to write up a whole Japanese Inspired political thriller,with many of the more fantastical aspects of the game placed in as background for ideias and concepts;But at the same time as it inspired me it stressed the hell out of me,i spent months reading up on the japanese religious and historical connotations of the game,while at the same time leaving the thing that game me the idea of going after it by my side,when i finally did go back to finish Sekiro i was just completely rusted at it,and being at the late game (Owl Father fight to be precise) while starting a pretty complicated project and being unable to fight even the ministry shadows made be just straight up abandon it,meaning i never really got to finishing the Game. Seeing this made me remember what captivated me about its scenario and world back then and inspired me to go back and finally replay the whole game;i'd just like to thank you for all the research you put into this,as from my personal experience i can just imagine how complicated it was for you to dig up these deeper eastern aspects of the game as i had those years back. I'm planning on rewatching this after re-playing the game to see if i can find something more to add to this ''conversation'',as i think there are still some ideas here left to explore.
I love sekiro game. It is one of the best game ever made so far. after spending 140+ hours and multiple gameplays , I am the boss in the game. it is unfortunate that from software developed armored core rather than sekiro 2.
Thanks for the hard work man - always a treat to see a new one of these come through into the timeline. You're one of my fav long-form content creators.
Awesome work Aesir! Really loving the long-form commentary vids and I have even begun making my own. Not yet done with this, but It has already kept me company for quite some time now! Thank you 😁😁
4:04:40 It is my headcanon that Elden ring's Malenia is an adaptation of a boss from a scrapped Sekiro DLC, likely Tomoe. Her waterfowl move feels like it comes from another game.
Wonderful Analysis!!!! Damn This Was Incredible!!!!! Notice Also, How Once Sword Saint, Isshin Is Dealt The Final Deathblow, Severing His Immortality, Wolf Does Not Draw Kusabimaru Afterward, After Sheathing The Mortal Blade Like He Does In Other Fights.
Finally finished Sekiro. It was a great, if not a bit short of an experience. Have difficulty ranking it alongside the other Souls for now since it feels like it's a lot shorter, but also on the bright side it's more polished and more fun. Excited to dig into this bad boy, the first and most important video I watch on the game. Some points of lack of clarity for me because why not, hopefully these get cleared up after watching. -I did not understand the worm things granting immortality, where did they come from, was it from the Dragonwater, and if so why did they extend all the way to the Sunken Valley where the Guardian Ape wouldn't have access to it. -How can Sekiro kill the Headless, he doesn't use the Mortal Blade which means he deals normal damage like the rest of the people that have cut off its head. -How does Isshin return to life, there was nowhere that was said that wishes become reality for those who drink the Dragonwater.
And for more information on Sekiro, check out the following video: th-cam.com/video/V7Bo0Wp6v7A/w-d-xo.html
when you said “i know you some of you enjoy watching this whilst falling asleep” i had my eyes closed trying to sleep and instantly sat up and thought “oh my he knows”
lol
Yea finished half while sleeping, the other half I transcended in the dream world
Just as I selected this as my “bedtime video”
Exactly
The jig is up boys
Leaving notes as I go through the video:
* 丸 (-maru) is a simple suffix for the names of things or animals. So a sword called 楔丸 would just be known as "Bond", and in the same vein the Sabimaru (錆丸) is merely "Rust"; as to why this sword in particular should inflict Poison, it's because japanese people used to think rust itself was poisonous.
* Promotional materials mention that Kuro is "a prince in name only" and was adopted by the Hirata Clan. His title 御子 does mean "divine child" (it's the same used by the Holy Girl of Senpou Temple, but was mistranslated), but also "son of the emperor" who was considered himself a god and here another tidbit was lost in translation as the Fountainhead Palace is specifically in japanese the "Imperial Palace of the Minamoto" (源の皇居) with 源 being a double entendre as it means "Fountainhead" and the place is the source of the Rejuvenating Waters (変若ち水), but it was also the name of one of the four prominent clans of the Heian period (Tomoe Gozen herself was also part of it), hence the older design of the armor and weaponry wielded by the Okami.
All this to say I suspect it's strongly implied Kuro descends from the same bloodline of Takeru and this is precisely the reason why upon the latter's death the curse of the Dragon's Heir moved onto the young lord.
* A term for "female ninja" exists as くノ一 (kunoichi), which is just the kanji for "woman" 女 disassembled.
* The Sculptor's shinobi name is indeed 猩々 (Shōjō), but instead of "orangutan" (which isn't even a species endemic to Japan), it probably refers to the folkloristic spirit described as a red-furred monkey with a habit of drinking sake.
Furthermore, Shōjō being a mask of Kabuki theater is most likely a nod to some of the poses struck by the Demon of Hatred during its fight, which resemble that used by actors to express "wrath".
* The shrine inside the Dilapidated Temple probably hosted either the kind-faced Buddha the true Buddhist Sculptor carved or the Prosthetic Arm itself; the temple being abandoned is another hint at the Divine Dragon and its cult of immortality overtaking the religions of Ashina, burying the Buddha and the Great Serpent.
* Emma's adoptive father and mentor, Dōgen, is probably based on Manase Dōsan (曲直瀬 道三), as she's internally called Daughter of the Great Physician (医聖の
娘) which was the title this doctor earned during the Sengoku Period.
Interestingly, during the dialogue of Kuro's Remnant before the Chained Ogre, Emma says "there are very few of us left" when Kuro laments the death of a Hirata survivor and later, while discussing the work of Dōgen on the Rejuvenating Water, she says that all his documents were burned: considering the Shinobi Axe of the Monkey that belonged to the Sculptor is found in the shrine of a residence in Hirata Estate, I think the doctor lost his life during the siege and his researches were lost alongside him.
* Another source of general inspiration for characters and story (especially the experiments with the Rejuvenating Waters in the Abandoned Dungeon) is Hiroaki Samura's manga "Blade of the Immortal". Highly recommended read, Miyazaki has good tastes.
* The Chained Ogre is actualy called 赤鬼 (Red Oni), a notorious figure of japanese mythology often accompanied by his blue counterpart (青鬼), which is in fact how the japanese community often refers to the Giant Palace Noble who attends the Great Colored Carp (called the Master's Chamberlain in FuturePress Official Guide).
Since this Mini-Boss is internally named 白人奴隷 ("Enslaved White Man"), it's more likely that it's just an european captured and experimented on by Dōjun, as the Second Prayer Bead reads slightly differently in the original script:
"In Ashina, there's a gigantic man called Red Oni. How did he get Red Eyes and go insane? It is said that he was imprisoned in an Abandoned Dungeon..."
(葦名には、赤鬼と呼ばれる大男がいる 赤目となり、暴れ狂うは何ゆえか 長く捨て牢に囚われていたというが…).
The use of wrestling moves may stem from Miyazaki's love for Kinnikuman.
* Gyoubu's full name is 鬼庭 形部 雅孝 (while the healthbar simply reads 鬼形部 and was correctly translated as "Gyoubu the Demon" in version 1.0) , which following japanese naming convention tells us that Masataka (雅孝) is his first name, Oniwa (鬼庭) is his clan's name and "Gyoubu" (形部) is his title with the meaning of "Minister of Justice".
This is also brought up in Hanbei's manga, when the main antagonist laments Isshin giving such a position to one who used to be an enemy of the clan not too long before, and the same pattern is followed by the two Seven Ashina Spears with Toshikatsu Yamauchi (山内 利勝) helding the role of "Master of Ceremonies" (式部) and Oniwa Masaji (鬼庭 雅次) of "Equerry" (主馬); the latter is also a relative of Gyoubu given the same clan's name.
The horse being called "Onikage" is clearly a homage to the boss from Tenchu.
There's also an interesting cut dialogue regarding Gyoubu:
Soldier #1: = Who would you say is the strongest in all of Ashina?
Soldier #2: = It's gotta be Lord Gyoubu Oniwa.
Soldier #1: = "Gyoubu, the Demon of Ashina". That mountain of corpses on the battlefield past here says it all. But they say that even Gyoubu the Demon was once felled. His beloved steed Onikage was spooked by some "shinobi firecrackers".
Soldier #2: = Oh ho, that massive horse? Frightened by firecrackers?
Soldier #1: = Said the shinobi went by the name of Horned Owl... Had "special gunpowder" made for him by his mates at the "Hirata Estate".
* The concept of the Blazing Bull might have been inspired by the battle of Kurikara, in which the Yoshinaka army tied torches to the horns of hundred of bulls and sent them into battle (allegedly).
* Hōzōin-ryū and Negoro-shū were sects of warrior monks whose most common weapons of choice were spears and naginata. The power struggle between these monks and samurai was the main reason war erupted in Japan and led to the Sengoku Era.
I find it interesting that mercenaries from Misen are found among the Bandits, especially since Lone Shadows too drop Gokan's Sugars, which are exclusively produced in Misen Temple, and Masanaga even use a Yashariku's Sugar: I believe the Senpou Monks have been working with the Interior Ministry behind Ashina's back to either kidnap Kuro or simply survive the inevitable battle.
* Purely my headcanon, but his Prayer Necklace says that Juzou once served a great "feudal lord" (大名), which makes me think of Oda Nobunaga, who had a notorious love for Sumo matches. This could be the reason why he in particular was recluted by the Interior Ministry (内府) for the attack on Hirata Estate, as internal files confirm the invasion of Ashina is being orchestrated by Ieyasu Tokugawa, who was a retainer of Nobunaga.
* I think Owl's plan back in Hirata was more twisted: he's the one to give Wolf the Hidden Temple Key, meaning Lady Butterfly must have been inside from the very start. She has the Sakura Droplet, which Kuro reasons it's from Takeru, meaning it could have come to be as Owl and the Butterfly attempted to coerce him to make them part of his oath in exchange for the Aromatic Flower the shinobi ripped from the Everblossom or after Takeru's bond with Tomoe was severed, in either cases it implies they already attempted to pursue immortality before, so they could be working together again in the siege (idea reinforced by Juzou guarding the entrance to the Main Hall): that said, Owl would want Wolf to fight his ally, because no matter who wins the battle, he'll come to finish off the victor isolating Kuro further from any protection to take the role of his only savior, as seen in the confrontation between the two during the shinobi raid of Ashina Castle.
* Shirafuji's title in japanese is written as 蛇の目, which can be read as both "Serpent Eyes" and "Eyes of the Serpent", but it also refers to a particular kind of umbrella with a bull's-eye pattern, which could be a hint about using the Loaded Umbrella against the numerous gunmen and women of the Sunken Valley Clan.
* The name "Centipede" (ムカデ) was the nickname of the Takeda's clan miners due to their specialization in crawling inside the narrowest spots to collect ores, which I think served as inspiration for these creatures as they're often found in caves working for the Senpou Monks: the Gun Fort Shrine presents a Buddhist statue holding serpent skin, the same found deep within the cave of the Serpent God (located in the Bodhisattva Valley no less), which to me suggests a mixture of these two religions in the Sunken Valley, maybe the Monks used to trade the materials collected by the Centipede to the Snake Eyes that used them in forging their firearms.
Both Long-arm Centipedes have a fixed drop of Yellow Gunpowder, an item produced only in the Sunken Valley.
The Monks are not originary of Mount Kongo, as the Large Fan specifies they were "spirited-away" there and this is the exact reason why a second abduction is fatal to them.
In Nioh 1, one of the early missions takes place in an abandoned mine of the Takeda clan and the area boss is, in fact, the "Great Centipede".
* Longswordsman's original name is 太刀足, which roughly translates to "Tachi-Leg" with Tachi being a longsword used by samurai when they still fought on horses and that was later replaced by the Uchigatana; the other Lone Shadows follow this same name pattern to describe their fighting style, but Masanaga's title was mistranslated as Spear-Bearer instead of "Spear-Leg" (槍足).
Longswordsman is vulnerable to a Plunging Deathblow by default, one just needs to jump atop him from the crack on the ceiling of the well.
Unlike other shinobi, Lone Shadows wield 忍刀 (Ninjatō) which stand out from all other katana due to their straight blade: it's hard to say if these are simply a myth that carried through history or if ninja really reverted back to an older design for their weapons, but it would definitely make sense for them to employ shorter non-curved swords to conceal them more easily and use them to stab.
The inspiration behind these enemies is most likely the Iga Ninja Clan and his headmaster Hattori Masanari that served under the Minister of the Interior, Ieyasu Tokugawa.
* A visual-only subplot in Mibu Village is the purge of Buddhists: the temple of the forest has become the home of the Mist Noble from where he guards the entrance to the village and dead monks are found hanging from the tree just outside, the Buddha statue inside the Mibu Head Priest's temple is destroyed and the man himself dons the a Shintoist attire.
* Doujun's questline was laid out differently in development, as Blackhat Badger could also be sent to the Abandoned Dungeon and Wolf had to first defeat the experiment and bring back his liver to the doctor to continue his story.
* The loot in Senpou is definitely the best for any player, as all kind of sugars are easily available for infinite farming. The amount of Sen accumable this early is also convenient as nearby merchants like the Info Broker and the Dungeon Memorial Mob sell key items for 1500 - 2000 Sen.
* The Armored Warrior is confirmed of either Portuguese or Spanish origin by his Prayer Necklace referring to him as 【南蛮】, which is why calling his son "Robert", instead of "Roberto" (like the japanese voice actors reads it) is a mistranslation.
* Centipedes became a symbol of war, because their very nature of not being able to retreat was interpreted as the figure of a relentless warrior and this is also reflected in the fighting style of the Long-arm Centipedes.
* The japanese name of the "Folding Screen Monkeys" actually hides a clue about the bossfight in japanese, since it's written as 【見る猿、聞く猿、言う猿、】, with a space left after the final comma to indicate the presence of the fourth invisible monkeys: I understand that translating the whole thing would turn awfully long (although it did anyway for the two Seven Ashina Spears Mini-Bosses), but I believe a better localization would have been "The Four Wise Monkeys", which keeps intact both the original intention behind the name and the inspiration behind the characters.
The names of the monkeys are, in itself, a play on word as 【ざる】, which accompanies the verbs for the actions of the monkeys, is an archaic negative and sounds similar to the kanji for "monkey" 【猿】, meaning they could be translated as the "See No Evil Monkey, Hear No Evil Monkey and Speak No Evil Monkey".
Gameplay-wise, this is no short of the best gimmick boss in the entire series, not only because Wolf can actually interact with the environment in a way previous terrain-bounded protagonist could not, but because the gimmick itself isn't forced on the player, meaning that a Gachiin's Sugar and a studied route can end this boss in under a thirty seconds: gimmicks offer no replayability whatsoever, so I see no reason why the developers should waste my time going through the whole process in subsequent playthroughs (and this applies to the Divine Dragon too, even if it can be sped-up by by attacking his arm with a jumping-Mortal Draw inbetween lightning strikes).
Interestingly, the Illusory Hall Monk mentions that somebody else attempted to chase the monkeys some time ago, probably hinting at either Tomoe for the Mortal Blade or Genichiro for the Divine Child of Rejuvenation.
* The Mortal Blade has no clear origin, but the Fountainhead Crest is visible on the custody and it follows that it was either created after the Dragon reached the Palace or came with him even (a mirror to the Northern Regalia being left in the world alongside the Old One in Demon's Souls): the only way I can see it reaching Ashina is through trading between the Palace and Senpou Temple, as indicated by the Corrupted Monk carrying the Dragon's Tally Board; continuing from this, her name in japanese is more specifically 【破戒僧】(translates to "Sinful Priestess") with【破戒】meaning "offending the Buddhist commandments" and her real name being "Yao Bhikkhuni" is a clear reference to the legend of the "800 years old Buddhist nun" (八百比丘尼), so given the complete absence of Buddhist imagery in the Palace, it's most likely she came from Mount Kongo (there are also depictions of other nuns in the Inner Sanctum and many candies, Yashariku included, are found through the Palace).
The Black Mortal Blade is more mysterious: I don't believe Isshin is wielding it in the CGI intro (these are often produced early in development and in Hanbei's manga it appears clearly different) and, if he is, it's probably because it was just meant to be his katana from the start and was later repurposed, which can easily explain why such an important key item only pops-up all of the sudden through a chest that materializes outside the old man's room during an invasion.
Still, the fact that Genichiro knows where the other sword is makes me think that, before hiding it away, is used to be Tomoe's sword, that she used to kill Takeru: gameplay-wise it's interesting to me that Genichiro knows how to draw the power of the Black Mortal Blade, but Sword Saint Isshin doesn't, as it would make sense that only the one who trained with its original wielder can use its full strength (as for Inner Isshin, both Genichiro and Owl are described as "training inside the memory" and "beyond what he could possibly achieve in reality" respectively, so both answers can apply to him).
It's important to note that Tomoe and Takeru had no means to reach Purification, as only the red sword can draw the tears from the Dragon.
Speaking of which, "Gracious Gift of Tears" is a heavily-localized take on【拝涙】, which is more akin to "Prayer for a Tear", as【拝む】means manifesting reverence or worship in face of a divinity through a bow or a praying pose: this is not usual "killing God" ending of many japanese games (, even), we enter the Divine Realm (仙境, a pure region far away from the mundane world) probably through the Shrine Maiden's (巫女) dream and leave with the Boss still having some health left even after the final lighting reversal.
There's even an unused cutscene of Wolf further paying respect to the Dragon for his Tears: SEKIRO:没カットシーン「拝涙」(rather post the title than a link, because YT is finnicky with them).
* While【獅子】is the guardian statue outside a temple, it also simply means "Lion" and given the crest around the Guardian Ape's neck is probably meant to be read like that (there's even a species of monkeys called "Lion Tamarin" whose japanese name is also【獅子猿】, but they aren't indigenous to the island).
I'm more weirded out by the fact that they decided to translate【猿】with "Ape" in this instance and this instance only, which is clearly disproven by the fact the boss has a tail.
The inspiration behind this boss is given by its internal name being【夜叉猿】(Yasha-Zaru), which is a character from Baki. Additionally that【夜叉】, the demonic buddhist guardians, is also part of the kanji for Yashariku's Sugar, which are in fact dropped by the Monkeys during the final invasion of Ashina Castle.
Incredible write up. Thank you!
Cool stuff. Are you Japanese or just familiar with the culture?
Thank you for this comment. Read it twice.
This video is so good it’s almost absurd. I hope you really love doing this and don’t get discouraged by not being a “massive TH-camr” yet. I hope that happens eventually, but if it doesn’t, I hope you know how much pleasure people (like me) get out of videos like this.
I can't even fathom the amount of work you put into this. Many thanks!
so much O_o
This is the Megacomment where you are encouraged to contribute corrections in case I (inevitably) got some stuff wrong.
Corrections:
-Shinto as we understand it today DID exist pre-Meiji restoration, it just became a bigger deal during it.
-The Bandaged Sharpshooters were from Princess Mononoke, not Nausicaa.
-The localization was done by Activision Central Tech, not FrogNation.
at 4:48:13 you mention that dying in soul form would shift world tendency to black. It's the other way around, you have to die while *not* in soul form
The white strands in wolf's hair is due to being a part of the Dragon's heritage or rather his mark of immortality as an abnormal change to his body, not Dragon rot. In much the same way the Divine Child of the Rejuvenating Waters also has a similar change in her hair.
The kids' corpses are also all over the mountain of Kongou in fact they're also thrown off of the cliffs. Such is the treachery of those who reject the teachings of Buddha
Kuro isn't sick the room is in fact extremely dusty, so you have to open the window nearby, after which Kuro will thank you for the consideration.
Minor point, but you mix up "parental" and "paternal" a lot in this. Paternal specifically means relating to fatherhood, in the same way maternal does for motherhood.
It's exciting that this project is finally out! Sekiro has quickly become my favourite FS game so I'm keen to see your thoughts (and more) about the whole project. This is going to keep me company for some nights to come! Thanks for all the effort!
That's wonderful to hear :D
Yes while I loved dark souls and Elden Ring, nothing has grasped me like Sekiro has. The combat is just so damn satisfying and engaging, I think it’s becoming my favorite game as well. The setting and atmosphere is awesome, the traversal and fast paced combat is exhilarating. It is definitely challenging, dying in 2-3 hits from bosses from beginning to end with little room for error and a high demand for skilled play. It is fun and rewarding like no other. We’ll see how it holds up in repeat playthroughs, but I think this is from soft’s combat at its finest. There’s something to be said about having a mostly linear and enclosed game with no spirit summons, only one weapon, it means that they can tightly control and balance the experience, which is of great benefit compared to a game like Elden Ring. You sacrifice build variety and customization, and some freedom, but losing the ability to overlevel and pump vigor, or use super broken strategies for the most part; creates the most optimal experience for the player to experience the unparalleled satisfaction of victory. In their other games you can overlevel and rob yourself of the intended experience, which is fine if you’re struggling I guess, but it’s never as rewarding as going head to head 1v1 in a sword fight with a consistent difficulty and challenge. Consecutive deflects and deathblows on tough foes is just so satisfying
2:32:34 you can actually get a plunging attack on him if you go a little higher above ground, there’s a hole where you can jump on top of him and that makes it easier.
I really like how you can permanently kill Hanbei The Undying, I was thinking that may crop up somewhere down the line when he tells us about how he can’t die. It fits in with the theme of the game and main story, and it marks a turning point in the player development where you feel you have achieved a level of aptitude in combat and no longer require his training. It shows growth in you and you’re able to finally end his suffering. They’re depicting immortality not as a gift but as a curse, and he thanks you for putting him out of his misery. FS games are so poignant, they’re dark and tragic, but you can still find that glimmer of solace and beauty within the unforgiving world.
This commentary is great.
I feel a bit sad that there is so much in the game that had to be literally told to me by someone else, because I literally have no way to pick that up. But that actually explains why Fromsoft games feel so much deeper than what it's immediate narrative suggests, while some copycats feel so incredibly shallow. (I really burned myself on Lords of the Fallen back in 2014).
On Isshin being a final boss:
He is romanticized a lot in the game. he is some kind of perfect warrior of his (already gone) era. It multiple times tells us how actually great and strong he is. Ministry forces literally won't invade Ashina while he's alive and only send some spies because he seemed to be sick. And him being the only powerful NPC not seeking immortality and just accepting life as it is makes him not only strong, but also virtuous (at lest by the game's standards).
With all that game simply couldn't let him die without some kind of last hurrah. And it is incredibly awesome that we get to fight him in what seems to be his prime.
I can see why people can feel bad about difficulty of Sword Saint boss fight, but I also completely disagree on that.
His difficulty really makes him a crown jewel for the whole game. It really fits this game thematically that it's hardest fight is not some optional boss somewhere away from main story (like it was pretty much for all souls games), but it's final mandatory challenge for the player.
:D
I love the sword saint fight, but for me, the demon of hatred was harder to get down, and that guy is completely optional. So I’d say the opposite is true for me. Both isshin fights are hard but easy to master, the demon of hatred just has weird hit boxes that will sometimes clip u for no reason.
@@thefreshprince310 if you grind for the umbrella it becomes much more balanced since the fire umbrella will protect you plus the malcontent finger whistle and divine confetti can create a cakewalk first phase second phase is hardest that's where you'll use the umbrella the most then third phase stay in him jump his first giant whip then the second spin of the whip won't hit if you're on him those are free hits usually he will do his 2 running attacks after the giant fire whip which are easy hits again or you can cheese TF outta him with the tower glitch
I agree with this pretty much wholeheartedly. Most other FromSoft games like to keep the main bosses easy and make optional or DLC bosses harder. Even the final bosses usually aren’t that hard. Gehrman in Bloodborne, for example, was probably barely a top 10 hardest boss in the game.
Sekiro is a different beast altogether. The main bosses are meant to be hard as hell. There are no summons, and no possible easy mode outside of glitches. Hell, you can’t even overlevel yourself. So it makes sense to make the final boss the most difficult boss in the game (though it’s subjective; many might say Demon of Hatred or Father Owl are tougher, which are fair choices and optional bosses).
I was playing through the game while watching this video, stopping whens it got to where I was--definitely one of my new favorite TH-cam videos ever and ill be coming back
glad you enjoyed :)
I find myself an hour in and still very interested in watching more. Your ability to fill every second with meaningful dialogue about the game is astounding.
:D
You should be so proud for creating videos like this. If colleges offer video game academic courses I'd look to you, haha.
Nice
Man, I'd love to write an essay on how great this video was - but it was so long that I already forgot everything I was going to say hahaha, but this was an amazing piece of work and I basically agree with 99% of your statements. Your knowledge of from and japanese culture in general is impressive and absolutely elevated this analysis, 2 videos in and you've already de-throned dozens of my other favorite critics in the in depth gaming sphere - massive respect and I'll be enjoying the SH and MGS videos next, thank you so much for creating these and keep it up!
Thank you :)
I'll always say this whenever someone mentions the absence of the Moonlight Gtreatsword. The Divine Dragon, a crippled, completely white dragon save from some pink details on his body wielding a giant, shining teal-colored sword in what's FROMSOFT's best set-piece fight ever is their way of giving us the Moonlight Greatsword in Sekiro.
a lot of people say this, but ive never subscribed to the idea myself. the *only* similarities between the moonlight greatsword and the dragon's sword is the color. that's it. it looks nothing like the moonlight greatsword.
it's an interesting idea, but doesn't hold enough weight in my opinion
You’re reaching
It’s a real sword though, so I’m not so sure it’s supposed to be moonlight. They do look similar though, and I’m sure the coloring was deliberate.
@@cynicalgold9992 They both shoot projectiles as well. More then just looks they share gameplay elements as well.
We’re reaching here. Moonlight Greatsword isn’t in this game because there isn’t any builds or weapons outside of prosthetics and your sword. And making Moonlight a prosthetic would be difficult and wouldn’t really fit thematically. So it’d feel like such a reach to include it in the game.
I finally finished this video- god I loved this. I love Sekiro so much and I do dearly wish there was more content for it.
This analysis was really interesting! It was so in-depth, informative, speculative, thought provoking, and.. even bittersweet when I reached the end. I don’t want it to ennddddd-
2 hours into the vid, I think they made Hirata into a flashback bc the cutscene at the end implies that that's the first time Wolf received Dragon's Blood from Kuro, so there was no narrative reason for the player being able to resurrect if Hirata was used in the start of the game; in the "canon" version of events that happens before we begin the game, I think it's plausible that Wolf didn't have the white mark that signifies resurrection and did everything the player does without dying, before he gets backstabbed
That was my impression
So you're saying that making it a flashback is basically a lore excuse to allow us to use the gameplay mechanic of resurrections? Yeah I dig that
Sure, but I'm pretty sure he meant to imply that that cutscene and the one with the sculptur could've easily been swapped, on top of them being in a different order - of course you can't just swap them both unless you also change some of the lore and timings
Thanks to you I’ve learned more about corrupt stagnant waters than I ever thought I would
use the wisdom wisely!
@@AesirAesthetics
Thank you Kegare master
@@larsrikardsen4964 💪
Yes! I’m so happy to finally have this mammoth of a commentary in my feed!
Really excited to jump in
Hope you enjoy it!
I love watching these analysis vids. Eso when I'm studying. End up watching them 10+ times
Enjoy :D
Hey man, I´ve been a fan of your channel for quite some time now ( found you through your Silent Hill videos ) and I am always impressed with the amount of thought and effort you put into these videos knowing full well that, relatively speaking, only a small amount of people will see them. This makes me a bit sad, as I really believe that your videos deserve to be seen by more people. Therefore I want to thank you as much as I can and I hope that the gratitude we can show is enough for you.
About the game:
Sekiro is probably my favorite Fromsoft game and I enjoy the rhythm like combat system. I am of the opinion that Sekiro´s challenge is probably the purest that it has ever been in any Fromsoft game as you really have to engage with the combat and its systems to be able to beat it in a competent fashion. This is, of course, a negative for people who mainly relied on summoning, grinding, or cheesing in other Souls games but I think that it makes for a much more coherent experience if you are willing to agree to the game's terms so to say. I also admire Fromsoft for scaring away people who do not want to spend time learning the combat system or just don't like it. As I have mentioned this allows them to focus the game on this one play style instead of having to account for many different ones. Due to this fights like Genichiro and Sword Saint Isshin are my favorite bosses in all of Fromsoft´s games, as they really test the player on their skill with the combat and are incredibly well designed therefore making for a fun fight if you mastered the combat. From my experience, many of the fights also lack this sense of randomness many other bosses in the Souls games had, as it was a lot easier to finish a fight without a death or hit, which is really satisfying. This could make the bosses somewhat trivial on subsequent playthroughs but I think it is also great to be able to see your mastery of these encounters and just take them apart.
All in all, I think that Sekiro´s gameplay is the best for me in any Fromsoft game and I would really like a second game with the same combat style. The only note-worthy thing I would add would be a skill that counters grabs as they are the most annoying attacks to deal with and often break the flow of combat for me. I think something like a counter move that also requires precise timing (like the one in Nioh 2 ) would be great. I also agree that the dialogue-heavy section after a Genichiro fight is a real slog, especially on subsequent playthroughs. Therefore it would be nice to see Fromsoft design the second game in a way that makes it possible, at least for people who already played it, to not be required to again deal with such story-heavy parts of the game.
To be honest I would probably just want something like a boss rush game with Sekiro´s combat, although I doubt that I am in the majority with that. In general, I have the feeling that Sekiro will remain a unique experience as most people seem to like the structure and gameplay of the Darks Souls games a lot more as well the number of choices it gives you to beat the game.
I am really happy that you decided to do a video on this game ( which I did not expect in the slightest ) and I hope that my thoughts on the game can be at least somewhat of interest.
Again, thank you for your content and I look forward to your next videos!
:D
I can't wait! Great Job!
- I would like to add one more detail that I always found pretty cool. In the tutorial section after you defeat the first mini-boss and go under that bridge where you can eavesdrop the guards there is that one small "rat" enemy. I think this greatly informs the players who don't have any prior information about this game, that's it's not going to be grounded in reality. As this enemy clearly has a fantastical element to it. Which is in a way pretty important as the game much to that point could be viewed as a historic fiction. This small detail with just this one enemy always makes me think about it, how it greatly informs the player.
Edit 1: I would also comment that when you fight the Lone Shadow in the well, you can sneak attack him much easier, by just being up there above the well and going further, you then got obvious view on him from above and you can sneak jump attack him from above and there is no prompt for the dialogue and you hit him.
The TH-cam algorithm has just provided me my next 6+ hours of entertainment. Can't wait to watch this and the rest of your videos!
I've been ruminating on leaving a comment since watching this commentary, which helped me get through a depressing few days with its beautiful visuals and thoughtful examination on some pretty fascinating themes. I'll just say it as plainly as I can. I just like what you do. I like your professionalism, your even, friendly tone of voice, your dedication to research, your insight on the industry, how you bring wider influences into the discussion on these powerful forms of media, inspiring me to learn more. I have listened to a lot of long form analysis and so many creators are rather cutting, sarcastic, or use slurs or inflammatory language, and it's just nice to sit and listen to you talk and feel comfortable and safe. You seem like a really nice person and have made me laugh and brightened my day many times. Maybe it's weird to say this on a video about a game that deals with such grim subject matter, but you give me a hopeful feeling, and that means a lot right now. In all of your discussions with others in your videos you always have such a calming and respectful demeanor, you’re organized and gracious, all your “hot takes” are well informed and well intentioned, and even in your Ratchet and Clank livestream when you got frustrated it was just really cute and never impacted your positivity, I love your sense of humor, and just…your character really shines in your work, it’s irrepressible, it’s inspiring. I know you put a ton of hard work into your videos and wanted to express my gratitude and say what’s been on my mind. I hope you’re well and I hope I get the chance to play your game when it’s released.
@luciusdebeers6176 🤨📸
As someone who bounced off Sekiro hard when it released, then finally had it click earlier this year leading to me completing it, so I'm really enjoying this. Fun to watch while my memory of my own play through is fresh.
Just a small correction @ 5:49:50, you get ceremonial tanto by defeating shichimen near the bottomless hole and players do get access to that area quite early in the game. Great vid btw, appreciate the effort.
You’re starting to become one of my favorite commentary people, i like how much research you put in after actually playing these games 👍
:)
Your translations and deeper meanings of this analisis make this video so good!!
Thank you :)
Finally! Been waiting for this one. Tempted to try and play through the game again before watching, but just can't resist.
Hope you enjoy it!
Another excellent essay, Aesir! It was well put together with the visuals of your Demon bell/No charm playthrough. A very impressive project that you have presented in a very engaging manner. Hats off to you, sir!
Thank you kindly!
I don’t believe Isshin wanted to fight Sekiro. He was simply honoring his pitiful grandchild’s final wish.
Valid perspective!
I think he did because this is young Isshin but you never know
I don't think he would've fought Sekiro to the death if not for Genichiro's wish, but I also doubt he wasn't enjoying the experience haha
This was an amazing video. I was wondering if you'd be able to make something on the level of your Bloodborne commentary, and I think you've definitely succeeded. I learned a lot and gained a lot of new perspective in how to view the game. It gave me a lot of food for thought and I just might just watch this again sometime to catch on to what I may have missed or might now see differently in hindsight. Thank you for taking the time and effort to make this analysis. It was very enjoyable from beginning to end.
thanks for the kind words!
:D
Finally finished it. This is an absolutely incredible piece of work you've made and I feel grateful for being able to see it. Sekiro is the one modern fromsoft game I haven't played and honestly don't have a huge interest in playing. Maybe eventually. I love souls, Bloodborne and elden ring, and I can get by in those games with the aid of builds and coop if I'm having too much trouble with a boss. I've always been horrible at timing parries so I fear sekiro would be a huge jump in challenge for me. I'd like to give it a try eventually, but this great video has let me at least experience the amazing work from has created.
I always love what you have to say and look forward to whatever you make next. Thank you!
Finally, a video of yours I actually care about ! It’s been a minute.
Just finished the video, and the first thing that comes to mind is: thank you for everything you do. Great content.
man idk how you're still under 100k subs. another stand out vid as always.
This Analysis is AWESOME. A commendable feat, truly, and thank you for having me relive this masterpiece. You won the "honor" to be the first youtuber ever to win my money on patreon or Kofi ahah
Thank you :D
I love it when you do these super in-depth analyzes! I've actually referred to the silent Hill ones more than once, and now Sekiro is a game I really like too. so I can't wait to hear what you have to say
This is the first video I've seen of yours, and I can say this is one of the best commentary videos I've ever seen.
Awesome to hear!
I also made one for Bloodborne (and some other games) if you're interested in checking those out!
:D
this is so criminally underrated, and you're spot on. as someone who has been rather deep in the long term community for these games I do really appreciate you going over and clarifying some of the mistranslation stuff, one of the only other folks I know who could/would do stuff like that is agermanspy, who did a lot of work on the official game guides for a few of the games. I would suggest hitting him up sometime if you ever have anymore to talk about with Demons, DS2, or Bloodborne
god this channel is criminally underrated. your content is amazing man
:)
It's great to see a video covering Sekiro in such a comprehensive manner since I get the impression it's the least discussed game of the post-Demon's Souls From Soft catalog.
I loved Sekiro, the combat is incredibly intuitive once that click happens and it has such a good difficulty curve, no sudden spikes but a logical next step and I feel SSI embodies that extremely well. It's a difficult fight, especially without Kuro's Charm, and it took me a 3-4 months long break until I first defeated him and could actually start playing the game in the NG+, but it's not even that sense of accomplishment and the accompanying catharsis that made me love it, masochistic as it sounds, but the fact that it feels like the final test you need to pass because the boss is merciless, extremely difficult and punishing mechanically, and you need to put all the lessons learned into practice in order to beat him and really raise your game. It's a no bullshit fight and I had tremendous respect for From Soft because they respected me as a player and had enough faith in me that I would overcome this test and come out a victor. It's probably my favorite sword fight in any game because it feels like a true duel between two masters that are equal to one another and the unrelenting, fast-paced rhythm of this fight in particular is incredibly satisfying when you time your parries perfectly and trade his combos, then punish him and do so until you've beaten him. It's my favorite boss fight in all From Soft games because everything about it just works and is masterfully crafted.
Saw the video twice and took plenty of notes from it for further research, so thanks for yet another great commentary on one of my favorite games. It was well worth the wait!
Thank you :D
I’m being blessed. 6 hours and someone actually talking. Not just someone who’s playing and not talking at all
I don't really have anything insightful to comment, but I had to say that this is probably the best video essay that I've ever seen. You putting the game into the cultural context helped me so much in understanding the game and appreciating it more.
I had been looking forward to this one for a long time - thanks so much for another quality video. This’ll be in heavy rotation over the next few weeks!
Hope you enjoy it!
This'll be my weekend then, looking forward to this!
Enjoy! :D
I have already felt in love in the ebb and flow of the combat in the Sekiro, but listening to your analysis made me appreciate it even more, where challenge, even after dying to the Sword Saint, like 90 times, trying it for days, but eventually beat this Legend was so unbelievable, that I had hard time believing I did it...
I have watched your bloodborne video in its entirety at least 5 times so I am very excited for this one
Awesome!
I’m five and a half hours through and I’m nowhere near ready for this to end. This has been GREAT. I’m both proud of myself for picking up a lot of what young talked about by myself, but also incredibly happy that’s there’s so much I missed. I’m going to be coming back to this game and this video for a long time! Ty for putting in the time and effort to make it 🎉
Thank you :)
I made a video like this one on Bloodborne too if you're interested
@@AesirAesthetics I’ve got that next in my playlist! 😉
Perhaps the most comprehensive analysis of this game on the entire platform. Thank you for your hard work, I can't imagine how long this took, well done.
Much appreciated! :D
Buddy was STRUGGLING with the play through lmao. Great video btw
I fought for my life bro!
Glad you liked :)
Recently finished this, it was unlike something I played before, the combat was like a dance, once you understand them sword clashing noises there's no stopping 🔥
I bounced of this game 3 years ago and thought I would never bother with it again. But after watching your video I started a new playthrough and now I'm kind of obsessed with it. Finished it a few days ago and I'm now deep into a ng+ playthrough. So thanks for the video and thanks for helping me reconsider a game I had already written off as something that was not for me.
Dude, same. At release I gave up shortly after the guardian ape. Now 3 years later I'm actually poised to get the platinum trophy. I never thought in a million years that would happen.
I can assure you, I am not sleeping through this! Incredible work.
This video is a masterpiece
😎👉👉
You rock man, special place in my heart. Thank you for this, thank you for contributing your time, effort, and voice to the world.
This is the best Sekiro video, period. I can see the level of effort and passion put into this. It's really great.
Easily the best gaming commentaries on YT. Thanks for your hard work, Aesir.
Wow, thanks :D
This quality is insane. Absolutely wild.
That Great Shinobi Owl fight had me on the edge of my seat lol nice work.
Glad you enjoyed it
Nice work, pretty interesting commentary. One thing you mentioned was that Jirafu's name is written in katakana and this suggested a pun or similar to you. That could be, but keep in mind that names of plants and animals are very often written in katakana, including the word "Jirafu". It's not just for foreign words, even native japanese words for animals are often written in katakana because it lends a scientific or neutral air to referring to the animal. There is another word for giraffes though 'kirin' like you mentioned so it's possible they chose Jirafu for the reason you mentioned.
That strategy for saving solaire in a less time sensitive way was a new one for me too!
This video was fucking amazing. I listened to every second of it over the course of my work day today,, and I can't commend you enough for this one.
I also look forward to the eventual release of the EldenRing commentary.... although given the amount of content it already contains, I'll aim low and give it a generous 2040 release date.
lol.
2022 might be a better estimated launch date.
I've watched hundreds of game analyses. This is by far the most thorough one I've come across. God I wish every game got this much love from someone so capable at it. I sumashed those sub and bell buttons.
:D
Talking about character posing and first impressions, mentioning that audio stimuli have a lower reaction time than visual stimuli... The Matthewmatosis inspiration is very clear! Love the video, Sekiro is as masterpiece, my favorite Fromsoft game personally.
Bravo. This is an excellent piece of analysis. While my videos on Sekiro barely scratched the surface, you have gone into great detail to describe almost every aspect of this game thoroughly.
Thank you kindly!
Finally, an actual proper video on Sekiro! Worth every minute of the watch even if it did take several days. Great work!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for making this video! I’ve been wanting to dive into the lore of Sekiro for a while now and I really enjoyed listening to this while I drove.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for this. I feel like Sekiro has left the collective memory of soulsborne analysts / essayists way too fast, maybe due to a lack of DLC. However, I feel like this is the game that warrants the most discussion and retrospective since it strayed so far from the typical open ended style of combat and storytelling and really stands out among the soulslikes. I will enjoy this video thoroughly and hope it sparks some further discussion on this gem of a game!
I think it fell out of discussion mostly BECAUSE it's so different. It's more of a character action game with some stealth elements, whereas I feel typical souls games fall more into the survival and role-playing genre, combat is punishing but not technically challenging or complicated, and resource management is your best friend. Sekrio has little resource management, very technical combat, and zero roleplaying.
You're very welcome!
@@morganlak4337 Doesn't it have essentially as much actual roleplaying as the other soulsborne games? You mostly follow a linear story with a few branches that you can pursue instead, but you don't develop your character far either.
I wouldn't call equipment variety and multiple character builds roleplaying, even though they're usually present in most RPGs.
you're a god -- this is so impressive on multiple levels (technical skill, effort invested, etc.) bravo!
Been eagerly awaiting this analysis for a bit; thank you for the hard work you do in making these videos!
Enjoy! :D
Took me longer then I'd like to finally get to this video but I'm glad I set aside the time!
I still haven't seenevery piece of content you have released yet such as Kingsfield but I'm looking forward to it.
Some fantastic intellectual content that can really stimulate the love and coversation of the medium.
Thank you Aesir for dedicating your time to these endeavours, it is deeply appreciated.
As someone who beat the game for the first time this year (and as my first Soulsborne game), this video was amazing. I'm absolutely in love with the world design and lore of this game and having you elaborate on it in such detail was great. :)
glad you liekd it :)
6:31:37 The Moonlight sword is technically in the game, just not as a weapon for the player. The Divine Dragon's blade though different in shape is very similar to the Moonlight sword in both color and its ability to shoot magical projectiles.
very excited to have found this so soon after it’s upload.
Dang dude I gotta say this was fucking excellent.
You have a real talent for distilling informative and interesting points and perspectives clearly.
When you broke down the Sakura dragon stuff you reallllly conveyed the nuance of how those slight changes aren’t thematically appropriate and why.
Anyway. Great shit. Subbed for sure.
Finally found the time to finish this behemoth of a video.. and all i gotta say it's my favorite essay/analysis i've watched yet. The way you present your arguments and make your points is very straightforward, sensible and very logical, while i don't agree with every single point you made, i could see where you're coming from, because you always gave a good reasoning. Watching you analyze and interpret this game's lore and story was very entertaining and super insightful and i really respect you the most out the fromsoft critics, especially because i feel like you understand this company better than anyone else.. You Sir are the kind of analyst/critic we need for this community and while i consider sekiro a masterpiece (for me and my enjoyment, not ignorant of some flaws), your video is to me the best a essay can be! Amazing keep up the amazing work and i'll be binging the Bloodborne Analysis (My favorite game) next.
PS: Can't wait for the Elden Ring Essay in 1-2 years :)
Woah this is a gift! Thanks! I was hoping for something related to Sekiro and you just read my mind!
Just platinum the game, listening to this video as i grinded for the last skills.
Great video
I really like your take on the idea of the Armored Warrior becoming an ally and a potential questline for him joining Wolf. I didn’t know I wanted that until you brought it up.
Fantastic work and a great contribution to the community! Thank you for the countless hours of hard work.
Ho-lee shit dude, this was an incredible work. Seriously. I don’t know which must have been more effort, playing the game the way you did for the footage, or making the video itself. I love how you flawlessly interwove discussion of gameplay, lore, larger context in terms of games in general, history, philosophy, along with your own opinions and editorializing ...this is just, hands down, one of the most masterfully wrought video essays I’ve ever had the pleasure of consuming. You’ve absolutely got my subscription, and I think you deserve way, WAY more than you have at present. Best of luck, and thank you so much for taking the time to put this together. I’m gonna go see what other treasures are sitting in your catalogue now.
Thank you.
If you haven't already, I'd recommend checking out the Bloodborne Commentary I did (since you liked the Sekiro one)
:D
@@AesirAesthetics I haven’t yet, but it’s next on my list of things to watch! It’ll be an interesting comparison - I’ve never played Sekiro, although I’ve done a fair bit of reading/research on it, whereas I’ve actually played all the way through Bloodborne (once, and it literally took me about 3 months lol).
0:01 how we wanted desperately for that to be bloodborne 2 thx you for making this
Yayy let's go!! Cant wait to watch, thanks for all the work put into this! I love how comprehensive these are
Hope you enjoy!
I can't believe that TH-cam screwed me over and didn't send me notification about this juggernaut.
So exited to watch!!!
Really great work on this, hearing so much insight that I have never heard before. Are you planning on doing a video like this for the other two Dark Souls games or Elden Ring?
Elden Ring yes, Dark Souls no
I think if any of you is interested in more Japanese folklore, Nioh are perfect games to start, especially as Sekiro fans. Super smooth gameplay, difficulty that keeps you on your toes, you can learn a LOT of Japan's history, mainly the Sengoku Jidai, and from folklore. I seriously recommend these games to anyone, they're extremely underrated.
Your theory on Sekiro being a sort of Bloodborne but a Ninja Fantasy in Japan makes so much sense to me, but I'd like to phrase it a tad differently, instead of it being derived directly from Bloodborne's development, I just think the team is really in love with some ideas, which they reuse in almost every game, e.g. the fire fading even in Armored Core VI, the maid in the manor close to Demon of Hatred saying that if war continues, the entire world will turn to ash, and they use these ideas continuously.
Also the Laurence/Bloodletting Beast being revived (missing the correct term here) by a vermin seems to me to have the same source of inspiration as Sekiro, as opposed to that idea influencing Sekiro, since they are both inspired by the immortality worms from Japanese folklore.
And also Miyazaki and water based levels with people trying to ascend and turning into slug like creatures is obviously a Lovecraft inspiration, as opposed to that Bloodborne idea influencing Sekiro.
I think the missing link for these videos to get the attetion they deserve is most likely a subtitle, there's another long Sekiro video that's not even half as insightful as this and it has 1M views, which doesn't make sense, so perhaps it is the subtitle that's responsible for it.
I'm barely starting this video but hope it catches the algorithm. Deserves way more views
here's hoping :D
I Have just finished the video,and it has made me remember two things i have associated with the game since its launch:Inspiration and Stress.
I Remember when i first played the game the visuals and scenario absolutely captivated me,i have a hobby as a TRPG GM and it actually inspired me to write up a whole Japanese Inspired political thriller,with many of the more fantastical aspects of the game placed in as background for ideias and concepts;But at the same time as it inspired me it stressed the hell out of me,i spent months reading up on the japanese religious and historical connotations of the game,while at the same time leaving the thing that game me the idea of going after it by my side,when i finally did go back to finish Sekiro i was just completely rusted at it,and being at the late game (Owl Father fight to be precise) while starting a pretty complicated project and being unable to fight even the ministry shadows made be just straight up abandon it,meaning i never really got to finishing the Game.
Seeing this made me remember what captivated me about its scenario and world back then and inspired me to go back and finally replay the whole game;i'd just like to thank you for all the research you put into this,as from my personal experience i can just imagine how complicated it was for you to dig up these deeper eastern aspects of the game as i had those years back.
I'm planning on rewatching this after re-playing the game to see if i can find something more to add to this ''conversation'',as i think there are still some ideas here left to explore.
I am soooo excited about this video. Been a fan ever since your bloodbourne video, I know it’s gonna be Awesome !!!
Hope it lives up to the hype :D
You are a livin' leyend. Congrats.
Wow, thanks!
Your “Closing Thoughts” section is a beautiful metaphor for life.
I love sekiro game. It is one of the best game ever made so far. after spending 140+ hours and multiple gameplays , I am the boss in the game. it is unfortunate that from software developed armored core rather than sekiro 2.
Thanks for the hard work man - always a treat to see a new one of these come through into the timeline. You're one of my fav long-form content creators.
Thank you so much :D
Sekiro has the most satisfying combat in any game I've ever played. It has a steep learning curve but once you got it it feels so good.
once the rhythm sets in, it's somethign to behold
Awesome work Aesir! Really loving the long-form commentary vids and I have even begun making my own.
Not yet done with this, but It has already kept me company for quite some time now! Thank you 😁😁
Awesome!
4:04:40 It is my headcanon that Elden ring's Malenia is an adaptation of a boss from a scrapped Sekiro DLC, likely Tomoe. Her waterfowl move feels like it comes from another game.
I 100% agree
Isn't waterfowl dance literally in Sekiro as a combat art?
Praise the Erdtree! Something incredible ahead
More like Nerdtree!
Everblossom Gang Rules!
Wonderful Analysis!!!!
Damn This Was Incredible!!!!!
Notice Also, How Once Sword Saint, Isshin Is Dealt The Final Deathblow, Severing His Immortality, Wolf Does Not Draw Kusabimaru Afterward, After Sheathing The Mortal Blade Like He Does In Other Fights.
Finally finished Sekiro. It was a great, if not a bit short of an experience. Have difficulty ranking it alongside the other Souls for now since it feels like it's a lot shorter, but also on the bright side it's more polished and more fun.
Excited to dig into this bad boy, the first and most important video I watch on the game.
Some points of lack of clarity for me because why not, hopefully these get cleared up after watching.
-I did not understand the worm things granting immortality, where did they come from, was it from the Dragonwater, and if so why did they extend all the way to the Sunken Valley where the Guardian Ape wouldn't have access to it.
-How can Sekiro kill the Headless, he doesn't use the Mortal Blade which means he deals normal damage like the rest of the people that have cut off its head.
-How does Isshin return to life, there was nowhere that was said that wishes become reality for those who drink the Dragonwater.