We play games for different reasons, whether to watch numbers fly off of demons with friends in Diablo 3 or to give up our career, friends, and family to study the blade in Sekiro. Games can be simple toys we fiddle with to pass the time or tests of patience and persistence that make us feel capable of anything.

We don’t blame anyone for thinking Sekiro is too difficult for them. But with all the talk about Sekiro’s difficulty, we’ve been thinking about what good difficulty means—how you’re punished and whether that punishment suits the task—and how Sekiro succeeds or fails in this regard.

Is it fair? Is it actually fun to throw yet another corpse on the pile? Let’s talk it out. 

First impressions

James: Let’s open with the big question. Tom, you’ve finished the damn thing, so your perspective will be the most valuable here. Steven, you and I are still somewhere in the sprawling mid-game. We’ve experienced plenty of whiplash in coming to understand Sekiro, but is it too hard? Quick answers, then we’ll dive into the specifics. Our real answers will be much more complex, but let’s see those quick takes. 

For me? No. It’s challenging, especially in the first few hours, and there are some questionably designed arenas, but so far Sekiro hasn’t made me want to throw my controller. It has made me want to try out Gamer Goo, even if it burns my skin off. My hands are dripping after some of Sekiro’s fights. 

Steven: I definitely felt like Sekiro was too hard at first, before I intuitively understood how its subtle changes to combat actually have massive implications on how I fight. This is especially grating because, early on, you have so few resources to help in a fight. With only one charge of my estus—sorry I mean healing gourd—to start, those early combat encounters felt punishing in a way that I don't ever recall Dark Souls or even Bloodbourne being. But maybe my memory is just faulty?

Either way, I really was frustrated by Sekiro in the beginning, to the point where I openly questioned whether I even liked the game. What did you think, Tom?

Tom: Difficulty isn’t just about the number of times you die, but the progress that you lose with each death, and the amount of your human meat life that gets eaten up repeating areas. On these counts, Sekiro is a fairer and less draining game than the Dark Souls series and Bloodborne, and generally far more accessible to new players. 

James: I will say that I’m not a fan of the big arenas spilling over with enemies orbiting a miniboss. Boss time and mob time are two distinct playstyles in Sekiro, and they rarely mix well. Taking out the little guys is easy. I can do that. Don’t make me show you again, Sekiro, please. Just let me fight the drunkard.

Steven: I'm with you, James. As much as I love Sekiro, I think that there's definitely some issues with its encounter design, especially early on. There's a few mini bosses in the Hirata Estates level that are surrounded by lesser enemies, and you'd have to be a god-tier veteran to take on the whole lot in open combat. It's maddening. 

These encounters usually demand that I spend a good five minutes slowly picking off these underlings (often by cheesing the stealth system, killing one openly and then running away, waiting for them to drop aggro, and repeating the process) before being able to attempt the boss. Because it's still early in the game and I suck, I usually die pretty quickly, requiring me to repeat that whole process from the beginning. It's really hard to learn a boss when you only get 10 seconds of practice, die, and then have to endure five minutes of annoying stealth. It's less an exercise in skill and more a trial of patience. 

Fortunately, these poorly designed fights seem to not be all that common. But because they appear near the early sections of the game, it was easy to conflate these with Sekiro being, overall, far too difficult—which I just don't think is true anymore.

When combat clicks

Tom: The combat can still be brutal—you can rarely take more than two or three hits—but anyone can learn Sekiro’s parry system and become proficient with time, and I think this game does a better job of giving you all the tools you need up front. There aren’t invisible mechanics determining how fast you move based on your armour. There aren’t secret tiers of roll you get depending on what you wear. There’s no stamina bar to manage and upgrade with souls. There are no bullshit collapsing floor boss fights (curse you, Witch of Izalith). You’re a ninja: you can slash, parry, jump, and grapple—techniques that are simple to grasp.

I had fewer of those moments when I yelled ‘bullshit!’ at the monitor because Sekiro’s combat system is so consistent. There are a few hard teaching points—you’re supposed to just deflect some enemies to death, for example—but for the most part this is a game about skilling up through practice.

James: Yeah, I’m with you so far, Tom. Sekiro’s thesis is practice, patience, and mastery. The Souls games are more aimed at survival by any means necessary, dragging yourself across the finish line even if it takes dozens of hours of grinding or calling out for help (humility is key in Souls, too). How you get there is up to you. 

In Sekiro, you can fill out your arsenal and juice your health up to allow for a mistake here and there, but everyone needs to take the same path to success. Parry, dodge, jump, grapple, and strike. That’s about it. It’s more prescriptive, sure, but this isn’t a game about carving out a playstyle. Adapting to the design rather than trying to force it to fit your habits is what most people are having trouble with early on. 

Steven: I really like that difference, though. Not that Dark Souls or Bloodborne isn't great, but there's a special kind of satisfaction in having to conform to one playstyle instead of finding your own niche and abusing the hell out of it (I am a pyromancy pansy in Dark Souls).

James: Oh, I like it too, it’s just players are coming into Sekiro with five previous Souls games under their belt, along with all their accompanying habits. I don’t blame anyone for trying to play Sekiro like a Souls game as it has plenty of the same motifs: bonfire-y checkpoints, lock-on combat, labyrinthine level design, and so on. It’s been amazing to see everyone have their own epiphany where they just say fuck it and get aggressive only to realize that’s how Sekiro is meant to be played. Steven, you captured exactly what I felt in your piece on the spear dude, who seems to be everyone’s favorite teacher.

The difficulty we’re talking about is just the difficulty in understanding what the hell Sekiro is. There’s nothing that plays quite like it. Halo was hard as hell before I knew what it was, too. And to be fair, even once you get it, Sekiro is still very challenging, but it stops feeling hopeless. Like, how wild is it that after we realized aggression is key we both, in a string of real time Slack messages, encouraged each other to try and successfully beat Lady Butterfly and Genichiro with relative ease? It didn’t hurt that I’d put together a few prayer bead necklaces and found some more gourd seeds, but they didn’t guarantee my success. 

Tom: Sekiro’s structure and economy soften the difficulty of combat a bit. Sekiro’s economy lets you broaden your options with new prosthetic upgrades and combat moves; the souls and blood echoes you collect in other Soulsborne games allow you to directly increase your power. In a Souls game, instead of learning the game’s core skills, you can plough hours into repeating areas to grow your damage output and brute-force boss encounters. 

Some people enjoy that, but I think it’s a far more grueling and unpleasant way to drag out time (though such a feeling works very well thematically in the darker universe of Souls and Bloodborne—both horror games in their own way). In Sekiro you lose half your money and some skill XP when you die, which is no big deal really, and the run-backs from idols to bosses are much quicker thanks to the level design and the addition of stealth and a grappling hook that let you skip encounters.

And all of that is why Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is easy-peasy. What’s the problem, guys?

James: I’m coasting now, though I’ve yet to meet a certain ape. I’m prepared to eat my words and go through this emotional roller coaster all over again. But this time I'll know the payoff is worth it. 

Spoiler alert: I'm about to gripe about this ape encounter from start to finish, so if you'd rather not know the details here's King Kong Song by Abba instead.

The best thing about reviewing Sekiro (apart from playing an awesome game), is the brief period in the few days after the game you get to lurk on forums and watch players discover every gruelling development for the first time. It's a blissful window, before the game has been pulled apart and perfectly mapped across a library of wikis and guide pieces. Instead, you just get raw reaction. 

I saw Reddit threads about the game's difficulty. I lurked in the Sekiro Discord channel and saw folks swapping tips for taking down the Drunkard, who can seem suddenly, overwhelmingly tough the first time you meet him. Eventually you look back on his slow, telegraphed attack patterns with a sense of nostalgia.

With every thread I read, I would smile, very smugly, and think:

In 20 hours you're gonna meet a big ape, and he's gonna smash all your bones.

WHY WON'T HE STOP HITTING

The first thing the Guardian Ape does is hit you. The second thing he does is hit you. This continues apace for eternity with an occasional pause so the Ape can literally fart in your face and then throw its shit at you.

It's like a Bloodborne boss snuck into a different game. Bloodborne's frenzied beasties also like to throw out seemingly endless strings of vicious strikes with little reprieve. These long-limbed fiends are able to find you even at distance with lunging swipes and bursts of speed. It feels like sticking your head in a big furry blender. I spent hours getting mulched by this angry Catherine wheel of spittle and actual poo until I had to go off and do something else for a while. Running away isn't really an option, but staying close seems suicidal, right? 

In fact there are little pauses in those overwhelming attack patterns, and you can stay close, dodge those flailing ape fists and land blows here and there. Eventually, like Neo in a cursed Matrix full of bad animals, you acquire revelatory understanding of the beast's swipes and turd-tossing tendencies. There's a spot of calm in the middle of that monkey tornado, and you need to go and own it. 

You get into The Zone, eventually. You use the firecracker prosthetic to stun him. You start to deliver slashes to his ribs as he lunges. You discover the patch just to one side of his arse where he can't really get you, and you land more blows there. As his health bar chips down to halfway, its posture bar glows orange and—thank god—the deathblow icon appears.

You stab him in the eye, jump on his back, grasp the giant sword that's been stuck through his neck the whole time (who put it there?), and lever his head off.

Thank fuck that's finished.

IT IS NOT FINISHED

This is the moment that Sekiro: Apes Die Twice outright lies to your face. You stare at the pieces of dead ape in front of you, sigh with relief, sip a beverage, and savour the rewarding SHINOBI DEATHBLOW message. Then the gorilla picks up his head with one hand, picks up the giant sword with the other hand, and starts swinging.

Let's enjoy some reactions to that.

I admire this fight. Its two halves draw influence from fighting styles From Software have experimented with throughout its games. The first half is a dodge-heavy Bloodborne fight that runs at turbo pace. The second half is the Dancer of the Boreal Valley dressed up as a gorilla. Kinda. The Guardian Ape attacks with slinky stabs and slashes designed to throw off your deflection timings. You can get up close and attack whenever you like, but the Ape punishes with a big area-of-effect scream that, understandably, causes Terror.

If the Terror bar fills up, you just keel over dead. You can use an item to muffle the effects of terror a little, but your best defense is to run away as fast as you can, reversing your behaviour during the first half of the fight. The Guardian Ape fight teases out two entirely different combat styles and forces you to switch mindset with that grisly mid-encounter twist.

From Software seems to understand the pressure you're under at this point, so the designers give you a lifeline: a huge, lingering overhead (well, over-neck-stump) sword strike. Deflect that and the ape slumps forward, open to any attack you choose to throw. I love the Ashina double overhead kendo strike for the bonus posture damage, and because it looks awesome.

Finally, a second, terminal deathblow opportunity appears and—twist!—there's a big horrible centipede in there!?

ONE LAST TWIST OF THE KNIFE

Well, that was awful, but at least it's over. Or is it? This is a From Software game so there is, of course, Ape lore to consider.

Now with the trauma of the boss fight still fresh, you're probably not considering the Ape's thoughts and feelings during life. But across various descriptions of the ape spread across a few items and the remnant memory you discover that he was nurturing the glowing flower you find in its den. His plan was ultimately to find a mate and charm her with the flower so that he wouldn't be lonely any more.

Dig deeper and you discover that the Ape once had a wife, long ago. She died naturally, but the Centipede kept the Guardian Ape alive and in mourning ever since. Sekiro takes the Ape's flower for his lord's ritual, apparently without realising that he has become the final act in a sad love story. 

Sekiro is an incredible action game with a combat system I love, and From Software manages to bring layers of story and emotion to battles. This is fight that captures so much of what makes Sekiro great in one encounter and I can see it being one of my gaming highlights of the year.

Ultimately though, fuck that ape.

Extremely Minor Alert: This article contains mild spoilers about the identity of a few bosses for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

I've never liked a boss in Dark Souls or Bloodborne. I fear all of them, respect most of them, and outright loathe a few of them—but like them? No. They're terrors meant to be endured. Supernatural monstrosities that flail and slam and scream, and the only way I survive is by keeping my shield up and waiting for that split-second opening where I can sneak in a hit. And that's exactly how I approached every boss in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the latest in FromSoftware's very specific (and cruel) blend of action RPGs.

I first encountered "Seven Ashina Spears - Shikibu Toshikatsu Yamauchi" near the Moon View Temple. Almost 20 hours had passed since I last saw this place during Sekiro's brief intro, and Shikibu Toshikatsu Yamauchi was one of the many new enemies who had settled into the area. I found a secret route into the Moon View Temple he guarded and plundered it, so I didn't need to fight him. But where's the fun in that?

Until this point, I had weathered nearly a dozen of Sekiro's minibosses and a few of its proper bosses. I say weathered because, like the bosses from Dark Souls and Bloodborne, every victory felt like pure luck—the equivalent to closing my eyes and waving my sword around and somehow managing to stick someone with it. I never felt in control or adept—a mere shade of the stoic and courageous shinobi I control. Not me, I'm a wimp. 

Being a spiritual sequel, Sekiro shares so much DNA with Dark Souls and Bloodborne—but this isn't just a new spin on a familiar formula. Sekiro undermines everything. In facing Yamauchi, this purely optional boss, Sekiro finally drove home the lesson I had been resisting for hours: Forget your instincts. Everything Dark Souls had taught me until now is wrong, and it took a man with a big spear to help me realize it. 

Studying the blade 

If you haven't yet played Sekiro, the changes it makes to FromSoftware's beloved combat system feel almost insignificant. There's no more stamina meter to fret over as I swing my sword or dodge attacks. That's replaced by a posture meter that fills each time I block an incoming strike. Block too many attacks without a rest and my posture mere will fill and then break, leaving me vulnerable to a hit. But if I time my block perfectly, I'll deflect the blow, taking no posture damage and filling opponent's posture meter instead.

Only after managing this system of stamina and posture can I set up a one-hit kill called a shinobi deathblow. On weaker enemies, even just a single deflection can leave them vulnerable to an instakill, but Sekiro's bosses are made of sterner stuff. 

Sekiro's tutorials explained all of this and, honest to god, I thought I had internalized these lessons. But 20 hours in, just before facing Yamauchi for what must have been the 10th time, I couldn't honestly say I was enjoying Sekiro—not like I am now, at least. Whereas every FromSoftware game feels cruel and brutal, Sekiro felt downright malicious. Its enemies were relentless and deadly, rarely allowing a moment to breathe between attacks. I felt like I was playing Dark Souls with no shield and no spells available to even the odds.

Yamauchi himself attacks with such ferocity and dexterity, his spear wheeling about in arcs that are hard to track. Despite his bulk, he leaps and dances like a Cirque de Soleil performer. 

But then I squared off against Yamauchi again and told myself one thing: Be aggressive. 

Everything changed. This time I didn't give him an inch. I mashed the attack button, ready to block the moment that Yamauchi would deflect my own attack and try to counter. I was ready for that. In that instant, I deflected his counter and countered him back. The big bastard never saw it coming. 

Until that moment, I had approached every enemy in Sekiro the same way I would in Dark Souls or Bloodborne. I'd get their attention and let them make the first move. I'd study their attacks and wait for that key moment when they'd overextend and expose themself, and then—and only then—would I strike. That's how you kill a giant alligator with a gaping maw for a tummy, or a giant otter made of lightning. For 10 years, I've played every FromSoftware game abiding by this single, inviolable truth: Play defensively and wait for the opening.

So imagine my shock when Sekiro walks in here like a 24-year-old millionaire life coach, looks me dead in the eyes and says "Nah, dawg, create the opening."

Relentless 

Shikibu Toshikatsu Yamauchi is a good teacher, apparently. Patrick Klepek over at Waypoint learned a similar lesson on that exact same boss. But what I love is how that single victory over Yamauchi single-handedly empowered both of us to take on Sekiro's greatest challenges. In the aftermath of that fight, we both took on things that once seemed insurmountable.

For me, that meant returning to the top of Ashina Castle and facing off against Lord Genichiro Ashina—the last boss I'd been trying to beat. It took me nearly 30 tries before I finally beat Genichiro's first phase, but for the first time in any FromSoftware game, I was loving every moment of it. I no longer felt helpless, but capable. The thrill of our back-and-forth duel is a reward in itself. I like Genichiro.

Below: A recording of one my attempts to kill Genichiro.

No longer am I fighting new enemies and waiting to let them act first. I am the one who strikes. When they finally deflect one of my attacks, I now intuitively understand the flow of combat and can react without losing the beat. Sekiro's fights are quickly turning into a kind of fatal music—the percussive clang of steel on steel is a tempo that I dictate, not the enemy. I'm the conductor, and Sekiro's enemies dance to the rhythm of my katana.

It's intoxicating in a way that I've never felt in a FromSoftware game. Whenever I beat a boss in Dark Souls, I'd exhale in relief. I'd survived. Barely. But I don't feel like a survivor in Sekiro. I'm a warrior.

After talking about this with fellow PCG editor James, who had a similar revelation, we both felt inspired to take on challenges we had long since abandoned. For both of us, that meant killing Lady Butterfly, the final boss of the Hirata Estates area. James fought her first and came back victorious after his first try. Emboldened by his success, I went after her too.

Days earlier, I had spent an evening unsuccessfully trying to defeat Lady Butterfly and barely leaving a scratch. But with my new understanding of Sekiro's own sacred truth, I also beat Lady Butterfly on my next attempt. Then, during a quick break from writing this, I finally downed Genichiro Ashina too (though that took several tries). Two of Sekiro's most intimidating bosses KO'd in one session. I felt godlike.

The best part of FromSoftware's games has been the unspoken dialogue that exists between designer and player. Each trial teaches through punishment and persistence, and we've long laughed at the insidious ways that FromSoftware pulls the rug out from under you when you least expect it—but I've learned to be wary of empty hallways and unmoving corpses. Sekiro is FromSoftware's most audacious prank to date: a complete subversion of its own legacy and the lessons it has taught me along the way. I can't wait to see what other painful lessons Sekiro has in store. 

Lady Butterfly is an optional boss that can be encountered early on in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. She's located at the end of the Hirata Estate and you'll be able to gain access to her after you've defeated Juzuo the Drunkard by proceeding to the building directly behind him. You'll need the Hidden Temple Key obtained from the NPC you encounter after the Shinobi Hunter boss fight. 

Before heading down the stairs to use the key, check the wounded NPC after you've taken down the lone archer to receive Snap Seeds which can help in the second phase.

Lady Butterfly strategy

Lady Butterfly has two phases and you'll need to break her posture twice to defeat her. The posture gauge recovers more slowly as vitality is reduced so don't be disheartened if it seems like an impossible task at the beginning. Keep chipping away at her health and her posture gauge will become easier to fill. 

Phase One

The room where you'll fight Lady Butterfly is a fairly large, rectangular room with pillars running down either side which you will be able to use to your advantage. When you engage the boss, she will do one of two things; she'll either hurl a fan of knives at you or she'll close the distance quickly with a flurry of attacks. Either way, be ready to dodge clear.

It's best to stay as close to Lady Butterfly as you can in this phase as she'll resort to hurling knives if there's any distance between you. She'll do her best to take you down with various combo attacks, so either deflect them or dodge to the left and counterattack. She'll also do a sweeping attack that you can't deflect but a red icon will appear above your head, prompting you to jump over the attack. If you do take damage, you can back away and use a pillar to shield yourself from her knives while you use your gourd.

Another of Lady Butterfly's attacks to watch out for in this phase is when she jumps into the air to balance on wires that are strung out between the pillars. A red icon will appear over your head, allowing you to use a shuriken to knock her off balance (equipping the Loaded Shuriken on your Shinobi Prosthetic is useful for this), otherwise, be prepared to dodge to the left to avoid her devastating attack. Another aerial attack to look out for will see her jump quickly—as if from pillar to pillar—but then immediately try to land on you, again for devastating damage so get ready to dodge. Remember that you can attack right after a dodge with a slash that will inflict extra posture damage. Lady Butterfly is particularly open to this at the end of her flurry combos.

Phase two

Lady Butterfly will keep most of the same attacks during phase 2 but will summon illusions, just to make your life that little bit more difficult. You can deal with these in one of two ways; either use the Snap Seeds that you acquired before entering the boss room to disperse most of the illusions or run around the edge of the room until they dissipate.

Aside from the illusions, Lady Butterfly will also summon balls of light that will track you to explode for a lot of damage. These cannot be deflected but are easy to dodge by side-stepping. Keep up the pressure on her as you did in the first phase and you'll soon make short work of her.

If you're still having trouble, check out our handy combat tips for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

The Guardian Ape is one of the later bosses encountered in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and can be found in the Bodhisattva Valley located in the Sunken Valley. The door to access him is located behind the Centipede Giraffe boss but you'll need the Gun Fort Shrine Key from Kuro's library in order to unlock it and gain access to him. 

Guardian Ape strategy

The Guardian Ape has two phases and is unable to block any of your attacks. This doesn't mean he's a pushover though; he spends a lot of time flailing his long arms or trying to crush you by rolling around, so you'll need to be quick to deflect or dodge his attacks. Firecrackers can be useful to stun him during the first phase of the fight but the second phase will require a lot of patience as he gains a whole new move-set.

Phase one

You fight the Guardian Ape in a large, water-logged area. Despite all of the space available, you want to stay as close—and to the back of him—as much as you can. Many of his attacks can be deflected and you'll want to be as aggressive as possible in order to stagger him, which will allow you to get a number of attacks in before he runs away. The Firecracker prosthetic is useful to stun him and get off a few valuable hits but use them sparingly as they won't work if you just spam them.

He'll also (rather charmingly) throw his faeces at you, inflicting poison, so be prepared to dodge if he backs away a fair distance and reaches behind him. He'll also occasionally 'release' a poisonous gas when you attack him in the rear, so it's advisable to keep some antidotes handy if you get hit.

You'll want to look out for his grapple attacks as they will deal massive damage; the first is a sweep attack that will give you a red icon over your head, prompting you to jump to avoid it, the second is a charging attack where he will run at you, ending in a belly flop. If you can avoid both of these attacks, keep chipping away at his health and he'll soon drop.

Phase 1 will end when you execute the Guardian Ape by taking off his head.

Phase Two

The second phase of this fight arguably harder than the first. When the Guardian Ape regains his feet, he is now equipped with the sword that you dislodged during his execution. He'll also gain a whole new move-set, along with a much larger attack range.

You'll want to keep your distance for much of this phase; most of his sword swings can be blocked or deflected but it's best to stay as far away from him as possible. He'll occasionally cast a 'red terror' fog that inflicts fear which you want to avoid at all costs. If your terror meter fills up completely, you'll die, so Pacifying Agent is handy here if you do get caught in it.

The ideal time to get some hits in is following his overhead sword attack. He'll hold the sword high in the air before bringing it down towards you. If you can manage to deflect this attack, you'll stagger him, giving you the chance to get a number of your own attacks in. Another opportunity to deal some damage is when he lunges forward to take a huge horizontal swing at you; you can jump over him and get a few hits in before backing away to safety again.

If you can be patient, keep your distance, and only attack when there's a clear opening, you'll soon take this boss down.

If you're still having trouble, check out our handy combat tips for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

It took a dozen hours before I decided I'd never see the end of Sekiro. The giant ogre was beaten, the forest Shinobi hunter was slain. Several prosthetic modifications were in my posession. I’d fended off a giant serpent and left a Drunkard to rot. I’d pressed through enough to believe that maybe I’d learned the lesson I was meant to learn, this lesson being that I should be careful and aggressive in equal measure. Sekiro is a game about combining instincts that are seemingly at odds. Or maybe it’s not about that, and that’s why I’m bad at it.

But it’s definitely a game about learning how to play games again, and it’s widely agreed that From Software is deliberately punishing Souls veterans for their muscle memories. I played The Division 2 and it sometimes kicked my arse but I never had to learn about it. I had to point and shoot but I didn’t have to do it especially well, and besides, other games have taught me how to point and shoot—I’ve been pointing and shooting all my life. But I don’t really know how to play Sekiro. I know how to navigate the world and look for stuff, I know how to loot. But I never know how I’m going to beat the next boss. I just don’t. There are fourteen relevant buttons on my controller and Sekiro wants me to use all of them in constantly varying orders. 

Dark Souls games are hard and people who deny it are either arrogant or lying. But they all have the safety net of its cooperative system, which I used to the point of exploitation. Across all three of those games I never learned to parry, I never did anything fancy, I pretty much just dodgerolled and swiped. I didn’t like fighting bosses in Dark Souls, at least not alone: I liked the atmosphere and the sense of discovery, I liked exploring the world. And I could do that so long as I could dodgeroll and swipe with reasonable effectiveness. That won’t work in Sekiro.

There’s an abundance of skills to learn in Sekiro, and most involve learning something new. New combat abilities, new prosthetic tools… these all require me to re-configure the way I handle the buttons on my controller. If I eavesdrop and pay attention to cues, I can work out ways to fell enemies better. But after an hour (often much longer) whittling away at a mini-boss, there’s always another insurmountable fight just around the corner. Hence more lessons, more factors to adapt to. Sekiro’s focus on consequential encounters—its abundance of mini-bosses—means I spend most of the time unpacking the finer details of beating an enemy, and far less time exploring the world. 

Far be it from me to expound on the broader narrative themes of Sekiro—I haven’t finished it and trust me, I won’t. But there’s an undeniable clarity in From’s approach to combat here: every problem has its own complex solution, there is no coasting along, there is no reliable rhythm or “loop” in which to find solace. Some encounters punish you for running, others require it, some punish you for jumping or dodging, others insist. Even the sandbox-style stealth arenas tend to play out like process-of-elimination puzzles, they feel like Hotline Miami-style infiltrations. Dexterity is a huge focus in Sekiro, but so is unpacking situational riddles. It’s a bit like a puzzle game, and I hate puzzle games.

I’ve beaten the horseback guy, I’ve beaten the raging fiery bull, I’ve flung myself around the rooftop outskirts of the Ashina Castle, and I’ve seen how the game brushes out in all directions and begins to reward exploration. But I’m not going to complete this game, I know it in my bones. And it’s not because life is too short to punish myself so severely. To be honest, life feels very long to me. But Sekiro has forced me to realise that nowadays when I play a videogame I want to be rewarded with numbers and back-pats and superfluous indicators of progress. 

I tend to frown upon these indicators even while I’m undeniably prone to their effects. I sometimes lay awake in bed thinking about how I’ve reached level 30 in The Division 2, or how gratifying it is to have fully cleared an area of its SHD Caches. I’ve ticked all the boxes, mopped up so to speak. Sometimes in life, which is complex and hard at the best of times, achievable goals and milestones are few and far between so we find solace in games. But in Sekiro, my progress is measured mostly by how well I’ve learned this infinitely complex sword-fighting game. And I won’t learn it, or at least, I won’t have learned it until the very end. And that’s an end I won’t see. I know it, because even after I beat the horseback guy, even after I beat the fiery bull, my trembling hands dropped the controller and I just wanted to switch the damn thing off.

I’m lucky I didn’t put my hand up to review Sekiro. I was tempted to, because I’d completed every Soulsborne game. But PC Gamer wouldn’t have a review of Sekiro if that task had fallen to me. Perhaps the CEO of PC Gamer would have sacked me, my family would have disowned me, perhaps I’d need to move out and for lack of a job, I’d need to live in a cave and gradually go insane. I dodged a bullet there. I’m not going to finish Sekiro.

FromSoftware is known for designing games that are tough but fair, but nearly every Souls game includes the occasional fuck you: an ambush or subversion of player expectation that's impossible to see coming. They're little jokes designers play on unsuspecting players, and if you're a longtime From fan, they're usually funny enough to make up for any frustration they cause.

And Sekiro contains what might be the purest, goofiest FromSoftware prank yet. 

Light location and enemy spoilers follow. If you're just starting out, turn back. You'll know who this article is about when you meet them.

If you don't care about spoilers or you already know who I'm talking about: his name is, informally, Woo Guy. Below, you can watch Woo Guy say hello to a few streamers. 

God, what a beautiful process. Here's a little more context if you want the full picture and don't plan on getting there yourself. 

Once you defeat the Burning Bull, you can pick your way across the rooftops towards the castle peak, but it's not easy. A new feathered, agile enemy type is waiting for you up there. Equipped with spinning scythes and shurikens that chase you down, these bird boys are a big change-up from the grounded turtles you've been dueling until now. 

It's already a disarming moment. When I encountered these guys I did the FromSoftware thing and started studying the environment closely, looking for hidden enemies waiting to get the jump on me. And my attention was rewarded. I snuck up on a couple of the bird boys who were hoping to get a piece and gave them mine instead. 

I was an astute, smart videogame man in that moment. I felt good. This is the magic of these games, how they encourage an on-going conversation with the designer throughout, one-upping each other over the course of a level. 

But my little victory was short-lived.

After taking out two bird folk on center castle roof, I felt like I'd been properly tested. It was bound to be over soon. The rooftop ahead looked clear. There was nowhere to hide. 

Except the sky. 

First you hear it, that beautiful wooooooo. It takes a half-second to recognize, but by then it's probably too late. Most of the streamers get absolutely clocked by the guy, the pristine shooting star: Woo Guy. He didn't hit me though. The guy just ate shit on the roof and I figured he was done for. But From has an insurance policy. Woo Guy leapt up and lit his scythe on fire. Done for.

You got me, From. I could not have predicted a bird man would fall from heaven. I'm still wiping the pie off my idiot face. I fully expect a man to emerge from the TV and punch me in the dick in Dark Souls 7. 

I like the pain though. It's an unexpected and incomprehensible slapstick goof that will completely slap away the majority's hard-earned progress and deflate their egos in a heartbeat. It made me mad. But it also made me laugh for about a minute straight: A bird man, swoop-falling from the sky, wooing on the way. I can't really be mad about that. Just listen to that woo. What a performance. 

Sekiro will get the macho gamers riled up. It impresses as a near-impossible gauntlet, a series of increasingly difficult sword fights reserved for the most stalwart, aggressive gamepad samurais. But like all FromSoftware games, a little patience and a sharp eye will get you further than any brash ego. If you're having trouble with the punishing early hours, read through our Sekiro tips and then return to that troubling miniboss. Sekiro doesn't guide players through the subtleties of its combat system, and we don't blame you for not catching on. With some newfound vital knowledge in mind, you might be surprised how easily you breeze by old sticking points. 

We assure you: You can do this. 

Understand the relationship between health and posture 

The lower an enemy's health bar, the slower posture will regenerate—the same rule also applies to you. Sekiro does a great job teaching you the parry system, but simply memorizing attack patterns and parrying them all isn't the most efficient strategy in some cases. Posture tends to regenerate quickly, especially on mini-bosses, so if you're going for a death blow exclusively through parries, you're going to get frustrated. Any lull in the action will give them time to regain posture, effectively starting the fight from scratch. 

Instead, chip away at an enemy's health by dodging some attacks and getting a few slashes on their soft body in. Once their health is low enough to significantly slow posture regeneration, you'll just need to block a few hits to get a death blow in.

Take advantage of combat momentum 

There’s a subtle initiative system at work in Sekiro fights. As you combo into an enemy’s guard they will often be forced to block or take hits until they parry you. You can recognise an enemy parry because there’s a loud ‘clang’ sound and Sekiro’s blade bounces back over his head. When that happens the enemy has the initiative and you need to prepare to parry, block, or dodge their counterattack.

Use this to your advantage. Basic enemies have predictable counterattacks that you can bait out with one or two hits. That allows you to set up a parry that will destroy their posture. The round-hatted soldiers early in the game are good practice. One hit to their guard will bait out a predictable and easily parried counterattack.

Counter special attacks 

There are three types of special enemy attacks, flagged by a flashing red Kanji character. Effectively countering some of these special attacks requires ability upgrades you'll need to spend XP on, like the Mikiri Counter. Get them as soon as possible. 

Thrusting attacks: Ideally you should counter these with the Mikiri counter. Press the dodge key (B on an Xbox controller, O on a PS4 controller) to step on your enemy’s weapon for massive posture damage. This will give you a deathblow for most basic spear enemies. You can also dodge around thrusts at the last split second. Be careful though, thrusts tend to track your position until late in the attack.

Slashing special attacks: A horizontal swipe. Jump over the slashing weapon towards your enemy’s head and press jump again to kick off them and deal maximum posture damage. A booming noise and a shockwave will tell you you’ve performed the counter correctly. Perform Sekiro’s mid-air double slash as you descend for even more posture damage.

Grab special attacks: Avoid these as best you can with dodges or jumps. The angle of attack from a grab varies based on the enemy. The red-eyed ogre early in the game has horrible long-distance grabs, for example, but most are short range and easily dodged.

Watch the enemy’s wind-up to try and predict the special attack they are about to throw at you. It takes practice to spot the cues, but enemies tend to strike a wind-up pose for a split second before launching the attack. If the weapon is tucked close to the body, it’s likely a thrust attack. If the weapon is held wide or away from the body, it’s probably a slash wind-up. You will also learn when enemies like to deploy a special attack through practice and familiarity with their patterns.

Train with Hanbei the Undying

Early on you'll meet Hanbei, a friendly dude that can't die who let's you casually murder him over and over for practice. Work through his tutorials: you can learn some of the more confusing timings, like the Mikiri (thrust) counter, in a relaxed, consequence-free environment. Plus, you'll unlock some more challenging tutorials and dialogue along the way. Might as well get to know your punching bag. 

You probably missed an item that will trivialize certain fights 

Sekiro isn't a Souls game, but it still hides away helpful tools in every corner of the world, and by design. Talk to everyone, make use of your climbing skills, and you'll probably get the hint regarding the whereabouts of a certain prosthetic that might make whatever foe you're up against less of a threat. Prayer beads, gourd seeds, and more surprising, helpful stuff is squirreled away all over. Go find it. 

On that note: Don't worry about a certain butterfly early on 

A tough fight! Better leave that branch and come back with better tools in tow (and when you know what the hell you're doing). 

Read all item and skill descriptions 

From Software does a lot of its world building in item descriptions so it’s a good idea to read as much as you can to absorb all that narrative detail. There are practical benefits to reading item and ability descriptions too. Certain key phrases will give you clues that will help you to complete NPC sidequests.

Bank your money with coin purses 

If you die and you don't get lucky with Unseen Aid, you'll lose half of your earned XP towards the next level, and more painfully, half of your money. It's easy to get into the groove and fail to notice that you're Scrooge McDuckin' only to die to a big chicken. Coin purses are essentially tiny banks you keep in your inventory that keep your money safe. So, if you're venturing into unknown territory and sitting on a pile of gold, stop by a vendor and scoop up some purses to protect your investment first.

You don't have to kill everyone (right away) 

Feel free to stick to the trees. It's possible and often beneficial to go through an entire area like a true ninja: invisibly. You might find a prayer totem at the back of the arena, allowing for easier stealth kills and more manageable combat overall. 

Try to separate smaller enemies wherever possible 

Any foe can be devastating in large groups. Sneak up on any single opponent and if possible use your rope to get to cover once you’re surrounded until things calm down. It always helps to get an overview of an area and the number of enemies from up above before going in, especially enemies with long-range weapons. They should be the first to go.

If you're stuck on a tough enemy, review footage and memorize attack rhythms 

Yeah, you gotta study the blade. Most of Sekiro's challenge arises from trying to get a grip on your enemy while they're shoving a sword through your chest. Multitasking ain't easy. Use Shadowplay or another recording program to capture footage of a tricky enemy to more easily internalize tells and attack patterns. Tap out the most troubling combos on your thigh. Say it out loud. One, two, three, four—pause—one-two-three-four-five—pause—one. Some of you might recognize that particular pattern already. Freaky bastard.

If you really have to, you can look up specific boss guides, but we strongly encourage trying to learn everything yourself. Sure, it'll make Sekiro much more challenging, but I don't think real ninjas use YouTube.

Look for stealth deathblow opportunities against bosses and minibosses 

If you’re stuck against a tough opponent, have a thorough look at the environment. Many bosses and minibosses are positioned in a way that will allow you to sneak up on them from behind or above for a free deathblow.

Run-jumping can be a good defence against large enemies 

Hold the dodge button to make Sekiro run. Pressing jump while running will give you a longer jump. If you’re fighting something with huge swiping weapons or area-of-effect attacks the run-jump can be quicker and safer than a chain of dodges. Running while locked on to an enemy can also help you flank them nice and quickly and it’s a useful way to dodge arrows and bullets.

There are 'invisible' walls 

The Souls tradition continues in Sekrio, though your sword won't help you find them. I advise getting as close as you can to any suspicious, drafty walls. 

Kill it with fire, my god, kill it with fire 

In the Hirata Estates level, shortly after the first checkpoint, you'll find a locked gate that forces you to head right through rows of huts. Eventually, you'll see a group of enemies huddled around a bonfire, with the Flame Barrel Shinobi Prosthetic sitting on top. Grab this weapon—it'll be your savior in so many fights. Combined with oil (easily farmed from enemies further in Hirata Estates—just before the Juzou the Drunkard mini boss), the Flame Barrel sets enemies alight and does damage over time to their vitality. 

Against a lot of bosses (especially slow moving ones), this extra damage is invaluable. Not only it will often create an opening to strike once or twice when they're first set alight, but if you can consistently keep them burning the fire will do a significant amount of the work for you.

Upgraded prosthetics need to be equipped 

I (James) poured thousands of coins and upgrade materials into my shuriken and axe upgrades before realizing I didn't even have them equipped. Maybe I should've caught on when I couldn't pull off their additional moves, but, hey, there's a lot going on in Sekiro. It could happen to anyone, right? So yeah, head into your inventory and equip your upgraded prosthetics once you buy them. It's not clear why they show up as different items, but they do. 

Try out some mods

OK, so they won't necessarily help you, but Sekiro already has some mods that unlock the framerate, add PS4 button prompts, and unlock widescreen resolution support. Sure, it would've been nice to have in there in the first place, but PC gamers will always find a way. 

The enemy samurai fires a bolt from his enormous bow. I tap the parry button and slice the arrow out of the air. I know the shot is just cover for a sliding charging slash with his blade. It's two quick strikes, but I'm expecting it. I tap the block button twice to deflect both with a loud ringing sound and a flash of sparks. A glowing red symbol tells me that an unblockable attack is coming, an attack that has killed me three or four times before. 

The samurai lunges forwards with a thrusting stab. I press B at the last second and—this never gets old—my shinobi effortlessly steps on the blade and brings it harmlessly to the ground. My counter is rewarded by a loud boom noise. If this was an ordinary enemy I would press the right bumper and thrust my katana into their exposed neck for a brutal kill, foot still pressed down on their useless weapon. The boss just staggers back, resets his stance, and the battle resumes.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the latest from Dark Souls developers From Software. It's set in a fantasy vision of Sengoku Japan, in the middle of a conflict between the Ashina and Hirata clans. You play a rogue shinobi called Sekiro—the one-armed wolf—charged with protecting a young lord who has the coveted power to defy death. It's more of an action game than an RPG. You pick up new prosthetic arms and learn new combat techniques, and even put skill points into a few upgrade trees. Don't expect to be fiddling with armour stats: this is a game about brief, deadly battles in an age of kunai and katanas.

Sekiro's combat system is beautiful. Instead of chipping down health bars until the enemy keels over, you overwhelm their posture bar with strikes and perfect parries until an opening appears, and then finish with a deathblow. Enemy health bars are there to affect the amount of damage an enemy's posture takes. As you get slashes through an enemy's guard and damage them directly, they will take more posture damage from future attacks and recover more slowly.

Posture up

You can attack enemies with combos, special sword attacks, prosthetic gadgets and shinobi arts, but the aim is always to max out that posture gauge and get that final blow.

I love the catharsis of beating a great boss in a From Software game. In Sekiro the deathblow system focuses all that emotion into one split second. After a tough encounter there's a rush of elation and relief when you see the glowing red deathblow reticle and hit the killing attack.

Boss exchanges can be gruelling. If you dislike using parry timings in combat—pressing the block button just as an enemy attack lands—then Sekiro might not be for you. Some bosses require you to consistently parry multiple combos. One fight in a tight space with a creature called Long-Arm Centipede Giraffe is basically a rhythm action sequence. You can't avoid their blitz of attacks; you just have to deflect them all in a shower of sparks and shwing swhing shwing noises. Precise deflections deal posture damage back to the enemy, and some enemies are designed to be defeated using deflections alone. It's a tough but incredibly rewarding system to master. It feels amazing to effortlessly deflect and counter enemies that were once a terrible challenge.

Thankfully parry timings are generous and much more responsive than the vague shield-wave you get in Dark Souls. You can also hold block and then release-and-tap to get a parry, which keeps you relatively safe as you're learning enemy attack patterns. Enemies throw you out of blocking with special thrust, slash, and grab attacks, which have their own counters. You can step on a thrust, and you can jump over the slash, kicking off the enemy's head with a tap of the A button on a controller for a good dose of posture damage. You can use your dodge to avoid many grab attacks, but as you fight deeper into the game, expect enemies to start wrong-footing you with unusual attack patterns.

You can counter with your increasingly powerful prosthetic arm. As you find upgrades you can return to your hub, the Dilapidated Temple, to have your gruff but caring sculptor friend install and upgrade them. Upgrades include an axe that smashes enemy shields, an unfolding metal umbrella that deflects gunfire, a device that throws shuriken (brilliant for knocking jumping enemies down mid-flight), and more that I won't spoil. You can switch between three at a time and swap those three around in the pause menu whenever you like. They are often designed to counter specific enemy behaviours, and an opponent that initially seems impossible can often be defeated easily with a specific prosthetic attachment—shield enemies are comically rubbish once you find the axe attachment.

Otherworldly

This isn't a Dark Souls game, but Sekiro has plenty in common with the dark fantasy RPG series. Sekiro is made up of large but separate zones rather than a huge connected world like Lordran. Dark Souls fans will still enjoy the knotted structure of these areas, though, and there are many secrets hidden just off the critical path, often reached with the excellent grappling hook, which lets you vault between tree branches and rooftops using the left trigger. You will find yourself returning to old areas frequently to catch up with merchants and NPCs, who have their own mysterious needs and backstories. As ever with a From Software game, I feel like I'm skirting on the surface during the first playthrough. I expect it will take months of fans making connections for Sekiro's deeper stories to emerge.

Sekiro's main plot is told through Sekiro’s conversations with the little Lord and other NPC hangers-on. Sekiro himself is also voiced, and plot development happens in conversations that occasionally offer multiple choice options. For the first ten hours or so I found the world itself to be quite bland—a mix of samey brown-hued townships with a slim selection of enemies. The variety expands enormously as the game progresses and beautiful new areas open up. 

Strangely, though the combat system is very challenging, Sekiro is less punishing than Dark Souls. The environments are bound together by Idols, which are the game's equivalent of Dark Souls bonfires. When you die you respawn at the last Idol you touched, but you only lose half of your money and some skill experience. 30 percent of the time you will get 'Unseen Aid', which means you lose nothing. 

Dying repeatedly reduces that percentage chance of getting unseen aid, but there's no way to get completely stuck in Sekiro. You can bank your money by purchasing bags of coin at vendors, and if you really want to buy something you can do a lap of an earlier area after popping a magic gold-boosting balloon. New skills are nice, but they are not crucial to progression.

Hard mode

Importantly, stat boosts are tied to bosses. You can process memories of great boss fights to increase attack power and turn in prayer beads to increase health and posture. You get prayer beads from secret chests and one-off kills of tough ordinary enemies. That means you can't grind for stat boosts. Instead, the game is balanced around a predictable player power level. To me this a considerable improvement on the Dark Souls formula. It removes all anxiety about being under-leveled or under equipped: you just take on the challenge that's presented and improve your skill to progress.

It helps that you can come back from the dead. Every time you rest at an Idol you restore up to one resurrection, but killing enemies charges up a second. You can't use multiple resurrections in quick succession, but they are a vital crutch and an interesting tactical consideration, especially during boss fights. Sekiro always presents you with multiple exploration avenues at the same time, so if you get stuck on one area, you can try to progress in the other, or backtrack to take on a miniboss that was too tough earlier. Stealth also takes the edge off. In some areas with a lot of ordinary enemies you can discover stealthy routes past them, which makes repetition far less dull. It's also fun to use stealth in combination with combat. I like to try to eliminate at least one member of a group with an instant stealth kill before blitzing the rest with my sword.

Sekiro took me 73 hours to complete, but there are high level challenges hidden throughout that could add another ten before I plunge into new game plus. Sekiro's combat system serves up exciting new challenges to the end and the shinobi fantasy is powerfully realised in every savage deathblow and perfectly timed parry. If you're up for the challenge, Sekiro will reward your patience with some of the most spectacular, nerve-wracking duelling on PC.

The best Sekiro mods can speed or slow time, change Sekiro's outfit, and even change the combat to feel more like Bloodborne. Sekiro runs well on PC in our experience, but there's always room for improvement, and you'll find utilities below that can help Sekiro run better with your PC setup. And then there's the fun stuff, like turning your samurai into a dead-eyed Woody from Toy Story.

Word of warning. As always, mods that change game files can put your savegames etc at risk. Be sure to back up your save before messing around with anything. You can find the save files at C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Sekiro. Also make sure you switch the game off via the menu screen (don't recklessly Alt-F4), as this can cause save file corruption.

Here's our roundup of the best Sekiro mods.

Install Sekiro mod engine

Link: Nexus Mods

Many mods rely on the Sekiro mod engine to work. It's a file editor that lets mods mess with the game's guts. It also skips the logos at the start of the game so you can get stabbing faster. Convenient!

Unlock framerate, change FOV, add custom resolutions, change game speed

Link: Nexus mods

This single utility lets you adjust Sekiro to match your PC setup. If your PC is powerful enough you can unlock the framerate for better performance, or set a custom resolution to make use of an ultrawide monitor.

You can also make some significant optional changes to the game. You can choose to stop dragonrot from accumulating when you die, or remove sen and XP loss on death. You can even set the game speed to run faster or slower, which can be a great way to learn parrying, or help you out against a particularly tough boss.

When you install the mod, note the extensive instructions on graphics card settings and more in the mod's description page. The utility patches the game as it's running, which can be fiddly, but it's worth it to make these useful changes. If you can get it working this is one of the best Sekiro mods in our round up.

Fight any boss, in any order, at any time

Link: Nexus Mods

For the more hardcore Sekiro veterans, this Boss Rush mod is an incredible way to hone your skills replay boss fights with no fluff in-between. Once installed, you can instantly teleport to any boss fight from the Dilapidated Temple. Each boss grants 1,000 sen for upgrades and XP for upgrades.

The mod also streamlines other mechanics to make the Boss Rush more convenient:

• Skip the Ashina Reservoir tutorial segment
• Item pickups and drops do not pause the game
• No in-game tutorial popups
• No cutscene on first death
• No slow-walk areas
• Exchange multiple gourd seeds and multiple prayer necklaces at once
• Sold out items are removed from the shop

Learn the basics with Sekiro 'easy mode'

Link: Nexus Mods

If you wish Sekiro had an easier mode so you can just enjoy its technical combat and beautiful worlds, modder ttwin531 has you covered. The mod increases your attack power, defense, and stamina. It also grants unlimited spirit emblems, which can be a big help in boss fights where certain shinobi tools work especially well.

Turn Sekiro's combat into Bloodborne

Link: Nexus Mods

This mod completely reconfigures Sekiro's combat to resemble From's PS4 exclusive Bloodborne. Blocking no longer deflects attacks and combat is now focused on dodging. Vanilla Sekiro downplays dodging by having only six invincibility frames, but this mod bumps it to 16 by default. It also adds Bloodborne's rally system, which lets players quickly gain back health they've recently lost by landing hits on enemies.

Play as Emma, Genichiro, a big frog, and much more

Link: Nexus Mods

This entry in our best Sekiro mods list replaces the Sekiro player character model with a range of characters including Emma, a monkey, an Ashina samurai, Genichiro, Isshin, and loads more.

Enable PS4 controller prompts

Link: Nexus Mods

The PC version of Sekiro has a hard time recognising Playstation 4 controllers. This is odd, because modders have found native PS4 buttons in the game's files, they just aren't activated. Fix that with the Native PS4 Buttons mod.

Change Sekiro's outfit

Link: Nexus Mods

Bored of the One-armed Wolf's brown and orange gear? Blend into the shadows with this simple but effective colour swap.

Link: Nexus mods

Get two gorgeous, detailed outfits in this mod, Oni of the Forest and Oni of the Shadows. They look great with the katana appearance mod below.

Give Sekiro a beard

Link: Nexus mods

The mod darkens the wolf's hair too. It really suits him.

Add swords of moonlight

Link: Nexus mods

Moonlight swords appear in Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne, but it's not normally the sort of weapon a shinobi favours. This mod replaces Sekiro's sword with either the DS3 or Bloodborne moonlight sword. All of Sekiro's animations are designed for a smaller sword, but it's a fun novelty nod to From Software's history.

Change your katana's appearance

Link: Nexus mods

The Holy Moonlight Kusabimaru is a gorgeous, tasteful take on the famous moonlight blades of the Soulsborne games.

Add elemental damage cosmetic effects to your katana

Link: Nexus mods

The Elemental Weapon Buffs mod lets you swig gourds to supercharge your katana. The mod includes  eight purely cosmetic effects including fire, lightning, blood, and the awesome flaming purple divine confetti effect.

Add reshades

Reshades change the saturation and colour balance of the image the game outputs, and sometimes add anti-aliasing and depth-of-field effects. Some reshades can be quite intense and over the top, but if you like more pronounced shadows and dark colours then the simple 'Sekiro HDR Preset' might do the trick. The Simple Realistic Reshade also gives the game's colours a big pop.

For more on Sekiro, check out our Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice review.

Add Thomas the Tank Engine

Link: Nexus mods

Replace the great serpent with a monstrous Thomas the Tank Engine. This mod continues the grand modding tradition of adding Thomas the Tank Engine to games where he has no business being. Here he is in Monster Hunter: World.

Play as Krillin, the strongest man on Earth

Link: Nexus Mods

This simple Krillin reskin finally gives the guy a chance to kick butt without freaking out every two seconds. His head is appropriately oversized and his gi is wonderfully bright against the muted tones of Sekiro.

While you're at it, be Woody

Link: Nexus Mods

Or don't, that would be fine too. Actually yea, definitely don't play as Woody in Sekiro. It's a cursed thought and a cursed image. Woody's eyes feel no pain and no regret as he mercilessly drives his blade into flesh. He's the bad guy.

Play in first-person

Link: Nexus Mods

If you're a glutton for punishment, why not play Sekiro in first-person and die a lot more often? This mod changes the perspective and turns Wolf into a pair of floating arms. You'll need to install Cheat Engine to get this running.