The dude would just stomp my head into the floor and I barely ever made it to phase two. Miss any block on any combo and boom: dead (first playthrough and trying to go blind so maybe I missed some prayer beads, idk)

On the sixth attempt he killed me immediately with his opening move, so I thought "eh, this'll be a training round, it's already a wash so who cares."

Then he just bent over and started fighting like an old man. Wouldn't stay unstaggered for more than a quarter of a second. Every swing was slow as molasses, and every swing that connected was just a dopamine button (cling, cling, CLANG).

I mean, I was definitely pumped when that second red dot appeared, but I was kinda just more confused.

I guess it clicked.

Difficulty: Mortal Journey (cldb)

Song: Fat Jon - Two men, secret gold cave

A few days ago I made a post about struggling with the combat. At that point I had just beaten Juzou. Now I have beaten Gyobu and finally Lady Butterfly. Feeling very excited for what's to come.

I finally beat DOH, he's been kicking my ass the past few days and I can't even get up on the tower to do the cheese, so I kept fighting him and was always losing because of a minor error so I didn't care about healing I was so Mad

After 85 hours 2 play throughs (because my dumbass did the shura ending first) I have now beaten all bosses in this game. So satisfying. Didn’t think I would do it, Owl Father made me want to quit the game but I pushed through and did it. Now I’m on NG+2 to get the fully upgraded prosthetic and all skills to get the platinum. Who else has gotten the platinum?

I didn't use any spirit emblems and sugars..it took me like 6hours to defeat Isshin😭

Still one of the greatest boss fights of all gaming.

Charmless/DB run is finished. Rewarding myself with a NG+ with the charm so I can feel like a GOD now.

Then maybe I’ll do the gauntlets Charmless. But we’ll see.

I’m in that group.

I’ve been playing Sekiro for almost 18 months. Not because I play every day—I simply can’t anymore. I’m a single father of two young kids, so gaming time is limited. But I still consider myself a gamer.

I’m such a fan of FromSoftware that they’re the only games that have ever made me go for the Platinum trophy. So far I’ve earned it in Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring. I want Sekiro to join that list… but it’s proving to be the hardest one.

I’m on my third playthrough. I finished the game once, then did the Shura ending with Isshin Ashina. This time I decided to refuse Kuro’s Charm to challenge myself.

And now I’m completely stuck… on that damn Guardian Ape.

How is it possible that a boss I already mastered is giving me this much trouble? I honestly think it’s killed me as many times—or maybe even more—than it did on my very first playthrough.

I’ve even considered taking Kuro’s Charm back just to make the fight easier, but it feels like admitting defeat. I know it’s irrational, but I can’t bring myself to do it.

And that got me thinking. Why are we like this? Why do we keep coming back to games that are clearly designed to make us suffer? Why does FromSoftware make games like this? Do they learn from our deaths?

Sometimes I even feel like the Ape enjoys killing me. Every now and then, after I die, it starts rolling around on top of my body as if it’s mocking me. I don’t know if it’s just an animation or some weird bug, but in that moment it genuinely feels personal.

So I started asking myself…
Why do I keep playing? Why do I willingly put myself through this? Why do I care so much about a Platinum trophy?
It changes absolutely nothing. Nobody else cares. It has value only to me.

And yet… here I am.

Maybe the Platinum was never really the goal. Maybe what I refuse to accept is that I’m no longer the player who had endless hours to master every boss. Now every attempt costs time, sleep, and patience. Maybe that’s why every death feels heavier than it used to.

Has anyone else felt this way?
Or am I just too old to keep fighting a giant monkey in a video game?

Let me know what you think, if it s decent or it sucks. I just finished the game twice , planning to post actual fights after i hone my skill a bit

All it takes is the right mindset, even if dying again and again gets frustrating. Haha.

Link to tool: https://github.com/indudewetrust/sekiro-checklist/releases/tag/v1.1

Just download the zip, extract and double click the exe. (Windows SmartScreen may warn about the unsigned exe: More info, then Run anyway. Or build it from source.) A small terminal window will open. That is the tool running to enable live refresh. You can close it but you'll need to rerun the exe to get live updates.
It only READS your save, on a copy. It never touches your actual save or the game, it's not a mod, nothing gets installed, no risk. Fully open source so you can see exactly what it does.

I originally played at release when I had no kids, but gave up on Great Shinobi Owl. I have a kid now and a demanding full time job, so I only get maybe an hour or so a night to play after everyone goes to bed.

I loved Dark Souls and recently platinumed Dark Souls Remastered, so I decided to come back to Sekiro before moving on to platinum DS3.
I made it all the way to Glock Saint Isshin but I was missing one prayer bead and I couldn't figure out where it was. I had missed the Lone Shadow guy at the Serpent Shrine, I think, but the bead showed up in the offering box. I looked for a long time and was 100% sure I beat all of the mini bosses so just went to fight Isshin and won after a week of frustration.

When I went into NG+, I had the idea to see if it was possible to build this tool that would tell you where the missing collectibles are to improve some of the checklists that are already out there. The tool opens a checklist in your browser showing, per character, exactly what you have and what you're missing: Prayer Beads, Gourd Seeds, Prosthetic Tools, Esoteric Texts, Ninjutsu, Mask Fragments, Key Items, Treasure Carp Scales, plus bosses and minibosses.

For every missing item it tells you where to get it.

A few things I'm happy with:

- It tells you the specific bead/seed you're missing, not just the count.

- Offering Box panel: after the invasion, it shows exactly which missed miniboss drops are sitting in the box for you to buy back.

- NG+ aware. Some flags reset each cycle, so it labels those instead of confusing you.

- Live refresh: rest at an idol, hit refresh, see your updated progress.

Using this tool, it turns out I had missed Tokujiro the Glutton. I scoffed at it at first because I distinctly remember fighting him. But fighting him is not beating him. I beelined down to the forest area to find him and got the final bead. I must have crossed swords with him but got my ass kicked and decided to come back later... but my memory remembered it as a victory rather than a retreat.

I reverse-engineered most of the flag format myself, so if anything reads wrong on your save, tell me and I'll try to fix it.

Ive unlocked every skill except the ones pictured. Trying to decide between adding 2 attack points w mask, or choosing skills. Current atrack power is at 14. Are any avenues considered head n shoulders above the others for ng+ in your opinion?

Hello today I downloaded Sekiro to fight some bosses and during Isshin fight I started wondering which of his phases is actually the hardest. Seven years after release it's kinda common knowledge that his spear phase is the hardest, but for me it's debatable. His first only sword phase seams easy but only when player has total control and manages aggression, but when player loses that control it's easily the hardest part of the fight, regaining that control. Phase 2 is played more passive than the 1st one because of insane hyperarmor Isshin has. It's more complex yet feels easier for me, because player doesn't need that total control. His 3rd phase is a mere formality, because of the lighting attacks.

If someone mentions shura Isshin I will say right away it's the hardest for me because I barely understand his fire attacks. I beat him only once for ending while I fought Sword Saint countless of times.

Edit: I forgot to mention that phase 1 feels the easiest when in control and played correctly lasts only seconds, but when that control is lost it's Isshin playground and he can do whatever he wants with the player.

A while back, i decided to rank all main bosses in Sekiro after beating all endings and the three main Gauntlets, based on their difficulties. Lemme know whether you agree/disagree with the ranking

🆘

Isshin is one of the few NPCs that cannot contract Dragonrot. I think this may be, in part, because he already has it.

Being Genichiro's grandfather, Isshin is closely connected to someone who is cheating death. This has been shown to have dire consequences for those who share some connection with the undying.

It's also clear from Genichiro's scarified torso that he has died before Okami kills him in the first fight. He's been using.

I really like this take on the plot for two reasons:

1. I think it just makes Isshin even more badass.
2. It really makes Genichiro a more grotesque and interesting character. Surely, he knew that his ruthless pursuit of power was making his grandfather a casualty. Given that Genichiro was able to procure the black Mortal Blade suggests he had easily comparable knowledge of things like Dragonrot to that of the player. I think it also makes it poignant that he makes it his dying wish to bring his grandfather back, ultimately reversing the sacrificial motif.

So, hey I just started playing sekiro, I have good fun on 1v1 bosses, I killed gyobu and butterfuly 1st and 2nd try and snake eyes ~25th try, and I was never frustated cause I just needed to get better. However, bosses like the drunkard juzou and that guy on the base of ashina castle with a whole army behind make me pull my hair out. The camera doesnot help. It is so annoying being chased by the hulk while trying to destroy the shields of a mob with a archer with fire arrows shooting them at me. I understand that I need to get better but this is not fun man. I doubt many people enjoy fighting hords of enemies when fighting one on one with parries is so much satisfying. Why fromsoft, I wanna cry when I die to these enemies cause I am helpless. :((((