Within an hour after starting From Software's latest game, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the main protagonist Wolf will find himself going toe-to-toe with General Genichiro Ashina, who serves as the first boss fight. The battle with Genichiro is a tough one, even for From Software standards, and seems virtually impossible to win. However, it does seem as though it's technically possible for Sekiro players to beat the Genichiro at the beginning of the game.

We were unable to test this ourselves, but apparently if players beat Genichiro in Sekiro, a slightly different cut-scene plays where Wolf is still defeated and still loses his arm. The game then proceeds as normal, with the player soon gaining the grappling hook arm and starting their adventure proper. Again, we were unable to confirm this ourselves at the time of this writing, but accounts online suggest this is the case.

While it seems technically possible to beat Genichiro at the beginning of Sekiro, we don't recommend players bother doing so. There doesn't seem to be any reward or Trophy tied to it, and ultimately, they are supposed to lose the first boss fight. For that reason, we also don't recommend they expend any of the items they've collected so far, as it will all just go to waste when fighting Genichiro.

sekiro can you beat first boss genichiro ashina

Some fans may find it frustrating that they can't truly defeat Genichiro at the beginning of Sekiro, even if they do manage to drain his health bars. However, there are plenty of other bosses for them to fight that they can actually beat later on in the game. For example, there is the Lady Butterfly boss fight near the beginning, not to mention the battle with the Chained Ogre.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice gives players plenty of opportunities to tangle with extremely powerful bosses and a large number of mini-bosses as well, so players are constantly engaged in intense, high-stakes battles. Most of these encounters can be won, but the first boss fight with Genichiro is a lost cause, as there is no point in trying to beat him.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.