Over the last decade or so, FromSoftware has continued to cement itself as one of the best action-RPG developers out there, with its own unique brand of wonderfully grim world-building and brutally challenging gameplay setting it apart from the rest of the crowd. But while the vast majority of FromSoftware's games over the last decade have conformed to the same general gameplay and story structure, there's one game that stands out from the crowd, and that's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
Though it still definitely shares some DNA with the Dark Souls series, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice makes a few big departures from FromSoftware's usual formula. In terms of gameplay, Sekiro carries over the brutal challenge of Dark Souls, but gives the combat a much faster feel with a heavy reliance on parrying. When it comes to world-building, Sekiro takes the foreboding nature of Dark Souls and gives it a real-world backdrop with much brighter visuals. And finally, Sekiro takes a big leap with its story, foregoing FromSoftware's usual obtuseness for a fairly clear, linear approach, a style that has both its advantages and its disadvantages.
The Case For Another Sekiro-Style Story in FromSoftware's Next Game
Generally speaking, Sekiro features a much clearer narrative than the rest of FromSoftware's recent action-RPG library. While most of FromSoft's recent games tell their stories primarily through puzzling item descriptions and unhinged character dialogue, Sekiro instead tells its story in a more linear, straightforward fashion, at least for the most part. Sekiro begins with a quick cutscene, and after a few minutes, players will run into an NPC that essentially details the game's main plot to that point, with plenty of world-building elements sprinkled in for good measure. From here, the rest of Sekiro's story is told quite clearly through cutscenes and character dialogue, keeping the player up to date on what their mission is at any given moment.
One of the biggest advantages of this more straightforward approach to narrative is that it's much more welcoming to newcomers. While narrative isn't the most important element of a video game for many, not understanding it can still be a major turn-off. The effort something like Dark Souls requires from the player to just understand what's happening in the world can be a big setback in some players' enjoyment, especially if they're completely new to the genre and FromSoftware's library.
Another big benefit of Sekiro's clearer narrative is that many of the game's larger boss fights and set pieces feel a lot more impactful in the moment, as the player likely clearly understands what's going on and why it's important to the story. While Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring's boss fights can be incredibly impactful, they become even more so when players understand the deep lore behind who they're fighting, and for the most part, Sekiro ensures that players already have a good idea of that going into a big fight.
The Case Against Another Sekiro-Style Story in FromSoftware's Next Game
But there is one big downside to having a more straightforward and linear Sekiro-like story in FromSoftware's next game, that being how one of the biggest draws of FromSoftware's games for many fans is their elusiveness. Many FromSoft fans adore spending hours upon hours diving head-first into a new game and uncovering every tidbit of lore they can find from item descriptions and one-off voice lines, forging them all together like a puzzle to better understand the world and its characters. Though this can certainly be overwhelming and confusing for newcomers, it's a big reason why FromSoftware's worlds are so compelling and unique.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
