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‘Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’ – New Gameplay, Weapons & More Revealed in Final Trailers

We’ve had a lot to cover with FromSoftware and Activision’s new game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice in terms of storytelling, an interview with the Activision Associate Producer and even hands on demo experience before anyone else; but with only a few days until the March 22nd release, we’re still getting more details on this new game. Last week we got a glorious new trailer, and now we just got an in depth gameplay trailer that not only shows off a lot of what we learned a few weeks ago in our demo test, but also provides clarification on some finer game mechanics along with teasing some never before seen enemies and moves that completely change the game.

So let’s take one final sneak peek at what awaits us in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Starting with last week’s trailer, we got a great look at some of the monstrous enemies we’ll fight. As we learned in our interview with Activision Associate Producer Andrew Petrie, a lot of this game can be described as a “slow descent into madness”. We’ve seen a lot of the realistic bandit and warrior enemies; but we’re still exploring how fantastical things can get in this game (ie: a giant mountain-sized snake). Last week’s trailer gave us a glimpse at some horrifying new enemies that ranged from the semi-realistic (ie: an ox with a flaming log strapped to its head) to the not so realistic (ie: yeti-swordsman?). Though one of the quickest reveals in this trailer is actually the one we can dive the most into.

Towards the later portions of this footage, you will see what appears to be a headless giant wielding a purple sword. This is our first official look at an ‘Apparition-Type’ enemy; and as we learned yesterday thanks to Playstation’s Senpou Temple footage with Andrew, Apparition-Type enemies are completely different in how they move, fight, and the effect they have on you. They are not only surrounded by a black aura that slows your movement and reaction time, but also just being near them causes a ‘terror’ status bar to start filling, which will cause you to take more and more damage upon hits. Throw in the fact that it seems they can disappear and reappear behind you at a moment’s notice – without any tell or flourish – and they perfectly capture the nightmares they’re meant to invoke.

The variety of enemy types in this game is simply stunning, and each encounter requires a different set of tactics and equipment on your end. Sometimes a new skill will be needed. Other times you’ll need to get a specific prosthetic upgrade. And on occasion, you’ll even need a certain consumable item. Whatever situation you find yourself in, you’ll need to master both your opponents’ as well as your own move-sets, which brings us to this week’s gameplay trailer.

This week’s new Gameplay trailer showed off a lot of new abilities we haven’t seen or experienced yet. The most noticeable of which is a strange ability where our character disappears into a flurry of feathers. We also saw this showcased in last week’s trailer as we seem to vanish through a charging bull and then reappear after it has passed. This time we saw it being applied as a dodge and jump, which means this could either be a new overarching dodge mechanic that can be used in various ways (ie: ‘vanish button’ and then do what you want) or these are two different skills along the same tree(ie: ‘vanish in place’ upgrades to ‘vanish, then ascend’). Though this isn’t the only new skill we get a glimpse at as the trailer also shows us ‘Ground slides’ as well as what appears to be our hero attacking with a flurry of kicks – our first glimpse at attacking with something other than our sword or prosthetic.

Speaking of our prosthetic, it also gets some attention in this trailer as we get our first detailed look – to my knowledge – of the loaded spear prosthetic. In addition to allowing you to perform long sweeping attacks, it can also allow you to drag enemies closer to you. Though this isn’t the only prosthetic upgrade we see in this trailer as we get two shots of what appears to be a Flame Vent upgrade where you propel yourself backwards while also unleashing a stream of flames. Additionally, the second time we see this ability in the trailer there are bluish purple flames. At this moment, it’s unclear if this is an additional upgrade of the Flame Vent (ie: blue flames are hotter) or if this is an effect of using the ‘Divine Confetti’ – a consumable which lights your sword purple and deals additional damage to Apparition-Type enemies.

The final item of note regarding prosthetics in these trailers are shots of what appears to be combined prosthetics. There’s one instance where it looks as though we actually light our Loaded Axe prosthetic on fire. As of the moment, it’s unclear if this is an upgraded combination of the Loaded Axe and Flame Vent prosthetics, but Playstation’s Senpou Temple footage seems to confirm that as we see that certain prosthetic upgrades will require other prosthetics/ items to progress. One example given is how the shuriken tool will actually help the loaded spear, which ties into what Andrew said in our interview about how prosthetics can be upgraded to not only gain new applications but also become something new entirely.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice releases this Friday, March 22nd and I am ready to ‘get good’ to conquer this new challenge. Are you? Sound off in the comments below!