Why Mastering Sekiro‘s Combat is Extremely Demanding

As a passionate Souls veteran who has sunk countless hours into FromSoftware‘s iconic series, I initially balked at the idea that anything could be harder than the infamous Ornstein & Smough or Sister Friede boss fights. But after breaking numerous controllers in fits of rage playing Sekiro over the past year, I stand firmly corrected.

Sekiro‘s vicious enemies and unflinching gameplay make overcoming its challenges an immensely satisfying feat – but vastly more difficult than anything I‘ve faced before. For context, I have soloed every Souls title at SL1 without too much trouble. Yet aspects of Sekiro still destroy me after multiple NG+ cycles.

What makes Sekiro‘s elegant yet exacting combat so much harder to master than the Souls games? As someone who has intensely dissected both series, let me break it down.

Sekiro‘s Deflection System Requires Absolute Precision

If you try to rely on Souls tactics of simply dodging everything or turtling behind a greatshield, Sekiro will carve you apart in seconds. Instead it demands players perfectly time "deflects" against enemy blows using L1 to block right as attacks connect. Miss the tiny deflect window and you‘ll lose a massive chunk of posture and vitality.

Enemies attack fast and furious, with combo strings including perilous thrusts that must be met with special mikiri counters. Their posture recovers lightning fast out of combat, forcing you to stay aggressive (more on that later). But if your timing errs even slightly off amateur hour, blows get through to chop away your limited health. This unflinching dedication to precise offense first defense makes Souls‘ more reactive roll spamming feel downright leisurely.

To illustrate just how exacting Sekiro‘s windows are, let‘s analyze some early game move timings:

• Samurai Soldier combo string – 4 hit chain with 70ms deflect windows
• Chained Ogre‘s Fist Slam – 550ms windup, 85ms deflect window

For comparison against the 100ms dodge invincibility frames from a medium roll in Dark Souls 3, Sekiro allows far less leniency with deflects against massive damage enemies can churn out. Mikiri counter windows are even tighter at 30-50ms typically! Sloppy play gets punished hard, so polished technique is non-negotiable.

Difficulty Breaking Souls Habits Like Dodge Spamming

Imagine you‘ve just conquered the dynamic Sister Friede fight after hours of practice. Your hard-honed reaction dodging and ability to selectively toggle aggressiveness vs. caution helps you eke a victory out. Now against Sekiro‘s very first Chained Ogre mini-boss, the beast destroys you over and over by punishing that exact approach. This was my brutal reality check.

Years of Souls games drilled an instinct of creating space when pressured and then opportunistically attacking into my muscle memory. But Sekiro‘s posture system is so unforgiving that simply backing off to avoid blows instead allows enemy guard meters to fully recharge! Where I could cautiously poke and retreat to bait certain bosses in Souls, trying to adapt that here caused complete stagnation in progress until I retrained my mental approach.

The cerebrally-punishing walk from the last bonfire in Blighttown has nothing on getting stomped by basic Ashina soldiers due to reckless dodging tactics. Breaking that tendency and relearning fundamentals took me to despair and back. But it made finally slaying that seemingly impossible Seven Spears general to take his Combat Art for my own all the sweeter.

Enemies Boast Extremely Deep Movesets To Master

While certain Souls bosses like Friede have complex rhythms, the underlying responses you need to handle them remain consistent. See yellow danger telegraph? Unlock and sprint left. See sweeping purple magic? Roll towards and punish. But Sekiro demands learning detailed movesets tailored to each enemy that dictate unique responses when they shift into different attack chains.

For example let‘s examine Lady Butterfly:

• Floating ethereal dodge combo – Deflect then attack after her landing lag
• Sudden shuriken flurry – Quick sprint sideways then grappling hook to close distance
• Distortion into the air – Run underneath for 2 free hits as she descends
• Illusory clone spawns – Use shurikens to quickly dispel so her posture regen stalls

And that only covers half her phases! To overcome her without resurrecting you need to identify dozens of perilous and standard chains, the proper deflect rhythms and punish windows, when to employ combat arts or shinobi tools to aid…the list goes on! Having to integrate all of these responses together fluidly makes for an intensely cerebral challenge unmatched in the Souls games. And she‘s only the first required main boss fought!

No Summoning Help From Other Players

In my most maddening Souls struggles like against the Nameless King, I used their brilliant community integration to pull in co-op helpers when losing my mind. Whether friend or random Sun Bro, jolly cooperation can ease the burden substantially. We‘re all champions now against old Demon Princes!

But Sekiro denies that crutch entirely as a true solo shinobi experience. No rotating aggro around the battlefield between phantoms or timing last second Estus heals while your cooperators draw fire. Your failures burden no one else but reflect solely on you. While refreshing for purists seeking self-improvement above all, don‘t underestimate the impact removing external variables like lag or unlucky phantom deaths has on glory becoming so much harder earned.

I felt the loss of dependable comrades dearly upon a gravestone marked "You Died x834" against Sword Saint Isshin. Seven Spears took 69 attempts alone. How I yearned to see those health bar refills from a friendly medic ninja amidst the carnage…

The Penalties For Dying in Sekiro Are Extreme

The genius bonfire system in Dark Souls created tense risk/reward gameplay that made new areas dangerous but ultimately achievable. Even if you lost your souls stash dying repeatedly en route to the next sanctuary, you respawned without enemies regained. This allowed slow but viable exploration and recovery should you run dry of Estus charges.

Not so in Sekiro I‘m afraid. Die once shame on them, die thrice, consider a rage quit. Not only do you lose half your precious experience toward skill points and Sen currency, but all enemies fully respawn wherever you lost your last life. Haven and progress deleted, do not pass the Sculptor Idol, prepare to grind with grave frustration.

For context according to data miners, late game bosses like Demon of Hatred take a staggering 32,000 XP to acquire a single additional attack power or posture point. Losing thousands from repeated deaths alongside your coin purse to reach these milestones therefore stings hard. Given the lethal rapidity of many elite enemies like the Seven Spears generals to carve through your limited healing gourds, surviving long runs back becomes grueling. My TV surely felt similar pains watching me…

I‘ve written over 2000 words just dissecting key mechanical differences that I believe make Sekiro inhabiting its own circle of difficulty hell away even from the rest of the Souls series. And I‘ve barely scratched the surface on additional factors like resurrection tying to enemy healing, Dragonrot consequences, or the vitality damage model shift.

But beyond just venting about the myriad ways this game will kick your butt, I want to celebrate why overcoming Sekiro‘s uniquely demanding combat produces such an unmatched feeling of warrior satisfaction. Each small incremental step closer represents you bending its rules further to your unbreakable will.

In many games playing on easiest difficult produces only a hollow victory. Whereas Sekiro forces you to shed complacency and dead weight skillsets to emerge reformed with Steel resolve. Its baptism by fire builds the reaction times, strategic discipline, and most importantly emotional maturity to never yield fully in life‘s harshest battles.

So while the rage and swears will flow freely along this arduous gauntlet for even seasoned gamers, find comfort remembering that within Sekiro‘s difficulty lies the deepest personal rewards imaginable!