Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is an all new single player action-adventure title by developer FromSoftware. They are well known for making exceptional games like the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne and Demon Souls. These titles were particularly famous for their stellar difficulty. They weren’t your typical ‘hack and slash’ RPGs where you can mow down hoards of enemies by spamming offense. FromSoftware set the bar high for players and were required to display above average combat technique to successfully finish the game. Players were punished for the slightest mistakes and made them feel like enemies were designed with the intent to kill. Infamous Boss battles like the one with ‘Pontiff Sulyvahn’ gave new definition to the meme ‘Git Gud’. If you didn’t correctly time your dodges or were not able to parry enemy attacks you were almost certain to die and play-throughs and speed-runs with zero deaths were rare.
Sekiro definitely lives up to the legacy of its developer and in some instances surpasses it by exhibiting a greater level of difficulty over FromSoftware’s previous titles. Boss battles with the ‘Corrupted Monk’ and ‘Genichiro Ashina’ and ‘Isshin Ashina’ seem nearly impossible and give players reason to rage-quit.
Does Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice have an Easy Mode?
Keeping all this in mind, there has been buzz on the internet where some people wanted to have access to an ‘easy mode’ option in the game so they could overcome some of the more challenging fights. Unfortunately however, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice does not have an easy mode. Hard-core fans and loyalists of Sekiro have argued against the inclusion of an easy mode in discussions on online forums and social media. They essentially pointed out that the difficulty is one of the unique qualities of FromSoftware titles and goes against the experience game designers are trying to offer to players.
Is there a way to make Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice ‘easier’?
Yes, there are some items that players can use to make fights a bit easier and can potentially help you clear some of the more difficult boss battles. Basically by spamming ‘Firecrackers’ on enemies you essentially ‘stunlock’ them and can safely land hits on them. If you’re really having a hard time it also helps to equip the ‘Fistful of Ash’ and consume an ‘Ako’s Sugar’ candy. Then proceed to alternate between throwing fistful of ash and firecrackers at enemies and they’re basically stuck in an endless loop of stuns while suffering greater damage per hit.
