What makes Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice any different than Assassin's Creed?
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is FromSoftware’s new game that looks like a blend of Dark Souls and Assassin’s Creed to some. Since its trailer at E3 people have been comparing it to Assassin’s Creed.
Assassin’s Creed is Ubisoft’s series of games where you play as an assassin back in time to uncover mysteries. It’s known for its parkour, stealth, and cool assassinations.
Sekiro, on the other hand, is FromSoftware’s new IP where you play as a samurai/ninja with a prosthetic arm chasing after your kidnapped master.
With the stylistic assassinations and ninja-like platforming, I don’t blame people for doing it. I know many people who’ve wanted an Assassin’s Creed in a medieval japanese period, and I’m still waiting on that too, but I’m here to tell you Sekiro is a different beast.
Don’t Expect Sekiro to Unsheathe Hidden Blades
The famous hidden blades from Assassin’s Creed are nowhere to be found in Sekiro’s kit, but you may find a large axe that can destroy shields in his prosthetic arm. Sekiro packs bigger and flashier arms than Ezio does.
In the latest Assassin’s Creed, Odyssey, you got to perform assassinations on mobs, but it wouldn’t kill an enemy unless you did enough damage, and a lot of enemies were sponges, so they didn’t die from assassinations often. It’ll be similar in Sekiro, but forget about the spongie enemies because they’re not here.
Most small enemies will die from an assassination, but mini bosses will just lose a certain amount of health which will put you at an advantage. This all depends on the skills you have unlocked on your shinobi skill tree.
The assassination attacks/critical strikes are much more visceral and satisfying than kills in Assassin’s Creed, so if you’ve played the Tenchu games then expect that level of blood spray.
On the topic of combat, Sekiro’s combat will not function like Assassin’s Creed’s RPG combat or its earlier Batman Arkham Asylum combat. Instead of fighting the enemies that are sponges that work mechanically the same, Sekiro has a combat system based upon skill and variety.
Sekiro’s combat controls will enable the player to dash, jump, slash, and deflect. This will allow the players to deal with a variety of situations and enemies differently.
No One Button Parkour/Platforming
I’m sure if you’ve played Assassin’s Creed, then you remember the parkour being done with no more than one button. Right trigger was the button that allowed you to scale a building, jump gaps in between buildings, and slide over market tables.
That sort of uncalculated and uninteractive platforming will not be in Sekiro. Navigating your way through the world of Sekiro will be done with a grappling hook, jumps, wall jumps, and many other forms of movement not yet revealed.
Towers also won’t be in Sekiro, and I think everyone is happy about that. The world of Sekiro won’t be as open as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, but in return the areas will be more dense and full of things to do and discover.
Different Yet Similar RPG Elements
This may or may not be a good thing depending on how much you care for customization, but Sekiro will not have character customization. The Sekiro we see is the Sekiro we’ll get, and I’m positive there’s not a woman Sekiro like how Odyssey has Kassandra.
Sekiro’s level up system will be similar, so there will be three trees that the player can invest skill points in, and those trees are Shinobi, Samurai, and Prosthetic. These level ups are obtained by killing enemies, like any other action game.
No Cut and Paste Bosses
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey had many different bosses, or so their names made it seem. The bosses in Odyssey were mechanically similar, and they had unblockables, armored attacks, and normal attacks, but at their core they were all the same.
The only bosses that differed were special bosses like the Minotaur. Sekiro will have a range of bosses that are all unique in their own ways.
The only time FromSoftware has copy and pasted bosses was in Dark Souls 2 with the Dragonriders, so trust that you won’t be disappointed here. Sekiro will also not have a difficulty selection, but on the bright side you’ll have access to a pause button.
Convoluted Stories Have Been Discarded
FromSoftware has said that this game’s story will be simpler than their previous titles, and I bet Assassin’s Creed players are happy about that. I remember playing Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and having no clue what was going on inside or outside of the animus, and It’s only gotten worse with Odyssey because they keep pushing the dual story.
Sekiro will have a more straightforward story, and it will be complete in itself meaning that you don’t need to get another source of Sekiro media to understand the story.
The game won’t come to a grinding halt once you’re at a cliffhanger in the story like Odyssey. You’re not going to be forced to grind xp or by microtransactions to continue the story, so the only thing that’ll get in your way is your own deaths.
I hope this has given you a good idea of why Sekiro Shadows Die Twice is not like Assassin’s Creed.
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