Sekiro is my favorite FromSoft game so far, and that's thanks in large part to both the Sengoku Era Japan setting, samurai/ninja trappings, and the integration of some light stealth gameplay mechanics to complement the shinobi theme. During the lead-up to the game's release, I was constantly on the lookout for videos or written information pertaining to the game's stealth elements. After all, the game began as a Tenchu revival before morphing into a brand new IP, so that combined with the ninja protagonist hinted at stealth potentially being a decently large focus for the game's design.
Now that the game has been out for a bit and I've finished my first playthrough, I was wondering what people thought of the stealth mechanics and implementation within the game.
Stealth kills generally feel satisfying thanks to great animation and sound design.
To me it's clear that the intent with stealth in Sekiro was not to give the player a ninja power fantasy, silently dispatching all enemies in an area without ever alerting a single one of them. While I certainly would've welcomed that approach, being a huge stealth gameplay fan, I can appreciate the direction that FromSoft took with stealth here as well. After all, the game has Soulsborne DNA in its blood, so it needs to force the player into many combat situations against tough foes to showcase its frenetic, exciting sword-clashing core gameplay.
So here stealth is still very useful without being overpowered. Taking on multiple enemies in FromSoft games has always been a nightmare, so thinning the herd with stealth before engaging in an unavoidable fight with a mini-boss or other tough enemies is generally very worthwhile. I found myself utilizing stealth whenever possible to give myself an edge over the groups of enemies that outnumbered me, and both Sekiro's grappling hook and the verticality of the level design helped facilitate that satisfying feeling of being a ninja slinking along Japanese rooftops and striking without warning.
Allow the legendary StealthGamerBR to show you the game's stealth mechanics at their full potential.
But it's not perfect, of course. Enemy AI is rather rudimentary, behaving similarly to many pseudo-stealth action AAA games like the Assassins Creed series where one can simply take to higher ground and wait for enemies to de-aggro before stealth-killing them once more. There are woefully few stealth kill animations, and I would've loved to have seen more for the sake of variety. The blaringly loud sound that accompanies a stealth kill sells the impact, but it feels a little out-of-place and overly noisy for what should be a silent takedown.
So overall for me, I felt that the basic stealth gameplay very much complemented the core action design of the game in a pretty natural way that is commendable, especially for FromSoft's first foray into stealth design within a brand new IP. I also loved how stealth could give you an advantage in mini-boss fights, rewarding your careful approach with half of the opponent's health immediately drained.
Now that the game has been out for a bit and I've finished my first playthrough, I was wondering what people thought of the stealth mechanics and implementation within the game.
Stealth kills generally feel satisfying thanks to great animation and sound design.
To me it's clear that the intent with stealth in Sekiro was not to give the player a ninja power fantasy, silently dispatching all enemies in an area without ever alerting a single one of them. While I certainly would've welcomed that approach, being a huge stealth gameplay fan, I can appreciate the direction that FromSoft took with stealth here as well. After all, the game has Soulsborne DNA in its blood, so it needs to force the player into many combat situations against tough foes to showcase its frenetic, exciting sword-clashing core gameplay.
So here stealth is still very useful without being overpowered. Taking on multiple enemies in FromSoft games has always been a nightmare, so thinning the herd with stealth before engaging in an unavoidable fight with a mini-boss or other tough enemies is generally very worthwhile. I found myself utilizing stealth whenever possible to give myself an edge over the groups of enemies that outnumbered me, and both Sekiro's grappling hook and the verticality of the level design helped facilitate that satisfying feeling of being a ninja slinking along Japanese rooftops and striking without warning.
Allow the legendary StealthGamerBR to show you the game's stealth mechanics at their full potential.
But it's not perfect, of course. Enemy AI is rather rudimentary, behaving similarly to many pseudo-stealth action AAA games like the Assassins Creed series where one can simply take to higher ground and wait for enemies to de-aggro before stealth-killing them once more. There are woefully few stealth kill animations, and I would've loved to have seen more for the sake of variety. The blaringly loud sound that accompanies a stealth kill sells the impact, but it feels a little out-of-place and overly noisy for what should be a silent takedown.
So overall for me, I felt that the basic stealth gameplay very much complemented the core action design of the game in a pretty natural way that is commendable, especially for FromSoft's first foray into stealth design within a brand new IP. I also loved how stealth could give you an advantage in mini-boss fights, rewarding your careful approach with half of the opponent's health immediately drained.
