Sekiro's final boss is a magnificent test of will

[Mezati99]

super fucking late but i don't care

i cannot remember the last time i felt this alive tbh

i feel physically exhausted as if i was there doing the fighting


god damn i love you miyazaki

 

[Xtortion]

It's grueling as fuck and finally winning makes you feel like a goddamn champion

video games are something so great

 

[lowhighkang_LHK]

There is a reason why Sekiro has like a 9% primary ending completion rate on PSN. This boss doesn't help with that.

 

[Miamiwesker]

Over 3 hours and when I finally beat him I felt like a god, it was like neo in the matrix and everything clicked. Incredible combat system.

 

[MrS]

Sword Saint is a bad man. GG WP OP.

 

[Feenix]

I've beaten every Souls game. I love Sekiro. I played it forever ago. I am still, to this day, at that final boss because it was just a roadblock for me. I always wanted to go back and finish it but I just can't get past the lightning form.

 

[MegaSackman]

5hs...
5... hs!!!

Took me three tries on my second playthrough, so good.

 

[Deleted member 2834]

Possibly my favourite boss in the past couple of years

 

[aspiring]

Honestly spent near 10 hours or something ridiculous on him but yes not once did I ever feel cheated or hard done by and I would constantly edge closer. That feeling when dealing that final death blow no other game save for bloodborne gave me. Truly marvellous

 

[Chrno]

this boss made me quit the game lol.

I appreciate and respect what Miyazaki did, I just don't have the time for it.

 

[Deleted member 1635]

Was a ridiculous difficulty spike in my opinion. I eventually won, but even then it felt like I got lucky. I'll never want to spend the time to truly master the fight and it's the number one thing keeping me from continuing my NG+ run much further. Otherwise, I absolutely adored the game.

 

[SofNascimento]

I don't think I'll ever agree with statements such as this. It's only about patience and having the free time. A test of will for me would actually demand some kind of emotional/mental prowess involved. Although I suppose patience could just be just that.

Same thing for this sense of triumph. Although I must admit I did feel a bit proud in beating this area:

It took me a lot of time.

 

[KillLaCam]

Hesitation is defeat

 

[NediarPT88]

That fucking intro too. Coming out of Genichiro's neck lol

Owl at Hirata was harder for me though, I only faced him at NG+ and he wiped me up a good amount of times.

 

[Bleu]

last boss / last phase was more of a i'm going to run around and cheese you when you jump thing.
no shame.
hesitation is defeat.

 

[fluffydelusions]

Took me like 3 days to beat that lol.

 

[Much]

One of From's best.

 

[Mary Celeste]

maybe the best final boss fight of all time. Masterpiece.

 

[SephLuis]

I'm honestly very torn about this last fight.

I liked it, but the boss ignoring hit stun a couple of times really, really pissed me off.
I was killed due to that inconsistency.
I had also forgotten on how to counter thunder so my fight probably took longer than most.

 

[Cat Party]

Motherfucker pulls out an uzi on you.

Incredible fight.

 

[Undeniablybiased]

Yeah, it's very cool and very fun. Perfect way to end the game, building on all the stuff you've done up until then.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

Tough as nails, took me like 30 tries, too. Not as hard as Orphan of Kos for me but it's definetly up there.

I've beaten every Souls game. I love Sekiro. I played it forever ago. I am still, to this day, at that final boss because it was just a roadblock for me. I always wanted to go back and finish it but I just can't get past the lightning form.

Click to shrink...

The lightning form is the easiest part because you can airparry the lightning 3 times and he's dead. Getting there is the hard part.

 

[Lynchian Anomaly]

Owl 2 was way harder to me. Took me hours to beat him. Only took me 3 attempts to beat Isshin.

 

[Griselbrand]

I had to change my approach multiple times while learning how to beat him and it was a lot of fun throughout. The payoff was tremendous.

 

[Uthred]

Wasnt a fan to be honest. I did like the feel off, as one poster mentioned above, it building on the other stuff the game thought you. But at the same it felt over tuned. Honestly the first time through just felt like a slog and there wasnt any relief or catharsis in beating it. I was just glad to be done.

 

[devSin]

I think it took me around 5 tries to finally beat him. Really fun fight.

I've beaten every Souls game. I love Sekiro. I played it forever ago. I am still, to this day, at that final boss because it was just a roadblock for me. I always wanted to go back and finish it but I just can't get past the lightning form.

Click to shrink...

Really? Reversal destroys him.

Firecrackers are also good on him (you can stun him with the reversal, get a thrust or Shadowrush, throw firecrackers to stun him again, and get another hit or Shadowrush).

 

[Kindekuma]

That fucking third phase. I mastered the first two but got my ass whooped so often at the third and fourth.

 

[Becks']

Isshin first phase:

Isshin second phase:

Isshin third phase:

I eventually beat him but when he pulled out the glock, shit went down.

 

[Dodgerfan74]

Over 3 hours and when I finally beat him I felt like a god, it was like neo in the matrix and everything clicked. Incredible combat system.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, probably took me around 3 hours too. I've not hit too many roadblocks like that in gaming, recently at least.

The infuriating thing is how learnable the fight is. I did it on ng+ through ng+5 with no trouble after being utterly stonewalled for hours on the first run.

Sekiro is real good.

 

[h8bit]

this boss made me quit the game lol.

I appreciate and respect what Miyazaki did, I just don't have the time for it.

Click to shrink...

same here

 

[DriftingSpirit]

As with most of the fights, I just had more of a "I'm glad it is finally over with..." type feeling. I felt more exhilaration and thrill from Bloodborne bosses. I think Genichiro is the best boss in the game.

 

[Deleted member 36749]

First time took a couple hours...like 2....every time after that i clear the whole fight without taking a hit.

Whe. You really learn to parry and react that battle is like poetry man...dont eat an edible and fight him, i was in here getting all poetic talking to my wife and saying the battle was a metaphor for life

 

[Djost1kk]

Honestly spent near 10 hours or something ridiculous on him but yes not once did I ever feel cheated or hard done by and I would constantly edge closer. That feeling when dealing that final death blow no other game save for bloodborne gave me. Truly marvellous

Click to shrink...

So much this.

 

[Magyscar]

I absolutely adored it. Beating it on new game+ without Kuro's charm was one of the most satisfying things ever.

 

[Sub Boss]

i never felt more alive than when i beat Sekiro's masterfully designed foes with my beautiful robot arm

 

[Ghost_Protocol]

An incredible fight. The best and most satisfying victory of any fight in the entire series IMO.

Comparisons to Bloodborne's difficulty get made all the time, but I feel like I'm in the minority thinking that several of those bosses are much more difficult than anything in Sekiro. On my second playthrough of Sekiro, bosses that took dozens of attempts only took one or two. All of them. After six or seven full playthroughs of Bloodborne, I still find bosses like Father Gascoigne, Martyr Logarius, that post-red-moon cathedral hunter, Lady Maria, and the Orphan incredibly difficult.

 

[Manu]

For some reason I spent more time stuck on the first phase than the other two combined. At first he would kill me before I could even react.

Killing him was the most cathartic shit ever. And the game knows it, considering how you do it.

 

[EffettoNotte]

How my blood boils...face me Sekiro!

Yes, that was a great fight.

 

[PancakeBurglar]

I beat him but I thought the fight was kind of bullshit, too many phases and getting to that final phase only to lose and start over wasn't fun. Honestly dropped my overall enjoyment of the game. Great game still but not my favorite From Soft game by any means.

 

[Deleted member 49319]

The only game that makes me feel like

 

[R.T Straker]

HOW MY BLOOD BOILS!

FACE ME SEKIRO!

 

[Rai_11]

Isshin Sword Saint definitely is a really rough one. Owl Father was the absolute worst though. He's essentially a superboss in my mind. Orphan of KOS from Bloodborne takes the cake though.

 

[Nameless]

Great fight and a great "fuck off Miyazaki" moment. Me after barely beating the second phase

 

[Martinski]

Was a roadblock for a long time for me. But i got around doing both him and Owl 2 in my second playthrough of the game plus demon of hatred.

Then on NG+ i did the shura ending to get the all bosses achievement. Havent done 1000/1000 gamescore tho.. too much grinding.

First playthrough i called in help forc isshin to just be done with the game lol.. was so tired of it by then.

But after played through the game again and beating Owl 2, isshin wasnt that bad to beat.

 

[DaciaJC]

The lightning form is the easiest part because you can airparry the lightning 3 times and he's dead. Getting there is the hard part.

Click to shrink...

Agreed, I was able to beat him the first time I reached his third form. Don't recall how many times I died prior to that, probably at least a dozen.

 

[Deleted member 29682]

A great fight. Basically all of the human bosses were great, thought I personally preferred mid-game Genichiro and Emma for their simplicity.

 

[Martinski]

Genichiro is the most fun fight in the game tho.

 

[Rixan]

Some of y'all beat all four phases of Isshin in 3 tries huh

 

[Deleted member 8861]

In the entire game, the fight you're talking about OP, probably strikes the best balance of challenge between frustration and fun.

 

[Deleted member 55164]

Agreed on everything - the Sekiro experience as made me a better all round gamer I think. Isshin Sword Saint took me about two weeks of learning his moves for an hour a night, accepting defeat but learning everything.

I ended up bearing him with no hits and went on to grab the Platinum. It's not quite Bloodborne level of experience but goddamn if the combat and Isshim specifically isn't the best FROM experience to date.