Sekiro's Parry and Other Pursuits of Perfection

Summary by Krater

An analysis of how Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice teaches players through instructions disguised as difficulty, comparing its design to FromSoftware's other titles and Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

From the video

Answers: How does Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice teach players through its difficulty?

• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice difficulty design
• FromSoftware hard-sword games comparison
• Deflecting attacks in Sekiro
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance stuckness concept
• Learning and improving in difficult games

What it concludes

• Sekiro refuses stats-based improvement and requires players to hone their ability within the game's second-to-second systems.
• Sekiro presents a unique fantasy of difficulty where players overcome a seemingly insurmountable brick wall by intimately understanding it rather than outleveling it.
• Every attack in Sekiro, with few exceptions, can be deflected, which is the core combat mechanic needed to finish the game.
• Blocking too much increases your posture bar and can leave you totally open to enemy attacks, making mashing block an inadequate long-term strategy.
• Overcoming difficult game challenges like Sekiro's bosses parallels the concept of stuckness and motorcycle maintenance described in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.