I counted it from when I started really trying this week on Saturday. 100. I tried to beat Genichiro/Isshin 100 times. Just in this stream of attempts. I definitely tried more before. When I reached 100, and Genichiro was the one standing over me... I just said fuck it, turned off the PS4, and watched the endings on Youtube. I'm done with Sekiro for now.
Flames of Hatred? 10 tries. Owl? 15~20. Genichiro 1? 40ish. And through all of them I could tell, "yes, I'm learning" each time I lost with some slight hiccups with Genichiro. I definitely "got good", as it were. I did use shinobi tools and skills, but you know what? The game never really punished me for using them, just for using them wrong, so it's on the game for teaching wrong if I was solely supposed to "git good" by parrying and dodging alone.
Here? Given that you absolutely need to beat Genichiro without using a single tool or skill that costs emblems? It almost felt like sheer luck at times. I rarely thought "yes, that was my fault" when I died. The furthest I got was the final lightning phase, once, around try 30, but I used all my healing items by then and my controller input fucked up in the middle of me trying to redirect lightning so I died. I never got further than the start of spear phase again, except once.
By all accounts this was a perfect game for me. Keyword, was. Sword Saint alone has made me reconsider. It still may well be GotY for me by virtue of the Palace alone (it's so fucking gorgeous, when I'm less bummed I may come back to gush about it later) but were I a game reviewer I couldn't possibly give it a 10/10. Just... The fact that the backdrop of it all is "Hurry, save Kuro!" and I was basically stopped in my tracks from doing that for well over 20 hours of playtime... No. Fuck that. Like I could understand if the situation was less hurried, or the game was more like Soulsborne and wasn't more plot heavy.... Sure fine. But as is, it's a really bad design decision.
I just realized if I kept trying I wouldn't just hate the Sword Saint boss fight- I'd hate the game itself. So, fine, I give up. Game broke me. I honestly can't understand how people can legitimately say they don't only like the fight, but think it's the best fight in the game.
And I'm kind of glad I gave up here because the ending I was gonna get (or any of them really) wouldn't have been fulfilling for the time I'd have inevitably spent on it. For reference, it was the Dragon Homecoming/Return ending. Like, I appreciate it's hopeful but shows Wolf has a lot of trials to go through to save both himself and Kuro and return immortality to it's proper place, but the fact I have to wait to find out what happens to Kuro and Emma and the Divine Child and Wolf himself now... If it's even broached? Just like... why put me through all that for a cliffhanger? @_@ I do hope it's the canon ending though, at the very least, as a Sekiro 2 set in Western/Southern Japan, Korea, China or India could be pretty neat, whatever "west" means for where the source of the dragon bloodline.
The other two "good" endings, well... let's just say I'm glad I figured out I probably shouldn't just go through the game without exploring heavily because the ending of "Wolf kills Kuro, becomes a sculptor" is incredibly unfulfilling. Wolf ending his own life for Kuro's sake, who then goes on to probably live a nice full life is fine... but it's strange Emma stuck behind when presumably Ashina was all but destroyed and she now has no one to serve. She doesn't necessarily have to go with Kuro as a guardian, but what else is there for her to do in Ashina? That ending, unlike the sculptor ending, doesn't even have the implication of a looped timeline via NG+, so it's not like she's sticking around to help Wolf (another Wolf?) yet again.
Like I do think all those endings, at least, imply a sequel. Whether it ends up being Wolf passing on the prosthetic, Kuro becoming a strong warrior/ninja himself, or Wolf traveling to Western Japan/Korea/China/India... I think any DLC would be linked to Tomoe and the previous Divine Heir, for sure. Wouldn't be hard to implement that either, just re-use Ashina Castle's map to visit the past, maybe include a side area that gets blown up after a big boss fight or something.
