The actual animations are different but it's still just parry, jump, lightning reversal. There's no unique mechanics to the fight or anything.
And yeah he has four phases but if you are actually playing the game properly and being aggressive, parrying etc then it's still not a long drawn out fight. His stagger gauge empties really quickly.
I personally would just consider a multitude of bosses from DS3 and Bloodborne to be harder than him. And probably even some other bosses from Sekiro itself.
I'm not saying he has to be crowned the most difficult boss (there's plenty of other souls bosses I haven't beaten too, mostly because I rarely play the dlc, but also manual+ancient dragon are two more I can think of, or Demon of Hatred without the cheese method), I'm saying anyone who thinks Isshin isn't hard are wilding.
Then people have to clarify it with weird statements about how it's easy like a rhythm game, or easy once you learn the mechanics (which is hilarious because everyone seems to nod and agree when you fight Genichiro you can't win until you "learn the game," but apparently a lot of us forgot the game between him and Isshin). Apparently I wasn't playing it "properly" when I beat Genichiro, or the Guardian Apes. It's "easy" if you just know how to parry, dodge, and attack. Guess what? So is literally every game ever made. The hardest optional content in Kingdom Hearts, DMC, Souls, Elden Ring? It's easy. It's literally just button inputs. I can't believe anyone has voted for any option in this poll, the games give you the tools to beat all those bosses.
When people make comments like this it's totally out of touch with the experiences of players. I'm proud of how good I did in that game. I learned its systems, I was exhilarated by my victories. When other people diminish my experience by saying anyone who failed to beat the final boss didn't learn how to play the game, they're completely out of touch and just showing off the classic "git gud" mentality that makes certain souls players such a joke. The fight is challenging and anyone who disputes it apparently can't recognize that its intention is to be monumentally challenging it's apparently completely oblivious to game design. Because there's a 0% chance Miyazaki made that fight and earnestly told himself, "Yeah, that's pretty easy." No, his ethos is literally to challenge people into overcoming incredible odds, not have a subset of his fanbase mock others for going through his designed experiences.
And it's obviously not just in discussion around Isshin this is an issue. I just think the most unfriendly thing in souls games isn't its brutal difficulty, it's good players that diminish others accomplishments. Like I've seen a lot of people express these sentiments:
Based on what I've read in elden ring thread regarding bosses so far
Use moonveil it's cheese
Use bleed it's cheese
Use sword of ice and night it's cheese
Use magic it's cheese
Use bloody slash it's cheese
Use hoarfrost axe it's cheese
Use spirit ashes it's cheese
Use respeccing it's cheese
Am I missing any other cheese in elden ring people use to beat bosses?
I've only played Elden Ring so I can only say Malenia for me.
and it sucks for the players that are USING the tools they're given and getting through tough situations, and instead of being celebrated they're derided for their methods. Or told it isn't difficult to begin with. It's absolutely meant to be difficult to begin with, and Miyazaki is absolutely aware of the tools the player has to their disposal, including for things like "pulling" enemies. I pulled both Tree Sentinels and had a blast, but I'm still proud of anyone that took one then the other lol.
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