Sekiro was a major release for FromSoftware - it was their first game since Armored Core 5 back in 2012 that wasn't a Souls game, even if it took plenty of inspiration. It's an exhilarating game, given award after award for the tense combat that will keep you on your toes, as well as incredible music.
An aspect of FromSoftware's games that's always excelled is their level design, and Sekiro is a real treasure here. It represents Sengoku Japan in a way many games avoid, taking only thematically from the period rather than making a historical recreation. This lets them take some liberties - from the sheer verticality of Ashina Castle to the imposing Gun Fort. Every area has its own quirks that let it shine, but some areas have more awe-inspiring power than others.
8 Abandoned Dunge♛on
By far the smallest region in Sekiro, the Abandoned Dungeon only has two Idols to rest at and is really little more than a glorified passageway between Ashina Castle and Senpou. It's an odd little area, as nowhere else in the game feels like it, but it isn't quite big enough to feel memorable either.
The one aspect of the area that does stand out is Doujun. Similar to Iosefka from Bloodborne, Doujun seems to be performing experiments on people, as evidenced by the immortal enemies spread around the area. There are two characters you can potentially send towards Doujun for his experiments - if you're feeling villainous enough.
7 Ashina Depths ♓
Ashina Depths is an interesting title for the area. By all means, it begins in the depths of Ashina, poisonous caves filled with Apes. It expands greatly from here though into the Hidden Forest, cloaked in heavy fog and filled with undead warriors and ninjas. Your first touch of the more surreal comes ⛦in the Mist Noble at the end of the forest.
It doesn't end there either, though. It goes further to Mibu Village, that little home of horrors. You'll likely fight O'Rin of the Water along the way before eventually encountering a spectral version of the Corrupted Monk and gaining the ability to swim underwater. It's a creepy area all the way - and a bit more than the name lets on.
6 ⭕ Hirata Estate 𓃲
Early on in Sekiro, you'll encounter a dying woman in Ashina Outskirts who passes on to you a bell charm. A mysterious little item, it lets you pray at the Sculptor's statue of Buddha to enter a memory of Hirata Estate, the home of young Kuro. The estate is sprawling, depicting a night when bandits laid siege to the estate, though not clear exactly what for.
Thing is, there's a second, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:much more hidden memory of Hiratꦐa Estate as well that shows you another side of the tale of what exactly went on. Exploring the area both times - with a differing view each tim🐎e - is a great experience, running along rooftops and between bamboo forests before culminating in two incredible boss fights.
5 🎃 Ash꧃ina Outskirts
Ashina Outskirts is the first area of Sekiro and the one you'll most likely spend most of your time in. The castle of Ashina always hovers overhead in the distance, the various cliffs and caves of the outskirts all weaving their way up to it to culminate in a battle against the horseback Gyoubu Oniwa.
Ashina is almost a hub. It's the home of the sculptor who you'll visit frequently. It's also where you'll learn much about the game for the first time, and the little varieties in the landscape make it always exciting. Plus, it undergoes a dramatic overhaul in the later game that has it packed with different visuals, enemies, and areas to explore.
4 Sunken Valley ꦕ
Sunken Valley is one of the most interesting areas in the game. It has an incredible sense of scale to it. Zipping around any part of the area, from the treacherous gun fort to the gorgeous Bodhisattva Valley is a thrill, with any misstep spelling your end. Ah, and there are also so many monkeys, in case the Snake Eye women weren't hard enough.
The visuals of the Sunken Valley are just incredible. There are the rugged homes built by the Snake Eyes in the mountains as a personal refuge, the rows of Buddha statues that stare down on you larger than life, and the putrid swamp below. It's all so beautiful and isolated from the more inhabited areas of the game with so much history. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:And terrifyingly talented monkeys.
3 ♔ Senpou Temple
So much of Sekiro feels cold. The steel of swords, the sharp wind in all the snowy areas, the blue lights and fog of Mibu, the darkness of the Dungeon. Senpou feels like a shot of Autumnal comfort, like a nice walk through the park or ♏coming back inside from the chill. It feels both wider and denser than other areas, sprawling out in all directions but forcing you into tight paths with monks who know how to throw a punch.
That's just the forest too. Hunting from atop the trees makes you feel like a real predator, but roaming the halls of the gigantic Senpou Temple itself is awe-inspiring. It's a place of corruption, with monks intending to bring Nirvana to earth and perverting their souls in the process. It's a quiet area. No gunpowder and swords. Just the whistling of the wind. It's calm in look yet chaotic in theme.
2 ꦯ 🌄 Ashina Castle
Ashina Castle is the heart and soul of Sekiro. The initial run through Ashina Outskirts to reach the castle can almost feel like a tutorial at first - 🌊a training area to get you ready for the real deal. Ashina Castle has an immense height to it, and though every area gives you some freedom to explore, the castle truly feels like you can𝓰 go everywhere from anywhere.
Every little corner has some new enemies, a secret item to obtain, a small conversation to overhear. The castle changes constantly, too, from the way the light gives it a whole new personality as the day goes on, or new enemies inhabit it and new paths open up. It's also where most of your conversations with Isshin, Kuro, and Ema take place, revealing deeper parts of their characters in the safety of its walls. It has plenty of secrets and personality in equal measure.
1 🐬 Foℱuntainhead Palace
Choosing to serve Kuro will let you get to this fantastical location, a place truly unlike anything else in Sekiro by a wide margin. It will test all of your skills, with the knowledge that you'll have just about every ability by this point in the game.
The Fountainhead Palace is the home of the Immortal Dragon and other divine beings like the Okami Warrior Women and the Great Carp. A palace in great disrepair, the area has the joyous Okami who are simply playing sports and hanging out. The great lake at the center of the area is massive beyond imagination, and the final battle with the Divine Dragon is heart-wrenching and beautiful. Like the curse of immortality itself, the Fountainhead Palace is gorgeous, but not a thing for mortals, no matter how alluring it is. It sums up the game's themes in wonderful ways, and tests all your skills gathered throughout the game.