Best Games: Sekiro

Best Games is back after a summer hiatus. Dipping back to 2019 to unseat an open world game of a very similar theme.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019) goes on at 10.

When this game came out just a short 7 years ago, the reputation it carried instantly scared me off. FromSoftware’s hardest game yet! Git gud or go home. Younger and naiver me hadn’t played Elden Ring or Lies of P yet. Hadn’t tasted defeat 30 times from a boss and signed up for more before bed.

Well here we are in 2026 and I’m ready for 2019’s game of the year. And oh how right they all were. Sekiro is a masterpiece of the genre. It is a souls like, but it masters the parry and block mechanic like no other I’ve played. When you hit your stride on a boss, attune to their attacks, and nail the execution, it is more rhythm game than boss rush. Parry, parry, parry, jump, parry, dodge, and finally attack!

Graphics wise it launched in 2019 when the PS4 was the best console going. But it runs and looks great on my 2025 PC. Most of the credit for that goes to it’s art, design, and theme though. It nails the look and feel of a ninja in feudal Japan with a giant dose of demon madness FromSoft puts in every game. Its the secret ingrediant, a centipede inside the headless monkey.

Ghost of Tsushima (2020) wishes it was Sekiro. That’s a little mean and a little true. Feudal Japan ninja in a way too big open world, where you can compose haikus to collect cosmetic headbands as a distraction from persuing your revenge.