Elden Ring’s DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, released on June 21, and as players complete their time in the Land of Shadow, they will be looking for a new game to fill the void. Elden Ring is one of the most-played games on Steam of all time, and as such has brought in a new batch of fans who have not played previous titles made by FromSoftware. As players look at the catalog of previous FromSoftware games, there is one title that Elden Ring fans should look to give a try.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a third-person action game that is made by FromSoftware, the same company that made Elden Ring. Sekiro was the company’s previous game before developing Elden Ring, so a lot of the DNA from Sekiro can be found in Elden Ring. While the games are very similar, they do also have some major differences as well. What players can be sure to find is that Sekiro, just like Elden Ring, is an extremely difficult game.

Elden Ring Players Can Find Some Familiarity in Sekiro

• Both games are very difficult and demand patience and perfection from players.
• Each game uses a system of resting at checkpoints.
• Many systems from Sekiro were adapted for Elden Ring.

FromSoftware made Sekiro before Elden Ring, and so a lot of the gameplay elements that were made for Sekiro transferred over into Elden Ring. Sekiro marked the first game developed by FromSoftware that included a dedicated jump button. This carried over into Elden Ring and allows both games to have platforming elements where players need to observe their surroundings and think vertically, to find secrets and pathways that might be higher up or down in the environment.

Sekiro also has a very similar combat system to Elden Ring. Players will find checkpoints throughout the game that they can rest at in order to refill their health and their health flasks and spend points to level up. If a player dies during combat, they will respawn at these checkpoints so that they can try again. If players die, their currency will be found on the ground that they can pick up to get it again. However, if a player dies before picking up that currency it will be lost forever.

Players will need to familiarize themselves with the gameplay of Sekiro, as the biggest similarity that it has with Elden Ring is its difficulty. Both Sekiro and Elden Ring are extremely difficult games where players need to become very comfortable with their tools and learn their enemy’s attack patterns in order to be successful. Both games are designed around the philosophy that players are going to die many times, and through trial and error, overcome their obstacles. While there are many aspects of Sekiro that Elden Ring players will feel right at home with, there are also some differences that set the two games apart.

Sekiro Is a Streamlined Experience

• Sekiro is not an open-world game like Elden Ring.
• There is only one weapon in Sekiro.
• The gameplay of Sekiro is much more vertical with a jump and grappling hook.

Elden Ring is the first FromSoftware game that is truly open-world. From the minute players step out into the Lands Between, they can go almost anywhere in the game world. Sekiro by comparison, is a much more linear game. While there are still branching paths that players can take to find new areas, the areas of the game are explored linearly. This allows for Sekiro to have a much more straightforward means of progression. Players won’t have access to very late-game areas where they will struggle against high-level enemies. At the same time, if players find that they are stuck at a certain part of the game, they won’t be able to go to a different area to find better equipment to then come back and help them.

While the combat of Sekiro is similar to Elden Ring’s, it also has some major differences. Elden Ring’s combat system, and by extension its enemies, are designed around a player’s ability to use a variety of weapons in combat. Sekiro has only one weapon for players to use, and so the entire game is balanced around a player’s skill with that one weapon. This means that enemies are not as forgiving as in Elden Ring, as FromSoftware can focus their efforts on creating enemies that only have to be dealt with in one way. While players can find various tools to aid their moveset, the katana is the main weapon that players will use throughout the game.

The katana is not only for attacking, it is also the player’s most valuable defensive tool as well. In Elden Ring, a player’s main defensive option is a roll to dodge enemy attacks. Shields are also available to block or parry some enemy attacks. In Sekiro, a dodge does not give players invincibility — instead, players are meant to deflect and parry attacks with the katana.

By using the block button, players will guard attacks and deflect them when they hit their sword. Deflecting attacks will build up the player’s stamina bar. Once the stamina bar is full, deflecting an attack will cause the player’s guard to break, leaving them open. However, deflecting an attack right as it connects with the player will cause the player to parry the attack. Parrying an attack costs much less stamina, and will build up a chunk of the enemy’s stamina bar.

Unlike Elden Ring, the health bars of enemies matter much less in Sekiro. To defeat enemies, players must wear down an enemy’s stamina bar. Once the bar is full, the enemy will be open for a critical attack. Players can perform a critical attack to either finish off an enemy or if it is a stronger enemy, remove one of its heath bars. Attacking an enemy will cause them to deflect, and if players are able to take away some of their health, they will take more stamina damage.

The main character of Sekiro, named Sekiro meaning “one-armed wolf,” is a Shinobi who loses his arm in battle. His arm is replaced with a prosthetic arm dubbed the “Shinobi Prosthetic” which hosts a variety of tools that players can use creatively. The main tool is a grappling hook which allows for fast traversal around the areas of the game. Other tools like the firecracker, axe, and spear can be used offensively against enemies. There are many tools to find in Sekiro, but players can only use a limited amount at once, so players will want to find the best options for specific play styles.

The reason that Sekiro is a hard game is because of how streamlined the combat is. The ebb and flow of combat revolves around a player’s ability to attack and deflect at the right times. Learning when to press the advantage and when to focus on defense is the key to success in Sekiro. Players can’t rely on building characters that can one-shot enemies with powerful spells. For this reason, fans of FromSoftware games consider Sekiro the ultimate “get good” game.

Sekiro’s Story Is Much Easier to Follow

• Sekiro's story is very easy to follow compared to Elden Ring.
• Item descriptions are not required reading to learn lore.

In a departure from other titles in FromSoftware games, the story of Sekiro revolves around events that occur around the titular character Sekiro. The story of other FromSoftware games is usually not told in a traditional format, including Elden Ring. The player character usually enters a land in which many big events have already occurred.

Items in Elden Ring contain lore in their descriptions, which players can use to piece together the past events of the world they are exploring. It is this style of storytelling that can sometimes be confusing, but rewards players for exploring all corners of the world. Sekiro still has many items that can give some background on the world, but the main story of the game happens directly to the player.

The story is about a Shinobi named Sekiro, tasked with defending a young boy named Kuro. Kuro is the divine heir to an ancient bloodline which makes him immortal. Sekiro must protect Kuro from the Ashina clan, who want to use Kuro’s immortality to help them in their war with a rival clan. Sekiro is defeated by a member of the Ashina clan, Genichiro, and Kuro is kidnapped. Sekiro loses his arm and must rescue Kuro while learning more about his mysterious past.

As Kuro’s protector, Sekiro is granted the ability to defy death and resurrect himself on the battlefield. This manifests in the game as players are able to immediately come back to life after being killed, but before respawning. If a player is killed again, they will then have to respawn at a checkpoint.

The world of Sekiro takes place in the Ashina region, a fictional region of Japan where the Ashina clan resides. Sekiro travels through many different areas full of horrific creatures, deadly enemies, and even mythical beasts during his adventure. Players will be amazed at the level design of Sekiro, as the beauty of the Japanese landscape is often breathtaking. The twists and turns in the story take the player to fantastical areas, some hidden and mythical lands, and even the dreams and memories of others.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is similar enough to Elden Ring where players will be able to pick up on the game’s systems quickly. At the same time, it is different enough that players can find enjoyment in the unique aspects of the game that can only be found in Sekiro. Overall, the difficulty between the two games is one of their main appeals, and for players who crave a challenge, Sekiro is sure to scratch that itch.