https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ShtqK1eQP4The E3 reveal finally fills in the details about their new game.
It's a Souls-like but with adjustments away from the standard Souls formula.
So in it you play some Japanese guy who was killed by his master and lost his arm. Some creepy guy brings you back from the dead and replaces your missing arm with this weird bone-based contraption. From there it's a revenge quest to catch up to your former master, while you slay your way through a dark and magical representation of feudal Japan.
That's what I got from a casual view of the trailer.
The game is being published by Activision this time, rather than Bandai Namco. Which I guess means From Soft has truly stepped in to the big tent.
So what's Sekiro doing? It looks like a mashup with standard souls combat, From Soft's signature brand of visual weirdness, new mechanics for From Soft, set in a classical looking-Japanese setting. (Maybe they saw Nioh and were like "Hey, we're Japanese, I think our next game needs to be set in Japan.")
It appears to have some of the weapon system from Bloodborne, in the form of your weird ass arm being able to do different variable attacks. Grafted to this is a more free-form level exploration compared to traditional Souls games. Rather than having your feet firmly planted on the ground, in Sekiro you'll have a grappling hook to shoot across the terrain, bringing a new element of vertical gameplay that From Soft hasn't done before. Enemies will pick you up and fling you across the level as well.
So this seems like a much more action oriented game than previous Souls titles. A lot more "Gee whiz" fast freedom of movement in line with your garden variety western 3rd person action games. I figure they'll leverage their experience from all their games, including Tenchu, to fill it out.
I'm interested for sure. It's refreshing to see From Soft do something different stylistically and in terms of mechanics. After BB and three Souls games the formula was getting pretty stale.
That said, I'm wondering what compromises if any they will make with this new IP that is clearly incorporating some of what's popular in today's games. Will their game retain the same From Soft feel of level exploration, meticulous combat and the restrictions which help define the game space? Or is all that getting thrown out in favor of whip slinging across levels and faster combat? What other changes might they make now that they're in the hands of the biggest NA game publisher?
Time will tell!