Game Studies Exercise 1: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – Gameplay and Aesthetic Brilliance

     Influenced by Japanese entertainment from a young age, I developed a deep fascination with samurai culture. The bushido spirit shares potential roots with the Chinese "wuxia" ethos, a cultural resonance that captivated me throughout my childhood, fueling my enthusiasm for related works. Coupled with my love for cinema, I particularly admire director Akira Kurosawa, whose films profoundly shaped my aesthetic sensibilities. The bushido spirit and the Japanese concept of mono no aware (the pathos of things) left a lasting imprint on my heart. Today, I explore Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, not only a pinnacle of action gaming but also a masterful embodiment of these cultural elements.

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Narrative Structure: The Art of Fragmentation

    Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is renowned for its cryptic and fragmented narrative, a hallmark of FromSoftware’s visionary director, Hidetaka Miyazaki. As the creator of the Dark Souls series, Miyazaki perpetuates a storytelling approach that relies heavily on player interpretation. In Sekiro, this is enriched with the backdrop of Japan’s Sengoku period and Eastern philosophy, crafting a unique narrative allure.

    Set in the war-torn Sengoku era, the game casts players as the ninja “Wolf,” embarking on a journey of vengeance and redemption to protect his master, Kuro (the Divine Heir). The narrative unfolds through a non-linear, fragmented structure, conveyed via the following methods:

• Item Descriptions: Artifacts and skill books provide background on characters, history, and the world. For instance, the “Immortal Blade” reveals the origins of immortality, while “Genichiro Ashina’s Relic” hints at the decline of the Ashina clan.
• Environmental Storytelling: Scene designs, such as abandoned battlefields and dilapidated temples, convey the brutality of war and cultural decay. The Ashina Castle’s keep and the ethereal imagery of the Fountainhead Palace tell stories through visual language.

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• NPC Dialogue: Characters like Kuro, Isshin Ashina, and Owl offer cryptic clues through brief exchanges, leaving much to player inference. For example, Owl’s motives for betrayal require multiple playthroughs and hidden dialogues to unravel.
• Multiple Endings: The game features four endings (Shura, Immortal Severance, Purification, and Return), each unveiling distinct character fates and philosophical choices, encouraging repeated play to fully grasp the narrative.

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    A central theme is “decline and impermanence.” The fall of Ashina, the savagery of war, and the decay of the Fountainhead Palace echo the Buddhist concept of mujō (impermanence), underscoring that all glory fades. This resonates with the philosophy in Osamu Tezuka’s Fire Bird: Yamato Edition (Vol. 4). Learning that Miyazaki is also a fan of Tezuka, I couldn’t help but marvel at the kinship between these creative minds. This fragmented narrative demands players piece together the story like a puzzle, fostering a profound historical immersion that I cherish deeply.

Gameplay: The Ultimate Sword-Clashing Experience

    Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice distinguishes itself with high-difficulty, fast-paced gameplay and a unique combat system, setting it apart from FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series. It emphasizes precise execution, rhythm mastery, and strategic depth, encouraging aggressive attacks, stealth, and prosthetic tool usage—perfectly aligning with Wolf’s dual identity as both samurai and shinobi.

    The core combat revolves around the “Posture System,” a departure from traditional health-bar depletion, prioritizing rhythm and reaction:

• Posture Bar: Both player and enemy have a posture bar (akin to stamina). Attacks, parries, or dodges deplete an opponent’s posture, and filling it triggers a “Deathblow” for an instant kill. Lower health slows posture recovery, making health depletion and posture breaking complementary.
• Attack-Defense Rhythm: Players must balance offense and defense. Sustained attacks pressure enemies, but counterattacks loom; perfect parries significantly reduce enemy posture while preventing one’s own collapse. Parry timing is precise, demanding millisecond reactions.
• Mikiri Counter and Jump: Specific attacks, like thrusts or sweeps, require a Mikiri Counter (dodge-and-stomp) or jump to counter. The Mikiri Counter swiftly breaks posture, while jumps counter sweeps, adding strategic variety.
• Stealth and Deathblows: Stealth allows players to approach enemies from behind or above, triggering one-hit-kill Deathblows to reduce direct combat pressure. Some boss fights, like Genichiro’s first phase, encourage stealth to chip away health.

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    Unlike Dark Souls’ stamina management and dodge-heavy tactics, Sekiro eliminates the stamina bar, forcing players to confront enemies head-on with relentless pressure, evoking the tension of a sword-clashing duel from a samurai film. The progression system focuses on mastering core mechanics rather than stat builds, leading players to jest that, upon completion, it’s not the protagonist who grows stronger but the player. For someone like me, who relishes challenges and immersive experiences, Sekiro is a near-perfect action game.

Aesthetics and Expression: A Symphony of Wabi-Sabi and Philosophy

    Sekiro’s visual design is rooted in Sengoku Japan, blending historical authenticity with mythical imagery to present a wabi-sabi aesthetic—celebrating impermanence, simplicity, and imperfect beauty:

• Scene Design:
• Ashina Castle: Ruined fortresses, scorched war marks, and falling cherry blossoms weave a tapestry of decline and past glory. The snowy castle summit, contrasted with bloodstains, symbolizes war’s brutality.

Official Website Concept Art

• Senpou Temple: Snow-laden temples, swaying bamboo, and broken Buddha statues evoke Zen serenity laced with hidden peril (e.g., illusory monks).
• Fountainhead Palace: An ethereal flower sea coexists with decayed palaces, where cherry blossoms and blood-tainted waters reflect the tension between eternity and corruption, echoing the immortality theme.
• Hirata Estate: A burning manor against a night sky amplifies the tragedy of betrayal and destruction.
• Color and Lighting: Low-saturation tones (gray, brown, dark red) paired with soft lighting (moonlight, mist) create a poignant, understated mood. Key scenes, like Genichiro’s lightning-charged duel, use high-contrast effects for dramatic flair.
• Symbolic Imagery: Cherry blossoms signify impermanence, bloodstains denote life and violence, and broken swords hint at the fall of bushido. These motifs recur, deepening thematic resonance.

Official Website Concept Art

    This visual aesthetic integrates with gameplay through layered environments (vertical exploration, grappling hook), allowing players to viscerally experience the world’s broken poetry during stealth and traversal.

    The sound design and music, crafted by Yuka Kitamura (a female composer), adopt a restrained, melancholic style that complements the Sengoku and shinobi themes:

• Background Music: The game often remains silent, using ambient sounds (wind, birds, war drums) to set the mood. Boss fight tracks, like Genichiro’s fervent strings or Isshin’s somber orchestra, surge with intensity, highlighting life-or-death stakes.
• Sound Effects: The crisp clang of clashing swords, rhythmic parry beats, and the thud of fallen foes are meticulously tuned, enhancing combat realism and satisfaction. Wolf’s footsteps and grappling hook sounds reinforce his ninja agility.

Artistic Expression: Philosophical Metaphors in Corrupted Monk and Divine Dragon

    In artistic expression, the Corrupted Monk and Divine Dragon, as iconic boss encounters, profoundly embody Sekiro’s aesthetics and philosophy.

Corrupted Monk: Decay and Impermanence

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    The Corrupted Monk (appearing in illusory form at Senpou Temple and true form at Mibu Village) is an early boss whose design melds monk and monster. Its tattered robes, withered visage, and contorted form signify a fall from sanctity to corruption, resonating with the Buddhist notion of mujō (impermanence).

• Scene Atmosphere:
  • Illusory Corrupted Monk (Senpou Temple): The fight unfolds in a misty valley, where broken Buddha statues and snowy footprints craft a Zen-like calm juxtaposed with lurking danger. The fog obscures vision, symbolizing the monk’s illusory nature.
  • True Corrupted Monk (Mibu Village): The lake-bound arena is grim, with dilapidated huts and parasitic worms in the water amplifying themes of decay and immortality. The lake’s reflection and the monk’s sudden emergence create visual impact.
• Symbolic Imagery: Prayer beads signify spiritual practice, while parasitic worms denote the curse of immortality, together illustrating the tragedy of seeking eternal life. The Corrupted Monk’s battle (with fear mechanics and spear attacks) feels like a trial, where players experience Zen release and Sengoku cruelty in overcoming it.

Divine Dragon: Divinity and Liberation

Game Screenshot

The Divine Dragon, a climactic boss in the Fountainhead Palace, fuses Shinto mythology and the immortality theme, epitomizing the game’s aesthetic zenith.

• Design: A colossal white dragon coils among cherry blossom trees, its scales gleaming with divine light. Its elegant yet imposing presence echoes Shinto dragon worship, while its single eye hints at the flaws of immortality.
• Scene Atmosphere: The battle occurs in a cloud-swept sky, with blooming cherry blossoms and lightning-streaked heavens creating a visual clash of eternity (divine realm) and impermanence (lightning). Surreal floating platforms and mist enhance the dragon’s godlike aura.
• Symbolic Imagery: Cherry blossoms embody impermanence, and the Dragon’s Tears represent purification and liberation. The lightning mechanic (countered via grappling) is both a gameplay innovation and a symbol of defying divine power. The palace’s decay contrasts with the dragon’s sanctity, suggesting a fallen divine realm.
• Philosophical Expression: The Divine Dragon battle probes the dichotomy of immortality versus mortal existence. Defeating it is not about conquering a god but grasping the cost of immortality. In the Return ending, Kuro uses the Dragon’s Tears to end immortality, blending Buddhist liberation with Shinto harmony.

Conclusion

    Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice weaves fragmented narrative, high-stakes gameplay, and wabi-sabi aesthetics into a profound exploration of impermanence, immortality, and redemption. The Corrupted Monk and Divine Dragon battles, with their seamless integration of visuals, sound, and combat, elevate themes of decay and divinity. From Kurosawa’s samurai epics to Tezuka’s philosophical musings, Sekiro inherits Japan’s cultural essence while delivering an interactive art form that immerses me in the soul-stirring clash of ninja and samurai.

References

FromSoftware. (2019). Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice [Video game]. Activision.

Kurosawa, A. (Director). (1954). Seven Samurai [Film]. Toho.

Miyazaki, H. (2018, June 20). Hidetaka Miyazaki on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’s setting, narrative. Stevivor. https://stevivor.com

Miyazaki, H. (2018, July 14). Interview: Miyazaki on the Limbs and Lore of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. PlayStation Blog. https://blog.playstation.com

Miyazaki, H. (2018, August 21). Hidetaka Miyazaki On Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Game Informer. https://www.gameinformer.com

Miyazaki, H. (2019, January 25). Our Full Hidetaka Miyazaki Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Interview. Game Informer. https://www.gameinformer.com

Miyazaki, H. (2019, March 14). Hidetaka Miyazaki Talks ‘Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’ And The Shinobi Way. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com

Miyazaki, H. (2019, March 15). Hidetaka Miyazaki discusses ‘Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’ and ‘edge-of-your-seat combat’. Entertainment Weekly. https://ew.com

Miyazaki, H. (2019, March 27). Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – Director Miyazaki discusses his vision, and how it was conceived (Part 1/2). Frontline Gaming Japan. https://www.frontlinejp.net

Miyazaki, H. (2019, April 17). Sekiro: Famitsu Interview with Miyazaki (Translated). Medium. https://bagoum.medium.com

Tezuka, O. (2004). Fire Bird: Yamato Edition (Vol. 4). Viz Media. (Original work published 1969).