Bonfireside Chat 145: Sword Saint Isshin / Endgame
Added 2019-09-22 12:00:02 +0000 UTCGary and Kole talk about the final bits of Sekiro, including the boss and all of the endings, as well as their final thoughts on the game. The next two(!) weeks are your responses to Sekiro, because you came out in force like champions.
After that, we'll be finishing our soundtrack series before moving onto Death's Gambit, mon ami.
Comments
It’s funny because imo Sekiro has the best fight in Fromsoft with Genichiro then the worst boss fight in Fromsoft with Ishin
Jessie joy
2025-05-18 03:33:40 +0000 UTCNot sure if you guys noticed but Kuro's facial expressions change depending on what ending you choose. In severance his expression is stoic accepting his fate, in purification he is concerned and sad before fainting after taking the tears. In homecoming ending he is calm and peaceful.
abhilash maddali
2024-08-08 06:43:33 +0000 UTCNice podcast!, agree with so much, I really enjoy the game but it needs a full rpg and weapon system to complement the game play to make it the same as the souls games imop. I think it took me around 15hrs easy to beat the final boss and man I struggled to define my opinion after I was done, I felt like I had banged my head against a wall for weeks to beat the game and not sure if I enjoyed it or not. Yes I did enjoy it, But iv completed the other souls bourne games a combined amount of around 50 times, and I don't want to fight isshin anymore :)!!.
Murray Hislop
2019-09-26 14:05:06 +0000 UTCI was surprised no one ran with Kole's "Isshin....as if born from Genichiro's taint...ed blood."
Lewis Shaw
2019-09-24 19:12:07 +0000 UTCYeah I understand the intention, I just think it's stretched too far. And the fact that your tools only give you very small boosts (while using limited resources!) means they end up being a kind of 10% efficiency boost for pros and that's it. I've made a couple of jokes about Ichimonji Double being so prevalent, but it costs nothing and often feels like the only common-sense move anyone could use to mix things up. The spinning attack and the Nightjar Slash are also handy, but since you can only have one, it's difficult to choose them over that.
Sid Menon
2019-09-22 20:25:24 +0000 UTCI think the HP bloat vs your damage feels more purposeful in Sekiro than it does in like Dark Souls 3 — Sekiro is a game that shines when you’re playing it really patiently and getting into the zone. You’re winning with a thousand cuts, not a few decisive moves like your opponents can do.. But it gets really exhausting by the end, because the only way they can challenge you more is by making the fights more drawn out and complicated. Owldad 2 for me was the perfect last boss as far as the challenge i like in Sekiro, Isshin is a few steps too far and oops i still haven’t beaten the fucking guy.
sleepysmiles
2019-09-22 19:57:58 +0000 UTCI was playing Nioh recently and came to the conclusion that it can somewhat justify its high damage, because the player's many options can combine to dish it out really fast as well. And even then, I think it wouldn't lose much by halving the damage values. Sekiro seems like it should maintain a better balance of player versus enemy damage, because it's a single-player game with one intended playstyle, yet utilizing your full suite of tricks and upgrades will leave you doing almost-okay damage at best. I know some Souls fans really like these extended fights, but they can get them by avoiding upgrades/levels. Making that the default is very weird! If there was the equivalent to Metal Gear Rising's Revengeance difficulty, where damage is high for players and enemies alike, I'd probably like that more than having Sekiro's reasonable middle portion bookended by huge pains.
Sid Menon
2019-09-22 19:35:10 +0000 UTCGary mentioning how upgrades only help to keep pace with the game really make me wish this didn't have any RPG elements at all. Or if HP damage and Posture damage were separated. Perhaps you always do as much posture damage as you'll ever do, so people with absurd skills can still win fights quickly in a high-stakes fight, but upgrading HP damage will let everyone else get somewhat better at chipping away. also the real evil of the bad ending is wolf joining the legions of dudes in this game who dont wear any gatdamn shoes
Sid Menon
2019-09-22 19:10:45 +0000 UTCi’m in a weird place where i like Isshin specifically *because* it’s the very hard final challenge you have to dedicate yourself to for ages, but i still kinda think it’s too hard. Game should have had lower difficulty options! Sorry not sorry! SSI would still be a cool and challenging last boss even if he couldn’t take out 3/4 of your health with a gunshot.
sleepysmiles
2019-09-22 18:26:46 +0000 UTCI love your critiques on artwork so much! I don’t think you guys have turned into AVGN, and I’m glad you take things jn their totality and aren’t shy about sharing negative experiences because it would be really lame if you turned into that Chris Farley sketch on SNL where all he did was interview guests and go “hey man remember the guardian ape? Haha, yeah... that was awesome... Oh and the giant snake? Yeah that was awesome....” (although that sketch cracks me up). These kind of deep dives, critiques, and comments have made me appreciate the art form so much more. Ya have a heart a gold, don’t let them take it from ya!
CoalmineCanary
2019-09-22 17:30:24 +0000 UTC
