Timmo

Much like our calendar, Game of Thrones can be categorised pretty clearly as before the Jorah battle roll, and after the Jorah battle roll.

I wouldn't really compare them, Nioh is its own beast. I'd definitely recommend it, though.

So I came into Sekiro with a little trepidation; after finding Dark Souls 2 enjoyable but a little disappointing, I never actually finished Dark Souls 3. It was just too similar to the first game, for me, and I’d spent a good 300 hours on that. I couldn’t really fault it, I was just a bit done. Bloodborne, though, I absolutely rinsed, and is up there with my favourite games. I just wasn’t sure what to expect with this. And first impressions weren’t great. The combat was completely bouncing off me. Probably for the first 10 hours or so I can’t say I was enjoying it much at all. And then, suddenly, it started to make sense. I’d say Genichiro was the turning point, and I’m guessing the same applies for many people playing. And it also highlights how great the bosses are in this game. A fight that at first felt overwhelming and unfair proved over a few hours that it was anything but unfair, and gradually it became less and less overwhelming, and suddenly it felt almost easy to get to its last phase, and by the time I was done I felt like the boss. The truth is, I never really enjoyed Dark Souls’ bosses. They felt suitably epic, but really they were just pretty minor roadblocks to exploring the world. Bloodborne’s were a little better, due to the gun parry, but I never really found them that fun. What really sets Sekiro apart from From’s previous games is how brilliant its major fights are. At first it can jar how much of your playtime in a pretty big world (speedy traversal makes it seem smaller than it is, mind) is spent in relatively small areas fighting increasingly difficult bosses. But there’s a reason you spend so long fighting them, and that’s because it’s damn fun to, so long as you are willing to learn and you acknowledge that it’s going to take some work on your part. And that’s never more apparent than when facing the final boss, which I’d rate as the greatest boss fight I’ve ever played: (If you’d told me before playing Sekiro that I’d have fun spending 4 hours facing the same boss, I’d find it pretty hard to believe you.) One of the best side-effects of having bosses which require persistence is how it almost trivialises fighting lesser enemies. Crucially this is never to the extent that these enemies aren’t fun to fight anymore, rather it makes you feel like an absolute demon. They’re no worse than they were before, and you're barely more powerful, you’re just way better. And there is still challenge if you want it. Forego stealth and you can use your newfound skill to fight four guys at once. My favourite single moment in the game came about half way through: (big spoiler) Overall I absolutely loved the game and can’t wait to start NG+ (after cleaning up some collectibles) and also aiming for the other endings (I’m more than happy to have separate playthroughs for these!) I’ve not clicked with a single player game like I have with this since Bloodborne. The only real concern is replayability. The lack of online or other weapons means that fighting styles are limited (especially when spirit emblems are a restricted resource), but to be honest I’m not too bothered about all of that. I’m very happy that they tuned the game around a single weapon, and it’s clear that the first playthrough benefits from everything being so tight. From knocked it out the park.

I DID IT! The best boss I've faced in any videogame. At no time during my 100+ attempts did I feel the fight was unfair, I just knew I needed to improve. I'll write more impressions about the game once it's all sunk in.

Final boss:

HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT HESITATION IS DEFEAT

Also resolution the human eye can't decipher unless it's a 90 inch TV

This'll be £550

Her acting now seems to consist of slightly different versions of a smug grin.

I have to say I found the juxtaposition between

I'm enjoying this, as ever, but I'm finding it hard to concentrate as I keep getting distracted by DCI Arnott's immaculate grooming and beautiful, Virgo-esque waistcoats.

The problem is that you've just remembered the creepy bits. Which are about 5% of the book.

Mark my words, he'll make a mistake that will cost Liverpool the title.

I don't mind the limited space, it forces me to focus on games instead of whoring myself across many. Plus with unlimited broadband it's easy to redownload anything.

Part of the issue with making this into a horror film is that the book wasn't really horror. It was much more a drama about loss with a handful of creepy bits.