#SoITriedIt: My Journey Through Sekiro and the Art of Parrying

"Man, this is hard. I was struggling with the mini-bosses." "I might drop this." Those were my exact thoughts when I first booted up Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. 

From PlayStation Official Website

I had finished Dark Souls 3, all its DLCs, and Elden Ring (plus its DLC) with a playstyle I thought was set. I had dodging down to muscle memory, mastered invincibility frames, and knew when to spot-roll like a complete beast. But Sekiro? Oh no, this game had different plans for me.

At my lowest point, when I was contemplating putting the controller down for good, my YouTube algorithm somehow knew. Suddenly, beginner videos were flooding my recommendations. I clicked on one, then another, and that’s when it clicked.

IT IS A PARRY GAME

From Nexusmods Official GIPHY

I had approached Sekiro the wrong way from the start. I was playing it like another Souls game, waiting for openings, dodging at the last second, expecting to slowly chip away at enemy health bars. But in Sekiro, dodging isn't the key to survival—parrying is. You don’t just block, you have to time it perfectly to break an enemy’s posture. And posture is everything. The faster you break it, the quicker fights end. It’s an aggressive, almost relentless system, forcing you to meet attacks head-on instead of backing away. 

After this realization, fights started feeling different. I wasn’t just reacting, I was flowing. The combat felt like a rhythm game, where each enemy had a beat, a pattern that you had to match. Once I got the rhythm, I was locked in. Boss fights that once felt impossible now felt like intense duels where I had to understand my opponent's movements. I normally play on speaker and from afar you just hear the nice ping of swords clashing plus some intense music. 

From Steam Official Website

So speaking beyond the combat, Sekiro absolutely nails the atmosphere. The music builds tension at just the right moments, the setting immerses you in the fictional area during the Sengoku period (Yes, I had to look it up), and the secrets—oh, the secrets. Every area is packed with hidden details, little stories that make the world feel alive. You don’t just progress through Sekiro; you discover it. My personal favorite one was the one with the Giant Koi Fish, it was cute, because you get to feed it, but apparently it trapped a fellow for eternity. I don’t want to spoil what happens, but that little side quest was fun but very sad. 

Now, I’m almost done with the game, and it honestly feels like it just zipped on by. It felt like I just started recently, but I believe I am close to the end because everything is on fire. It’s crazy to think I was so close to quitting and missing this masterpiece. But if there’s one thing Sekiro teaches you, it’s to find the beat in life and adapt to it. 

Speaking of beats and music, if you enjoy going through life with your own playlist of tunes, you need a pair of headphones that can supply you with a soundstage immersive enough. Introducing the JBL Tune 720BT, which provides you with JBL’s advertised “Pure Bass” sound.