As heirs to FromSoftware's genre-defining and notoriously difficult Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Bloodborne both task players to battle their way through challenging enemies and grueling boss fights. Much like other Soulslike titles, punishment is crucial to experiencing Bloodborne and Sekiro. However, the similarities end there for the titles.
With strong narratives and no planned sequels in immediate sight, it only makes sense that fans of one may think themselves better than fans of the other. Though both may be sensational experiences, only one game can truly be considered the better of the two.
Bloodborne's Challenge Offers Insight
Bloodborne sticks to the Souls formula closer than Sekiro does, but Dark Souls fans may still need some time to settle into Bloodborne's faster combat. Dark Souls' and Demon's Souls' combat test players' patience, memory and timing. With their weapon, armor and character customization, they also test creativity and strategy. One thing that they don't test much is reflexes. Souls veterans often find Bloodborne to be a step up in difficulty because it has all the usual challenges of the Souls games but requires a degree of twitch reaction to survive even the most mundane encounters.
Difficulty is subjective, though. Unlike its predecessors, Bloodborne has a "rally" mechanic, allowing players to negate some recently-taken damage by retaliating within a five-second window, which some players think makes the game easier. For those players, there's Bloodborne's DLC pack, The Old Hunters, which is considerably harder than the base game. Regardless of the game's difficulty, Bloodborne inspires the most passionate fandom of any FromSoftware title. The game's over-the-top grimdark setting keeps players coming back for replay after replay.
Sekiro Players Only Die Twice...If They're Lucky
Sekiro is unique among other Soulslike titles. Despite remaining a third-person action-adventure title, Sekiro's non-boss enemies are best defeated through stealth, not head-on combat. Its bosses are radically different from those in Bloodborne or the Souls games, too. Sekiro's boss combat is less like a third-person melee game and more like a rhythm game. Bosses' attacks are far less orderly and telegraphed than in earlier FromSoftware games, and defensive fighting is discouraged; even a single missed parry can be fatal. There's no cheesing it by getting bigger like in other Soulslikes, either. Yes, players have skills and tools to discover, but there isn't leveling in the conventional sense, nor are there alternate arms and armor. Numbers don't get bigger; players can either pass the skill checks or give up.
Like with Bloodborne, the difficulty here largely depends on the player. Players who are good at things like rhythm games find Sekiro's combat an absolute delight. For most, though, Sekiro's boss fights are at best challenging and at worst impossible, and beating one can feel less like an accomplishment and more like an accident. Sekiro does have it's titular "die twice" resurrection mechanic, but this is more than made up for by the severe cost of actual death. Dying puts a hefty dent in a player's money and XP, but dying repeatedly can also curse NPCs. If this happens, quest lines can't advance until the player cures the afflicted character. To add insult to injury, the stealth-heavy gameplay can make that walk of shame back to where you died especially slow.
Sekiro's Challenge Requires More Than Skill
Bloodborne is a challenging game, but if you've played Souls, it's just a matter of acclimation. Sure, it's faster-paced and healing works differently, but at the end of the day, it's the same formula: learn a pattern, choose when to strike and spend points to get bigger. Sekiro, however, flips the script entirely with its heavy focus on stealth and rhythmic combat.
While just the rank and file enemies of Sekiro are considered harder than Bloodborne's, it's the boss battles that make the difference. Whereas less-skilled players can overcome most of Bloodborne's bosses with enough practice or just by grinding out blood echoes, the same isn't true in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Not only are Sekiro's bosses extremely hard, but the game punishment for death is unusually harsh. Persistence isn't enough to overcome Sekiro's bosses; you actually have to get good to conquer the game, and that's what makes Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice the most torturous campaign yet devised by FromSoftware.