Chapter 689: The Water is Getting Hotter (Requesting Subscriptions and Monthly Passes)

“This grappling hook is so cool!”

Entering the game, Zhang Yi quickly experienced the content he had previously seen in the promotional video and at the launch conference.

Wolf, with his Prosthetic Arm, could now use the grappling hook to reach specific places.

Using the grappling hook to latch onto tree trunks and walls, he soared through the air as if flying, it was incredibly cool.

Combined with Wolf's double jumps in the game, it could be said that in terms of freedom of movement, it was indeed much stronger than Bloodborne and Dark Souls, and exceptionally flashy.

But this cool feeling quickly vanished without a trace, because Zhang Yi began to sense the deep malicious (game design) in the game.

The few mobs encountered earlier were basically not difficult, the kind that could trigger the Shinobi Execution phase with just two hits.

But after passing through a small path and arriving at a patch of reeds, Zhang Yi felt the malicious (game design).

Because a mob was hidden in the reeds, which he hadn't noticed at first.

And guarding the main entrance was still an ordinary mob and a ranged soldier with a fire crossbow.

Then he thought of dealing with the fire crossbow soldier at the door first, but there was another Wolf behind the door. And after attracting that Wolf, it actually called for backup, and two more Wolves immediately rushed over.

This instantly formed a 'three-wolf god-slaughtering formation'. Although they were very fragile and died in two hits, with the nearby common soldiers, they directly wiped out his first life.

“What the heck! This is completely different from Dark Souls and Bloodborne!”

Zhang Yi looked at the dark screen before him, feeling a wave of pained expressions.

Mobs being harder to deal with than BOSSes, this was a characteristic of Souls-like games.

But compared to Dark Souls and Bloodborne, he distinctly felt that the mobs in Sekiro had a more prominent AI performance, being extremely agile.

Of course, that being said, in reality, the mobs in the game still had a certain aggro range. Upon approaching, a yellow triangle slot would appear, putting them in an alert state, which would then turn red, drawing aggro and entering combat state.

If you wanted to distinguish, it was actually very simple: just listen to the background music.

If you disengaged from combat, the music would stop.

Just as Zhang Yi felt a pang of pained expressions, a drop of bright red blood suddenly fell on the dark screen before him.

Kuro's voice reached his ears.

‘Wolf... live on with my blood!’

Subsequently, Zhang Yi's screen switched back to the game, displaying the beautifully artistic characters: YOU DIED.

Below it were two different options: [Die Here] [Resurrect].

“Here it comes, second resurrection!” Seeing this prompt, Zhang Yi couldn't help but feel a surge of energy.

Earlier, in the Water Storage District, he had wondered why Wolf couldn't respawn, but it was clearly tied to the game's progression.

Furthermore, by continuously performing Shinobi Executions on monsters, one could also absorb the power of regeneration.

After a quick look, as someone who frequently played games, Zhang Yi pretty much understood this mechanic.

“Didn't expect that, did you! This old man can still live!” Looking at the enemies who had lost aggro, Zhang Yi decisively chose to resurrect. A crimson glow emanated from Wolf's body, and then the half-health Wolf stood up from the ground.

Ignoring the nearby mobs, Zhang Yi ran straight ahead. With his sharp eyes, he immediately spotted a Sculptor's Idols on the stone wall to his right.

He then found a shuriken item on the second floor, returned to the Sculptor to install this Prosthetic Arm attachment, and after that, he could use throwing weapons in the game.

“But this damage is pitifully low!”

Zhang Yi checked the damage and couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment.

It felt like a weapon just for aggroing monsters; completely useless in actual combat!

Moreover, just like the Quicksilver Bullets in Bloodborne, using this shuriken Prosthetic Arm attachment consumed one spirit emblem.

Yet, unlike the Quicksilver Bullets in Bloodborne, these spirit emblems were quite expensive.

The main reason was that the method of acquiring currency was a bit different.

Whether in Bloodborne or Dark Souls, after defeating enemies, souls or Blood Echoes were automatically added.

However, in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Zhang Yi found that he needed to actively collect them.

Although he didn't need to run to the corpses to loot them, he just had to long-press an interaction button to absorb the coins onto himself. But after combat, he always forgot.

Earlier, when he returned through the Sculptor's Idols at the entrance to install the Prosthetic Arm, he had forgotten to collect the money dropped by the common soldiers he had previously defeated.

What made Zhang Yi feel even more pained was that the death penalty in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice felt heavier than in Bloodborne and Dark Souls.

After dying in Sekiro, the dropped money would be half of what was on him, which sounded quite humane.

After all, in Bloodborne and Dark Souls, if you dropped it, you dropped everything.

But the key point was that in Bloodborne and Dark Souls, you could still retrieve your body and pick up your dropped items. Only by dying again midway would you lose everything.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was different; once dropped, it could never be recovered.

This meant that before fighting a BOSS, he absolutely had to spend all the money on him, otherwise, he would definitely end up with less and less.

“Forget it, I'll worry about it later. Anyway, I don't have much money now. But how do I get these Prayer Beads, Memories, and Gourd Seeds?”

In front of the Sculptor's Idols, Zhang Yi converted his meager amount of money into spirit emblems, feeling a bit puzzled at the same time.

Unlike Dark Souls and Bloodborne, where you used souls for upgrades and stat allocation, Sekiro was much simpler and more direct: four Prayer Beads for health increases and Memories for attack increases. But where could he buy these things?

“Never mind, I'll just keep moving forward for now.” Seeing that the Sculptor's Idols only sold spirit emblems, Zhang Yi shook his head and prepared to continue.

He teleported via the Sculptor's Idols to the previous save point.

This time, Zhang Yi was clever; he walked across the rooftops the entire way, avoiding some of the previous monsters.

He then arrived in the courtyard of a Guard Tower.

There was only one samurai guarding the main gate, named Naomori Kawarada.

There wasn't a single soldier nearby.

“This is a BOSS battle coming up!” Zhang Yi looked at the BOSS in front of him and smacked his lips.

The small courtyard was a large open space, clearly reserved for players to fight BOSSes.

But Zhang Yi also noticed a small detail: just like with the previous samurai, the surrounding paths didn't seem to be blocked. And behind the general's other shack, there was a small path leading to the back, indicating that this samurai wasn't necessarily mandatory to fight.

But this time, Zhang Yi wasn't going to avoid it. Instead, he prepared to test in actual combat just how big the difference was between this BOSS and the mobs.

After all, these mobs were no match for him, and without a stamina bar, this BOSS shouldn't be too difficult, right?

Of course, that thought changed the instant he started fighting the BOSS.

“What the heck, why did this BOSS suddenly get so fast?”

“This Mount Hua Split move, its attack is so high, my Posture Bar was instantly maxed out?”

Facing the brand new BOSS, Zhang Yi looked bewildered. He realized the water was already starting to get hot.

It was completely different from what he had fought before.

Its aggressive intent was stronger, and crucially, it had a sweeping counter, as well as a two-hit slash and a cleave.

Two lives, one Healing Gourd; it seemed to offer a high margin for error.

But the key was that the BOSS also had two lives.

And after actually fighting, Zhang Yi also experienced what had bewildered Song Ren earlier: although the game's combat style was very satisfying, it was a bit difficult to adapt to.

However, as an experienced veteran Firelinker, he still summarized some characteristics.

Unlike Bloodborne and Dark Souls, Sekiro still had some of Mr. Chen's mercy.

For example, the General of the Samurai's moves, except for those marked with '危' (Danger) above his head, could not be parried. As for whether a perfect weapon bounce, like a Perfect Guard, could block them, he didn't know.

Because by this point, he had already admired the red 'YOU DIED' twice.

(End of Chapter) <>