How do i get good?

[DruggedBunny]

Im only 20 min into the game but im already dying like a lil bish to the first leader.
If not before then even.
Is there anyway to heal myself? Regain items, or get more damage? Or am i just too ♥♥♥♥♥

[Blazing]

New players to these kind of games need to undergo some kind of acknowledgement to the idea of trying, dying and learning from mistakes. It is very common for new players to have a more difficult start due to a lack of basics obtained from previous experiences. Dying like "a lil bish" is how you get better, as long as you consider what could have been done better and attempt to improve on that. All tools are given to you in this game, and you can't really overlevel for it, but you are punished, or rewarded if you do depending on your perspective, if you play as a completionist as mini bosses and bosses improve your stats (including some exploration), which, at this point in your progress, is likely not relevant yet.

As for healing items, you obtain a gourd at the start of the game from the child, which you can use to heal yourself for a couple of charges every time you rest at a save point. There's also consumables that you can use, but you're better off not relying on those as you will run out quite quickly - better to save those for when you really need them.

[Argyle]

Sekiro is a fairly unique experience as far as action games go, because your primary focus is very rarely on eliminating your enemy's health bar. Instead you need to focus on breaking your opponents posture (through attacking and deflecting enemy attacks) to open your opponent for an instant kill. The only time you want to be dodging attacks is to re position yourself or retreat when your posture meter is close to full. Don't approach it like Dark Souls or Nioh, thinking about what attacks to block and which to roll through to find an opening. Instead approach it like a rhythm game - learn the timing of your opponents move set so you can deflect each of their attacks dealing massive posture damage, and opening them for the instant kill. Its worth noting that you can simply spam L1 and it will block just as well as holding the button, but you might get some lucky deflections in. Its very useful when learning a new enemy's move set, and for enemies with very fast attack animations.

[DruggedBunny]

Okay Okay Okay Okay Okay. I see.
This helped me get through the first leader without any problems so thanks a lot. Parry and stab when they've lost their footing.
Helped a bunch, thanks.

[mckracken]

it helps a ton to play a lot of dark souls before you play sekiro.

Not because of the actual gameplay (which is different) but on gameplay mechanics and game system. Stuff like checkpoints, general boss tactics and progression.

[DruggedBunny]

Any particular dark souls you'd reccommmend? Never played any souls like games before

[Yagi]

all 3, in chronological order would be the best for a newcommer, or anyone who wants to discover souls games

[Pvt. Stash]

Originally posted by DruggedBunny:

Any particular dark souls you'd reccommmend? Never played any souls like games before

I've never played a souls game and it took me a very long time to figure out the mechanics in Sekiro. It was infuriating for the first 20-25 hours, but I was forcing myself to power through the punishment.

Finally something clicked and all the tips and tricks videos actually lined up with the muscle memory I was building. After that it came down to two things:

1: Learning the enemy in front of me and exploiting openings.

2: Mindset. As soon as I lost focus, got angry, or tried rushing the game would punish me in fantastical ways.

Combat in this game is as much strategy and skill as it is action. Just keep at it.