What a journey... well, I think I can safely say that Sekiro is definitely the most unique and immersive Soulsborne game ever.

"He will risk his life to take me home, for he is my Shinobi."

Sekiro has probably the best, most exciting story you'll ever see in a souls game and it does everything PERRRFECTLY in that sense. For example a lot of people say Genichiro is a morally weak character, but when you realize how much he's done for Ashina, you know that's not the case at all. Same goes for Sekiro too, torn between his father and Lord Kuro, between honor, mercy and code... The fact that some of these decisions have a direct impact on the course of the game makes it even more exciting. In short, if it didn't have souls mechanics I'm sure even the most casual gamers would enjoy it. I think everyone understands what I mean by that.

To address the "Skill Issue": Sekiro is literally the definition of "get good".
The only people who don't like Sekiro are those who find it too hard. And I can understand that, it's a huge "skill issue" for those who only have played games like Dark Souls, Demon Souls etc and are used to dodging all attacks with just one button press. Well, unfortunately the dodge button alone is not going to save you here. Sekiro literally forces you to improve yourself, and in this respect it partially simulates a real life samurai duel by making you use everything at your disposal and of course your pure sword skills instead of just pressing the dodge button and jumping around like a cracked up rooster until the enemy dies. Most attacks can be blocked by parrying. But what about those that cannot be blocked by normal means? When you see the red kanji, it's either a thrust attack or a sweep. Thrust attacks can be completely blocked with Mikiri Counter. What about Lightning attacks? Lightning Reversal not only blocks the lightning attack, but also redirects it back to the enemy and stuns them for a few seconds. In short, Sekiro's difficulty and the huge "skill issue" comes with it is basically because players avoiding exploration, not paying attention to their surroundings or trying to get out of fights the easy way and therefore never improving.

I don't know what else to say, I've finished the story many times including NG+7, I've beaten Gaunlet of Strength dozens of times and now I'm playing it again with mods like Resurrection or Elden Arts... and I still get the same pleasure. Especially parrying in this game, AHH I'm melting. I can definitely say that everyone should play it at least once, it will be worth every penny you spend.