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A game that has his own launcher, yet the devs decided to not put their launcher on Steam and just the game itself.
Please, take notes other companies.

"A brutal, beautiful journey through feudal Japan that rewards patience, skill, and perseverance."

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is not your typical FromSoftware game, even though it shares the studio's signature difficulty and atmospheric storytelling. Unlike the Soulsborne titles, Sekiro leans heavily into action and precise combat rather than RPG elements. There are no stats to grind—just your own skill to sharpen.

The swordplay is incredibly tight and satisfying. Every encounter feels like a deadly duel where posture, timing, and reflexes matter more than raw damage. Boss fights are intense and memorable, and the learning curve is steep but fair. Death is part of the process—each failure teaches something new.

The game world is stunningly crafted, with gorgeous, varied environments inspired by late 1500s Japan. The level design encourages exploration, and the verticality introduced by the grappling hook adds a fresh dynamic to movement and combat.

Narratively, Sekiro tells a more direct story than previous FromSoftware games, but still leaves room for interpretation and mystery. The voice acting and music are excellent, further immersing you in its unique world.

It’s not a game for everyone. The lack of difficulty options, limited character customization, and punishing learning curve can be off-putting. But for players looking for a challenging and rewarding experience, Sekiro stands as one of the finest action games of its generation.

(I discovered this game thanks to PS Plus and decided to give it a try. I finished it on PS5 in 20 hours.Rather than a typical review, this is more of a guide-review hybrid.)

First of all, this game isn’t for everyone. It combines puzzle-solving and rogue-like elements. I started without any guides or prior knowledge, and during the first day, I could hardly figure anything out. The game takes place inside a mansion, and its owner wants us to reach the 46th room. While this is initially shown in a cinematic, the story unfolds more as you progress.



The village presents you with doors to the left, right, and center. In the center, there's a blueprint schematic. Your character picks it up, and the journey begins. Each time you click on a door, you are given 3 random room choices. It could be a corridor, a bedroom, a living room, or even a bank vault — your goal is to build your path and keep heading north toward the 46th room.

While the basic concept seems simple, beyond the heavy note-taking and attention to detail required for the puzzles, the game also features several key resources.

Gold (money) is used to buy items if you create shop rooms. If you happen to find the ultra-rare casino rooms, you can gamble to multiply your money. Later, when the exterior room mechanic unlocks, you can also donate gold to a mystical statue for daily buffs — such as increasing the chance of encountering rare rooms after using fruit three times.

この影どこの影だよ 

A Screenshot of Blue Prince

By: yellow

Then there’s the diamond (gem) resource. When drawing rarer rooms, you may see a cost of 1, 2, or 4 diamonds below the choice. Diamonds are primarily obtained by creating specific rooms that grant them or by unlocking permanent upgrades. For example, solving mysteries in certain rooms grants buffs like starting each new day with +2 gold. Once the exterior mechanic is unlocked, there are even perks that change diamond costs into "energy" (steps).

Each room you visit costs 2 steps.

Завершил очевидную цель с титрами. В целом понравилось, но не могу советовать игру (и не уверен, что меня хватит на "постгейм"). 

A Screenshot of Blue Prince

By: TopoR

At first, you might think you’re just walking endlessly, but even exterior areas always consume 2 steps per room. If you equip sneakers, sometimes you can move without losing steps.

You can also solve major puzzles like the apple orchard to permanently boost your step count. Because once your steps run out, you’re forced to "call it a day" and move to the next day.

Unless you visit pawn shop rooms (where you leave an item for the next run) or freezing rooms (which store your wealth for your next run), you basically start over from scratch every time.

Thus, you have to plan carefully to make lasting progress day after day.

There are upgrade disks you can find that let you open computer rooms and convert useless corridors into green rooms. In green rooms, if you have a watering can, you can water plants for diamonds, or see flowers growing diamonds inside pots.The game is full of these strange, creative mechanics.

If you open a pool room and somewhere else open a pump room, you can even transfer water between locations. Draining the pool can reveal hidden areas below.

I’ll leave the rest for you to discover.

For example, the dining room automatically prepares a big meal every day after some time.

If you opened the corresponding bonus room, the meal grants you 30 steps; otherwise, 20 steps.

The salt shaker item can enhance this bonus even further — just like how a coin pouch gives you a bonus gold every time you collect 3 gold.

There are also countless useful items:

A metal detector to find more gold

A big hammer to break open locked chests

A lockpick to open low-rarity locked doors

A compass to help you draw non-dead-end rooms (because you can easily get stuck when you run out of diamonds or keys and can't draw the right rooms.)

And if you’ve unlocked the workshop room, you can combine these items to create a more useful single item. For example, a shovel with a metal detector. This can be especially helpful since the pawn shop in the game only lets you leave one item at a time.

Each run feels like trying a new tactic or being forced to end the day due to bad luck.

You get better with experience, and learn how to guess room layouts and design the house to progress more efficiently.

Understanding the Antechamber doors properly also becomes crucial. (I deliberately won't spoil what they are.)

Technically, the game looked pretty bad on PS5 Pro despite the lack of a Pro patch.It’s noticeably worse compared to the PC version.

On console, there’s even a permanent mouse cursor stuck on the screen.It definitely needs a console patch.Still, the intentional retro aesthetic and simple drawings fit the game well and don’t ruin the experience.

One of the game's undeniable highlights is its incredible music.It’s a strange blend — very deep, grim, and building up like the soundtrack from the first Joker movie.The moment I heard it, I thought, "yes, this is one of those games."

By mixing puzzles with rogue-like elements, offering extreme replayability, and challenging mysteries (if you don’t rely on guides), The Blue Prince became not only my indie game of the year but possibly my game of the last several years.

The feeling its finale gave me was something I hadn’t experienced since a masterpiece from year 2013.

If you have patience and fully engage your mind — exploring everything and solving hidden mysteries — you’ll see just how brilliant this game really is.

+Extremely creative, genre-defining approach
+The story opens up over time and blends perfectly with the theme
+Fantastic music
+A finale (and postgame) full of mysteries to discover
+Everything you see has a purpose and meaning
+The gradual sense of progress enhances the feeling of reward

-Progress can sometimes rely too heavily on luck
-Visual quality is poor on console

Review Score: 100/100 🏆