Sekiro Is Bogged Down by Technical Hiccups on Consoles

When you look at the last decade, few games have had as much industry-defining influence as the Souls series. If the FromSoftware and Hidetaka Miyazaki names are attached to a project, people will definitely perk up now. As such, the Miyazaki-led Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is getting a lot of attention now that it’s out in the wild.

Brandin Tyrrel, Sekiro’s reviewer at our sister site IGN, gave this ninja-themed Souls-like an Amazing score of 9.5/10. He loves the “streamlined” progression system, the distinct shinobi combat, and the clever resurrection mechanic in this high-speed follow-up. Tyrrel certainly misses some of the online features from other FromSoftware games, but it seems that he was happy to see so many refinements implemented across the board.

With 46 reviews combined for the PS4 version’s metascore, Sekiro is sitting at an impressive 89/100 average. In fact, every scored review counted on Metacritic ranges between 80 and 100 with just one exception. By and large, this should be a rock-solid purchase for anyone who has enjoyed the Souls games or Bloodborne.

As for the stand-out negative review, Jed Pressgrove gave the game a 2/5 in Slant Magazine. Pressgrove notes that “killing can be satisfying in the moment,” but he was disappointed with the boss encounters and the relatively forgiving modern stealth mechanics. Both Nioh and God of War get name-checked for having noteworthy hooks, but he can’t quite find that same special something in Sekiro.

The stock PS4 runs at a native 1080p while the Xbox One S sits at 900p. Both the Pro and X are able to hit 1800p, but it seems like Sony’s console is using a reconstruction system to hit that goal. Still, the end results are pretty damn similar, and DF thinks that this compelling visual trickery could help explain the Pro’s edge in the frame rate department.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a gaming PC, most of those problems are dealt with. Provided you have the horsepower available, this is where you’ll get to thoroughly enjoy the animations and top-notch art direction.

[Image credit: FromSoftware]