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What to expect going into this game:
- Extremely fine-tuned and satisfying gameplay consisting of switching between being offensive and defensive on the fly. Knowing how to block/deflect properly and when to use your arsenal of prosthetic tools is key to conquering this game's combat, and becoming the best shinobi you can be.
- To get absolutely skill-checked on numerous occasions, especially in your starting hours. This game is hard, and contrary to what the name says, you will die more than twice. However, with enough practice, you'll find that enemies and/or bosses that you first thought to be impossible to defeat grow to become some of your favourite encounters in the game.
- A reinforced brick wall in the form of a certain red-eyed individual wreathed in chains. Trust me on this though, the game really opens up once you manage to break through and emerge victorious.
- Absolutely gorgeous environments to run around, explore and do battle in, as well as an amazing soundtrack to accompany them. The abundance of eye and ear candy in this game is phenomenal, and I will forever mourn the lack of an official Sekiro soundtrack on Spotify.
- A touching story interwoven throughout the game's progression, as well as a memorable cast of characters that you'll grow to care for to an emotional level. There are multiple endings and character side quests, but for the sake of keeping things spoiler-free, all I'll say is to be wary of some of the choices you make throughout your journey.
- New game plus! If you ever want to re-experience the game without resetting all your collectibles and stat buffs, or you want to try going for a different ending, just boot up a NG+ after completing the game. However, be warned that certain enemy stats, like their health and attack power, will be slightly buffed, and will continue to scale up until the seventh playthrough inclusive.
- Post-game boss rush modes and a menu to refight bosses you've encountered throughout your journey. A nice post-game challenge mode for players who are seeking for it, and a neat and accessible way of replaying some of the game's incredible boss fights without having to go through a new game to do so.

Miscellaneous details to be aware of:
- This game is naturally locked at 60fps. If you'd like to unlock the framerate, there's a really nifty mod available online that'll allow you to do so, as well as some other game-altering features should you wish to make use of them.
- The game is, at least from my experience, very well optimised. I don't recall running into any performance issues whatsoever in my 100+ hours of playing, despite running it at basically max settings on what is a relatively mid-tier PC. In any case, I still recommend checking for available benchmarks online to gauge your expected performance before purchasing.
- The game plays very well with keyboard and mouse. I unfortunately don't have any controller experience to share, but I can personally vouch for the fact that you can get good with a KB+M setup. Just make sure to tweak the keybinds to your preference if the default control scheme isn't working out for you.
- For all you completionists out there, most of this game's achievements outside of those for the separate endings are tied to either boss defeats or acquiring upgrades and skills. There are a few miscellaneous achievements that aren't necessarily tied to progression, but you're bound to run into them naturally unless you actively go out of your way to avoid getting them. All in all a simple game to 100%, though it will take multiple rounds of NG+ and a bit of grinding to get all the achievements.

Overall thoughts:
I didn't know what to expect when I first booted up the game, but I did not expect the levels of satisfaction and adrenaline I would experience playing this game. There were many moments where I deemed a challenge too hard and unfun to bash my head against, and considered throwing the towel in. But each time, I persevered, and looking back, I'm so glad that I did, because with each victory, I could feel pride at the fact that I learnt and got better with each attempt, no matter how long it took. 'Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice' truly forces you to get good, but when you do, you're rewarded immensely with opportunities to engage in combat that is basically akin to dopamine heaven. An easy 9/10 from me, and a must-play for anyone who's ever dreamed of becoming an acrobatic shinobi purging rats from the war-riddled lands of ancient Japan.