New Sekiro Trailer Shows Brutal Combat And Shinobi Acrobatics

From Software has released a new trailer for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice ahead of the start of Tokyo Game Show, which begins on September 20. The trailer is, as is typical for From Software titles such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne, moody and ominous. It shows a shinobi seeming lying dead on the floor, but quickly cuts to gameplay, with the lead characters acrobatically launching himself around the environment.

This kind of movement is the big distinction between Sekiro and the Dark Souls series. The main character has a grappling hook, and can quickly climb up walls, hide in the rafters, and generally engage in sneaky ninja behaviour to take out his enemy. Despite this, the combat still looks and feels very familiar to previous From Software games, though perhaps with the intensity turned up. In the trailer the main character is shown taking on towering, gruesome beasts in brutal combat. Kitao has also posted some pretty sweet artwork for the game on Twitter, which you can see below.

From Software previously discussed the interesting development history Sekiro has had, confirming that it originally began life as a new instalment in the classic Tenchu series. “When we originally set out to create something different from Dark Souls and our previous titles, we thought it would be interesting to make a Japanese themed game,” explained community manager Yasuhiro Kitao. “So from that we started going in the direction of the shinobi and ninja, and of course Tenchu was an IP with that history; that was the original impetus for this project.”

Activision immediately came on board, but over time the project changed into something else, which is why Sekiro is now launching as a new IP. “[A]s we developed and as we partnered with Activision, and started building it together, it started becoming its own thing. The game we wanted to make was no longer just Tenchu, so it really evolved into its own thing,” Kitao said.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice introduces a resurrection mechanic, which is also a key difference from the Dark Souls series and Bloodborne. When you die in battle, you’re able to use a limited number of life tokens to instantly revive, which creates interesting strategic considerations. Your protagonist also has a prosthetic arm that can be outfitted with a shuriken, axe, and other kinds of weapons akin to the Trick Weapons from Bloodborne.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on March 22, 2019.