You must play as a ninja

As fans might already know, Hidetaka Miyazaki took a step in a different direction for once when he was creating Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Not only does the title host its own unique set of mechanics and features, but it also has a totally different fundamental from other titles that have been released by FromSoftware.

What makes Sekiro primarily different from other Soulslike games is how it focuses on the protagonist’s story and his revenge, rather than a bigger picture and a path for the player to follow. However, another factor that sets apart the game from other works of Miyazaki is that it does not have a multiplayer mode.

What Dark Souls and Elden Ring by Hidetaka Miyazaki have in common is that despite being years apart, they feature a multiplayer mode, allowing players to play co-op with their friends to explore the world and defeat bosses together. Unfortunately, that is not the case with Sekiro, as it fails to feature the same, and the reason why was revealed by Yasuhiro Kitao on behalf of FromSoftware in an interview via GameSpot–

“This title is designed, from the beginning, to be a single-player experience, As a part of that, one of the focuses of the game is, instead of having a choice between various classes from the beginning, you must play as a ninja. As a result, [the team] has really been able to focus in on what those mechanics are and make them as deep as possible.”

Kitao mentioned how the game was intended to be a single-player experience from the very start, taking away the possibility of adding a multiplayer mode. He further explained how instead of giving a choice, the player is forced to play as a ninja from the beginning, allowing the studio to focus better on the mechanics of the game.

While some might not like this aspect of the title, this is what ultimately sets it apart from other video games, which is also the reason why Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice proved to be a huge success when it was finally launched.

With the release of Rise of the Ronin, a PlayStation Exclusive that is being accused of copying many elements from Sekiro, fans were prompted to travel back in time and take a look over how the renowned director has reacted before to other studios taking inspiration from his games.

The director mentioned how it is not a matter of concern even if another studio chooses to copy the same mechanics from his games. This is because it allows FromSoftware to look at it being executed from a different perspective, which helps them better implement the same in future titles.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is available to purchase on Steam.