FromSoftware has created a lot of different properties, but they are most famous for Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Now they have released details and trailers on their newest IP, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Due out early next year, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice looks both alike and unlike its two predecessors. Set in a feudal world, our hero is a one-armed samurai in pursuit of the man that maimed him. He also has to save his lord, a young boy, from the clutches of those that have taken him.

His arm plays a key component to his character, though little details about the magical arm have been released. What we do know is he has a fake arm filled with weapons and tools – like a grappling hook – to get him quickly through locations. Visually, it is obvious this is FromSoftware, but some key differences point at what could be a change of direction for the developer.

What is the Same?

FromSoftware hasn’t released a lot of details, but some things are still distinctly drawing from the well of Dark Souls. Combat is once again king. In the trailer, enemies leap over attacks, hit boxes are deliciously precise, and our hero (so far unnamed) can dodge, block, and parry attacks. Staggering enemies and breaking guards are clearly back as well.

Enemies look both stylistically different and the same. FromSoftware games are defined by fodder enemies and larger more brutal ones (often called fatties in Dark Souls). It is a balancing act for combat – big strong enemies and little weak ones with gimmicks. So far, that doesn’t look so different, especially when we see a giant pick up and hurl the hero. The smaller enemies, ronin or soldiers, look like the usual fare to be hacked through and decimated but some with shields and other tools to make them frustrating. There will almost certainly be some changes just as there were from Dark Souls to Bloodborne. For instance, Bloodborne had larger enemy groupings and increased the aggression of enemies because of the healing mechanic added to the game. Switching weapon types also dramatically increased range in Bloodborne and was coupled with ease of staggering weaker enemies. All of that is to say, Sekiro will probably have its own changes.

Visually, this is clearly the same engine. Just from the teaser of the hero opening a door, we know this is the same stuff we’ve seen in the past. Huge doors, huge monsters, and a hero that is small but able to take down them all. Even enemy movements, from how they swing weapons to how the hero delivers an attack with an ax, are familiar to fans who have played earlier titles.

Of course, it also wouldn’t be a FromSoftware game if Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice didn’t have the ugly, twisted enemies that accompany all their games. The grotesque is something the developer has always done fantastically, and it doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere. The size of enemies also looks about to the scale we would expect.

What is Different?

A lot. Game Director Hidetaka Miyazaki has stated that he was most proud of the studios work on online play and covenants in past titles, but that won’t be any part of Sekiro. The game will be completely offline and a completely solitary experience. No reasons have been given yet for this, but it seems likely it is because the atmosphere and feeling of Sekiro is far different than past titles. Online makes it difficult to tell a story that doesn’t reference them, and Sekiro is about one man’s journey, not the journey of hundreds of players across ruined worlds.

Players won’t be able to design their character, choose a class, or define the hero. The hero is already defined and fits a preexisting narrative. The world is also one that looks troubled but not apocalyptic like the worlds of Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Both games were incredibly dark and brooding, but Sekiro looks downright bright and lush. Maps look well lit, and the game embraces the feudal Japan aesthetics it is set in.

Obviously, this will make the game a much, much different experience. There will be no more invasions, rallying cries of triumph for foes defeated, and no more dark, crumbling worlds.

While combat looks the same, it also looks very different. We’ve only seen the hero utilize his primary sword and his secondary ax (for breaking shields). He also appears to have a parasol shield that looks pretty awesome. Combat options will probably be far more sparse, in line with the samurai/ninja genre that the game evokes. Sekiro looks like a continuation of Onimushi, Shenmue, or Ninja Gaiden but with Dark Souls flare. The hero’s grappling hook speaks to this as well.

Whereas past FromSoftware games severely limited the movement of players, Sekiro looks to open up the possibilities of using the entire map. The grappling hook can zip the hero across the map, allow him to reach locations he couldn’t before, and will ultimately allow for a much greater versatility of movement. And none of that mentions a key element that is already directly in the title – players can die twice.

FromSoftware hasn’t said too much how this will play into the game, but death is always a big deal in their games. Death was an actual element of the story of both Dark Souls and Bloodborne, making death an immersive storytelling aspect of the world. In much the same way, dying in Sekiro seems to be a core part of the hero. It has even been hinted that there are strategic uses for dying and resurrecting to get the drop on enemies or bosses. It also ties rather nicely into the hero’s backstory of losing his arm to the main villain, only to rise again to seek vengeance. We’ll know more about it as details come.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is set to release in early 2019 for PS4, Xbox, and PC.