You've all finished the game at this point. Right? Right? So I've decided to compile my last 50 secrets for Sekiro into one video instead of three because after this, it might be time to move on Let's begin with what might be the best secret on this list In the Shura ending, Owl orders wolf to forsake his master with the intent to take Kuro away from the lands of the Ashina. What ensues is a conflict between Wolf, Emma and then Isshin. And it's a conflict that Owl excuses himself from just before the battle. But did you ever wonder why Owl left here and what he might be doing as you cut down isshin and Emma? The answer is incredibly subtle, but it's hidden within this scene. See if you can hear it. That soft Squelching thud is very suspect. It seems like owl is putting something down right beside Isshin's corpse. Right? This led me to ask Lance McDonald, prominent Souls born data digger to disconnect the camera in this cutscene and see if there was anything to find and sure enough The thing that Owl puts down beside Isshin is the severed head of Isshin's grandson, Genichiro so while you were dealing with Emma and Isshin. Owl stepped away and assassinated Genichiro. Why? Well Genichiro is also competing for Kuro's blood, plus Owl also returns with the black mortal blade Meaning that Genichiromust have located it at this point in the game. Black mortal blade in hand Very little should stand in Owl's way except Shura, of course who ironically might have been awakened by the carnage that Owl initiated. As that dialogue reveals, Owl's real name is Usui, which links him to a place called Usui's forest, a mystical place mentioned in two item descriptions. First it's mentioned in the mist Raven feathers, belonging to one of the many mystical birds that reside within Usui's forest and second in the phantom kunai item, which reveals that Lady Butterfly trained in Owl's forest since childhood. A place filled with mist and mystifications which somewhat explains the shinobi that Owl became, In our first fight with Owl he'll recite different parts of the shinobi code after each death we experienced at his hand. First: that the parent is absolute and If you unlocked a second resurrection during the fight by performing a death blow then you hear that Second: the master is absolute. But what very few people know is that there's a third rule, one That's never mentioned unless you unlock a third resurrection by consuming a Jizo statue during the fight. Three: Fear is absolute There is no shame in losing one battle, but you must take revenge by any means necessary, No wonder if you've got it in you to bring me down It's no surprise that Owl is one of Miyazaki's favorite bosses in Sekiro Before launch he gave this interview where he stated that his favorite boss uses really dirty underhanded Tricks and that they're devious and that he hopes that we'll know it when we see it It has to be Owl right for this fight has this fantastic flavor to it it's a boss that knows how to disable our heal, one that can use Mikiri and Most impressive to me. He's the first boss that actually has trickery just built into his animations He starts feigning attacks Just as soon as you get used to countering them. His gameplay mechanics reflect his character design Which I think is a really worthwhile design goal for any developer. Up here, as Ashina castle is being besieged by the interior ministry the soundtrack takes a bit of a turn Listen to this part and tell me if anything sounds familiar You guessed it. That strained sound is the same one that we heard back in the 10-second shadows die twice teaser. In this same area earlier in the game. We fight Genichiro and we see his second phase here, the way of Tomoe. But did you ever wonder why he strips his metal arm off here It could be because his flesh is astoundingly resilient. Anyway, thanks to the rejuvenating settlement It could be that the way of Tomoe favors flowing unhindered movement. Well my favorite idea is that his metal armor might conduct electricity and Things are about to get heretical up in here To prepare for the invasion Warriors of the Ashina pour over a map within the Ashina dojo. The map depicts the area that you're in right now Here's the main castle, the lake, the path to the Sunken Valley, to the outskirts and back down the main road. Just around the corner from this map is a tiny little shrine on the wall, one that's dedicated to what can only be the Divine Dragon. Its distinctive face is recognizable as is the body twisted around the stump of the sakura tree Attached we see what looked like omikuji Little requests for blessings that are written on paper by the occupants of the castle And did you ever wonder how certain shinobi doors work most of them make sense? Simply taking you from one room to the next but some of them make as much sense as traveling in Dark Souls 2 from the earthen peak to the iron keep After taking an elevator that is to say it makes no sense To flip a door in Ashina castle and end up in the dilapidated Temple. Nor to flip the door in headless' cave and end up deep within the mountains of Senpou Temple However From has put one tiny little detail here to deter any naysayers. There are nine Unintelligible ancient Japanese symbols on the ground in both of these places Which we can only surmise to be magic markings Controlling these shinobi doors, allowing us to teleport from one place to another and as you all know if it's magic It ain't gotta explain shit Right besides some of the smallest most impressive details often lie The most egregious mistakes that no lore master wants to bother trying to explain. For example, the so-called secret path out of Ashina doesn't really deliver Considering it's just an open field with a broken bridge Going nowhere. I'm not exactly sure why Sekiro and Kuro keep coming back here. However in this very same area We also see some of the best hidden details that this game has to offer. In our first fight with Genichiro, Wolf is fighting after having experienced a complete defeat having only recently lost his will to live, thus he's completely out of practice and his skills here are really rusty and it's shown visually in this cutscene actually. Look at how Sekiro actually fumbles for his sword Before he pulls it out, compare this to the Sekiro who fights at the end of the game Look how smoothly he pulls out his sword and prepares for combat Not only that, but this wisp of grass here actually represents Kuro who has just fallen to the ground behind him It's something that Sekiro doesn't even notice That's how focused he is on the looming fight with Genichiro. Moving from Ashina into the depths We encounter our first Shichimen Warrior Which in Japanese means? The warrior with seven faces. His design lives up to that, as he has a ton of faces all over his armor and Attacks with spirit heads that inflicts terror. This warrior in particular drops the Ceremonial Tanto, Which is a dagger that was used in ritual offerings to the Divine Dragon. They would cut spirit emblems from their own flesh. And as we know spirit emblems harbor the souls of the dead Considering this warrior harbors many lost souls himself. It's an item and a task that really suits this warrior Curiously, their armor also features reared up centipedes on the shoulder guards The centipedes are representative of the depraved immortality of the Fountainhead waters So it does make some sense that these warriors who once made blood offerings to those waters Would seek to adorn their armor with their likeness In fact most characters with centipedes can trace their immortality to the fountain headwaters. Take the Guardian Ape for example who in addition to lurking in a location where the fountain Headwaters pull deeply also soothes its severed head wound in a small waterfall of flowing with these same Fountainhead waters and as the centipede erupts from the Apes body take special note of the way that the Apes movement changes Originally it fights like a beast as its original self But in the second phase the centipede actually takes control and now it fights with writhing centipede-like winding attacks furthermore it learns how to use a weapon which Raises even more questions about the centipedes and just how intelligent they really are The Apes waters are Fountainhead waters Which is a fact that's proven once you succeed at killing the Great Carp with Harunaga's poisonous bait During the pot noble quest line. Once it's fed return here and you'll find its corpse Proof that somehow a corpse even as large as this one can end up here. Speaking of the depths I always found this piece of dialogue strange where the old woman asks whether you'll be cast out or throw yourself in and as I was scanning through all the dialogue text that was data mined for the Game, I actually discovered this cut line from Kuro It reads "There exists a great Gorge into which immortals are cast away into the Underworld". Obviously he's talking about the Ashina Depths and we do find many undying down here, some of them victims of experiments with the rejuvenating waters. Speaking of cut content down here. Originally There was a different item you gave to the red priest of Mibu Village. Instead of Dragon's Spring Sake it was supposed to be a fresh Innsmouth liver And this is significant because the town of Innsmouth is the setting for H.P.Lovecraft's "Shadow Over Innsmouth" and in this story members of the village are turning into horrific aquatic life forms Which not only bears a ton of similarity to events in Mibu But this is the story that inspired the Fishing Hamlets in Bloodborne, and there exists even more overlap with Bloodborne's fishing village. Slugs for example are a part of the story and environment in Mibu, just as they're a huge part of Bloodborne's Fishing Hamlet. The basket-head also mentions a hunter named Inuhiko, an outcast who eats the flesh of beasts and Who uses fire to ward away other villagers just like the hunters do in Bloodborne. I think it's less of an easter egg and more of yet another example of From Software having common elements across all their games, not to mention the vermin in Bloodborne. Which have their own counterparts in Sekiro's centipedes. There's even a hanging man cradling something that looks like a humanity sprite here Perhaps he was killed for holding on to his humanity which is Clearly something that the other villagers have abandoned. One thing that we never really got to the bottom of was why Mibu Lake is filled With the upturned bodies of the villagers. The most logical reason is that they drowned this way due to their undying thirst but a more satisfying explanation lies in the 1976 Japanese film "The Inugamis" which features a murder victim who was found in a lake in this exact same upturned pose and if I understand correctly this is something that has been referenced in more Japanese media than just Sekiro since then, and We have "the sarcastic Canadian" on Reddit to thank for catching this one. Moving back up to the mountains and valleys of Ashina. We look next to an item within Senpou Temple It's a second bell just like the one that takes us to the illusory holes This one is found in the lower part of Senpou, in the room with the centipede long neck and you have to wonder if this was ever meant to serve a purpose, an entry point to a future DLC, pheraphs. One of the most interesting items in Sekiro is the contact medicine, a consumable that allows the player to Voluntarily inflict a weak poison upon themselves so that they can't be affected by stronger poisons But it's most interesting use actually pertains to the mist Raven prosthetic, for once you've taken the poison Allows you to dash at any time, since you're always taking damage and if you look carefully at the contact medicine you'll discover what's responsible for your affliction. Stemming from the powder crushed into tiny little bits, are wings and abdomens of what can only be wasps or bees. Next is something incredibly cool But also incredibly unknown if you use the bestowal ninjutsu on the green lizards Then your blade becomes enhanced with poisonous properties and the same goes for blood smoke. You conjure a green Mist that will poison anything inside of it. The lizards are so easy to kill that No one ever thinks to waste ninjutsu on them, but these effects are incredible and honestly It's actually a huge shame that these lizards are always placed in out-of-the-way locations Imagine if they were placed within boss fights for example And you could actually poison bosses by taking out a lizard at a key moment I feel like this ninjutsu could actually give you an edge in those fights. The same principle applies to the white lizards. Of course though the effect is way harder to figure out after a ton of experimenting I realized that the Stowell actually imbues your blade with a lifesteal effect And that the blood smoke can be used to conjure a health regenerating cloud but you'll never need to heal if you never take damage and There's no way to take no damage more stylish than the Senpou Kick into high monk It actually deals really fantastic amount of posture damage if You use it as an anti sweep attack because it also gets the bonus for jumping onto an enemy as well Just don't use it when your enemies are equipped with projectiles as you'll take extra damage and get smacked out of the air Of course this principle applies to your enemies as well every time they're in the air Make sure you throw a shuriken or you can even throw ceramic shards to knock enemies out of the air this might be one of the most underrated items in the whole game. Speaking of anti-air death blows, a Surprising amount of enemies are susceptible to them There's the Twin Blade enemies, the Okami, but most useful is actually against the Shichimen Warrior. You may not have realized that you can use this here though because it only becomes possible to do if you have divined confetti Active on your weapon. Confetti is also an item that's generally underrated especially in the late game and New Game+ Where you can purchase an infinite supply after getting the dragon's tally board from the corrupted monk It's the best item to spend your zen on at that point because divine confetti Actually increases your weapon damage against all enemies not just apparitions this item allows you to connect with apparition type enemies because the paper is created using water from The Fountainhead and Its blessed by the gods and this got me thinking Well, then how come you can damage the headless underwater without the confetti then. One answer might be that since they're underwater In the same divine waters that created the divine confetti They might naturally be vulnerable to it as a result Moving on down into the valley you encounter this League of snipers who can take you out at an insane distance And what I love in this area is just the attention to detail even with the whipping winds These snipers are still able to hit you and the reason is these. These I think are called wind socks Which allow you to tell which direction wind is blowing and how fast all at a glance. This is an invaluable tool for the snipers of the Sunken Valley. And damn, those snipers sound pretty OP, right? well What if I told you that you could recruit one of them for your own. I found this idea on YouTube and it's pretty genius. You just use puppeteer on the snake eyes, right outside the guardian ape fog gate and you can actually bring her in with you as Ranged support during this difficult 2v2 fight. Just make sure you reapply the effect throughout the fight and the fight against the two Apes actually ends up being much more fair Something people rarely do is Kill the Guardian Ape before you kill the Guardian Ape's low health mate If you do this, then you actually don't need to even kill the mate She just gets sad and leaves instead. This next theory was put forward by a Japanese blogger There's a translated link in the description It puts forward that years ago Ashina might have been hit by a meteorite made of Adamantite, which would explain the precious metal scraps that Ashina is known for as well as this deep lake that's right in the middle of the Fountainhead. To add to this I would put forward that Lazulite, the rare metal of Fountainhead Palace, also would have come from this meteorite as well, because the last line of the lazulite shuriken actually reads "the lazulite blue trail of light it emits in flight, is reminiscent the shooting star". This meteor would explain a few things It would explain why the metals of the Ashina are so special, so special that they attracted the attention of the gods. It would explain the supernatural powers of the divine waters and Perhaps most importantly, it would explain why the Mibu breathing technique was required to meet the Divine Dragon. The path to the palace is underwater after all, but it can't have always been this way. The crater must have filled with water after the arrival of the Divine Dragon. Right before meeting the Divine Dragon we find what is surely a Miko, a sort of female shaman or shrine maiden. And if my research is correct then their role was one of spirit possession and cleansing and she may have even served as a means of communication with the divine, allowing the dragon to possess and speak through her. You can make a very strong case for both mortal blades originating from the divine realm. The "Open Gate" or "Black Mortal Blade" has a description that asks the user to make offerings to the Dragon's blood, and the "Gracious Gift of Tears" or "Red Mortal Blade" was surely intended for use on the Divine Dragon, because it gets its tears. Though It's impossible to know why it was created. If you look at the box it comes from actually you can even see the same crest commonly found in Fountainhead Palace. Furthermore the Red Mortal Blade was taken and hidden by the Senpou High Priest, the man who founded Senpou Temple, meaning that the man himself surely once traveled to this palace. A fact that makes sense when you look at the similarity in architecture between these two places. That's what I love about From Software's games. Their world building is just so consistent and it's beyond to compare. While exploring the Fountainhead, it's easy to become enfeebled, likely leading to a quick death as you can't even resurrect in this state However, you can still fight back barely, and if you manage to inflict a death blow upon an opponent you actually undergo a unique kill animation in your weakened state. While recording this death blow I managed to get a closer look at one of the crests on the palace noble scarves. It's a picture of the Vermilion Bird, something that's mentioned a couple more times in game. Nearby is the Vermillion Bridge where you fight the Corrupted Monk, and it's also emblazoned upon Suzaku's Lotus Umbrella, which protects you from flame. But what exactly is the Vermilion Bird? Well put simply it's basically the eastern version of the Phoenix It's a red pheasant that is perpetually covered in flame, a mythological spirit creature of the Chinese Constellations. Another cultural reference nearby is the mask that's worn by the Corrupted Monk Specifically this is actually called a Han'nya mask Something that's used to represent a jealous female demon in Japanese noir theater It has a wonderful design because when you look at it straight on it's meant to look frightening and angry But when you look at it from an above angle the face is sorrowful and it's a design that's intended to convey the complexities of human emotion. Another cultural reference is the Great Carp, which could pertain to the Chinese legend of the Dragon's Gate. As the story goes Many carp swim upstream in the rivers current but very few are brave enough to make that final leap over the waterfall to the Dragon's Gate. If a carp successfully makes the jump it can transform into a powerful dragon and considering the Divine Dragon is actually called the "Ningyo Dragon" in cut content and the word Ningyo describes a sort of carp We can put stock in this legend, as it relates to the Divine Dragon. And speaking of the carp did you know that it's possible to make it friendly if you feed him Koremori's truly precious bait then he'll no longer attack you in the underwater stealth section. Another beast in the Fountainhead Palace is the Sakura bull, roaming at the back of the area. Since this isn't actually a boss fight like the other bull fight, you can use the Firecracker from stealth here, which scares the bull to death, literally. While all this is going on below I also want to point out that the Okami on the rooftops are just chillin and enjoying their sake. Anyway back to the bull. Scaring it completely breaks the bulls posture something that can never happen to you as long as you deflect the attack. Sure, your posture backhand fill even when you deflect perfectly. Some attacks are just too powerful But as long as you deflect them nothing will ever actually break your posture meter, a fact that is particularly Important in New Game+. And that's something I've never actually mentioned on the channel. New Game+ Brings with it the option to give back Kuros' charm, an item that he slips on to your person at the start of the game. Without it You actually take about 30% chip damage whenever you block against attacks So playing in this way requires you to deflect perfectly if you want to get by. Another item you might have taken for granted is the Hidden Tooth or the Bite Down Drunk Both of which grant you death. However, it's not a regular sort of death. Usually when you die Your resurrections are afflicted by a black strike through, which prevents you from resurrecting for a time. However if you commit sudoku with this item You actually get no such black strike., meaning that a player who accepts their death with a little bit of foresight can actually squeeze out more resurrections especially if you have extra resurrections granted by the Sakura Droplet, that drops from Lady Butterfly. Speaking of death It was originally planned that NPCs with Dragonrot could die. A mechanic that thankfully never made it into the game. This was discovered again by Lance McDonald, whose video on the topic you can find in the description and he talks about how there used to be an item called Dragonrot Pellets, which you could create via Emma by trading in some of your resurrective power. Giving these pellets to a sick NPC would heal them but just imagine how tedious this would have been compared to the cure-all item we have in the Dragon's Blood Droplet. Another great asset to the community is named Illusory Wall who always discovers really neat things about these games. Long ago he discovered that if you spam buttons while you're grabbed you'll take significantly less damage. One more mechanic that did make it into the game but that not many know about is a method by which you increase your stealth when you fall from a high place. Crouch as soon as you hit the ground and you'll be able to better stealth past enemies like this one, even from above. Speaking of above, the award for the highest kill Goes to Evil Plan Z on Reddit who says "Fuck this monkey in particular" My final fact pertains to the Sekiro design works which is this book of gorgeous art that you can pick up pretty easily online from sites like YESASIA and Amazon. Links are in the description, go check it out. It's an amazing collector's item, but there aren't too many revelations in here compared to previous design works Except for one interesting piece of what must be cut content, which depicts what appears to be Emma Her eyes are bound and her hair is graying, in the same manner that Owl's, Kuro and the Okami saw. Thank you as always for watching. Back in March when Sekiro released I first promoted Demon VaatiVidya, my first piece of merch and you guys really liked it so now as we wind down Sekiro content I'm doing a limited edition sunset version where Vaati is equipped with a katana You can only purchase this in the next 48 hours. And from then on you'll be the only ones who own it. So if you like the content I make and more importantly, if you like the design then go and check it out in the description below. It's really heartening to have you all still supporting what I do. So, thank you so much, and I'll see you next time.
