Ranking the Areas of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice!

I'm Billy s welcome back to the channel today we're ranking the areas of sekiro Shadows die twice from worst to best now unlike my past area ranking videos for the other soulsborne games secular runs on an entirely different metric what with the addition of the grappling hook a larger focus on stealth and the ability for the player to jump a lot of care had to be put into the level design to make the game feel fluid enough to explore and for the most part from software succeeded and exceeded expectations I love traditional soulsborne but I wouldn't complain if the company kept making these one-off games with a hint of their usual formula but dressed up with new gameplay mechanics and stories I want that Pirate game from software Please be aware by the way that I will not be taking any boss fights into consideration when ranking these areas but many boss fights are fair game now then without further Ado all 12 Shadows die twice areas ranked and be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below at the depths of our list lies the most forgettable area in the entirety of soulsborne the abandoned dungeon is a transitional location that connects ashina Castle to both the ashina depths and simple Temple but fails to have any substance of its own that makes me want to explore it's split into two distinct locations the first is the passage leading to senpo Temple which you find by going through the ashina castle Gatehouse and it's literally just a hallway there's an upper path and a lower path but the hallway only goes forwards leads to a brief water section that you swim through with a couple of enemies here and there before leading to the senpo temple lift the only notable exception to this drab dreariness is dojan a physician NPC who attempts to trick the player into bringing NPCs to his cell so he can experiment on them I've never bothered to follow his questline because nine times out of ten I'll forget he's even here and from what I've heard the questline doesn't give the player any real worthwhile rewards they couldn't find elsewhere the enemies here are also very underwhelming husks and insects that can barely do a dent to you if you play with any remote skin Hill the other half of the abandoned dungeon is mercifully a little better reachable through the back of the well where you started the game you'll find an arena containing a shichimen warrior mini boss which is very intimidating to see your first time but more importantly there's a room with a gigantic hole and an NPC telling you to throw yourself off the edge there's something intense about jumping headfirst into a darkened pit not knowing whether you'll survive the fall only to spot that grapple point that saves you launching you towards some platforms it's cinematic and takes full advantage of sekiro's new gameplay mechanics to create a fun instance but that's about it it's just a transitional area leading to my number 11 spot the ashina dance it's not a Miyazaki directed game until we run into a poison swamp but mercifully said swamp is one room big and honestly not that terrible to run through once you're familiar with the layout you have two potential entrances either the main Idol from our previous entry or a secret entrance from the Sunken Valley passage that drops you off on the other side of the room that's my preferred entryway as I prefer to visit the Sunken Valley before the arshina depths for story progression the poison swamp isn't even the problem here is you can grapple your way across a majority of the danger nay the problem is the amount of gunmen set up across the room you have to be sneaky if you want to make it to the far side undetected but you can't leave until you defeat Snake Eyes shirahagi get that stealth death blow on her first health bar and then pray to whatever Gods you believe in if you're a new player the snake-eyed hunters will likely be a huge block for you and the fact this is a compulsory everyone just makes this poison swamp feel like a little bit of a [ __ ] you escaping the swamp and a potential boss fight soon after if you came here after doing the Sunken Valley you emerge into the Hidden Forest this second half of the ashina depths is coated in a thick fog and it's your job to find the source defeat it and make your way to mibu village with the fog obscuring your way and a whole host of missed enemies lurking around every corner it's a tense sense of progression as you carefully make your way through the trees checking the hidden paths and avoiding the deadly roosters in the branches this playthrough I actually decided to hop down and fight this area's headless mini boss which was a surprising amount of fun this early in the game I can already imagine a new player falling from the branches and getting absolutely jump scared by that guy the Hidden Forest is a puzzle one you have to solve but once that's done and the Mist disappears there's not much of value to towards coming back to this area you press on and forget the ashina depths ever existed it doesn't help that a majority of the tough enemies you find here are reused and while I don't count bosses this area does reuse an actual boss in a way I really dislike but we'll be getting to that in my eventual secular boss rankings this area just needed a few enemies conjured in the Mist that felt unique to this location and not just re-skinned enemies from the past if you'll allow me to take a few moments of your time I'm trying to reach 10 000 subscribers by the end of 2023 and I think we can do it over 60 percent of you aren't subscribed so let's Rectify that Parry that subscribe button for more salesborne content every Wednesday back to the video starting off the top 10 we have the Sunken Valley passage found beyond the gunfort only accessible via a key you can find in kudo's room at ashina Castle this area is quite short and there aren't many enemies if any worth fighting here it starts off strong though as you cross the large wooden bridge only to be ambushed by the Great Serpent and flung into the freezing Waters below there's something genuinely terrifying about swimming your way to safety while the serpent tries to snap you up in its jaws but from there the level loses me becoming a simple jaunt to the main boss without much reason to explore around you emerge into this Valley filled with Buddhist statues you can only grapple across and the main danger are the monkeys scattered about only with the way you grapple you can skip all of the monkey encounters without much issue I tried tangoing with the monkey congregation towards the end of the level died and revived arrived then promptly booked it to the nearby sculptor's Idol if there was some interesting items to find around here I'd be more willing to explore but at most I probably missed out on a couple of upgrade materials that can be found elsewhere or just some consumables the Boss Arena where you fight the guardian ape is Iconic though and getting to Grapple off the dead trees to escape attacks feels extremely nice great design there there is a small optional part of this area as well if you drop down into the chasm below the monkeys as it's here you'll find the rest of miyazaki's poison swamp though the only locations of note are the toxic Memorial mob vendor who sells the green Mossy gourd this can be used to counteract poison and becomes useful when you start fighting lone Shadows later in the game who use poison-based attacks but more importantly behind that mob there is a cave it's dark and creepy Spirits haunt the cavernous walls and as you progress you realize this something living down here the familiar scales of the Great Serpent wrapping around the rocks there's a neat puzzle at the end where you have to use the puppet in Ninjutsu on a monkey to distract the serpent allowing you to enter the temple at guards this is important if you're going for the hardest ending of sekiro the return ending as you'll collect dried serpent viscera here before grappling out and into the ashina depth swamp told you it all connected I think it's safe to say that the weakest Hub in the soulsborne games likely goes to the dilapidated Temple not to say that it's a bad Hub but it doesn't have anything that makes it stand out you can visit the sculptor's house to upgrade your Shinobi prosthetic and tools or you can make your way over to the clearing Yonder where hanbe the undying lets you practice techniques on him if you find a vendor in ashina Castle early on in the game they will move here and sell items for you to purchase which is helpful in the late game when he starts selling Divine confetti and there's a Shinobi door that allows you to go straight from the temple to the top floor of ashina Castle and back this feels less like a duel the player would use though and more like a law reason for how Emma constantly travels between the two locations without much issue law is what holds the dilapidated Temple up as you learn a lot of significant story beats here from the dragonrops to the secret of the purification ending as well well as giving you access to the harata estate memories once you have either of the bells that unlock them you can see the sculptor's story just by the way he fails to carve these Buddhas and his obsession that will never go away but beyond that I never find myself needing to make the trip back here unless I'm upgrading my Shinobi tools and that's a true death knell there's nothing wrong with the ashina reservoir it serves as your tutorial area in the start of the game showing you all of Wolf's abilities and movement tools while also teaching you the importance of stealth and once you get your sword the enemies here are good can and fodder to teach you how to attack deflect and death blow the mini boss here is just a regular enemy in the main game but serves as a nice simple tutorial to ease you into the mechanics without overwhelming the player it's not a large space but it fits a lot into its area when you return upon reaching ashina Castle later in the game there's geobu's broken horn hidden in the house you crouched under in the tutorial which can be used to create the loaded spear an incredibly useful prosthetic tool there are two optional mini bosses to fight the long Shadow long swordsman who acts as the introduction to the ministry's elite Fighters you'll encounter throughout the late game and of course the Infamous 7 infamously one of the hardest mini bosses in the game at launch though nowadays he's not quite as powerful as he once was experience really does wonders where the ashina reservoir loses points for me is actually the final time you visit at the end of the game your goal is to head to the secret passage beneath the bridge that you used in the tutorial and the only thing standing between you and that is another member of the seven ashina Spears shumi masaji oniwa and his bestie swordsman General you will hear my thoughts on this fight in my mini boss ranking video next week but suffice it to say they're the only real change to the reservoir on this last visit and I would have liked maybe having an excuse to revisit the other parts of the area instead of just doing that heel turn and hopping down to the secret passage though perhaps it's worth it because any excuse to visit that opening flower field where you start your journey and you end your journey is certainly worth it just missing out on the top half of our list we have meebu Village the hidden hideaway beyond the ashina depths from a law perspective I actually think this area is one of the most fascinating as this entire town has been corrupted By the Waters flowing from The Fountainhead Palace and the inhabitants are over going mad or have gone mad there's a single lone Shadow keeping an eye on things near the start of the area which was a fun tidbit of lore as it implies the lone Shadows knew the location of the village and have kept it a secret from ashina and The Wider world it's a shame then that the enemies aren't particularly fun to fight they're not hard or anything but they're small and swarm you with numbers they don't have a ton of health so it can feel like you're suddenly in a muso game until one enemy gets a sneak attack on you and you're suddenly struggling this area commits the cardinal sin of not only allowing me to just run past all the enemies without much consequence to reach the water mill Idol without much issue but making that the attractive Prospect if I want to collect items like I did in this playthrough I just have to jump run and don't stop moving there's an important upgrade material across the lake and atop this house that's a one-of-a-kind item as well as a prayer bead underwater you can obtain after learning the meebu breathing technique but I don't think you can convince me to run through the first half of meebu Village at a slow pace the second half of the area with the path leading up to the mayor's home in the bridal cave is actually what saves this area as not only do you get a fantastic unique mini boss in o-rin of the water but you can sneak under the mayor's house and use a secret trap door to get inside and talk to the man he has a side quest involving Waters of the palace you can gift him to turn him into a palace Noble which will then drop you treasure carp scales but beyond that there's a prayer bead in his attic worth it the area caps off with a spooky boss in an arena that certainly had me on edge as I approached this whole location feels so drastically different to everything else in second or up to this point that I find it fascinating to explore and as mibu Village doesn't overstay its welcome it earns a higher spot on this list starting off the top half of this video we have the Sunken Valley this is the area leading from the temple behind ashina Castle up until the gun Fort and is one of the locations that really takes the grappling hook and gives it a starring role from moment zero you're hopping into a Chasm and using your grappling hook to keep you stable and from the first Idol you find there are already two ways to go there's level progression or you can take a secret path that Loops back to the ashina outskirts with a creepy graveyard and a pool leading to a headless encounter one of the cooler mini areas from the Aesthetics alone on the main path you're dipping and Diving through caverns and cliffs taking out the gunmen along the Route until you reach the large clearing and your main Idol of the area the enemies with the bigger guns here are absolutely brutal but nothing feels better than being a Shinobi and deflecting bullets it's badass and that badassery only increases as you make your approach to the ominously named gunfort this is perhaps one of my favorite moments in secular as everything truly comes together to create a fun infiltration sequence that utilizes all your abilities that is if you can get past the Snake Eyes shirafuji mini boss she is absolutely brutal and will decimate you with her unblockable grab attack and her ability to fight you at any range I learned that spamming my mortal draw ability I got from sempo Temple as well as just running around worked better than attempting to deflect attacks but if you can beat her and loot her prayer bead you get one of the coolest moments in sekiro racing along a wooden bridge as the gunfort soldiers begin firing at you wildly you can either drop through the hole in the middle of the bridge or get to the end but the best option is always to jump off and start grappling your way up the cliffs this can be tough as some of the Gunners will spot you as you're climbing and you can sometimes get sniped mid grapple which feels embarrassing when it happens but if you make it into the gunfort it's not hard to sneak around and clear out the enemies unless you step on a firecracker trap or two the mini boss at the end long arms centipede giraffe great name is incredibly satisfying to fight as once you get the deflect timing down you can decimate his posture bar in mere moments and a special shout out goes to the little crevasse you can find beneath the mini boss room leading to a rather creepy secret Cavern and a prayer bead I just think the Sunken Valley elevates the grappling hook while also providing a valid threat from the enemies around in a way that areas below just didn't quite manage in the fifth place spot we have a memory that continues to grow as the game progresses the harata estate is a location locked three years in the past but by using either the young Lord's Bell charm or the father's Bell charm the Buddha statue and the dilapidated Temple you'll be transported back into your memories to relive events long forgotten it's not clear what happens here but my interpretation is that wolf has returned to the Past through the bells and is not reliving the memories but actively creating new ones that only reflect upon him when he returns to the present this explains how in the father's Bell charm memory he can take the branch obtained by defeating Al father and bring it to the present day as for the location itself Hirata estate feels like a tale of two levels with the first half taking place in the small village below where the townsfolk dwell and the second half taking place in the actual a state where everything is burning down for me the first half is significantly stronger as a level featuring progression that asks the player to deviate from a straightforward path you have to go through homesteads with surprisingly strong enemies thanks to their fire clear out a large encampment to get the flame barrel and there are a few optional areas you can explore for more Shinobi tools or interactions with villagers all culminating in a tough mini boss encounter against an early game wall Shinobi Hunter and shin of mycin this enemy is a tutorial for the Mickey counter ability that you hopefully have unlocked otherwise you're in for a rough time go unlock it but I'll be getting more into him in my mini boss video next week then there's the brief run through the woods to the harata estate Gates I tend to skip the enemies in this portion since there's quite a few of them and not enough incentive to actually fight though I do love the little side path leading to the three-tiered Pagoda with the lone Shadow and the mistraven tour it's fun attempting to fight that lone shadow of low stats but since I tend to take months off before returning to sekiro my muscle memory is never good enough to fight that guy the second half of the harata estate though is not as fun for me I like grappling down the river to the secret entrance but that's really about it once you're in the estate there's not much in terms of level design between you and the juzuo the junkard mini boss just some flaming rooftops a small Lake and an irritating amount of enemies to clear out when you want to fight him this ends in a series of rooms including a hidden one behind a wall leading to the lady butterfly Boss Arena I feel like if the area was more focused on the inside side of the buildings like that last portion I'd have enjoyed the estate more sneaking through corridors and taking out Bandits is way more fun than running through an open courtyard the father version of the harata estate makes this even worse by giving you a juuzo rematch but leaving even more annoying enemy types around the arena to make your life a living hell if the mini boss were on his own I'd enjoy the second half of harata much more as I firmly believe sekiro is at its strongest with one-on-one duels as opposed to groups in ganks but the first half of this area is so strong and sets the tone for what being a Shinobi is that it still ranks highly on my list just missing out on a Podium finish ashina outskirts has what I consider to be a Monumental job in sekiro and that's succeeding as an area that teaches the player all about how to play smart utilize sekiro's Unique Mechanics and let them feel like they're improving as they progress and it does this almost flawlessly with one exception we'll get to from the moment you grapple down to the first area you're shown multiple ways to progress take the low path and carve your way through enemies or take the high road and clamber across rooftops to stealth kill your enemies either way avoid the deadly roosters and you'll face your first miniboss general naomori kawarada teaches you that you don't need to face every mini boss head on sometimes if you use your environment and sneak around your opponents you can stealth death blow them to half the fight the area following is filled with enemies on different elevations in different corners there's a larger enemy that will wreck your posture bar further hammering home that you need not fight head on stealth blows are a Shinobi's best friend I love the approach to the gate prior to the chained ogre stairway the one of the gunmen as you can approach from the front and get ass blasted by a cannon or be smart and take the side path through the foliage it's a learning moment you may be able to make it by being aggressive but secular's gameplay promotes strategic and smart thinking the only place ashina outskirts truly fails is with the chained ogre miniboss you're directed to find the flame vent before facing this guy which is fine but even with that helpful tool the ogre is still ball bustingly difficult for an early game mini boss and with this Rose suplexes people's elbows and more first-time players are still going to suffer General tenzen yamo Chi then follows this up as a skippable mini boss but one that I also don't quite enjoy too many enemies around the arena for remedy boss that need to be cleared out every time there's an optional path leading to a headless encounter likely the first people will find and a secret door in that cave leading to the senpo temple demon Bell ashina outskirts ends with a brief stealth segment in the valley with the Great Serpent which is a pretty fun set piece followed by a small explorable segment where you can kill a man grieving his horse before reaching the iconic gobu Boss Arena at the yashina outskirts does change towards the end of the game where you end up going the opposite way back through the level and it becomes a premium farming spot for Sen and skill points but not necessarily to the extent that I feel the need to go over the changes just that everything is on fire thank you demon of hatred the area is a perfect tutorial up until those last two mini bosses but that doesn't take away from all of the good it manages taking the bronze medal today we have The Fountainhead Palace this may be controversial as I know in the past almost every area ranking has this as their number one and I totally see why it's a complete contrast from the rest of the game with this gorgeous ethereal flooded Temple High in the mountains the way you arrive via a giant rope man is honestly hilarious and it starts off with an incredibly strong boss fight on a beautiful Autumn Leaf Bridge leading down to the Palace itself where you have to explore the grounds and work your way around the temple to progress the first portion of the level introduces you to the Okami enemies a band of many women who are easily staggerable but hit hard if you mess up there are fish dogs that are horrific to look at and then there's the palace Nobles who can suck up your life force if you give them enough time the building filled with them has you stealthing around killing one Noble at a time while dealing with some of the Okami guards and it's one my favorite moments in Fountainhead you have to strategize as well as adapt to escape on the fly when things go south the second half of the temple where you're grappling up the rafters and cliffs to where the okamis are situated is fine it's a bit more frantic than the first half of the level and I find myself running past enemies to reach the next idol but that's partly because this area is towards the end of the game and getting checkpoints is very useful Okami leader Shizu is a fun obstacle that keeps players from just choosing their way to the Divine Dragon even if her actual fight is laughably simple once you take her out you get free reign to explore and the area opens up significantly from The Headless flight below the waters to the various treasure cops you can find and tons of items to loot the underwater tunnel with the great carp reminds me of the underwater segments in Shadow of the Tomb Raider and this playthrough I basically legged it to the exit as the fish noticed me almost immediately terrifying yet fun but over far too soon I'd love to see that segment expanded upon and then there's the stairway leading up to the Divine dragon there's something about the running water down the steps and the way the trees and the scenery looks that really appeals to me here like we're getting to the very top of the temple and everything is getting more holy and sacred as you approach culminating in one of the best boss Arenas in Soul spawn so aesthetically pleasing and a perfect ending to a top tier level but there are two more I just prefer exploring a little bit more the first true pop of color in secular goes to my silver medal area senpo Temple this Monastery on a far-off mountain is home to a sec to have let's just say abandoned Buddha instead focusing their efforts on mastering eternal life through infestation and that may have involved a ton of kidnapped children making things even more [ __ ] up when you realize this is an area connected to the ashina dungeon what I love about senpo Temple is that it's both a lengthy level with a lot to find and explore but it always has a sense of progression through elevation your goal is the main hall at the peak of the mountain and every path you take will bring you further up those verdant Hills to your destination I just love that no matter where you are on the mountain you can look down and see the progress you've made the main monks here Focus entirely on hand-to-hand combat which makes them easy to stagger but hard hitting if they land a blow and they all use sugar items to buff themselves as the sugars come from senpo special mention goes to the flippy spinny whippy dippy dude so I always struggle fighting I know there's quite a few at the end of the area that I just run past because fighting multiple at the same time makes me want to cry senpo is split into two halves with the first half leading to the bridge with the armored Warrior and the second half leading to the hall were the folding screen monkeys reside The Climb from shugendo to the bridge is one of my favorite parts of the level grappling across the cliff destroying the small hat enemies and taking the detour to find the secret pinwheels needed for kotaro's questline it's all good fun especially when you discover the other Pathway to the demon Bell and you're like oh that's how I get here the armored Warrior mini boss is brilliant for what it is flipping sekiro's gameplay on its head by chucking Senor Dark Souls at you and it's your job to boot him to his demise the second half of the level features more explorations of the the various temples including another long-armed centipede fight and an infested priest who is also very hard to fight all leading upwards to the main hall where as said earlier I choose to skip the enemies and just run for the idol I'm usually out of gourds or close to it when I get there there's an extra cave leading to the senpo text that unlocks their skill tree which is worth exploring and there's enough little side paths and extra goodies to find that you can come back here and feel like there's more to discover every time you do especially that Holy Chapter infested in the water once you have that neighbor breathing technique my mind was blown when I discovered how you could Puppeteer the hatman at the start of the area then use his kite from the main tree to Grapple down to a hidden series of Ledges that ultimately lead you to the Great Serpent I can't really fault senpo Temple I love exploring it and it's only beaten out by number one because we only really come here once and there's no Dynamic changes to the environment something the following area just nails to take it above and beyond can you fault me for putting ashina Castle as my top area of sekiro after all it's the area you will visit most frequently during your playthrough and it has multiple area States for you to handle which makes re-exploring a fun time on each visit your goal is to reach the rooftop the first visit being where Kudo and genichiro are having a lovely civilized conversation but first you can explore side paths leading to the abandoned dungeon and the ashina reservoir or you can look through the side streets and collect some items or even find a vendor who will move back to your Hub there's one final generic General mini boss granoske Matsumoto rallying his troops on the stairs and he provides a good opening Fight Before making your way up to the castle since the save point is right there at the bottom of the stairway but what I really love about ashina castle is just grappling along the various rooftops there are so many points to launch to and as you're making your way upwards you have to actively find a path into the building via the roofs it's just a really cool set piece we also have the iconic kite enemy who launches himself down towards You Like a Torpedo and once inside there's an entire Dojo of tough Samurai enemies to help test your deflection skills or you could drop down the main room and unlock a door back to the outside stairway as well as getting a new Shinobi tool and access to the back side of the castle because that's right there's an entire outside area to ashina Castle there's a bridge leading down a forested path to the Sunken Valley where on the second visit to the castle you can find a lone Shadow here wanting to avenge his friend and in the other direction the old grave where you can find black hat Badger and purchase the shield tool from him which is invaluable in the late game go and do that now the old grave is also fun on your final visit to ashina Castle as the broken bridge leading back to the outskirts is fixed allowing you to progress back towards the starting area without much issue the dojo however is where it's at with one of the most intimidating early game mini bosses ashina Elite jinsuke saze deflecting this guy is without a doubt one of the best feelings in the world serotonin for days before you get up the roof and face off against kenichiro you have to do this all over again on your second visit when all of your Idols are suddenly turned off and you have to swim through the moat with your new breathing ability before clambering up the rooftops and taking down the ministry soldiers as you go new Mini bosses to fight new enemies to defeat and a few wooden bridges to help you climb and on your last visit to the castle it's actually the opposite you're climbing down from the top following lanterns that will lead you back to the reservoir but there is a hidden fight against another ashina Elite ujinari mizor to test your strength against there's just so much content packed into such a compact area that I can't help but Lord it as my number one area in sekiro and yes I don't take bosses into account but if I did oh boy this area would be off the charts so that's my secular area ranking what did you think agree or disagree leave your thoughts in the comments below and once again be sure to Parry that subscribe button for more soulsborne content every single Wednesday my socials are on screen now feel free to follow where you feel so inclined a massive shout out to my patrons over on patreon you guys are awesome and your support means the world I'll see you next week when we rank the second or mini bosses adios [Music]

Channel: Billy S

Views: 8,630

Keywords: dark souls, demons souls, bloodborne, elden ring, video games, dark souls 1, dark souls 2, dark souls 3, ds1, ds, ds2, ds3, soulslike, souls, soulsborne, gamer, gaming, fromsoftware, fromsoft, tutorial, walkthrough, guide, boss, ranking, billy s, sekiro

Id: Kbhpgz0D5x0

Length: 33min 32sec (2012 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 20 2023