I believe everyone struggle at first with the first few generals until you figure out their particular pattern.  Once you get one down, the others do not vary all that much not to mention gaining beads and improving your posture helps alot.

Yeah, that's true. Maybe a 10 hour run would be reasonably doable depending on how long some of the bosses take. I'm probably going to put Sekiro aside for a little while, but I'm not sure what to play next.

I was in the middle of replaying through FFXV Royal Edition which I got for like $20 on a Steam Sale. I put in quite a lot of time and it's been bothering me that I sort of fell off the wagon halfway through the story.

On the other hand, I had so much fun with Sekiro that I'm considering finally playing through the Dark Souls 3 DLC (full game playthrough as well).

I'm also still subbed to World of Warcraft and trying to get my first max level character since Pandaria.

Soooo many options. I also noticed that Risk of Rain 2 is available for early access, and I spent a lot of time with the original.

Edit: I also had a lot of fun playing through a game with you guys and it'd be fun to do it again sometime.

For those going into NG+, I really do highly recommend playing without Kuro's Charm, because it adds a great new challenge where there otherwise wouldn't really be one. Also, it just kind of feels like the way the game is meant to be played in the first place. Sort of like you're taking off the training wheels of the first playthrough.

Do you get anything for giving back the charm (achievements, items, etcetera)?

I accidentally kept the charm as Kuro insisted and I hadn't been looking at guides so I didn't know what I was doing.

I finally put my vote in the poll. I do think Sekiro is my current Game of the Year. I tend to be rather impulsive, so I tried to hold off a day or so after finishing the game. I still think it's close between Sekiro and RE2 remake.

Since Sekiro is very similar in many ways to the other Soulsborne games, I wanted to give my thoughts on a few things..

Sekiro is fantastic. It's been awhile since I've played a game that offers such an intense rush of happiness when overcoming an obstacle. The movement and traversal options are extremely satisfying, and it's going to be hard to go back to a Souls game without them. As a result, the level design was very open-ended and combat could be approached in many different ways.

Stealth is possibly the biggest change compared to a Souls game. Some areas were crowded with enemies, but sneaking up and backstabbing an enemy, disappearing in a cloud of fog, and then repeating made for some really awesome encounters.

I also really loved the amount of unique mid-bosses that were on offer, with each battle being a new game of chess in the form of dodge, jump, deflect, attack, counter. Skill trees were something fresh and new to the series, something I'd very much like to see again in the future.

The ambient music is still stuck in my head. I swear there is a permanent eastern-sounding humming/droning stuck in my head ever since I began playing this game.

I do think there are a few things that hold it back, however. It felt to be on the shorter side compared to the other Soulsborne games, with less unique boss fights, a lack of multiplayer, and some overall character progression changes which I would have preferred if left untouched. I miss being able to equip my character with various pieces of gear, even if just for aesthetic purposes.

The areas that we did get to explore were beautiful, but a large part of the game took place in similar-looking areas, and some areas were re-used multiple times. It almost felt as though this game was meant to be a streamlined, smaller-scoped, spin-off title (in a good way). Bloodborne simplified/streamlined the mechanics of the Souls series, and Sekiro simplified them even more. (I tried to choose my words carefully with the previous sentence, as I don't want to trig-, er, upset anyone. I'm not saying Bloodborne is better/worse than a Souls game, just that the game took a "less is more" approach.)

Back to Sekiro. By removing most of the stats from the game (further following the path they took for Bloodborne), increasing idol frequency, and making many aspects less punishing (idols near bosses, falling off a cliff is no longer insta-death, ability to resurrect, pause menu), it seems like they wanted this game to be more accessible. Some people prefer a stream-lined, less is more approach. In terms of difficulty, however, I think it stacks up very well with the other Soulsborne games in terms of difficulty. I think there were a few design decisions that led to the developers focusing more on boss difficulty and less on world difficulty. Very few deaths occurred to me while exploring the world; almost every single death I had was due to a boss or mid-boss.

To conclude, Sekiro is the most fun I've had yet playing a game in 2019, and I look forward to playing through some DLC if they decide to make any.

Please don't mistake my ability to critique a game as anything more than just that.

Just got my first four prayer beads. Used them, and my health bar went up maybe a millimeter. Dear, God help me!

No, it's purely for the added challenge 

Just to make sure, are the different types of sake only used to get some characters to talk more?

The goddamn camera in this game...just like all the other Souls games, either From Software finds a way to really improve it or they should stop putting fights in confined spaces.

So you are officially throwing in the towel on this one?

Have you tried using Rice during the fight? It heals massive chunks of health and gives you pretty much 30 seconds to fight without worrying about healing. Also, the bundled jizo statues. I wouldn't start using them until at least you have a good battle going. Maybe get to the middle of phase 2 with at least half of your healing left, and then proceed to use your best consumables for the rest of the fight.

But I understand if you've already moved on and aren't going back.

Didn't know the PSN games were available yet. Let me know how Surge is if you decide to play.