Game Maker: Starting by Healing the Players

Every time he died, he had to read how the word 'death' was written.

Moreover, Zack also discovered a characteristic: that each time after death, the font format of the 'death' character that popped up was completely different. At least, having died so many times, he had never seen the same death character twice.

If this setup wasn't intentionally put there by Nebula Games, he absolutely wouldn't believe it.

At the same time, in most cases, if your proficiency wasn't high enough, or if the BOSS's posture gauge wasn't full, reviving and getting back up would just result in being killed by the BOSS again. After all, you only came back with half your health.

It wasn't just Zack who felt the malice. In fact, other players who were playing, especially those who didn't use tricky methods like Zack to get to this phase but rather relied on parrying and deflecting according to Sekiro's combat system to face the Blazing Bull, were in a world of pain.

Many players who had experienced the Souls games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne initially felt very confident when they discovered Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was a Souls game.

But reality quickly gave them a harsh lesson, making players fully realize the meaning of "the old man is still the old man."

And a crucial point was that in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the combat strategy was completely different from previous Souls games.

After all, in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the fastest way to quickly defeat a BOSS wasn't by cutting them down, but by filling their posture bar.

Combined with the lack of an stamina gauge, this gave many players a certain feeling.

That was being greedy with attacks and getting into prolonged exchanges.

If a player attacked once and then ran away, they would find the BOSS battles to be very difficult.

But if they truly decided to go all out in exchanges, players would discover that as long as they paid attention to their own posture gauge and the opponent's broken posture attacks.

They could block by mindlessly defending when the opponent attacked. Especially since some players in the game had intuitively figured out a technique called "shaking the blade."

This meant constantly blocking and releasing the block, making it look like a spastic twitch like someone with Parkinson's. Sometimes, by sheer luck, they would achieve a perfect guard, increasing the BOSS's posture.

Even if they didn't succeed, in most worst-case scenarios, it would just increase their own posture gauge.

After going through the Ashina Reservoir and facing the first Samurai General after losing an arm, players who had beaten him head-on were already a little familiar with Sekiro's combat system.

But this was also the biggest trap in the early game.

Unlike enemies with weapons, the combat strategy for unarmed enemies or beasts was completely different.

Most players who had just gotten used to Sekiro's combat system immediately suffered a painful lesson when they encountered the gate-guarding BOSS, the Blazing Bull.

Because without high proficiency, the correct way to fight the Blazing Bull was essentially the traditional Souls game approach: the turn-based "hit them twice" method.

Going head-to-head with this big guy would only have one outcome: to suffer its crushing embrace and be smashed into a meat patty.

"What the hell... *cough cough cough*..." Ben, facing the Blazing Bull, felt like he was about to get Dragonrot.

After finally beating the Samurai General, he thought he had gotten the hang of it, only to encounter the Blazing Bull.

Facing this guy, all the previous posture and deflection techniques were useless.

And without a stamina bar, he couldn't control his urge to be greedy with attacks.

He would either be punched to death or be picked up and thrown off a cliff by the Blazing Bull.

"I don't believe it today! But I wonder what progress Zack has made."

Ben was temporarily locked in a battle with the Blazing Bull. He had to admit, this game was really making him feel a bit hooked, unlike the feeling of playing Souls games before.

The more he died, the more resilient he became. However, compared to the Blazing Bull in front of him, he still felt that the "shaking the blade" feeling when fighting the previous General was more satisfying.

Compared to Ben, who was locked in battle, Zack on the other hand followed his own smart gaming principles. After dying several times to the Blazing Bull, he began to ponder other unconventional approaches.

And he actually found one: the Blazing Bull could indeed be stealth-attacked.

However, it was a bit more difficult compared to the previous Samurai General. First, he dealt with the surrounding minor enemies, then lured the Blazing Bull's aggro away, and then distanced himself from the Blazing Bull to enter a state of disengagement.

At this moment, he could quietly sneak up behind the Blazing Bull to successfully perform a Shinobi kill, taking away its first life.

However, despite this, Zack soon discovered a fact: fighting this Blazing Bull, which only had one life left, was still a bit of a struggle.

Entering the second phase of the Blazing Bull, its charging and grabbing attacks that broke guards became more frequent, and it also learned a low sweep kick.

That damned move was quite sneaky, and he was easily kicked in the groin before he knew it.

So, after dying two or three more times, Zack decisively shifted his target again. This was because the intelligence he had gathered earlier clearly indicated that Hirata Estate had a flamethrower.

Combined with the old Souls game lore, the first miniboss that was meant to deter players was usually weak to fire.

Iudex Gundyr, the Stray Demon, the Cleric Beast, and the Father Gascoigne in his third form.

All of them were bosses weak to fire. Clearly, this was an old tradition of Souls games. Now, with this monstrous Blazing Bull and the flamethrower, Zack's intuition told him that with that item, fighting the Blazing Bull would definitely be much easier.

After a little research, Zack quickly discovered a new path.

In the ruined temple, by talking to the Sculptor while holding Kuro's Guardian Bell, he received instructions.

By praying at the Buddha statue nearby, he could then be teleported to Hirata Estate three years prior, which was attacked by bandits.

Compared to the previous levels, this Hirata Estate from three years ago was densely packed with monsters.

Soldiers shooting fire arrows, wolf-dogs, and even shield bearers.

Along the way, Zack also found an Axe prosthetic arm, which made him feel like his combat power had increased.

However, this was just the beginning of the nightmare.

Previously, he thought the Blazing Bull was the one intended to deter players.

Until he encountered various difficult elite enemies and BOSSes in the Hirata Estate from three years ago.

The problem with the BOSSes here wasn't about being strong or not, but that they all ganged up on you fairly.

Nearby minions, torch wielders, archers, shield bearers, and sword-and-axe fighters were all present.

Especially at the location where the flamethrower was, a narrow alley with three dogs directly reduced his helpfulness again.

Although he had obtained the target item, Zack still decided to explore this area further.

Crossing a wooden bridge through a wide bamboo forest, a BOSS wielding a spear performed a fair ganging-up attack, constantly using a 'danger' thrust that made him dizzy.

Winding his way around, he passed through a dried-up well and arrived at the burning Hirata Estate. He navigated over the rooftops.

Zack discovered that in front of the main gate, there was a big, burly bandit named Juzou the Drunkard.

Besides him, there were archers, sword-and-axe fighters, torch wielders, and shield bearers all around. They certainly didn't fight fairly.

In front of this BOSS, there was an NPC holding a katana. After talking to him, Zack confirmed that this person was a friendly "sunbro" here to help him.

However, Zack's joy didn't last long. He found out that this guy was all talk and no action.

He charged forward with a roar, but within ten seconds, he was cut down by Juzou the Drunkard in three strikes.

Having been defeated twice, Zack decided to temporarily bypass this BOSS and head to the Three-Tiered Pagoda mentioned by the thief to get a great treasure, and then come back to deal with the Blazing Bull.

As a result, Zack didn't have an easy time here either, because he encountered a ninja in purple clothing.

At first, he was excited, because there was no BOSS-specific health bar above the enemy's head, clearly indicating it was just a regular enemy.

But when the fight actually started, he wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but the purple-clad man's combo kick felt like this elite enemy was stronger than a BOSS.

Just like the Katana guy and the Bugatti Veyron in Dark Souls, he died without any chance to fight back.

(End of Chapter)

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