Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is looking like a game that will retain the identity that developers FromSoftware have built up over the years, while also setting itself apart from the Soulsborne games quite a bit. One such area where it does that, apparently, is going to be in how open ended it is, and how much freedom it affords to players in terms of exploration. While the Souls games and Bloodborne were characterized by levels that looped in on themselves to create intertwining paths, Sekiro will apparently let players explore with a greater degree of freedom.
That is all as per the game’s director and FromSoftware chief Hidetaka Miyazaki. While speaking with Game Informer, Miyazaki said that Sekiro will be “on the higher end of the spectrum” as compared to previous games from the developers as far as freedom of exploration is concerned.
“We feel like Sekiro’s probably on the higher end of the spectrum in terms of the freedom the player has to explore the world if we’re to compare it to our previous games,” he said. He then went on to mention that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice really opens up for players at about the halfway mark, at which points players are afforded greater choice and freedom in the order they choose to explore and tackle the game.
“Particularly from the mid-game onward, the world really opens up, and you have a great deal of choice and freedom about which order and way you choose to explore,” he said.
Recently, we also learned about how progression mechanics will function in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and how those, too, will differ from the Souls games. Read more about that through here. Sekiro launches on March 22 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC.