Ohh so you reached the flow state. I would recommend doing atleast one more NG cycle for the Shura ending as it has one more boss, and it’s quite bitter sweet. And hey, everyone has different tastes. Just happy to share my thoughts with another patient gamer.

Sekiro is one of my all time favorite games and I find it to be quite fun. I think you are struggling because you consider yourself to be a souls borne veteran and approaching the game with that mentality. The primal urge to roll away is the biggest holdup in my opinion. Get in there and parry any attacks you can except the danger ones. Also, get mikiri counter ASAP.

After you have beaten Geni, you will get some sort of hangof the general timings of the game, but true understanding can only be attained after beating sword saint isshin.

Just hang in there, my first playthrough was hard as hell, but now I am at new game 13, sometimes I go through 2 new game cycles in a single day.

Pro tip, grab as much booze as you can and give them to as many people as you can for that juicy lore.

It is by far one of the best open world games I have played. You can literally get lost in the world.

I never played the game on release, I played after phantom liberty came out.

And boy I can’t emphasise how amazing the game is. Plus Keanu as Johnny silverhand is soooooo phenomenal.

10/10 would recommend.