Sekiro has the unfortunate disposition of being a mere side project by FromSoftware. Earlier this year, I gave Sekiro: Shadow’s Die Twice a glowing review, and even a few months later, still do the occasional run-through. Sekiro is perhaps the best quote-un-quote “side project” a game developer has ever produced. However, that’s just the thing. Sekiro is a side project from FromSoftware. And looking back through the game with this in mind, it’s clear that Sekiro is perhaps… experimental, which would lend credence to it being more of a testing ground for future projects by FromSoftware.
Environmentally Different
A few things come to mind when setting the stage as to why I believe Sekiro is a side project. For starters, the level design and structure. Don’t get me wrong Sekiro has absolutely beautiful environments. However, by comparison to From’s previous titles, the environments and levels in Sekiro are limited, and a few are reused throughout the game.
Dark Souls has always been praised for the large, looping, and interconnected open world brilliantly designed by the developers. Everything magically loops together, often times a side door will lead back to a shortcut that takes you back to the hub of Fire Link Shrine. Alternatively, by the end of a ‘level’ in Dark Souls, a path most obviously in front of you leads you back to Fire Link. This was one of my favorite parts of Dark Souls when first playing through.
Screenshot courtesy of FromSoftware
Give Us More
Taking all of this, it’s easy to see that Sekiro was designed to be a veiled testing ground for new mechanics FromSoftware would maybe like to implement in Elden Ring.
Perhaps the most disappointing or unfortunate part of Sekiro’s disposition, is that despite fans (myself included) wanting more, be it in the form of DLC, and with plenty of lore points to explore, it probably won’t get any. Take this with a grain of salt, but a ‘verified source’ speaking to the Reset Era forum, said that FromSoftware wasn’t planning any DLC for Sekiro due to all hands shifting to work on Elden Ring.
This stings quite a bit. Even considering that FromSoftware didn’t perhaps expend as much time on Sekiro as their previous mainline titles, they still managed to create a world that feels like it has a lot of lore and thought put into it. While FromSoftware hasn’t officially confirmed there won’t be DLC, FromSoftware hasn’t even teased the possibility of anything. Looking back at Dark Souls III, it got its first DLC, Ashes of Ariandel seven months after the base game came out. But before then, there had been long-standing plans for DLC as well as teases leading up to the DLC’s release, which we see none of with Sekiro.
Wrapping Up
Unfortunately, Sekiro seems currently planned on being just a one-off experience. I and many other fans of the game would love more whether it be in the form of DLC or, in our wildest dreams, a full-fledged sequel continuing the events of Sekiro. Perhaps after work begins wrapping up or finished on Elden Ring, a team at FromSoftware could revisit the world of Sekiro…
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