Sekiro: 11 MAJOR Changes That Will Shock Dark Souls Fans

10. No More Summons, Messages Between Players, Or PVP

A massively confident step in differentiating Sekiro from its forebears - no longer can you leave messages for other players, or even summon in help to aid with a tricky boss encounter or gauntlet of enemies.

Instead, this is Sekiro as an individual's story of redemption, and you need to overcome on your own.

Thankfully, in the 3 hours time I played, there was a moment where an A.I. companion helped out on a particularly taxing boss battle, and it made for an incredibly memorable encounter.

If you think back on past Soulsborne games, it's often these "story moments" that work wonders. Fighting alongside Knight Solaire against the Bell Gargoyles in the first Dark Souls, or charging into battle alongside Siegmeyer in the third - both arguably stand the test of time better than anything involving real-world companions.

FromSoft have perhaps identified that the best way to use the summon system - or that of "jolly cooperation" - is to ration it out, keeping the pressure on you for the majority, only to ease up for the occasional harder encounter where the stakes are raised all round.