Sekiro if it was made in Japan [all bosses, no hit/block, yes deflect]
58Game is called KANNAGI USAGI, it is completely free on Steam.
While it is obviously meant as a Sekiro boss-fight simulator, it does a great job at that so I have no qualms. However, some exact animations and combos are eerily similar to Sekiro's, so there's worries of plagiarism. In a way, it can feel like a reskinned Sekiro mod.
Anyhow, my thoughts on the bosses.
Shikigami of Rabbit: I included her for completion's sake, also to showcase this game's tutorial. It's great, better than Hanbei the Undying. Of course I was already familiar with how the combat was going to be due to prior experience with Sekiro, but still. S tier tutorial.
Nameless Warrior: She feels too similar to Shikigami of Rabbit, sharing multiple moves. Other than that, she takes inspiration from Genichiro with the jump attack into sweep/thrust. Simple but fun. C tier.
EDIT: since ver1.1.0 she got a small overhaul, removing her Genichiro based attacks and gaining a double hit instead. She remains in C tier.
Cat General: She feels distinct enough from the previous bosses, introducing more multi-hits and more varied movement. Solid but nothing special. B tier.
Little Demon: A greatsword user, who mixes up her timing and multi-hits to catch you off-guard. What's really nice in this fight is that a lot of her swings provide just enough time for you to get a hit in before the next one, creating a really fun dynamic. A tier.
Guard of Mist: A noticeable increase in difficulty. She's agile, with snappy attacks, and moves around a lot. Her movement itself telegraphs attacks, such as when she hops once or twice then dashes in for a slash. She's got a great pace, constantly dashing in and out and around you, tricky but completely fair. A tier.
Puppet Maiden: It's just Corrupted Monk. I still like her, which isn't surprising as the monks are some of my favourite fights in Sekiro, but come on. It's too blatant. Sure there's some slight differences in AI and she uses some aspects of 3rd phase True Monk, but... C tier for being a Copy.
EDIT: since ver1.1.0 she got a major overhaul, replacing her whole moveset. She is now comfortably S tier.
Niten Usagi: Oh boy, dual wield fights are always intimidating, but she's surprisingly manageable even going in blind. She will throw you off with some combos, and isn't a pushover. I just love her fight, despite not liking the dual wield enemies in Sekiro. She's like a juggernaut, never backing off and just constantly attacking with multiple interesting combos, forcing you to play by her rules and it's a joy. Easy S tier.
Crimson Shadow: Pretty similar to Little Demon but harder. She has a lot of different combos with different number of attacks, making it hard to predict when she's done so you can attack. This initially leads you to play very reactively in a fun way, continuing to deflect her until you see she's stopped and then striking back. A fun dynamic. She has some opportunities to hit her mid-combo, but they are unfortunately few. A tier.
Night Fox: A heavyweight boss that intentionally attacks slowly on some attacks, while also having faster options and combos. While I like the other bosses, they lack mixups in general. Her deliberate contrast between fast and slow made her very tricky to deflect, making her the hardest boss for this challenge. S tier.
Generally speaking, I like this game. It's short but sweet. The visuals are simple but work well for a clean aesthetic, and I particularly like the wind slicing effect on all attacks.
The sound design is alright, I would've liked a different pitch noise between block and deflect, though. The sword clashes are identical, you have to tell between block/deflect based on the increased spark and lack of posture-damage on self. There's no hard mode where you take chip damage on failed deflects either.
The fights are great and extremely well telegraphed, nothing ever felt unfair, but without being completely trivial to master. My main criticism is that there's a severe lack of meaningful mix-ups. Sure, there are a few, but for the most part moves and combos are static, often only changing between phase 1 and 2.
0:00 - Tutorial
1:39 - Nameless Warrior
2:41 - Cat General
3:51 - Little Demon
5:04 - Guard of Mist
6:27 - Puppet Maiden
7:38 - Niten Usagi
9:06 - Crimson Shadow
10:31 - Night Fox
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