Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Diaries - Part 4

Erin continued a journey

- Erin McAllister

Welcome back to my Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Diaries, a collection of connected articles where I recount my experiences of running headlong into a brick wall over and over again until enough of the bricks fall out that I can sneak through. Previously, I had finally managed to defeat the Shinobi Hunter, complete my first Prayer Bead Necklace, and make some headway at the Hirata Estate...

But before I could explore any further, I had to rest at the nearby Sculptor's Idol, as my health bar was criminally low. Once I returned to full fighting strength, there was only one way forward left to me at the Estate: a bamboo-covered path leading uphill. However, there was also one path behind me that I hadn't yet explored. In the previous miniboss arena, there was a large bridge leading up to the fight. During some of my failed attempts, I had jumped down there to rest on the various branches until the Hunter and the soldiers forgot about me and how I had just stabbed half of them to death. The water underneath had looked dark in the night, the river flowing down from somewhere higher up. I didn't want to abandon the fight before, but now that the Shinobi Hunter was never going to return, I thought to myself, "Why not have a look?"

Rushing backwards and passing by the newly respawned soldiers in a reckless attempt to avoid battle, I made it to the bridge and down into the river with only a handful of scrapes and gashes. I looked back downwards, seeing that the water ended with a shortfall blocked from me by the bridge. Upwards it was. I swam forwards, cautiously looking this way and that to ensure that no soldiers or monsters would get the drop on me. Part of that included obsessively mashing the right analog stick to lock on to any enemies that I may have missed. Strangely, even though I never saw anything in there, the game kindly informed me that there absolutely was.