Summary
The early hours ofSekiro: Shadows Die Twiceare filled to the brim with mini-bosses that range from above average to brutally difficult. However, even among the crowd, the Blazing Bull stands out as a uniquely punishing mini-boss that is more than prepared to claim a few deaths from players making their first pass through the game. This is heavily due to the way that the visual presentation obscures how the fight reaffirmsSekiro’s parry-focused combat, even against giant enemies like the Blazing Bull.
From the very beginning of the game, with players being tasked to crouch in high brush, or sneak around guards,Sekiro: Shadows Die Twicetries to temper expectations of how it breaks from theSoulsborneformula. It is that difference from previous FromSoftware titles that makes the Blazing Bull such a deadly encounter, as longtime fans of the developer’s previous titles are the most primed to fall into habits that this mini-boss specifically punishes.
The Blazing Bull Intimidates Players as a Mountain of Fire and Muscle
The Blazing Bull’s Presentation Sets Players Up for Failure
As players travel the path that leads to the Blazing Bull encounter,Sekirostarts to present the gravity of the fight to come through environmental design, dialogue, and a few notes. However, the most impactful moment is certainly the Blazing Bull erupting from its cage and stomping through some regular enemies before quickly charging at the player. It’s a slow buildup of tension that releases with an intimidating mini-boss promising to break through the player as quickly as it broke through the foot soldiers trying to hold it in place. The result of this sudden explosion of action puts players on the back foot and can easily prime them to rely on thetried-and-true FromSoftware method of dodging attacks.
This is where the Blazing Bull sets longtime fans of theSoulsborneseries up for failure. WhileSekirosports two ways to disengage from enemies, the dodge and jump don’t offer the same level of safety that they used to againstprevious FromSoftware bosses. The result is that on a first encounter against the Blazing Bull, a player’s assumption might be to jump out of the way of the mini-boss' charging attacks, which will in turn lead to getting trampled by the massive animal. Instead, players need to double down on whatSekirohas already been trying to teach them and face the enemy head-on.
Sekiro Lets Players Toss a Mountain of Fire and Muscle Aside
It can be counterintuitive to imagine that blocking and parrying is the best strategy when looking at the massive size of the Blazing Bull, especially compared to the small stature ofSekiro’s player character. However, that is the tactic that sits at thecore ofSekiro’s combatand continues to be effective even when the odds appear to be out of the player’s favor to actually deflect such imposing enemies. So, by standing their ground and some careful timing, players can learn that it is not only possible to parry the Blazing Bull, but that this is also the optimal way to survive the fight, rather than jumping or running away.
The need to face enemies head-on is part of an interesting contrast that emerges out of the combat andstealth aspects ofSekiro’s gameplay loop. While players can certainly sneak around levels and land easy deathblows on many enemies, some bosses and mini-bosses included, encounters like the Blazing Bull can’t be escaped from or circumvented without going beyond the bounds of the game. So, as an early boss, and one that will quickly pummel players who fail to sync withSekiro’s focus on parries, the Blazing Bull acts as a stern reminder that some obstacles need to be faced head-on.
