'Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice' Rating Warns of Demons and Decapitation

FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has received its rating from the ESRB, a content rating that warns buyers of all manners of violence inflicted by swords and some creative weapons.

Created by the same studio responsible for the Dark Souls series, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice puts players in a 1500s Sengoku Japan where they'll play as a one-armed warrior who's seeking vengeance. The foundation of the story already lends itself to violence, but the ESRB's full content description for the M-rated game can be seen below to give people an idea of exactly what's in store for them. Be warned though that there might be some slight spoilers included in the content description, though it's hard to say without FromSoftware introducing people to more characters in the new game before its release.

"This is an action-adventure game in which players assume the role of a disgraced shinobi on a quest to rescue his kidnapped lord in ancient Japan," the ESRB's rating said. "Players use swords and a prosthetic arm to battle members of an enemy clan and supernatural demons in frenetic combat. Large blood-splatter effects occur as enemies are killed; some attacks result in decapitation and/or dismemberment. Cutscenes depict additional acts of violence: a man impaled through the chest with a sword; a child stabbed with a sword off screen."

Those who have been watching the trailers and other content released for the game will already be aware of the levels of violence they'll see in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice though. The Dark Souls games were violent themselves, but Sekiro appears to go even further down that path with the frequent sprays of blood mentioned in the ESRB's rating. There are also multiple in-your-face animations that have played out in these trailers and walkthroughs where enemies are finished off with a dramatic flourish that results in them being left in a few more pieces than when they began a battle.

To see more of this content in real-time situations, one of the best looks at the game that would-be buyers can get is through a gameplay walkthrough of a demo complete with commentary to explain what's happening. Players utilize different gadgets and weapons made available to them by the loss of the protagonist's arm, all of which can be used to fight the many demon-like enemies in FromSoftware's game.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is scheduled to release on March 22nd.