There's been a raging conversation between Souls-like purists and media lately over whether or not FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice should have an easier mode, and while I sit firmly on the side of the game we were given, that hasn't stopped some of this noise prompting a new update to 'balance' the game.

One of the biggest changes, VG247 notes, is the adjustment to one of the game's earlier bosses in Blazing Bull. The official patch notes note that the team has "Slightly reduced Posture and Vitality of Blazing Bull in order to improve game pacing and balance time in combat".

Other parts of the game's update address "the efficiency and Spirit Emblem cost... to encourage usage and diversity of approach", which includes a number of prosthetic tools, combat arts and the item Spiritfall. If you haven't played the game, much of this might sound like gibberish, but some of this stuff does sound like it will be good for the game, if making some of the more challenging parts a bit easier for newcomers to the 'genre'.

Here's the full patch notes"

Improvements to Strategic Approaches

• Adjusted the efficiency and Spirit Emblem cost of the following to encourage usage and diversity of approach:
  • Prosthetic Tools: ‘Lazulite Sacred Flame,’ ‘Loaded Axe’ series, ‘Sparking Axe,’ ‘Lazulite Axe’
    
  • Combat Arts: ‘Ashina Cross,’ ‘Dragon Flash,’ ‘One Mind,’ ‘Floating Passage,’ ‘Spiral Cloud Passage,’ ‘Mortal Draw,’ ‘Empowered Mortal Draw’
    
  • Items: ‘Spiritfall’ series
• Reduced the Posture damage dealt by the first hit of the Combat Arts ‘Senpou Leaping Kicks’ and ‘High Monk’ as it was causing more damage than intended in certain cases. Posture damage dealt in the latter-half of the combo has been increased.
  
• Increased the Poison build-up dealt by the Prosthetic Tool “Sabimaru” against enemies that were intended to be weak against it.
  
• Increased the drop rate of ‘Divine Confetti’ for Fencers in Ashina Castle.
  
• Adjusted loading screen tips and tutorial text, as well as adding new text.

Other Fixes

• Slightly reduced Posture and Vitality of Blazing Bull in order to improve game pacing and balance time in combat.
  
• Lowered the price of information sold by Anayama the Peddler.
  
• The Chained Ogre inside Ashina Castle is now Red Eyed.
  
• Fixed a bug where “Gokan’s Sugar” and “Gokan’s Spiritfall” were not mitigating player Posture damage taken while guarding or deflecting enemy attacks.
  
• Fixed a bug where system crashes could cause save data to become corrupted on PC.
  
• Fixed a bug where certain enemies would sometimes stop attacking the player.
  
• Fixed a bug where certain actions could not be performed after reconfiguring the controls.
  
• Fixed certain bugs that were allowing the player to access unexpected areas, which could result in becoming unable to obtain items or make further progress.
  
• Fixed cases of certain text being displayed incorrectly.
  
• Improved stability.
  
• Improved performance.
  
• Other various bug fixes.

Have you jumped into the game yet? And does any of this excite you, or worry you?