Meanwhile, across the Pacific in Seattle, streamers on major platforms like Twitch, YouTube Live, and Kick shifted their schedules to go live this morning. The Tokyo International Game Festival—one of the world's top four gaming expos—was too big to miss.
WindyPeak Games, a scrappy Seattle studio, was squaring off against industry titan Komina. Their Sekiro had been duking it out with Komina's Torii: Phantom of the Ghost in a fierce promo war. Now, it was time to see which game had the chops, and the hype was through the roof.
The crowd was amped. After Gus Harper's Sekiro gameplay demo and breakdown, their excitement hit fever pitch. This wasn't just an action game—it was a revolution for VR cabins. Precise, complex combat, slick effects, and punishing yet rewarding level design had players buzzing.
So, when the demo booths opened, top streamers dove into the somatosensory cabins, ready to clash blades themselves.
They knew Sekiro would be tough—Gus's demo of the Monk Who Broke His Vows made that clear. Boss fights were the heart of the game, and Gus, that sly dog, wouldn't let players off easy.
But nobody expected this: even the grunts were brutal.
One hit from a measly soldier drained a fifth of your health—and they'd counter you. Streamers—pros with a decade of gaming under their belts, from PC to mobile to VR—were getting smoked.
Us? Top-tier streamers, living off gaming? We've played every genre, racked up countless action games. And we're getting bodied by a random soldier hiding in reeds? Sniped climbing a ledge? Wiped two, three times before even leaving the starting area?
The "humiliation" was unreal. Tempers flared, and death screens piled up in wild ways.
Some got pecked out by chickens.
"Damn it, you little punk!" Yin roared, flicking blood off his blade after slicing a soldier on a riverbank. He sheathed his sword, smug with revenge.
Whoosh! Swish! His grappling hook swung him to the next ledge.
Spotting two chickens, he sneered, "What, you cluckers think you're tough? Eat this!"
Cluck, cluck—CLUCK! The roosters launched, gliding and kicking Yin square in the face.
"What the—?!"
Clang! Yin blocked one but missed the other. A wing-slap sent him sprawling. As he scrambled up, the second rooster dive-bombed, claws raking.
In a panic, Yin slashed one dead, but the other's talons drained his last health.
[Die]
Silence. Then a roar from Yin's stream: "I'll end you feather freaks!"
His chat exploded:
"Monkeys vs. birds, who wins?"
"Hahaha, legendary!"
"Trading with a chicken? Peak Yin."
"How you doing, champ?"
"Double Chicken Wolf-Slaying Formation!"
"Those chickens hit harder than the soldiers…"
"Dead. I'm dead laughing."
Some got sniped.
"Come on, bring it! Who's scared? Not me!" Eggplant taunted, parrying two guards. Ding! Clang! Sparks flew.
His health was low—retreat meant death. Rage took over. He countered, knocking both blades away. A red dot flashed on a guard's chest.
Slash! Eggplant's blade pierced it. Blood sprayed. He crowed, "Check it, chat! This is how you do it! Maoming Sword Saint, baby!"
He strutted through a wooden gate, still hyping.
Bang! A muffled shot rang from a cliff.
[Die]
"What?!" Eggplant froze. Dead in a blink, screen black.
"Bug? What the hell?"
He revived, standing up. Bang! Another shot.
[Die]
Now he saw it: a guard on the cliff, 100 meters out, sniping with a musket.
"Yo, what?! Guns in Sekiro?!"
His chat roared:
"Sniper god, no scope!"
"Gus's evil plan strikes again."
"Your aim could learn from that guard."
"Pinpoint precision, hahaha!"
"Who expects a musket?!"
Some got hammered.
Ding! Clang! Sparks flew as ShuBro danced through three enemies in the snow, clearing a small stronghold. He'd already stealth-killed a third of the guards.
But a misstep alerted a sentry. The gong rang, and the rest swarmed.
ShuBro weaved, parrying left and right, blades clashing. Blood sprayed, enemies fell, and the clanging was relentless.
His chat hyped:
"Cory's killing it!"
"Taiyuan Flame Blade, let's go!"
"Sapling's a full-grown tree!"
"This stronghold's basically a boss fight."
"ShuBro's got this!"
One guard left downstairs, one with a musket upstairs. Clang! ShuBro parried twice, slashing the guard's throat. Blood gushed. He hooked to the roof, dispatching the musketeer in three swings.
"Hmph, that's all you got?" he taunted, hopping off the building, humming.
Buzz—BOOM! A sledgehammer swung from around the corner, flattening him.
[Die]
ShuBro gaped at the two-meter-tall brute wielding the hammer. "You gotta be kidding me!"
Revive. Step forward. Swing.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Three hits later, [Die] flashed again.
"Son of a—!"
At the festival, Pew's stream had the crowd cackling as his screen went black again.
"Hahaha, I could write 'Die' in my sleep now."
"Instantly smoked."
"That's an elite enemy, right?"
"Feels like a boss with that damage."
"One hit takes half your health."
"One health bar, three hits max. Gourd refills one. With revival, you get eight mistakes."
"Damn, that's brutal…"
"Pew clearing in half an hour? Respect."
At WindyPeak's booth, Pew was locked in a duel with the demo's first elite enemy: Samurai General Tadanori Kaminori. The courtyard, framed by crumbling walls, felt like an arena built for this clash.
Pew gripped his sword, circling the general. As a veteran streamer, he had skills. Sekiro's fresh mechanics threw everyone, but Pew's experience let him adapt fast.
Gus's breakdown made it clear: perfect parries break the enemy's posture bar for a killing blow. Pew had been practicing.
He exhaled in the cabin. "First fight was a fluke. This is the real deal!"
"Sorry for the weak sauce!"
Swish! Pew charged the black-armored general, who roared, planting his feet and swinging.
Clang! Sparks flew. Their blades met, Pew's strikes lightning-fast, the general's heavy and deliberate.
The crowd cheered. "Pew's going off!"
"Years of streaming, and it shows."
"That general's pressure is insane…"
"The clanging? Addictive."
"Oh, crap!"
A red [Danger] flashed on Pew's UI—an unblockable attack. Dodge or counter. Gus's demo explained: for thrusts, use "Gun Step and Knife Step" to break posture; for sweeps, "Jump and Stomp." Throws? Just run.
Players had to read the enemy's move in a split second. Guess right, and you'd shred their posture. Guess wrong…
"Thrust!" Pew yelled, stepping forward to stomp the general's blade.
He guessed blind—no practice with these VR quick-time events against grunts. Panic set in, the worst sin in a Souls-like.
Bang! He missed. The general's sweep sent him flying, two-thirds of his health gone.
"Hell no!" Pew screamed. "No, no, no! Please—damn it!"
He ran, chugging his gourd. One hit almost killed me? Gus, you monster!
The UI hyped the reward for correct counters but didn't warn about the risk. Guess wrong, and you're crippled—or dead.
The general charged. Clang! Clang! Pew's rhythm broke, forgetting to parry.
[Danger]
"Stomp, right?!" Pew jumped.
Too late. The general's thrust pierced him.
Slash! He hit the ground.
[Die]
"Aaah!" Pew roared, the cabin echoing with his rage. His chat erupted:
"LMAO, Pew's done."
"Man of his word, huh?"
"Two wrong guesses? Brutal."
"Moves start different. Gotta watch."
"Time's too tight to think."
"Now I get why Gus's demo was god-tier."
"The general's readable, but the Monk? No chance."
"Learn by dying, not guessing."
"Pew's back in Cat Mario hell."
"Why no revive?"
"Pointless. Half-health, no gourd, posture's reset. He's toast."
Pew's suffering began.
[Danger] "Knife step!" Miss.
[Danger] "Knife again?!" Miss.
[Danger] "Stomp, damn it!" Splat.
[Danger] "Knife—no, throw—!" Boom! Nailed to the ground.
Pew didn't know if throws were instant-death, but at his health, they might as well be.
After thirteen deaths, he snapped. "No more guessing! Screw 'Danger'! I'm done!"
He switched to pure parries, dodging unblockable attacks and chugging gourds.
Ding! Clang! Sparks flew. Pew focused, getting smoother, bolder.
Clang! The general's posture bar broke. Pew stabbed his heart. Splat! Blood sprayed.
"Woo! I get it!" Pew shouted. "No guessing, just blades!"
He tackled the general's second health bar, laughing as the posture bar climbed.
Then he froze. Retreating to chug his gourd, he saw the general charge up, halving his own posture bar.
"What the—?!" Pew gaped. "You heal too? This ain't right!"
This game kept rewriting what an ARPG could be. The difficulty, the traps—reeds, chickens, muskets, hammers. The bosses' wild damage, unpredictable [Danger] moves, and self-healing mechanics.
Was Sekiro even meant to be beaten? Or was Gus just trolling players?
But then—the fluid moves, the blade's crisp slice, Ashina Castle's epic vistas, the rush of a ninja kill. WindyPeak's detail pulled you in. Stealth, assassinations, clashing blades—the clanging thrill of a perfect parry was pure dopamine.
Most importantly, you grew. No stat grinding, just skill. Your moves got tighter, your parries sharper. From flailing to facing down mobs, the ding-dang of steel forged your skills.
In the VR cabin, Pew felt it. Each death honed his blade. He was the weapon.
Clang! Slash! Pew fought on, dying, reviving, improving.
From needing gourds to near-perfect runs. From panicking at [Danger] to reading the general's tells.
Clang! He stomped a thrust. Boom! He parried, knocking the general's blade away.
The general staggered, posture broken. Pew kicked his chest, gripped his sword, and locked eyes—sharp as an eagle, fierce as a wolf.
"Die!" he roared, plunging the blade upward through the general's chest.
Splat! Blood sprayed. Pew sheathed his sword with a click as the general collapsed.
[Ninja Kill]
Boom! The crowd erupted, screaming and clapping.
Pew stepped out of the cabin, striking a kingly pose. "Enemy's toast! Time to loot his armor!" he shouted, echoing Isshin's iconic Sekiro trailer line in Japanese.
The Tokyo crowd—mostly Japanese, mixed with global fans—lost it. Pew, high on victory, dove into the audience.
"I did it! Wooo!" he yelled, crowd-surfing like a rockstar.
Gus, watching from the sidelines, grabbed a mic and boomed in English: "Ladies and gentlemen! The first to slay Samurai General Tadanori Kaminori at the Tokyo Game Festival is—Peeeeeew!"
Boom! The crowd went wilder. Gus hyping Pew's win sent WindyPeak's booth into overdrive—the hottest spot in the expo.
Players hoisted Pew up, chanting "Pew! Pew!" The venue shook.
Pew teared up. Dozens of deaths, an hour of grinding, never quitting—it paid off. The rush, the crowd's roar, brought him to the edge.
Flash! Media cameras froze the moment.
Pew finally got Sekiro. It wasn't just action or RPG. It was its own beast, born from Gus Harper's wild genius.
A "Wolf Game."
Headlines followed:
"'Wolf Games' Take Over! Sekiro Rules Tokyo Game Festival!"
"Sekiro's Reveal Sparks Crowd Frenzy!"
"Action? RPG? Nah—It's Wolf Games, the Future of VR!"
"Japan's Obsessed, World's Watching: What Makes Sekiro Painfully Addictive?"