In 2019, the gaming world was in a bit of a weird spot. We were at the tail end of a console generation, everyone was whispering about the PlayStation 5, and Hideo Kojima had just released a game about walking across a post-apocalyptic America with a baby strapped to his chest. But when The Game Awards rolled around, the big trophy didn't go to the "strand game" or a massive open-world odyssey. It went to a brutal, uncompromising, and rhythm-heavy masterpiece from FromSoftware. Sekiro Shadows Die Twice was the 2019 game of the year, and honestly, looking back from 2026, it might be the most "pure" winner we’ve seen in a decade.
It was a bold choice.
Most people expected Death Stranding or maybe Control to take the top spot. Those games felt "artsy" and "new." But Sekiro? It was just a game about a one-armed shinobi trying to save a kid. It didn't have a multiplayer mode. It didn't have microtransactions. It didn't even have different weapons or armor sets like Dark Souls. It just had a sword and a parry button. If you couldn't learn the rhythm, you couldn't play. It was a "git gud" filter in the form of a $60 disc, and yet, it captivated everyone.
The Night Sekiro Became the 2019 Game of the Year
Winning Game of the Year (GOTY) isn't just about sales. If it were, Call of Duty would win every single time. It’s about impact. When Hidetaka Miyazaki stepped onto that stage in December 2019, it felt like a validation of a very specific type of game design. Sekiro stripped away the crutches. In Dark Souls, if a boss is too hard, you can just go grind for three hours, level up your Strength, and come back to tank the hits. You can't do that in Ashina Outskirts. You either learn to deflect Genichiro’s "Floating Passage" combo, or you die. Over and over again.
That purity is why it stood out. The competition that year was actually pretty stiff. You had Resident Evil 2 Remake, which was basically a masterclass in how to update a classic. You had The Outer Worlds, bringing back that old-school Fallout charm. And you had Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a game so massive it basically felt like a museum of gaming history.
But Sekiro did something different. It forced a conversation about difficulty and accessibility that lasted for months. It made people rethink what "fun" meant. Is it fun to spend four hours dying to a giant owl on top of a castle? For a lot of us, the answer was a resounding "yes" because the victory felt earned.
It Wasn't Just About the Difficulty
There’s a huge misconception that Sekiro won 2019 game of the year just because it was hard. That’s a shallow take. If difficulty was the only metric, Flappy Bird would be a masterpiece. Sekiro won because its combat system was—and still is—the most refined sword-fighting mechanic ever put into code.
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Think about the "Posture" bar.
In most games, you chip away at a health bar. You hit a guy, his health goes down, eventually he falls over. Boring. In Sekiro, the health bar is secondary. You are fighting for momentum. You are clashing steel. The sound design alone—that sharp cling when you land a perfect deflect—is more satisfying than any loot drop in Destiny. It turned combat into a dance. If you’ve played it, you know exactly what I mean. You stop looking at the character models and you start listening to the beat.
The world-building was also top-tier, though a bit more direct than the cryptic lore of Elden Ring. We explored a fictionalized Sengoku-era Japan that felt grounded but slowly decayed into supernatural horror. Seeing the "Divine Dragon" for the first time? That’s an all-time gaming moment. It was beautiful, haunting, and deeply Japanese in its philosophy of "mono no aware"—the pathos of things and the transience of life.
The Competition: Who Else Was in the Running?
It’s worth looking at the other nominees to see why the 2019 game of the year title was such a big deal.
- Control: Remedy’s weird, brutalist office thriller. It was incredible, but it had some serious performance issues on consoles at launch.
- Death Stranding: Kojima's big debut after leaving Konami. People either loved it or thought it was a "walking simulator." It was too polarizing to take the top spot.
- Resident Evil 2: A near-perfect remake. Many felt it shouldn't win GOTY because it was a "remake," even though it felt brand new.
- The Outer Worlds: Great writing, but it felt a bit "budget" compared to the scope of FromSoftware's work.
Why We Are Still Talking About It in 2026
You’d think after Elden Ring came out and sold 20 million copies, we’d forget about the little shinobi game. But we haven't. In fact, Sekiro feels more relevant now. In an era of games that try to be "everything to everyone"—with crafting, open worlds, skill trees, and romance options—Sekiro is a reminder that focus is a superpower.
It does one thing: Sword combat.
And it does it better than anyone else.
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Even the "boss rush" mode added later showed that the developers knew what the fans wanted. We didn't want more items; we wanted to fight Inner Isshin again. We wanted that feeling of being in the "zone."
There’s also the matter of the "Sekiro Shadow" in other games. You can see the influence of the deflect system in everything from Star Wars Jedi: Survivor to Lies of P. It changed the industry's approach to parrying. Before 2019, parrying was usually a high-risk, niche mechanic. After Sekiro, it became the core of the "action-soulslike" subgenre.
The Dragonrot in the Room: Accessibility
We have to be honest: Sekiro turned a lot of people off. It’s the only FromSoftware game without a formal "co-op" mode. You can't summon a friend to carry you through a boss fight. You are alone. This sparked a massive debate in 2019 about whether games should have an "Easy Mode."
The game’s director, Miyazaki, has been pretty firm on this. The challenge is the point. If you remove the struggle, you remove the satisfaction. While that’s a tough pill to swallow for some, it’s also why the community is so dedicated. When you see someone with the Platinum trophy for the 2019 game of the year, you know they didn't cheese it. They did the work.
Real Talk: Is it still worth playing?
Yes. 100%.
If you haven't played it because you heard it's too hard, you're missing out on the tightest action game ever made. Here is the secret: it's not a reflex game. It's a memory game. It's about learning the patterns. Once it "clicks"—and it will click—you'll feel like a god.
The game also looks surprisingly good on modern hardware. Since it was already so well-optimized, playing it on a PS5 or a high-end PC today feels incredibly smooth. The fast load times make the frequent deaths a lot easier to stomach.
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Taking Your First Steps in Ashina
If you're going to jump back into the 2019 game of the year, don't play it like Dark Souls. That’s the biggest mistake people make. Do not dodge. If you try to roll away from attacks, the bosses will catch you and kill you.
Stand your ground.
Aggression is key.
In Sekiro, you aren't the prey; you are the one who should be scary. You need to stay in the boss's face, keep hitting their sword, and force them to react to you. It’s a psychological shift that most players struggle with for the first five hours.
Check out the "Hanbei the Undying" at the Dilapidated Temple. He’s a training dummy for a reason. Spend time with him. Learn the difference between a block and a deflect. If you hear a dull thud, you're blocking (and your posture is breaking). If you hear a high-pitched ring and see a bright spark, you're deflecting. That sound is the key to the whole game.
The Actionable Path to Mastering Sekiro
Don't just mash buttons. You’ll die. Follow this logic if you’re starting fresh:
- Focus on the Mikiri Counter: This is the first skill you should buy. It allows you to stomp on spears. It’s essential. Without it, the early-game boss Shinobi Hunter Enshin of Misen will end your run before it starts.
- Unlearn the Dodge: Seriously. Remove your finger from the dodge button unless you see a "perilous" grab attack (the red kanji symbol).
- Watch the Posture, Not the Health: If a boss has full health but their posture bar is high, keep attacking. You only need one deathblow to end a phase.
- Use Your Tools: The Flame Vent is great for "Red Eyed" enemies. The Loaded Axe is perfect for shields. The game gives you these prosthetics for a reason—don't try to be a purist on your first run.
The 2019 game of the year wasn't a fluke. It wasn't just a "hard game" winning because of "elitism." It was a masterfully crafted experience that respected the player's intelligence and ability to learn. It didn't hold your hand, and in doing so, it gave you a sense of accomplishment that most "modern" games are too afraid to offer.
Go back to Ashina. Hesitation is defeat. You've got a sword, a prosthetic arm, and a lot of deaths ahead of you. It's time to earn that victory.