FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice stands out among other SoulsBorne titles because of its combat. In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the constant clashing of steel between two katanas results in an exhilarating experience that remains unmatched. Other AAA titles like Ghost of Tsushima and Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order have successfully put their own spin on Sekiro's utterly satisfying deflection and posture system, and SHIFT UP's upcoming action title Project Eve looks to achieve the same.

It's easy to confuse Project Eve with a PlatinumGames project with its visuals, environments, story, and soundtrack. While those comparisons are justified, SHIFT UP takes a different approach with Project Eve's gameplay. Project Eve ditches the usual hack and slash gameplay philosophy of PlatinumGames' titles and delves more into the meticulous combat structure of Sekiro. So far, Project Eve's Sekiro inspirations seem at point, which makes it all the more complimentary for the latter's fans.

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Project Eve is Set to Fill the Void of Sekiro's Sequel

Project Eve

FromSoftware currently has its hands full with its upcoming action RPG Elden Ring. While initially quoted as a "natural evolution of Dark Souls," Elden Ring seems to be carrying the DNA of Bloodborne and Sekiro as well, with Sekiro's stealth mechanics seemingly playing a huge role in the combat. Naturally, this diminishes the possibility of FromSoftware ever making Bloodborne or Sekiro sequels. Thankfully, while Thymesia is all set to fill in the void of Bloodborne 2, Project Eve takes on the responsibility of filling in for Sekiro 2.

Project Eve features a similar posture system from Sekiro, where every enemy has a posture meter that needs depleting before their health goes down. By the looks of it, smaller enemies may go down easily by simply raining down attacks, but larger foes, especially bosses, need to be tackled more diligently with perfectly timed deflections.

Project Eve encourages deflection by rewarding players with Beta Gauge, a form of currency that unlocks various game-changing skills. Some of the skills that are confirmed so far allow players to pierce super armor, execute sweeping attacks, and interrupt enemy combos. Similar to Sekiro, dodging will play a huge role in Project Eve, even more so because an appropriately timed dodge also grants players with Beta Gauge. Furthermore, deflecting and dodging will allow players to accumulate Burst Gauge, which would allow them to inflict more powerful special attacks like the leaping stab shown in the PlayStation Showcase gameplay trailer.

Mobility played a huge role in Sekiro, with the grappling hook allowing for more verticality than past FromSoftware games. Thankfully, Project Eve takes a similar approach with traversal by allowing players to scale towering infrastructures by scaling walls, swinging ropes, and hovering. There is even an instant in the latest trailer where Eve is sliding down a narrow tunnel while being pursued by a giant parasitic-like creature. The game also encourages exploration by hiding treasures across the map, though it would be interesting to see whether these treasures are new weapons, stats altering buffs, or just collectibles.

Project Eve shakes things up and hopefully makes things more interesting by introducing new weapons. The trailers revealed so far only showcase Eve's electrified sword of some kind though SHIFT UP's director Kim Hyung Tae has confirmed that the game will feature more weapons. Depending upon the nature of these weapons, the feel of deflection and parrying can vary, and it would be interesting to see how unique each one of them actually feels to use.

While fans have to wait to experience the slicing, dodging, and parrying in Project Eve, the addition of DualSense support significantly increases expectations. Some PS5 games like Deathloop take full advantage of PS5's DualSense controller, and Project Eve seems to be going that route as well. Project Eve will take advantage of DualSense's haptic feedback and allow players to feel the tingling sensation of slicing an enemy's flesh. If the trailers are any indication, the deflection should feel impactful as well. Project Eve's DualSense capabilities should excite Sekiro fans even more since the 2019 game does not support any DualSense functionalities.

It's too early to predict whether Project Eve's more methodical approach to gameplay will turn out as good as many are hoping it to be, but for now, it seems to be headed in a direction that should attract plenty of Souls-like fans - especially Sekiro's. With no Sekiro 2 on the horizon, Project Eve should be on everyone's radar.

Project Eve is currently in development.

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