You are a better player than me then. I gave up at the middle point (?), the first climactic boss battle. It's a shame because Sekiro combat is so good, but I have my limits. And thinking about the fucking plague growing with each death was the cherry on top.
I know I should swallow my pride and cheat
That's really too kind of you to say, it was just sheer obstinacy coupled with a love of the game's world and taking long, extended breaks.
Also I played with cheats disabling
dragonrot because, seriously, fuck a mechanic punishing you for
dying in a game where you learn by dying. I don't have much gaming pride to begin with and I know a seriously bullshit mechanic when I see one
.
That mod also made the kb&m camera controls actually bearable, so there's that too. I'd say a large part of the game is worth seeing but the combat really got on my nerves after a while. In my opinion, every fight not relying on or nullifying the parry mechanics was straight-up tedious and inferior to every other.
You do get moments of feeling awesome, when you start hearing the ryhtym in the blows, knowing the opponent and suddenly exchanging strikes masterfully. Everything that deviated from that was From going through the motions of their old games in my opinion, and none of them were enjoyable in the least.
I really don't think you should hesitate about cheating. This game's world is worth the trip. The difficulty is deeply based on tedium and crap mechanics more often than not : having to redo multiple phases, bosses that are damage sponges before you get to the real part and such... Yeah. I wouldn't have too many qualms there. And at the end of the day, you already know this but it's your own time, and your own experience. Who's to judge you when you are having fun? You don't need a designer or a community to validate you, especially when the later veers in slightly unhealthy directions.