Book

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Official Artworks

by FromSoftware

📖 Overview

The official art book for FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice showcases concept art, character designs, and environmental illustrations from the action-adventure game. The 312-page hardcover volume contains hundreds of full-color images detailing the development of the game's feudal Japanese setting and distinctive visual style. The book features comprehensive sections on character designs, including protagonist Wolf and the game's cast of allies and enemies. Environment art spans from early sketches to final renders of the game's locations, architecture, and landscapes. Weapons, prosthetic tools, and other equipment designs are presented with accompanying developer notes and commentary. Behind-the-scenes materials include storyboards, unused concepts, and documentation of the artistic process. The text appears in both Japanese and English, providing insight into the creative decisions that shaped the game's stark aesthetic and world design. The artwork collection reflects themes of duty, sacrifice, and mortality through its focus on Japanese historical elements merged with dark fantasy. The visual narrative emphasizes the tension between beauty and violence central to the game's artistic vision.

👀 Reviews

Readers report high satisfaction with the quality of art, printing, and paper in this artbook. Many note the comprehensive coverage of character designs, environments, weapons, and enemies from the game. Likes: - Detailed concept sketches showing character/costume development - Clear explanations of design choices and artistic process - Large format (11.7 x 8.3 inches) allows art to be viewed in detail - Includes storyboards and promotional illustrations Dislikes: - Some felt the $44.99 price was high for 304 pages - A few mentioned wanting more environmental concept art - Text is minimal compared to art content Ratings across platforms: Amazon: 4.9/5 (244 reviews) Goodreads: 4.8/5 (33 ratings) Notable reader comment: "The progression sketches really show how much iteration went into perfecting each character design. Worth it just for the prosthetic arm concept art." - Amazon reviewer

📚 Similar books

Dark Souls: Design Works by From Software This collection presents original concept art, character designs, and environmental studies from the dark fantasy game that shares combat mechanics and artistic direction with Sekiro.

The Art of Ghost of Tsushima by Sucker Punch Productions The book documents the creation of a feudal Japanese world through concept art, character designs, and environmental paintings that reflect similar themes of samurai combat and historical settings.

Bloodborne: Official Artworks by FromSoftware The artwork compilation reveals the design process behind another FromSoftware title that shares architectural motifs, creature designs, and combat focus with Sekiro.

The Art of God of War by Sony Interactive Entertainment This volume showcases the development of weapons, characters, and environments that demonstrate parallel approaches to depicting mythological elements and combat mechanics.

The Art of Nioh by Team Ninja The book presents character designs, yokai creatures, and environmental concepts from a game that explores similar themes of samurai combat and Japanese mythology.

🤔 Interesting facts

🗡️ FromSoftware's concept artists created over 1,000 individual sketches and designs during Sekiro's development, with only a fraction making it into the final artbook 🏯 The book features extensive architectural studies of Japanese castles and temples from the Sengoku period, which were used as references for the game's environmental design 🎨 Many of the character designs in the artbook show multiple iterations of the protagonist's prosthetic arm, including versions that were ultimately scrapped, such as one with built-in firearms 🐉 The Divine Dragon's design went through numerous revisions, originally appearing more serpentine and traditional before evolving into its final form with ethereal, branch-like appendages 📚 The 300-page artbook contains exclusive commentary from the development team about their creative process, including notes from director Hidetaka Miyazaki that weren't previously revealed