Sekiro: The art book for the video game skillfully puts the past on paper

First of all: The official art book of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice made a good impression on me and shows the quality in many places. I find it very exciting that the artwork behind the video game was primarily printed on black paper. This decision may reflect the dark wartime of the Sengoku period in which Sekiro is set. This setting is also evident in many other places in the book. However, we don’t really find out, because unfortunately you won’t find many comments on the pictures in the art book. You can see more advantages and disadvantages of the official artbook in the video above.

Incidentally, the Hamburg publisher Altraverse is responsible for the fact that we can buy this book in Germany since 2020. 30 euros is a reasonable and in the heading art book common price, especially when it comes to video games. There is also a single volume on Hanbei, for example as a manga on their website.

I was particularly pleased that we are dealing with a high-quality hardcover. You can see how big the book is above. The dark sides skilfully reflect the soul-like atmosphere, but unfortunately this also applies to the light in the first third, which shines back uncomfortably brightly due to the large dark areas on the white sides. This applies above all to pictures showing individual rooms or paths at night. On the other hand, double-sided paintings can impress, as in “The Great Snake”. It is not only the filigree brushstrokes that are fascinating, but also the subtle differences in the shading, which make the images appear lively and solid with just a few colors.

In many places there are enlarged items from the game. You don’t immediately notice their special patterns on vases or scrolls during a fight and you can admire them in peace in the book. Unfortunately, sometimes you can see the upscaling on the paper. Here and especially in the second third I would have liked a few descriptions of the artists.

It is labeled and described in the last part. The second chapter deals with the main character’s weapons or prosthetic modules. Here you can see the early stages from the video game or how the various items work. In the last chapter you will find a detailed description of martial arts, items, trophies or memories. You can also find the various coats of arms and a small world map there.

Small conclusion

Overall, I found Sekiro’s art book to be a beautiful work that will certainly enrich fans. The hardcover, the size and the quality of the paper looks high quality and the paintings are impressive for an art layman like me. The structure seems to be rather minimalistic. If there were detailed descriptions, I enjoyed reading them, but overall I would have appreciated more comments.

Do you have video game art books that you particularly like to pull off the shelf? I look forward to some recommendations in the comments.