FromSoftware has developed some of the most difficult and cryptic games out there with their iconic Souls games. And while fans may have to wait a bit for Elden Ring to finally appear, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice still has plenty of content to haunt and frustrate fans for years. For some, one of the toughest portions of the game is one, mini-boss interaction in Mibu Village.
As Sekiro makes his way to the Corrupted Monk for the first time, he comes across a crying woman playing a shamisen. When the player engages with her, they unwittingly start what, for many, is one of the toughest mini-bosses in the entire game. For people that either haven’t gotten to her yet or were too scared to face off against her in the first place, there are a few things about O’Rin of the Water that need to be known.
11 Lord Sakuza
One of the first things that players will learn about O’Rin is the fact that she’s looking for a character named Lord Sakuza. She’s apparently been writing to him for some time but has yet to hear back from him. She becomes suspicious that Sekiro is trying to keep him from her and thus engages the fight.
Not much is made clear about O’Rin or who Lord Sakuza really is, but there are some hints that Jinzaemon Kumano may be related to him in some way, especially if he manages to get to Mibu Village before Sekiro fights her. Upon beating O’Rin, she’ll gesture towards Jinzaemon and state, “Ohhh… I’m so glad. Lord Sakuza…brought me that man in his stead… Oh, and he’s right over there…”
10 She’s An Apparition
While many players may have their suspicions given her propensity for disappearing and flying, O’Rin of the water doesn’t play the same way that most other apparition-type enemies do.
She doesn’t make wild, brutal movements or even deal terror damage. However, she’s still an apparition all the same, meaning that she is very prone to Divine Confetti.
9 She’s An Okami Descendant
When the players reach Fountainhead Palace, they come across one of the most dangerous and versatile enemies in the game, the Okami. These dragon-descended ladies can gently though quickly float across the arena and use lightning attacks to make Sekiro use up his resurrections.
However, few people realize that, much like the Snake-Eyes tribe, O’Rin is also likely a descendant of them. This would explain her proclivity for jumping around the arena and her gentle sword skill as well as why the Sabimaru prosthetic tool, a weapon capable of dealing extra damage to the Okami and their descendants, is so effective on her.
8 She’s A Goze
O’Rin may be an apparition and an Okami within the Sekiro game, but her character draws massive inspiration from Japanese goze. These were blind, female musicians whose instrument of choice was the shamisen.
While the shamisen connection should be obvious, players will need to work a little harder to find out that O’Rin is blind. By crouching near her and looking under her straw mask, players will be able to see that she has white-eyes.
7 She’ll Attack Regardless Of Dialogue Options
Most players when they come across O’Rin will try to talk to her, prompting her to talk about her missing Lord Sakuza. If players remain silent, she will subsequently call them a liar and attack them.
If, for obvious reasons, they say that they don’t know who that is, she’ll still call them a liar and attack them. And, if players try to avoid her entirely, she will also immediately start chasing them. There really is no talking one’s way out of this one.
6 Prefers Close Combat
Much like many Sekiro enemies, O’Rin tries to get close up and personal with the player. This may scare off some of the players who struggle with parrying and inevitably get them to run away. This, however, is a classic mistake, especially when it comes to O’Rin.
Whenever someone tries to distance themselves from her or even use a healing item, O’Rin will magically dash across the entire arena to deal a devastating blow, often killing unwitting players. Given that O’Rin is guarding the passage way to the Corrupted Monk, players will have to buckle down, eat some sugars, and prepare to parry some of the most complex sword attacks in the game.
5 Rock Glitch
If players really don’t want to deal with O’Rin of the Water, either to save time or because she does a really good impression of a terrifying, Japanese ghost, then they do have a few options to make things significantly less difficult. One of the cheapest ways involves trapping her.
By baiting her towards the entrance to her area, players can trap her animation behind a rock and just relentlessly attack her from there. However, to do this, players must be careful not to move so far and fast that they’ll trigger her long-range, dash attack. One needs to stay close to her and move just slow enough to keep her in a careful but moving stance.
4 Easy Deathblows
Delivering an easy deathblow on a boss is one of the most cathartic elements of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. However, not every boss or min-boss has an easy, stealth kill lined up, with the developers themselves doing everything they can to keep O’Rin’s fight in particular a straight bout.
Before it was eventually patched, players used to be able to carefully hop on top of O’Rin’s without speaking to her and landing safely behind her without trigger her aggression, allowing for an easy backstab. After an update, players were still able to find a new, deathblow opening. By getting behind O’Rin and hitting her with a ceramic shard, players will have a short animation period where a red, deathblow marker will appear.
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2 She’s The One Jinzaemon Is Looking For
Way before the player ever comes across O’Rin, they’ll meet a purple-robed traveler across the game called Jinzaemon. He’s another swordsmen who’s become entranced by a strange, mystical song that he keeps hearing.
Jinzaemon will keep appearing across the game, specifically as Sekiro gets closer and closer to Mibu Village. He’ll appear near the Bottomless Hole and after the Headless Ape boss fight, the latter being when he hints that he may be looking for a woman in a misty village playing a shamisen. This has sparked theories that Jinzaemon who have known Lord Sakuza in some way or, better yet, may be the reincarnation of Lord Sakuza.
1 Killing O’Rin Too Early Will Upset Jinzaemon
Given that Jinzemon is specifically on a quest to find the mysterious woman playing a shamisen, he likely wouldn’t take kindly to the idea that Sekiro would rob him of his entire quest.
However, it is entirely possible to get to Mibu Village much earlier than Jinzaemon does and initiate the fight with O’Rin. By killing her before Jinzaemon ever gets to Mibu Village, the player will enrage Jinzaemon later and cause him to attack Sekiro, robbing the players of the chance to get Jinza’s Jizo Statue.
NEXT: Sekiro 2: 10 Things We Need FromSoftware To Include
