Shinobi Hunter: one of the very first spear minibosses, whom you encounter in the hirata memory.

He is the exact reason why I say that. He is super early in the game, in a game famous for its difficulty, with a dozen adds around (meaning every reattempt takes a while as you pick them off), and you are basically fucked trying to kill him if you didn't spend your skill points on the exact skill he needs at a time when your skill points are slow coming still.

The entire Hirata memory feels off in its placement. Like, you receive it and get a lot of benefits from doing it as early as possible, but things like that and Lady Butterfly make it feel like it should be held off until a few more bosses into the game.

I wonder how much of the reputation Sekiro has is because of that alone.

how prosthetics can carry you

Having watched a few other people play, I don't think enough people realize how far they really can carry you. Like the amount of people who don't realize that the Flame Vent inflicts burn faster to anyone wearing Straw, or anything fuzzy (like the Ape) is staggering. Same with using the Spear to pull the Ape's Centipede out to do a considerable amount of damage. Or Firecrackers on basically anything, but especially animals like the Bull or the Ape. I feel like there is a pattern there. But it is a huge boon to open with to get a chunk of health off to make the posture damage stick.

The big problem I think is how two of them (Flame/Firecracker) just so significantly outclass everything else that there is little point in messing with the rest. Umbrella has niche uses once you get the anti-Terror version, but all the rest are basically only useful for a handful of random mooks or for the thing meant to very specifically work like the Whistle on Demon of Hatred.

Unfortunately, all the hardest and best bosses are basically just Man v Man duels without much in the way of options, so they never get much chance to shine. At most, you are weaving in a Firecracker hit into a combo that you know by heart will punish Owl exactly.

He teaches you about the importance of mobility, of staying out of range, of dodging and how prosthetics can carry you

Ironically, all great lessons for Shichimen Warriors, who you won't be able to seriously fight until the end of the game.

And are the by far worst part of the game, them and the Headless. The game would be unironically improved if those two types got removed and replaced with generic Generals or anything else.