Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice may have the DNA of a Soulsborne game, but if there was one thing that became clear to me after spending three hours with it, it’s that Sekiro is entirely its own beast. Sure, it’s a difficult yet rewarding action-RPG with a sprawling world full of darkness and mystery around every corner. But it’s the mechanics that set Sekiro (out March 22 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One) apart from the Souls series and Bloodborne that have me the most excited.

A lot has already been discussed with regards to the posture system that is at the core of Sekiro’s combat, but it’s worth emphasizing just how different this system makes the fights feel from anything else From Software has ever done. Basically, instead of having a traditional stamina meter, Sekiro allows you to attack, jump, and roll as much as you like. This facilitates an extremely fast and relentless pace to the action. To succeed at Sekiro’s combat, you absolutely must balance a steady stream of offense, while also being constantly at the ready to defend, because even the most basic of enemies will parry your own strikes and deliver a counter of their own to turn the tide of a battle.

Perhaps the biggest departure, though, is the fact that Sekiro has no customizable stats, no character classes, no souls or blood echoes, no crafting mechanics, and the sword that you start with is the sword that you’ll be using throughout the rest of the game. In other words, instead of the familiar Soulsbourne-style character progression, Sekiro plays it a bit more unconventionally.

You still collect experience from defeated enemies, which can potentially be lost upon dying, but instead of using that experience to upgrade your stats, you use it to purchase new skills from three skill trees (Shinobi, Ashina, and Prosthetic Arm) with three types of skills (Combat Arts, Shinobi Martial Arts, and Latent Skills).

While they don’t improve your stats, purchasing these skills can provide huge boons to how you deal with enemies. One Ninjutsu Combat Art allowed me to create a mist of blood after landing a successful stealth attack, which made an otherwise extremely difficult encounter with a ton of tough enemies much more manageable, as I could use the cover of the mist to chain several stealth kills all at once.

The Whirlwind Slash Combat Art gave me a move that could deal with multiple enemies at once, while Ichimonji was a strong overhead strike that dealt heavy posture damage while also restoring my own.

Latent skills and provide passive benefits, and are the closest things you’ll find to more traditional stat upgrades. One Latent Skill allowed me to carry more Spirit Emblems, which governed my usage of my Prosthetic Arm techniques.

You can also upgrade your health and posture meter by collecting four Prayer Beads and returning them to the sculptor at the Dilapidated Temple, the main hub. These beads will not be easy to come by though, as each time I found one, it was by taking on a very tough enemy.

Not being able to traditionally level up by using souls means that there’s no way to farm to get yourself more powerful in Sekiro. If you want to improve your character, you’re going to have to win some very difficult battles, which I think is great and really sends home the sense of accomplishment when you come out on top of these battles.

Disclosure: Flight and accommodations for this Sekiro preview event were provided by Activision.

Mitchell Saltzman is Gameplay/Livestream Guy at IGN. Follow him on Twitter.