Build a small combat routine
The opening learning task is to separate defense from damage. Capcom’s demo announcement identifies Parry, Deflect, Issen, Oni Armament and soul absorption as core techniques. That is already a sizeable vocabulary; trying to optimize all of it in your first fight creates unnecessary noise.
Our suggested practice order is deliberately narrow. Find a recognizable weapon attack, respond defensively, make one short punish, and reset your distance. Repeat until you can explain why each successful exchange worked. Then add another attack to the sequence. This is a learning drill, not a claim that every enemy has the same safe opening.
Translate the controls to your PC setup
PlayStation’s hands-on account uses PlayStation button labels. Treat those as examples of a demo layout, not keyboard bindings or a promise about your controller. Read the current in-game control list and test the defensive actions separately before entering a demanding encounter.
If two responses look similar, watch what changes afterward: enemy posture, your weapon state, available prompts and your position. Those observations are more useful than remembering a dramatic animation.
Make the next attempt informative
After a failed fight, choose one problem to address: an unread follow-up, an unseen second enemy, or an attack you extended too long. Keep your other choices steady. A repeatable plan gives you useful feedback even when you lose; changing equipment, settings and timing simultaneously makes improvement harder to diagnose.