Sekiro: Inner Father (No Hit, No Charm, Demon Bell)
The best of the new "Inner" fights. Feels like FromSoft listened to some of our rants about how Owl could've been more like a ninja. He gains several Mist-Raven moves, a Whirlwind Slash, and a new variation of his Fire Owl. My old tricks seem to work, still: dodge and punish for vit damage, then switch to parries after his posture bar gets a bit red, Nightjar to chase.
Not my prettiest phase 1, but I'll take it. I don't usually follow him into the walls/pillars, but I've gotten a bit impatient these past few attempts (getting hit by a shuiken may have titled me). The new phase 1 moves:
Mist Raven into Double Slash - Slow down your attacks and be prepared, since he can do this whenever he's about to get hit or block. He can also do it consecutively (personally, I've gotten him do it seven times.) Even when you do an excess slash, you can still parry, but timing is a bit tight (1:39). A few days ago I hated it, but now that I have the timing down consistently, parrying consecutive Double Slashes is a great way to build up posture damage.
Mist Raven into a Downward Slash - (3:49) This seems to hit earlier than it looks, so I dodge sooner.
Whirlwind Slash - (4:00) He can do this on idle, and at both ends of his zigzag move. It's parry timing is actually very forgiving. Sometimes I feel like I parried early, and end up with a successful parry. Both slashes can be dodged. I prefer a parry+dodge for a stab.
For his phase 2, other than the new moves, I seriously think they tweaked the spirit owl to obstruct the player's view more often. New phase 2 moves:
Mist Raven into Double Slash COMBO - (3:01) Damn fun combo. The initial Mist Raven looks different than the ordinary MR-Double Slash, but the timing is the same. What helped me is to imagine him doing the phase 1 moves one after another, and the timings seem identical. The final MR slash is a delayed slash, similar to what he does after reappearing from the spirit owl. I prefer dodging this final slash. Parrying this allows him to transition into a red-icon sweep.
Mist Raven into Running Slash COMBO - (2:40) The "imagine" method doesn't work, feels like the shuriken and downward slash come faster than usual, so I adjust accordingly.
Spirit Owl, Reappear on the Ground, MR into Double Slash COMBO - (5:05) The trick is to run past the owl. If you are running when he reappears, he will immediately run after you, giving you enough time to prepare/react to the MR combo.
Fire Owl Vertical Variation - (2:35) My initial solution was to run sideways and jump to handle both versions, but I sometimes get clipped. A tweak that made it work was to run back as far as possible, before running sideways.