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How do you feel about parries in action games?

I think most of the time they are a welcome addition and adds some combat depth. They work extremely well in games like MGR or Sekiro where it is made the focus of the combat and not just one of it's features. But other times, it can feel tacked on and/or counterproductive to the gameplay loop like in FnR. In some cases it can feel random depending on the input for the parry(like if it is forward on dpad just as an attack hits you). They don't need to be present in every action game.
 
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I don't like when people say sekiro has parries, if I recall it calls them deflects. A parry is a move in fencing where you disable your oponent, in sekiro it fills their posture bar (yes low level npcs get parried in one or two deflects). And parrying is awesome, there's videos about this mechanic alone
 

Big Baller

Al Pachinko, Konami President
I hate them unless they give a generous window. I'm getting too old to have to press a button within 0.5 of a second.

Excited Lets Go GIF
 
I absolutely hate parrying. Well, first of all I totally suck at it but I also don't think it's fun nor satisfying to work on it even if I succeed sometimes. So I always go out of my way to manage the combat without it, for example in Bloodborne, Dark Souls or Elden Ring (haven't even tried Sekiro for obvious reasons, haha). To me it's not fun and it only adds stress and anxiety.

So that always fucks me up eventually because often you come to a part later in the games where parrying is required to get further and that creates an enormous difficulty spike for me and my playstyle, haha. Same with backstabbing in these games.
 
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I hate them unless they give a generous window. I'm getting too old to have to press a button within 0.5 of a second.
You need to play Dead Cells dude. You can make coffee, do the dishes, take a walk and finish the laundry by the time the parry window ends. But it's still extremely satisfying nonetheless and you have shields which can give you free gold or freeze enemies when yuo parry them.
 

dreamstation

Gold Member
You need to play Dead Cells dude. You can make coffee, do the dishes, take a walk and finish the laundry by the time the parry window ends. But it's still extremely satisfying nonetheless and you have shields which can give you free gold or freeze enemies when yuo parry them.
I do have Dead Cells in my backlog actually. Just gotta find time to play all these god damn games.
 

TexMex

Member
There’s nothing I’m worse at in all of gaming. I can’t get the hang of it in any game.

I have the platinum in every souls game except Sekiro, which I can’t even come close to beating let alone 100%.

I’m awful at it.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
for example in Bloodborne, Dark Souls or Elden Ring
I actually love parring in Elden Ring and some enemies feels made for it, like crucible knights.

Even fight against Radegon becomes even more fun once I become better at parring.
 
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Bartski

Gold Member
Peak risk-reward mechanic. I'd love to see more games making it essential rather than an option you're better off avoiding which is often the case
 

Chukhopops

Member
Monster Hunter became immediately better when they added the Adept parry to Lance, so much that they kept it in Rise.

The sound is just so immensely satisfying.

So yeah I love it.
 

T4keD0wN

Member
I like them, they dont look stupid, unlike dodge rolls (dashing is fine).

Hate when the window is tied to the framerate and doesnt scale, which is often, it makes parrying impossible on 150hz+ monitors.
Having 13 frames window is ok when playing at 60 or 30fps, but its not enough when youre multiple times higher.
 
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NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
If the window is consistent and it’s somewhat obvious what can be parried and what can’t, they can be a good mechanic.
So, they kinda aren’t in that series that made parrying a fucking staple of action games for the last decade. Some attacks can be parried and some cannot because of reasons. The size of your shield changes the parry window. The window itself is never quote obvious, etc etc. It’s quite amazing how generous the Mikiri counter‘s window was in Sekiro, but maybe that’s because there’s really no alternative to defending in Sekiro.
 

winjer

Gold Member
Probably because I'm getting older, I'm not good at parrying.
So if a game has a combat system that relies a lot of parrying, it won't click with me.
 

WitchHunter

Banned
I think most of the time they are a welcome addition and adds some combat depth. They work extremely well in games like MGR or Sekiro where it is made the focus of the combat and not just one of it's features. But other times, it can feel tacked on and/or counterproductive to the gameplay loop like in FnR. In some cases it can feel random depending on the input for the parry(like if it is forward on dpad just as an attack hits you). They don't need to be present in every action game.
I think parries are overrated and we need further discussions whether they need to be regulated.
 

MetalRain

Member
I don't really like them, I think positioning, using the environment and even aiming is more fun gameplay than timing parry exactly.
 

T0minator

Member
I fell like it's hit a point in gaming where it's almost weird not to have parrying in an action game.

The next Horizon game has to have parrying, if they want to stand a chance at all against whatever big game they release against again
 

Knightime_X

Member
Games with gimmicks are terrible.
It's better for it to act more of a utility.

Parries in Sekiro felt more like a forced gimmick.
And was a utility in Resident Evil 4 remake.
 

Kabelly

Gold Member
Bayonetta has one of my favourite parries. You can get witch time by dodging but if you risk it and parry instead you can get witch time for longer. I love the way it works too you basically flick your stick forward against the attack. Feels very satisfying to pull off.

Sekiro's combat is also amazing. It's the focus of the combat, but there's such a force that the enemies hit you with that landing that perfect parry is also very satisying. Sekiro clank is one one of the best sounds in gaming. When you hit that perfect parry from a strong attack that it forces Sekiro back that he has to force his sword in the ground to stop himself. Amazing.

Also shoutout to Splatoon 3. They have improved the mobility so much in the third game and if you do what's called a squid roll at the perfect time you can negate a certain amount of damage you receive. You can tank a whole bomb if you time it right. So good.

Honourable mention to Bloodborne. Also a very satisfying to pull off but not "required". That aggressive violin sound is beautiful. Then you walk up to the enemy and rip their insides out. The best. Plus if you add the one charm or whatever you get your health back. It does make fighting enemies a lot easier though so not utlising it is just hindering yourself unless that's your own personal challenge.

Parries are great.
 
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I like them in the Batman: Arkham games, not so much in the Marvel's Spider-Man games.

Batman is a master of martial artist, so he would know all about countering his opponent's moves. Spider-Man is more acrobatic and agile, and less of a martial artist, so dodging around his enemies makes more sense for him.
 

FoxMcChief

Gold Member
My mind saw "panties", and i have no opinion on them in action games. I love the look of panties on a curry woman though. Curvy, not obese.
 

DaciaJC

Gold Member
I thought this was an interesting take on parrying:



He makes a lot of good points. I agree with him that the emphasis on deflecting in Sekiro ultimately makes for a rather one-note and repetitive combat system. More generally, he's absolutely spot on in saying that adding a directional element to parries makes for a much more compelling and engaging experience. A couple of games I play, Mount & Blade and Mordhau, have a mechanic called "chambering" wherein you anticipate an enemy's strike and respond with one of your own with the aim of intercepting their weapon mid-swing, allowing you to simultaneously defend yourself and immediately take the initiative with a counterattack. It's so much more satisfying than your run of the mill one-button omnidirectional parry.
 
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ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
If it's a game that requires memorizing enemy movements, it's very enjoyable. Otherwise, I don't enjoy it as much when I randomly guess when to parry.
 
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