Parry and dodge mechanics

[Ikagura]

Why many action-orientated games in a while have these? You just have to press the parry or roll button at the right moment (usually before an enemy attacks) and you don't get damage from i-frames given by your animations.

Maybe it's easier to program and people are already familiar with that game design over trying something more cryptic while still offering a satisfying feedback.

Maybe they should make enemies and bosses with these in mind or give you bigger penalties from missing your dodge or parry with a critical hit.

 

[Cu-Neo]

Easily one of my favorite Parry (and counter) mechanic in any game

Even the game knows is great when you do it. And also the game punishes you a lot when you fail (looking at you Moonson) so it's very balanced.

 

[Hikari.EXE]

Depends on the game, DMC3 might have been the first to implement parry mechanics to an action game and the parry was farely just, too early and you only mitigate damage, too late and you get hit.
I think a good parry system is one that rewards patient and atentive players with a clear opening for a good counter attack, while a good dodge mechanic rewards the active and reactive player with weaving in and out of enemy's attacks while keeping up with the pressure.

 

[Ikagura]

Easily one of my favorite Parry (and counter) mechanic in any game

Even the game knows is great when you do it. And also the game punishes you a lot when you fail (looking at you Moonson) so it's very balanced.

I kinda like that there's no dedicated parry button but you have to attack where you're getting attacked and Monsoon teached it to me the hard way.

 

[Tomoko0122]

I really love Parry mechanic because how satisfying it is to parry an enemy attack, specially when it's something hard to pull, or highly risky, when a game has a parry mechanic that is extremely easy or not punishing, it gets less satisfying in my opinion.

 

[χKai]

I'd like a game that requires you to perform an attack with your weapon in just the right way in order to deflect it.

Some games have this, but few pull it off well, and I've yet to see one do it right.

 

[Koh_Nalstar]

I always liked it when parrying was just a perfect block but nowadays a lot games don't really have the block just the parry

 

[RanmyakuIchi]

I like parry mechanics most when it's not the be-all end-all of defensive options but just another tool in your kit instead, like Ninja Gaiden.

 

[Anim8rDude]

I feel like this is in direct response to Sackboy's Ninja Gaiden conversations. Hmm...

Which kinda bugs me because nowadays parrying in most games is a simple way to continue your offence rather than getting the good read. It's almost a free get-out-of-jail card because it never really makes you commit to risky moves. Rather than judging your attacks accordingly, you just... parry?

I always liked it when parrying was just a perfect block but nowadays a lot games don't really have the block just the parry

Which brings me to this point because I actually prefer parrying when it's just an extended form of blocking. Perfect block/Just Guards have existed for much longer, probably starting from the Guilty Gears or Street Fighters.

 

[dropsmegamega]

Because its easier to make a game where you do the same things slightly differently over and over than actually think bosses that require unique approach and strategies.

 

[ciro64]

Perry and Doge?

 

[Ian Naxieas]

Dodge pretty much all the way. I suck at parrying, I'm surprised I managed to conquer Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. I have not had the same luck in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to beat it. x)

 

[GEORGE?W?BUSH]

Parries/dodging in single player games is fine to a limited extent. I prefer when these mechanics are more difficult to utilize but allow the player to skip mechanics or cut down on the length of a fight/allow for more aggressive tactics.

Parries in multiplayer games (especially fgs) is kind of a drag. A lot of 3S is shimmying trying to bait out a button/parry. If defensive mechanics are too strong, it slows down the pace of the action.

 

[Yousef]

Dodge pretty much all the way. I suck at parrying, I'm surprised I managed to conquer Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. I have not had the same luck in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to beat it. x)

You may have been mislead in Shadows Die More Than Once. My brother helped me with this mental trick; call it Deflect, not Parry. No, try it. See how it works out for you. It’ll become a rhythm game. Because thats kinda what it is.

Coming in 2026, Sekiro 2: Dance Dance Revolution. You heard it first here.

 

[Ian Naxieas]

You may have been mislead in Shadows Die More Than Once. My brother helped me with this mental trick; call it Deflect, not Parry. No, try it. See how it works out for you. It’ll become a rhythm game. Because thats kinda what it is.

Coming in 2026, Sekiro 2: Dance Dance Revolution. You heard it first here.

Hmmm, I can see that. I'm going to give it another try eventually, I'll see how well that trick works for me.

 

[DunkeyKong]

I just love the parry sound in God of War like the TING, it's so satisfying to timed it right

For example (only clip that I could find that are short enough for the sound)

Also this one from the Souls series

 

[Nidstang]

I hate parry mechanics in games. I've played every Souls game from Demon's Souls to Elden Ring... I cannot play Sekiro (though I don't consider Sekiro a Souls game). I couldn't even get to the second boss, it's way too hard for me. I cannot get the parrying down.

I also couldn't beat Jedi Survivor. I got stuck on Rayvis, and couldn't go any further because it did a lite version of Sekiro's parry based combat, and I just couldn't progress.

I can't even perfectly do the parrying in games like Arkham series or Mad Max. I whiff if constantly, breaking my combos.

I'm extremely concerned that Doom The Dark Ages seems to be centered around a parry mechanic. Doom is tied for my favorite game franchise, and I just know I'm going to hate it.

 

[kanesha]

The longer the parry animation is and the more damage it does - the worse it is. And yeah a game with a good combat system doesn't need a dedicated parry button, parrying is attacking an opponent in the middle of their slow attack, with a quicker attack. Out of character action games Chaos Legion did this best IMO, if you hit an enemy at the right moment (and yeah, hit not press attack button, you press to swing then the game simulates what you hit, like every proper hack and slash should, like you can parry/counter some random dude that was coming at you from behind with an over-swing) you get a satisfying sound effect and a freeze frame like in a fighting game, but it doesn't just stop everything and everyone to show you a little cute dance that gets repetitive real quick, and it doesn't do a metric ton of damage, just enough so that you can finish off that one guy with one combo instead of having to do the usual 2, that level of impact that doesn't break the flow of the combat, but is still very satisfying.

 

[Anim8rDude]

Out of character action games Chaos Legion did this best IMO, if you hit an enemy at the right moment (and yeah, hit not press attack button

That completely reminds me about that the Onimushas do this as well. Most enemies have this definitely-not-a-generous window for performing a OHKO & is crazy satisfying when you pull it off, but maaaan the amount of time I ate a giant oni club instead...

 

[kanesha]

That completely reminds me about that the Onimushas do this as well. Most enemies have this definitely-not-a-generous window for performing a OHKO & is crazy satisfying when you pull it off, but maaaan the amount of time I ate a giant oni club instead...

I haven't played Onimusha, but from your description sounds like the opposite of what I was saying XD
In Chaos Legion it's actually pretty easy to do, even if you are just blindly swinging you're bound to parry something eventually, and it just cancels the enemy attack and gives you a small damage boost. Oh and another side effect of parry on hit instead of button press is that you can parry multiple enemies at once... in fact I think in the first level there is a section where like a dozen of em run at you head on and you are almost bound to parry all of them if you just swing away.

 

[Anim8rDude]

@kanesha Yeah I was kinda stretching it a bit! My memories of Chaos Legion are rusty as hell I'll admit. I just seem to remember (kinda like what you said) if you "time" your attacks the enemy will just bounce off mid-swing.
I guess the comparision I was trying to make was that in Onimushas, if the enemy is mid-swing, like juuust a few frames as the attack is about to connect, there's this tiiiiny window where you can press the attack button & do a reversal. May not be a parry in name, but hey!

 

[kanesha]

May not be a parry in name

Nah that totally fits this thread, and in the subfamily of "attack is parry" like Revengence above. It's CL that's the odd one, the way it does it I think most people won't even notice it has a parry system, very subtle, less is more kind of way.

 

[RetroLaw]

That completely reminds me about that the Onimushas do this as well. Most enemies have this definitely-not-a-generous window for performing a OHKO & is crazy satisfying when you pull it off, but maaaan the amount of time I ate a giant oni club instead...

Yeah I loved Onimusha when it came out. When I went back to it a couple decades later with the new port, I wanted to actually learn the game and be good at it. Turns out optimized combat boils down to pressing a button at the right time and I give zero shit about learning timings and nothing else.

Still love the game though but didn't care to get good at it.

The only parry that didn't bother me was in Fight and Rage, probably because that's part of your toolkit and not the number one thing you need to do to win. I think that's pretty much how I feel about parry, it doesn't bother me that much if it doesn't make other playstyles either obsolete or unoptimized, and if it's not a tool to nullify commitement (basically when you can use it whenever which means you don't have to take into account recovery frames, or any animation frames if you play a Platinum Games game).