I came from Bloodborne where the parry with a gun is quite similar to the standard parry you'd expect from Dark Souls: relatively long wind-up, only certain attacks can be parried, for others you're SooL. Even though I liked the parry mechanic, as a consequence of it working on only a limited amount of attacks and pulling it off was generally hard while in the midst of a boss' very frantic moveset, I'd usually rely on dodge rolls.

FF to Sekiro and Lies of P, the parry has been replaced with a deflect that's easier to pull off since it's just a well-timed block combines with a stance bar that allowed for alternative win-cons outside getting the boss' HP to 0. Especially Sekiro's hyper focus on deflects being the name of the game, a lot more attacks can be deflected which, in previous installments, usually would not have been deflectable/parriable.

FF to Elden Ring, the classic parry is back and only a limited set of specific moves can be parried. It's certainly an option for those who like it but some enemies just outright don't accommodate for parries to be usable, so again you're SooL. The Deflecting Hardtear attempts to remedy this by including a deflect similar to Sekiro with the added caveat, unfortunately, that outside of not taking damage from attacks you'd normally be damaged by, with exceptions like builds and specific shields, you don't again anything by doing so outside having an alternative to dodging. It's a good idea but not exactly what I want from the game. What it does well, however, is that you can deflect attacks that you'd usually not be able to.

What if this system were applied to standard parries? I know you shouldn't be able to parry some kinda laserbeam or something similar. But specifically in Elden Ring where the aggressiveness of bosses and their mobility is off the charts to combat the increasing skill of players, I'd wish for more tools to be able to deal with the increased complexitt. For example by letting me parry attacks that clearly should be from a visual standpoint but can't be because FS says so.

Is this just a severe case of GitGud™ or does any of this make sense/resonate with you?

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[–] 5 points 2 days ago (1 child)

When it comes to the Soulbornering games, Fromsoft is all in on "learn by damage." Miss a parry = take damage. Miss-time a roll = take damage. And keep taking damage until you get it right. It's the only form of feedback they seem willing to give. It is frustrating, but if they stopped doing it, would it still be an FS game?

I mean you could fill a set of encyclopedias with a list of jank and quality of life problems in FS games, but it makes me wonder how many of those problems are a core part of what makes a Souls game a Souls game.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 days ago

    If you count Sekiro, that actually has explicit non-diegetic signals for what can't be parried (although I'm not suggesting that that model ought to be applied generally). More broadly, there is other feedback involved in parrying, it's the audio and animation. If you missed completely you just get hit. If you make the parry, you get no damage, the enemy flinches, and you get a specific sound cue. If you only slightly miss, you get less damage and a different audio cue. My issue is that if it's unparryable... You get that second audio cue again

    My suggestion would be that unparryable attacks get a third sound effect, and maybe some kind of unique animation for your character, when you get the parry timing right. That way it remains diegetic, the feedback is in line with what you get in other situations in the same games, and you still have to do the part of actually attempting and nailing a parry to get it. It's very similar to what happens when you block and get your guard broken - no damage (yet, you're almost certainly about to take some), but a unique sound and animation

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