Top 10 Worst Combat Designs in Gaming

[@gingerelvis93]

Wow, I've played bloodborne a thousand times and I just now learned what counter damage is, and it honestly explains so much

[@dougdynamo9398]

I had to pause the video it was such a revelation. Those one-hit deaths make so much more sense now.

[@Bobobo-bo-bo-bobobo]

In a way I get it, but not in a game that rewards agression

[@reNINTENDO]

For BL4 runs, it's an incredibly important bit of knowledge to have. Hell, even in normal runs it can be, but there are several attacks in the game that are _barely_ survivable at BL4 if you keep calm and just tank the hit.

[@Ghorda9]

@@Bobobo-bo-bo-bobobo it's a double edged sword, the player can do it too.

[@qwormuli77]

@@Bobobo-bo-bo-bobobo Not even for that, as the game punishes you for doing a basic thing it encourages you to do. If it only punished attacks or such, you could understand it in some other game, but getting rewarded for failing to dodge an attacks by more damage than not trying to dodge is completely and undeniably asinine.

[@MattTheMan2708]

Just a quick correction in #5. This is a common misconception but counter damage in Bloodborne is *not* double damage. It's actually 1.4x meaning if an attack would normally do 500 damage, it'll instead do 700 if it connects during counter frames. Late edit: Been replaying Dark Souls 1 recently and thought I noticed taking extra damage in that game as well during a mistimed roll, so I decided to test it. Sure enough, you take 40% extra damage when hit during counter frames. From what I could tell, it works exactly the same as it does in Bloodborne.

[@Ohmagawdjr]

🤓

[@qwormuli77]

Even more nitpicking: that 1.4 multiplier targets the attack rating of the hit, but when you factor other mechanics like flat and static defenses, you'll end up taking much more than just 1.4x the amount of hitpoints normally lost. Even worse, that is weighted towards larger damage numbers, meaning that the heavier the attack is, the larger relative portion of extra damage you'll take for getting punished for doing what you're supposed to do.

[@Aurelius1239]

​@@Ohmagawdjr Knowing basic math would be nerd like to you wouldn't it dumbass

[@DerSer22]

@@qwormuli77 bloodborne didn't have flat defense, the resulting formula they used ever since DeS if not earlier was still a % damage reduction, just with a very convoluted formula resulting essentially in a different % reduction number depending on the difference between atk and def numbers. The only From game that had actual flat def was DS2, and it was physical damage only (magic was still % based).

[@tank19768]

@@qwormuli77 The way these games affect your percentage damage is by reducing your % absorption, which happens *after* flat defense, so your damage difference will always be 40%.

[@Revenent530]

Number 9 is something Genshin Impact had a great solution to: you have a fullness meter, so you can bring as much healing food as you want, but if you eat enough, you don't be able to eat again until the meter has diminished enough. So you won't be screwed if you take a bunch of damage while learning the patterns, but you will need to learn them so the enemy doesn't outpace your ability to heal

[@Lelmao33]

It also has revive food cooldowm

[@amanwithnoplan7648]

Goddamn genshin has something good?

[@Jesse_Doe]

oh my god genshin impact did something better than BOTW

[@eduardonavarro4172]

Isn't that... Minecraft healing too?

[@dazai2734]

@@eduardonavarro4172 genshin stops u from feeding ur character when theyre full so u cant jus keep healing them via food

[@mutilator97]

I think the lack of poise meter in Elden Ring could be fine if we still had the flinch animations from DS3 that let you know when the enemy's poise is about to break. In fact, they could have extended that to make it only a slight flinch back when you hit the enemy at mid-poise, and flinch a lot more when they're about to break. It would be a new skill to learn(identifying how far each flinch indicates for poise) and would take a lot of guesswork out of using bonk sticks. I don't think the game necessarily needs a meter, but SOME indication of how you're doing would be great.

[@juliempankinn]

ahem enemies in ds3 don't have poise as a mechanic i haven't played elden ring, but I assume that it doesn't as well

[@mutilator97]

@@juliempankinn Yes, they do. PLAYERS don't have poise. Enemies do. If they didn't, you wouldn't be able to get a crit on enemies like the giant crystal lizards or Nameless King. I have personally done it to both. I never parry. And Elden Ring has both passive and active poise(poise and hyper armor). This, exists for both players and enemies. To say otherwise means you've literally never seen someone play the game and are assuming your unfounded hypotheses are correct. Which puts you on par with flat earthers. So congrats on being double wrong.

[@SecundaMFX]

@@mutilator97 Players in DS3 actually do have poise, but it only kicks in as hyperarmor on weapon swings or during dodge rolls. It’s kinda why I hated the DS3 poise system because a single dagger stab could stun you which was annoying

[@mutilator97]

@@SecundaMFX Yes, I am aware of the hyperarmor system, but It's not like poise in any other game, and effectively useless in most situations. Thus why I say there is no poise.

[@paullucas9536]

Enemies (including bosses) will stagger most attacks right before being poise broken. It's there, but we do so much poise damage in elden ring that you usually jump over the stagger and straight to the poise break.

[@Gorczy]

Babe wake up new Demod dropped

[@pankkakez-cupkakkez]

Great feeling!

[@TheRealAMVGuy]

This is the first video of his I'm seeing.

[@DROOPYSNAIL4813]

I'm up I'm up!

[@00camxm]

The dick eating is insane

[@elien902]

I saw Maliketh on the thumbnail and was ready to throw hands. Amazing boss design.

[@YeOldeMachina]

My first thought when seeing the thumbnail was "he did not just put Maliketh as the thumbnail of a video about bad combat mechanics"

[@Jeffmetal42]

Only thing that bums me bout the Maliketh fight, is his laughingly small health pool. Wish he were a little more meaty.

[@HMCarsSOA]

@@Jeffmetal42 If Maliketh had double the health pool, he'd be as hard as Malenia in my opinion.

[@Krizaey]

@@Jeffmetal42 i think the purpose for his small health pool is because of his insane aggression

[@themightymcb7310]

Soft disagree. Maliketh should have had a proper phase 1 and Beast Clergyman should have had a proper phase 2. Sandwiching them together makes Beast Clergyman feel like a slog when it's actually a really well-designed fight. It also doesn't help that Maliketh can still one or two shot most endgame builds, meaning that a lot of players will not even understand how they died at first. It's a very frustrating design choice that severely diminished my enjoyment of Maliketh.

[@kristofferguzman6248]

8 full years onto Bloodborne and i have not ONCE learned that you could get punished with counter damage for a failed dodge

[@aperson1754]

I've only been playing for 6 months, but same! I had no clue why I'd sometimes take twice as much damage for seemingly no reason. Good to know why now, I guess.

[@necroarcanistxiii]

@@aperson1754 Learning it the hard way meeting Orphan for the 1st time.

[@Ämyr2006]

I learned this thru ebrietas boss fight...when she charges at you I would dodge then get 1 shotted and figured it's better if I tank it and not dodge at all Eventually learned I can run to the side tho

[@pinealdreams1064]

Then it's not a major combat design issue as you didn't even notice it.

[@aperson1754]

@Pineal Dreams I disagree. In my case, I noticed that I was taking extra damage. However, I had no idea why

[@CommanderRion]

Feels like the #8 point applies to a lot of "asymetrical" gameplay multiplayer titles. The same thing happening in Evolve happens in Dead By Daylight too. Lower ranks are full of bad Survivors which get farmed by killers, while in higher ranks Suvivors run literal circles around the killers, even in random lobbies. The problem arises when the skill ceiling of the group side is so much higher than the skill ceiling of the individual.

[@BrahmaBull96]

Sekiro had the posture meter because the combat revolved around the posture mechanic and most of the time was more important than the health bar. While it would help to know how much poise damage you've done to enemies, the poise breaks are just a small part of the combat and don't necessitate a dedicated meter.

[@ferro9926]

I fully agree, your opponent's remaining life is the focus in the soulsborne games, unlike with sekiro That point sounded more like "why doesn't the game show me everything" One thing i would understand more to bring up is your character flinching and completely missing an attack (try pvp in elden ring with a colossal against a rapier, you will never hit, even when you should)

[@gediminasmorkys3589]

I don't agree.

[@amberhernandez]

I believe stance breaks are a huge part of Elden Ring's combat, since you've got a window to deal huge damage via critical or raw attack spam. On some bosses, like Malenia or Radagon, stance breaks can lead to windows for 2×-4× the damage you can do at neutral. Learning the windows to get charged/jump attacks in and wreck their posture makes not only your game better, but can trivialise some boss encounters.

[@BrahmaBull96]

@@amberhernandez What I mean is that it isn't a central part of ER's combat like it is for Sekiro's. In Sekiro the posture meter is more important than the health bar in every encounter that isn't a weak mob or a monster boss since most of your attacks will be blocked and/or countered, so you have to break their posture to get a death blow. In ER poise breaks add an extra element to combat but is not a central part of it and just isn't important enough to warrant its own meter.

[@pyryhirvenlahti]

​@@amberhernandez but stance breaking as a strategy is kinda build dependent. If you are using a more dex or arcane focused build with frostbite or bleed for example, you might not care about posture but the buildup of the status effect. I think posture breaking and status buildup are two sides of the same coin. So would the fix be to give every enemy a meter for every status effect and posture? Or is posture more significant for some reason? Idk what would be the best fix either but the problem is pretty complicated.

[@bretth342]

I don't mind counter damage in bloodborne but I HATE counter damage on circle jumps

[@theDeModcracy]

ME TOO. It's awful. I'm loving Wo Long but I don't know why deflect and dodge needed to be on the same button

[@pyryhirvenlahti]

Counter damage really bothers me when it's actually advantageous to tank a hit than to attempt to dodge. In fucking Bloodborne??! Ebrietas and Ludwig both have a quick rush attack with a very tight dodge window and a lot of damage. Counter damage will cause you to get 1-shot so tanking the attacks is the way to go. Always bothered me

[@bretth342]

@@pyryhirvenlahti that would bother me if not for rally damage. You could earn that back

[@elzar5987]

Oh god yes, I hated that going from ds3 to bloodborne

[@dionysiusprime7418]

@@elzar5987 welp, i guess it's a good thing when i bought bb and ds3 I prioritized playing bb first. just finished killing ludwig

[@kag2576]

Tbf, for the pokemon spot, there is one gym leader who uses their terra type in an interesting way. Iono's mismagius has levitate so when it terraforms it doesn't have any weaknesses. It's still a pushover since ur likely going to be overleveled since SV doesn't scale levels, but I still appreciated at least one gym leader seemed to use the gimmick effectively.

[@pn2294]

Why’s that a problem? People play video games so that they can powertrip.

[@kag2576]

@@pn2294 Never said it was, I'd just appreciate a bit more of a challenge. If u like how it is, that's great for u

[@King_Ryuga]

​@@pn2294 people play video games for a variety of reasons, not everyone plays for a chance to be OP. It's all about player preference, and options. The only thing pokemon needs to do in that aspect is just add some sort of difficulty option: like a nuzlocke or competition mode. And you could lock it behind story completion like master mode in Legend of Zelda games

[@rainbowskin3379]

@@pn2294 With that logic I should just turn on god mode cheats and trash all games.

[@pn2294]

@@rainbowskin3379 don’t people do that all the time?

[@spub1031]

I disagree with the poise meter. In Sekiro it was necessary because it counted as another health bar that was affected by the other but in Elden Ring it's just a critical strike that doesn't kill the boss and it makes you understand the weapon you're using.

[@Cloudd0]

Yeah, pretty much what you are saying. It was necessary in Sekiro because the whole poise/health mechanic was the base of the combat and filling the poise would instantly delete a healthbar, paired with the fast paced and close combat of Sekiro it made sense. In something like Elden Ring it's just extra damage from time to time and it's very dependant on the enemy that you're facing and your build, a poise bar would just be fluff to be honest

[@spub1031]

@@Cloudd0 yeah, you summed it up perfectly

[@MaxIronsThird]

I think enemies should show some signs that they're close to breaking.

[@ryantaylor8398]

One of my least favorites: Kena: Bridge of Spirits and the way it emptied your courage bar after every fight. It made collecting the little guys totally pointless

[@HaircombMan]

About suggesting Elden Ring take mechanics from Sekiro, Miyazaki explains that neither game took mechanics from each other in the first place. They were developed alongside each other.

[@CidGuerreiro1234]

True, but Sekiro was released much earlier than Elden Ring. Sounds safe to assume it might have had *some* influence on ER.

[@grimkxdo]

@@CidGuerreiro1234 your making assumptions event though the developer told you otherwise lol

[@NoNo-qt4ov]

The counter system was absolutely brutal. I remember being one shot by every dlc boss because id panic dodge and it was so infuriating

[@akey_9655]

Wow i just started Bloodborne and i haven't had problem with that yet, can't wait for the dlc bosses, it looks fun

[@necroarcanistxiii]

@@akey_9655 I've spent the last 2 hours being juggled by Orphan of Kos. He's fast and aggressive, the parry windows are so short. I folded Laurence like a towel, and after using his +10 Greatsword and +8 Rifle, Maria was a pushover. Orphan's something else, especially in 2nd phase.

[@chopsandtoots]

​@@necroarcanistxiii did you mean Ludwig instead of Laurence?

[@necroarcanistxiii]

@@chopsandtoots Yeah, I keep mixing those two up.

[@Q123_5_7]

I’m not gonna lie Laurence took me like 10-20 attempts while orphan was on my 1st try, I was using a +10 Saw cleaver, I found Laurence much more unpredictable especially in his 2nd phase while Orphan clicked with me almost instantly since I was taking big chunks of damage at the beginning. I wanna go for a rematch soon to see if my opinion changes but Orphan was kinda disappointing in terms of difficulty I was expecting a lot worse.

[@ryanager8029]

Yeah, BotW has the same healing issue as Dragon’s Dogma. Dragon’s Dogma was released several years earlier and was forced to wrap up production way earlier than intended (the final map is half of what they intended) so the healing issue was likely left that way because of the time issues. BotW has no excuse.

[@DT-yw4ob]

Botw caters to a much more casual crew so they chose that to encourage players to fight new and difficult opponents while taking their time

[@stubaru9060]

Adaptability, I think that was fromsofts attempt to open up defensive strategies and prevent the 'just roll through it' been the by far most superior defence strat.

[@inciaradible7144]

I don't really agree with the Elden Ring criticism; posture is an integral component of Sekiro combat, unlike for Elden Ring. In Dark Souls, the similar poise mechanic was also very intuitive despite not shoving a bar into your face. Going for big posture damage is optimal against a lot of bosses, yes, but the primary gameplay loop hardly revolves around it. As far as Bloodborne is concerned, yeah, I don't really get how the counter damage is implemented, and a 40% increase is really big. I feel like it makes sense to deter trading blows directly, but the fact that getting hit during your dodge is this punishing is a rather puzzling affair.

[@shikiyomii]

Lovin the new uploads, Demod! I hard agree on Skyrim. It’s one of my favorite games ever and I have 1000+ hours in it but man does the combat on any difficulty feel like everyone’s hitting each other with pool noodles. The fact that all enemies have the same animation when they’re stunned and for early-midgame playthroughs only magic and bows deal the most damage is ridiculous lol. For a combat system I dearly love, it’s Mass Effect’s. Specifically 2’s! On the hardest difficulty it becomes so strategic and methodical with how you build your squad and which members to take on missions. While yes you die really fast, if you play wise and know which parts of your arsenal hit the hardest, it becomes one of the most fun and challenging takes on “the hardest difficulty.”

[@bustanut5501]

While I also agree that Skyrim's combat is incredibly barebones, I really can't imagine how you could improve it, or first-person melee combat as a whole. Demod suggests combos, but how tf do you implement them in first person? Sure, proper feedback is one thing, but you'll still be just flailing around.

[@madkingace1798]

@@bustanut5501 ok what about an actual effect when you get hit and when they enemy gets hit like a small stun instead of just swing thru everything it makes blocking good and they could also add perfect blocking a quick step dodge with no I grams just to move out of the way and I think the combat would be Great then

[@jalenallen4942]

Now that I think about it Elden Ring could have had a little meter above a boss or enemy to show how much poise is broken. Or like in BB where you could attack and break certain limbs/weak spots. It is odd coming off sekiro that they didn't include something

[@ultimatelegend8306]

Surprised to not see him say "elden ring animation reading" since he disliked that mechanic before

[@Ghorda9]

to be honest it's not really a bad mechanic, it was only poorly executed on one boss (draconic tree sentinel)

[@ThroughfulGamer95]

There's input reading on heals, spells/incantations, and maybe on arrows/bolts, but not on regular attacks. That part is blatantly false. Those attacks (like Margit/Morgott's knife) only happen if the player is in a certain position relative to the boss (usually right in front of them) after very certain attacks. It's just that those certain attacks are deliberately made to look like combo finishers to throw the player off.

[@gluttonyfang6674]

My gold standard for 3rd person action rpg game combat is Monster Hunter and I hold this opinion for 10+ years. This game perfected the art of OOMPH in melee combat and it feels satisfying when you knock those big fckers with a well-timed attack to the face.

[@doctorhunter5553]

Man looking back in Demod's old videos too now makes me feel old, his gotten better at making rankings and makes alot of good points while being entertaining. Glad i grew up watching Demod's videos and how he got me inti soulsborne games. Just curious if Demod will do a Monster Hunter ranking or God Eater ranking

[@shadypielover]

Wait what? There’s double damage if you don’t dodge right in Bloodborne? A game that already has terrible iFrames? Holy

[@Truecaveman1999]

Always good to wake up to a new Demod video! Taking me back to 2015 lol. And I do agree about Skyrim/TES melee combat. The elder scrolls games strengths have always been the rpg elements and their open worlds. As the series gets more action and less rpg elements they need to make the combat feel deeper and more rewarding to level combat skills than just doing more damage. I will say I've always liked the magic system in each game though.

[@123NERDZ]

Yeah it's a bit boring compared to a game like dragons dogma where you can summon full blown meteors, tornados, earthquakes , call lightning from the sky, summon souls to defend and attack for you. I love skyrim too but the magic was still pretty simplistic and only half the spells are even worth using.

[@jurtheorc8117]

(going to talk about Heavenly Sword and Soulstice) For me, i'm really not fond of color-coded enemies that can only be damaged with weapons or moves of a specific color. One of my favourite hack-and-slash games, the DMC-in-playstyle by name of Soulstice which is definitely worth checking out, employs this with the Possessed (red) and Wraith (blue) type enemies. Fortunately, you're not limited in weapon usage. Instead, you have the main character'ss dead sister cast a forcefield of either corresponding color to make the enemies vulnerable to any and all weapons and attacks. Can be done with the press of a button *UN*fortunately, the Fields are tied to a timer. When a field is activated, a substance called Entropy forms, and if it reaches its peak, Lute (the dead sister) will vanish for a short time before reforming. Lute's got a big skill tree though, and a number of them help mitigate this problem. One of them makes it so that succesful hits against enemy of the corresponding field that is being cast, reduce the Entropy filling up, for example. Others increase the size of the casting field, and yet another makes it so that the vulnerability of an enemy that was affected by a field lasts for a short while outside of the field. But there's also skills that allow you to go the *opposite* way, where the main character does something special, but Entropy is *increased*. Which can actually be used to one's advantage, if mixed with the skills that makes it so that Lute leaves behind damaging crystals that blast enemies, and the skills that make her rematerialize faster. Though this comes at the cost of a hit to the score rating. Cool thing here is: you can deactivate a skill whenever at a merchant or right before beginning a level, and get a full resource refund. This can allow for customization and builds, which in itself is interesting. All in all, the color coding system in Soulstice does interesting things, it has a lore reason for being a thing, and I didn't mind it too much on my first two playthroughs. But I know that for a lot of people, it's been a con. And I think that in a future installment (i really hope we'll get a sequel), i can do without it. Or instead, with an alteration that makes it more pleasant to use. For example, enemies of either type can be hurt without the need for casting a forcefield-- but take *extra* damage if within a field of the corresponding color. Or you do what Heavenly Sword did. That game also did something by way of color-coding... but not with enemy types. Instead, with attacks. To clarify, the titular sword can be changed into different stances on the fly: -Yellow for Ranged, which turns the Sword into a pair of bladed flails. The GoW vibes are strong in this one. Covers a lot of range, can stagger a bit, but doesn't necessarily hit hard. -Blue for Balanced. This is when the Sword is separated into two, a single-edged blade and a cleaver-looking blade. -Orange for Power. This is when the Sword is at its most powerful, though also at its slowest. But here's the thing: the color coding is not limited to Nariko (the main character) and the Heavenly Sword. Enemies also have attacks that correspond to these colors, which will appear when they start specific attack animations alongside normal attacks and unblockable Red attacks. you can simply evade them, or equip the corresponding Stance (Balanced for Blue-colored enemy attacks) and then Block the incoming attack. I believe blocking with the right stance will initiate a counter move or just stagger the opponent, to leave them open for attacks of your own. This is a way of doing color-coded combat stuff i like MUCH more. You can still attack all enemies with whatever move you want, provided you dodge, avoid and block the enemies' movements and attacks, and use each of the three stances for different purposes. (heck, you can even use enemies against each other sometimes) But by keeping an eye out for the color and movements of specific enemy attacks, equipping the right Stance and blocking at the right moment, you can punish tougher enemies and leave them open to hit them hard, perhaps even style on them a bit. So, uh, some thoughts about color-coded combat for me, specifically on the games Heavenly Sword and Soulstice. I recommend to check either of them out, they've got rough spots but also offer a lot of interesting things worth remembering. And Soulstice especially, with how recent it is, can do with more support to the dev team. Wish you all a good rest of your day, and take care.

[@danieladamczyk4024]

You are the only person in the world who remebers Soulstice. How do you feel with it?

[@jurtheorc8117]

@@danieladamczyk4024 I genuinely do love Soulstice. Played and finished it on Normal and Hard difficulty, and tried going for Very Hard as well. When it comes to issues with it, i didn't mind the camera angles that others have cited as a con that much. I had more issues with some of the enemy designs, such as the Abomination (the colossal Possessed enemy), which seems to not leave much room for styling, and the Fury (the harpy-like Possessed enemy) which just has too much health, hits too hard, is hard to stagger, and i dread fighting those. This came to a head in Very Hard difficulty for me recently, where there's a battle in which it is paired up with one of the scorpion-type Possessed and a bunch of Shriekers (the Corrupted -that's the non color coded enemies- that look like harpies). Champions (the giant hammer-wielding corrupted) also have WIDE swings, and their spin attack i find weird to dodge. I've never done it wholly succesfully. This, and some bosses had a few annoying things to them. Mainly Armina and the Weavers. I hate that the Weavers summon Slashers during the segments where they make the room turn dark *while* sending out a laser beam that if it hits you, slows you down. They would have been fine as a challenge just the way they are, or with a different attack instead. And Armina's fight could have counted as a final boss. I do like the way both the Red and Blue fields are employed in her fight, such as making her slow-moving projectiles vulnerable and do some combos on *them*. Or breaking her own Red forcefield or manifesting some Blue platforms for either of two short phases. but the Tearing Penance (the whip) is a MUST to make the fight enjoyable by way of the grapple move, to cross distances very quickly. Especially so because of her third phase, which is a lot like the first one. But faster. And the way she zooms about the place and quickly attacks while you're in a combo or something like that, or just flies away again, got annoying. Parries aren't much good in the game either, i find. On the upside, though: there's also bosses I *really* like. Mainly Jared and Jadon, and the fights with Donovan. Jared and Jadon are pretty fun characters, damaging their humanoid body while avoiding attacks may be simple, i still think it's executed fine. It's when they form back into the flying head that things get more difficult, and in a fair manner at that. That segment is admittedly a bit of waiting around, but... I have fun in their fight. And Donovan is simply apretty solid Rival Character-type fight, that gets more challenging in the second encounter. And in a fair manner, at that. I died a lot, but that was on me. It just felt good and kinda thrilling to fight him. ANd the last two boss fights (which i guess is technically one boss) i look positively upon too. I found the big humanoid stage easier than both Armina and Jadon on my first playthrough, but the Hard Playthrough made him more challenging. And i enjoyed my time. For the very final fight: I know most people aren't fond of giant humanoid bosses in hack-and-slash games, such as the infamous Savior fight from DMC4. But i think Soulstice makes it work, and employs the forcefield summoning mechanic in a way that's not too intrusive. Avoiding incoming attacks, hitting the hands with either a Red or Blue jewel on them when the boss does attack, recognize which attacks are used, be mindful of the meteor attacks and run away from the big laser until it stops. It's rough when you get hit and knocked down, which means time gets wasted, and i acknowledge it can take a while. But when it comes to colossal fights like these, i think Soulstice is on the better end of things. As for normal enemies I liked to fight: Corrupted Guards and Captains were ones i often looked forward to! Just nice to break their armor and try and juggle them. And in terms of Possessed, the Mauler was, like the Fury, hard-hitting and with a lot of health. But I find that one a *lot* more enjoyable to fight, as it's more in line with the Guards and Captains in a way. Eidolons and Choruses can be bit more annoying, considering they're flying enemies and have the attack with flying shards that surround Briar while she's moving. Requires good screen comprehension to avoid that one, but otherwise they're fine. Just need to be vigilant for whenever they may teleport away, but generally they stay in place when combo-ing and staggering them. Similarly so for the final two Wraith enemies, the Repentant and the... i forgot the name. They can teleport away too, and have DAMAGING attacks, but their wind-ups are broken easily enough. I do really like the idea of the Chorus' attacks differeing depending on which head is seated upon its neck, though! And aside from that, generally enemies are fine or fine enough, once you figure out how to more effectively approach them. They do what they must. It's the fields mechanic that docks some points, and the way some enemies are paired up in individual encounters. But things that work in its favor again, include the big variety in weapons for Briar and customizable skills for Lute (even if it takes a while to unlock all abilities for either of them), which all have specific purposes, moves to take into account, and strength against specific enemy types. And next to that, there's the Unity system: which works kind of like a Style system merged with Special Mode. The better you do in a fight, the more Unity you can attain, and at peak Unity you can either A: Perform specific combo strings where, depending on the weapon used to end the string with, a unique special high-damage is performed that consumes a bit of Unity B: Enter the Special Mode, which consumes all Unity and doesn't make you invulnerable, but gives you SCHWEET new high-damage attacks and speed for as long as the Special Mode lasts. And even cooler is that, depending on what majority of the skills you pursue for Lute, the finishing move of the Special Mode will be different as well, with some additional lasting effects afterwards. Amid all the issues I have mentioned, I do really like Soulstice. I have a love for it, even. A large part of that love, comes from the clear love and effort put into creating the world and its characters. Environments can be bland and uninteresting at times, no doubt. But the art *direction* is where it's at for me. The way characters are modeled looks very high-quality, animation is quite good and dynamic camera angles, and the DESIGNS, MAN! The Chimeras especially! They get super cool and creative in the designs for them, and the Corrupted and Wraiths get some really strong and unique designs too! Especially in the Eidolons and Choruses. Aside from style in visuals, the story and *especially* the characters have made me love the game. There's sweet lore to give surrounding context, but Briar and Lute are the stars of the show here. Or perhaps, more accurately, the Star (singular) because it's their relationship with one another, that really elevates the pretty simple story. And that simple story isn't bad in and of itself. But legit, it's the way that the sisters often talk with each other, react to each other, and the like. The special memory segments where we get to explore the past of how they ended up the way they did, and the way they always want to support, encourage and protect each other, are great in showing off the characters. Layton was a fun snarky character too, and I'm quite positive on Donovan, Hannah, and Lord Dugal as well. Voice acting has some odd spots/qualities here and there, but the closest thing to actually being bad would be Armina's voice actress. But on the upside, the voice actor for Armina's other Chimera half (and Lord Dugal) is a R I O T in that role, i love him. Simple story, but just... really good characters. And I dearly hope for the game and the dev studio to gain enough traction and support, so that they may be able to make other cool games. Hopefully a sequel or two too, where they can improve on the shortcomings, iron out the kinks, and build upon the foundations of what has come before. This was an absolute MASTODON of a comment, but if you read through it all-- thank you for doing so, and for having asked about it in the first place. If it's alright to ask, how do you feel about Soulstice yourrself?

[@danieladamczyk4024]

@@jurtheorc8117 Thank you and you welcome. About game, i hate it. It remanded me how much i hate most anime and talking in video games. Gameplay is floaty too and i don't like that. It have all the worst traits of 7gen game, that enough for me to forgeht about it. Also it complety misunderstud "CLAMYORE".

[@jurtheorc8117]

@@danieladamczyk4024 Oh man, seems like we're on complete opposite ends of the spectrum on that game. Sorry to hear it wasn't up your alley, but different strokes for different folks. I personally really like the dialogues, though i've already made that clear in the big comment. I don't know what the worst traits of 7th gen games are-- i just played it, liked it, tried to think of how to articulate what i like and don't like on its own merits and shortcomings, and that's it. Not familiar with Claymore myself, even though i've seen comments naming the similarities. I could argue that it wasn't trying to be Claymore: the game, but i'm not familiar enough with the source material to be a good argumentative partner on that front. And I don't think I can convince you either to be more favourable towards it, so again, different strokes for different folks. For what it's worth, I do hope that Soulstice gets support and more success in future iterations/titles as well as the devs, and that any future games you might play will be more up your alley. Thank you for being civil and having given me your time of day!

[@danieladamczyk4024]

@@jurtheorc8117 You too.

[@wanted_melon2348]

In DMC 2 defense l, it only had 4 months of development and fun fact, Ebony and Ivory do the same damage as DMC 1 Ebony and Ivory they just can juggle but swords outclass the guns in damage by a huge margin and you get more dt gauge with melee attacks, DMC 2 is actually pretty good for a game that was developed in 4 months and a lot of mechanics that originated from the game were expanded upon in 3

[@samuelconnel2166]

Agreed! I'm currently doing an all DMC 100% marathon and playing DMC2 for the first time because of it. Gotta say, I'm a little bit surprised at how good it is. Granted, I don't think it's a great game by any stretch, but it's still fun if you don't abuse E&Y. The movement feels crisp, love the dedicated dodge button(even if I really don't mind dodging in the others as I've grown really accustomed to it), and the bosses are surprisingly fun to fight(except the chopper). I had extremely low expectations and I came very close to abandoning the game before even finishing the first mission, but I'm glad I stuck with it as it is pretty fun, like some pretty decent fast food. I'm also doing a fresh run of Sekiro(my 6th run, after 4 years of not playing) and Ragnarok NG+ and honestly, I find myself wanting to play DMC2 more than both of those games most of the time. edit: spelling

[@elitesoldier501]

DMC2 is absolute dogshit

[@originalgaige5619]

Invincibility phases are annoying as hell. When done correctly, whether its theatrical or done in a way that makes sense, its fine. But I'll point to the Borderlands series as a perfect example, specifically BL3. SO MANY bosses have pointless or redundant invincibility phases that absolutely ruin the flow of the boss fight.

[@colonelquesadilla5080]

Two things about DS2 ADP. First, DS2 levels are MUCH cheaper than other games, and the number of required souls increases only slightly between levels. On my current playthrough I’ve only just reached Drangleic Castle and am already level 120 with zero grinding. Cheaper levels, plus the slight HP boost that comes with increasing any stat, greatly reduces the actual cost of levelling ADP (assuming you’re aware you need it, which is still a problem for sure. Though I’ll say DS1 poise is similarly problematic being completely unbalanced and unexplained, especially since it isn’t directly tied to a stat you can level). Second thing, hitboxes. Every game before DS3 has horrible hitboxes left and right, even Bloodborne. This holds true for grab hitboxes as well, and the reason people complain more about it in DS2 is that when hit you’re warped to the spot where the boss hit you, and in the others the boss turns to face you after your roll. It’s the same issue and same frustration, just easier to spot and make funny clips of it in DS2. DS1 has much worse collision than 2, so even if the hitboxes themselves are of similar quality it doesn’t matter if get caught caught on a boss’s limb, carried 30 feet away, and still get hit because you were forced to stay inside the hitbox for longer than you should have been (thank you, Bed of Chaos/Kalameet/Seath/Titanite Demon/etc). DS2 also offers extra ways to mitigate any poor hitboxes in the form of omni-directional rolling while locked (which the other games before DS3 don’t have), backsteps (which are almost useless in other games) and the high level trick of attack cancelling if you start a swing at a bad time. Is ADP in DS2 a problem? Yes. Should we talk about it? Yes, but only to let new players know it’s important, like we do with poise in DS1 or vigor in Elden Ring. If players know what’s going on, it’s easy to throw some of DS2’s dirt cheap levels at ADP and still have plenty of souls leftover to work on a build.

[@aryabratsahoo7474]

Also i frames are tied to directly Agility (AGI) stat, which is controlled by both ADP and ATT(slightly lower than ADP) meaning you can still be a mage and not level ADP but you will still have i frames. Also DS2 takes a more slower methodical approach than DS1. Replaying 1 and 2 after 3 and ER made me realise that initially, the rolls are tools used to get AWAY from enemy attacks. The i frames felt more like a unique reward for a skilled player to use after mastering the timing(along with parries). With that in mind, i framing through attacks basically trivialized most bosses. Going by that logic, it makes sense that the devs decided to have it a stat. Nothing tells you that you NEED more i frames if you're good with learning attack patterns and proper positioning and strafing and basic rolls. You can still beat the game with a shield, you can keep distance from the enemy to avoid their slow attacks and move in to punish during their recovery, it's not like DS3 and Bloodborne, where you HAVE to abuse i frames and punish.

[@colonelquesadilla5080]

@@aryabratsahoo7474 completely agree. DS2 is balanced around high stamina costs, meaning a roll leaves you with enough stamina for only a few attacks afterward. This means that strafing and knowledge of enemy ranges are heavily rewarded, and rolls/backsteps should typically only be used if you can’t walk or sprint out of range

[@colonelcrab4772]

1:33 i noticed that clever charged R2 edit, that's smooth

[@jus_ttkrl]

Fun watch! I agree the #1 pick has some pretty poor combat, but not sure if it feels like a bad design or a bad decision. I think it's more like they didn't invest into the combat and they felt like keeping the same engine & combat mechanics they had and building up a big new world and stuff.

[@darthkarl99]

The same engine is the problem. they were stuck with an incredibly old janky hacked up 9 ways to hell engine. they couldn't do more complex combat if they wanted to.

[@vruxdrossgaming]

Oblivion had more in depth combat than Skyrim, you could cast spell while holding a sword in your hand. Something that breaks the monotony of just swinging a basic melee weapon.

[@bladeck99]

​@@vruxdrossgaming that tells me u never really played skyrim as a melee properly, or just played on easy, cus in master and legendary u need to combo even the regular bandits when u start if u are full mele no magic, and there is a lot of combos u can do depending of the speed of ur weapon, and if u are using shields. For example, every time u do a charged atack, ur next 2 swings will be faster, so if u are using a sword u can get 2 free hits after stuning an enemy, then u can procede with a shield bash, that uses less stamina than a regular charged, and can give u a small window to hit 1 more time and move to the back of ur foe, then use a charged shield bash or charged atack, cus if u hit a charged on his back, he will be stuned for a bit more time, and so on and on. Depending on ur weapons and perks there is a loot of things u can do in skyrim bro, just need to try.

[@vruxdrossgaming]

@bladeck99 I prefer Oblivion's combat because it's more in depth. I've played Skyrim on Harder difficulties and still didn't enjoy the combat much.

[@ReversedJrpgs]

Dude u expect me to listen to u while u got SMT Devil Summoner Ost in the background? Im too busy jamming 😂

[@Cirkusleader]

As someone who played Gears a lot as well (though admittedly, I played 3 a lot more than the others) I can 100% see the issue with the Gnasher. The thing is that it's effectively an instant kill with borderline no aim required. If you can get anywhere *near* your opponent, they simply cease to exist. To me, it always felt like the sort of "skill-less" way to play and I never used the Gnasher out of pure pride, except for one specific instance. That instance being when I had this same argument with my Xbox Live friends, picked up the Gnasher, and wiped the floor with all of them using a gun I hadn't so much as touched outside the campaign. It was sort of a weird "meta" balance issue. Everyone and their mother used it, so nobody complained about how ridiculously overpowered it was. But for someone like me who was looking for a game with a bit more nuance to it, online multiplayer was basically just "watch 8 beefsticks run at one another to see who pulls a trigger faster." And that's why I always found myself more interested in the games Horde mode as opposed to online multiplayer. There was more strategy, more nuance, and more variety against *the game's AI* than the online wildlife.

[@ethans2647]

As someone who played Gears 1 and 2 online quite a lot, I hated the Gnasher in 1. It was way too meta imo, most everyone used it and the wall-bouncing mixed with slow aiming made fights feel not fully rewarding (though ofc I still played a ton because it was a fun game). Was the equivalent of the stupid Kali stick setups in CoD When Gears 2 came out I don't remember people being upset about the Gnasher's change. It felt more balanced

[@yungruuku]

Lol sounds like you were bad 😂

[@spiritdancer36]

I never understand that particular BOTW complaint. As adults can we not regulate ourselves? Nothing is forcing you to use food, it’s your choice. Don’t eat the food, problem solved.

[@antobatta1551]

0:36 Elden Ring uses both hitstun and stance break, so you can't make a stun bar for that, or it would be extremely exploitable. Sometimes you can hitstun with a single charged or running R2 with certain weapons. There's no point in a "poise bar" because poise break is when you can get a critical so not the hitstun 9:51 Leveling ADP is no issue as long as hitboxes are good, which was Dark Souls 2 main issue. You could choose not do and still do fine just moving or blocking 12:13 The gnasher was ridicolously OP in GoW1, the cover system hopping helps close in, so GoW2 multiplayer was way better

[@gediminasmorkys3589]

So, make the bar for stance break, and not for hit stun. Problem solved. Anything else?

[@DrMontgomeryMontgomery]

As someone that loves Sekiro to death (twice), that poise meter exists to teach you how to feel like an actual sword saint. It doesnt want freedom of approach, it wants 'please break me' to be written red text along the poise UI. All so you can absolutely lose yourself in the combat's pacing by always playing unafraid. Putting that in elden ring would massively miscommunicate the freedom they want to give a playthrough. Stagger damage is a viable and often overpowered option, it isnt how FromSoft exclusively wishes for you to play and they certainly arent looking for you to "optimise" the fun out of their fights. They made the right decision there.

[@bahencio]

I feel like the only thing I'd change about poise in Elden ring was for them to explain early on that it goes down after a bit, faster for some bosses and slower for others. A poise bar seems completely unnecessary to me. Hitting you doesn't do anything for their bar, just phase changes, and time. The fact that you thought so at this point is probably a good example of why there should be an explanation of the mechanic in game.

[@jameslough6329]

This

[@TheJmlew11]

I’m still waiting for this guy to cover Kingdom Hearts 2 and 3

[@Late_NightRev]

I agree completely on the number 4 spot. Adaptability is the worst Dark Souls 2 mechanic besides maybe ganks. I want to see a remake where ADP is replaced with another stat (preferably not as stupid), it loses at least half of the enemies it forces at you, and a few other mechanics that worsen the game. Maybe they could add elements like faster gameplay, better level design, and some of the bosses being improved. It’d be fine to remove Prowling Magus and the Congregation and other bosses like that “boss”.

[@BasketCase-rr7tx]

Adaptability is somthing the hardcore souls community hates, but it doesnt actually matter to most people who play through the game because most people use shields and barely ever roll.

[@Ghorda9]

disagree with ganks and speeding up combat, the actual worst mechanic is no s on the first half of entering a fog gate.

[@YeOldeMachina]

Cal's step dodge in Jedi: Fallen Order is completely useless. It's almost like wolf in Sekiro but shorter and way more awkward. You can double tap to roll, which is fine, but if you try to sidestep, say a vertical slice, you're gonna get hit 9 times out of 10. Great game, but I hope they fix this in Survivor

[@StephenASmiith]

Ninja Gaiden is CRIMINALLY underrated

[@JcgLounge]

3D Ninja Gaiden is a gold mine. Even if it is an extremely hard game.

[@HunterForHire422]

I wish it wasn't so frustrating to learn cause if I got it I think I'd like it. But as is I hate how the game doesn't really teach you and I need to learn on my own while dying repeatedly

[@Tatokat]

Number 9: You know what's great about BotW? You can play it however you want. So if you don't want to use the healing items available to you, then just don't. No one is forcing you to use them. You literally can make the change you suggested without ruining the game for people who don't like Dark Souls like difficulty. People who don't enjoy getting their head bashed in every ten seconds and are also not good at combat in the first place. (Sorry if I came across as overly aggressive, but I'm just so tired of those "I wanna play the game this way, but it's possible to play it another way" complaints)

[@kooljoshboy8210]

I will say Ionos electric mismagius with levitate was suprising and the best implementation of the tera types in the main story!

[@TrickyTalon23]

12:36 and yet people complain about so many players being stealth archers

[@Evanz111]

Loved hearing the Magilou theme from Tales of Berseria! You’ve clearly got a great taste in games and voice actors~

[@theastroguy7417]

DMC2’s Ebony and Ivory is the epitome of “you may parry my blade, but can you parry a fucking glock?”

[@jorgehuertas3995]

Just kill 2 bosse sand get adp to 28, then level up normally. It fixes both the I frames and the soul excess

[@Lamentationsofapoory]

6:30 I'm actually going to go to bat for Pokemon Scarlet/Violets Gym Leader Terrastillization. Every leader uses it in mechanically or thematically interesting ways. Brassius uses a Sudowoodo, the False Tree Pokemon, and changes it to a grass type. On top of getting stab (same type attack bonus) on the new speed boosting move Trailblaze, grass also negates the most common attacking type against rock types, which is water. Also, it's a tree that's finally a grass type. It's just kinda cute you know? Bug type Gym Leader uses a Teddiursa, known in universe as having a massive love for Honey. Honey which is produced en masse by the Combee just outside the village the leader resides in. Bug also resists Fighting (iirc), Teddiursa's only weakness Grusha uses an Altaria, a Pokemon normally monstrously allergic to ice types, as an ice type itself. Iono uses a Ghost type with Levitate as an electric type, effectively nullifying the only weakness electrics have. Larry uses Normal Staraptor to shore up the electric type weakness, and also give an extra 2x Boost to Staraptors vicious Double Edge. All the gyms use Terrastillization in some unique way and I loved that about them. I'll even go to bat for La Primera. She's a weak fight and a missed opportunity to show Glimmora's unique strength, sure, but she's also not the Denouement of the games main story like other champions. That's reserved for Area Zero. Plus, you fight your rival Nemona, who's been waiting for you to catch up to her all game, right after. And she DOES have a scary team. Predictable? Yes. easy? Almost definitely. But let's be honest, Pokemon was never hard, we were just young and inexperienced. And with the universal exp share it's been more about capturing for several years now. S/V are really, really good games crushed by the publishing studios absurd time crunch.

[@pn2294]

Time doesn’t really matter because most only really gets done in the last two months anyways.

[@Cloudd0]

They are cool tematically, however most of them just fall into "They die to the same stuff the rest of the team dies to" except for Iono's Mismagius. Grusha having an Altaria is super cool and fits him well but you don't really care about him nullifying his ice weakness because he'll be just weak to fire as the previous 3 other pokemon

[@sebastianahrens2385]

My biggest gripe in Elden Ring are massive bosses. Basically EVERYTHING they got right about Darkeater Midir, they dropped the ball on here. Let's take Magma Wyrm Makar as an example: - Almost any attack has some invisible bullshit AoE zone that you cannot see but also have to dodge First off, Midir is equally as big if not larger as Makar, but doesn't have any of these. Secondly, remember Ceaseless Discharge? The appendage that thing slams down might weigh as much as the entirety of Makar, and yet, NO AoE zone. But of course, if Makar lifts his tiny little toothpick blade 1 meter into the air, you better dogde that 5m radius of bad boss design. - Sometimes, the entire boss' body becomes a hitbox Midir's Tantrum is actually quite similar to Makar's charge. Only, Midir doesn't take half your hp away and knock you down just because he slightly pushed you with his leg. - Camera issues Contrary to Midir, I didn't really feel encouraged to fight Makar head-on (it's where the blade is, after all). Problem is, I can't even see the rest of Makar properly when I'm attacking his leg, making predicting the next move more guesswork than observation. An even worse example is Radahn. You either dont lock on and have to tell what the boss does by judging the twitches of his leg stumps, or you lock on, experience your camera having a seizure and then realize your movement is all screwed because your view is angled up so much. To add to that, Radahn's attacks get some deluxe amounts of the bullshit AoE I talked about earlier. Cancer boss. And the worst of it all: That f***ing ice dragon in the GIants' Mountaintops. Not ONLY does every stomp have bullshit AoE, it also spreads Frostbite fog so far you can't even switch to the other foot. Well, hit the head then, you might say. Only, the head moves so much and is up in the air for quite some time, there's hardly any point. Lock-on issues are similar to Radahn here, and those only get worse once the oversized handbag uses its wings to fly. And did I mention that Pierce Damage, the ol' reliable against Dragons, doesn't work on this one? Worse yet, EIGHTY percent slash damage resistance, golly gosh me and my Katana never had a better time. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING was fun about this fight. This really felt like an honest "Fuck you for playing melee" kind of encounter, in all the wrong ways. I feel like there's a point where a boss is simply too large. And Fromsoft, at least in my opinion, hasn't really found a way to make massive boss encounters fun. There are some exceptions, like Midir, but usually these encounters pale in comparison to the splendor that other fights are, in the very same games. I had a blast dying repeatedly to Margit, figuring out Godrick was cool, and the satisfaction I felt when I slew Mohg's ass (Shardbearer version) was immense, because it felt like a "fair" fight. With Mohg specifically, I'd point towards that as an encounter that uses AoE incredibly well to pressure the player, but at the same time gives them opportunities to punish the boss for his moves. I don't need a boss the size of a house to feel intimidated. Mohg, Artorias, Gael - they're all extremely awesome fights - the scare lies in their prowess, rather than size. Anyway, I'm not quite done with my first ER run, still looking forward to meeting Maliketh and Malenia. Fingers crossed they go into the Artorias group, because I might have to fight them a couple of times :)

[@From_A_Diverging_Timeline]

The dragons were epic in elden ring and super easy once you knew how to fight them. Gonna have to say skill issue

[@sebastianahrens2385]

@@From_A_Diverging_Timeline I don't have any problems with difficult fights, IF they're designed well. Maybe your build worked against dragons, but as a pure melee, they were absolute cancer.

[@Folbak]

Ever tried locking onto an ancient dragon's head? It is legitimately bugged, completely non-functional. Which is a shame because just hitting their legs is the most boring shit imaginable.

[@gLobbZ]

Gears 1 was my first and remains in my top 3 online gaming experience, staying up til 3-4 AM on a school night. Going into school like a zombie ready to redo it all again the following night. Such a great experience!

[@elk3407]

I have to highly disagree with the idea that Elden Ring should have had a poise bar. It's consistent enough that you can reliably know approximately when a break is gonna happen, and the lack of meter makes the boss feel more alive. Or maybe I just play too much Monster Hunter.

[@theDeModcracy]

I can see that perspective. It's similar to no HP bar vs having it. I personally appreciate having detailed information to make decisions. I think tension can still be built if you are able to see your progress.

[@ricardodarcangelo2437]

Yeah, I could go either way on this issue. In BB, I've done many playthroughs, and Demod has done probably 10x more than me. It's hard to call the counter damage criticism a "skill" issue. But in ER, I could only stomach 2 playthroughs, the 2nd was finished at level 65. Never had problems getting the staggers, or figuring out how many hits it would take with each weapon. The problem with the lack of transparency, wasn't that we always need to be able to see the progress, but rather that it should've always been CONSISTENT. As DeMod mentioned, it "seemed" like enemies recovered on hitting the player. Also, you could have the exact thresholds, and the amount your weapon contributes to the threshold memorized; but oh no, Malenia did a kick, so no stagger for you. Radagon did his jump in the air, now he's maybe recovered some. Fromsoft should have communicated with the player in SOME way, about various parameters that changed the stagger meter. It doesn't have to be a constant display, but show when hyper armor effects progress, or when enemies recover the meter. I think of Mortal Shell and how they communicated unparriable attacks, which doubled as an indicator of "dangerous" attacks. It was pretty subtle, non disruptive, and stayed out of your way most of the time. ER could've done something like that; where you find shields, weapons, or accessories that would "react" to communicate changes to staggering an enemy.

[@pyton357ru]

@@theDeModcracy It will mean more work for devs, but what about more... immersive ways of giving player information? Like showing visible damage on enemy, instead of a health bar, or using different animations when it is about to be poise-broken? "Hellish Quart" and "Atomic Heart" (just two titles from top of my head) did this, and, IMHO, it works fine.

[@shinyhydreigon7257]

@@theDeModcracy I think comparing Sekiro's posture bar to ER's isn't fair. In Sekiro you often could ignore the health bar of a boss and solely focus on the posture, as half of the players actions, didn't damage the hp at all (Deflects/Mikiris). In ER all of the players actions except parries, which aren't possible on certain bosses, do HP damage, so the HP bar shows how close the player is to victory/phase transition, just as Sekiro's posture bar did. If a posture bar was given I think it would be a detriment to boss fights as the current health pool for most main bosses is abyssmal. It would only lead to giving the player more free damage, and only really encourage reckless greed, not calculated aggression. Most unrestricted 2nd playthroughs I have seen have the players dealing an unprecedented amount of damage that players can beat bosses without learning much of their moveset.

[@Ghorda9]

@@ricardodarcangelo2437 except that's not how it works, posture break and flinch/stun are two completely different things, hyper armour doesn't affect posture break and just stops flinching, posture is also always recovering over time so if you're not hitting an enemy, their steadily recovering posture.

[@muglokdecrepitus1301]

Breath of the wild (and ToTK) combat could be improved a lot just with a few adjustments, really sad that Nintendo didn't tried to improve it for ToTK and they just copy pasted the exact same combat system from BoTW. It would be really cool if someone create a mod to improve new Zelda games combat

[@undead_corsair]

I think I feel the same way about the Witcher 3 that you do about Skyrim. For such a renowned open world fantasy game it really has some mediocre combat. Just lacking feedback and weight.

[@randomguy6679]

I never understand how that game is Steam’s highest rated game with such bad combat

[@FoxRodhes]

This SMT Devil Summoner music at the start really brought a smile on my face. Such a masterpiece of a JRPG

[@sonofhades57]

I'd argue you were perhaps a bit too kind to ADP in Dark Souls 2. I have never seen anyone ever have anything nice to say about that mechanic.

[@dodojesus4529]

It causes so many problems down the line and any *slightly* knowledgable player is gonna invalidate it on insantly

[@lanemyers755]

He's always been soft on DS2 and overly harsh on DS3 and Elden Ring.

[@TinyGobos]

Why do you have to remind me of my poor baby Evolve. That game was so cool

[@soulsmasterxw7373]

Hey Demod, I was wondering if you could eventually do a video on Horizon: Forbidden West. I absolutely adored it and I feel kinda sad that it's not getting as much attention as I think it deserves online.

[@theDeModcracy]

I'm considering something when the DLC releases next month. I adore the first game. Release timing for both was awful. First was within days of Breath of the Wild. Forbidden West was right beside Elden Ring. I got to play ~10 hours and never went back. I really should

[@elzar5987]

Shame it came out the same time as elden ring. Pretty much everyone dropped it to go play that instead. Feel bad for the devs that worked so hard on it only to be shafted

[@ArcanaEric]

@@elzar5987 To be fair, it’s the second time they fumbled a release, they should’ve known better.

[@HMCarsSOA]

Agreed, i put down Forbidden West after Elden Ring came out, but after i got around to playing it properly, it's one of my favourite games of all time, i absolutely loved it and i hope it will go down as one of the underrated greats in the future. Plus it's sad knowing one of the main actors on it has passed away recently.

[@elzar5987]

@@ArcanaEric I thought the 1st game was really successful on launch, what happened there?

[@SleepyKerboro]

Man the music you used for the pokemon part really threw me back to my n64 days. Haven't thought of Goeman's Great Adventure since I was a kid. Thx for the nostalgia homie

[@Yobolight]

Man… you hit most the big ones for me. Especially GoW. Random tripping from Smash Bros Brawl is the only big one I felt was missing.

[@handgun559]

I'd actually never heard someone say gears 1 gnasher was better before. Like stopping power made sense. It kept you from being able to just run head first at a bitch. Gears 1 was fun, but I've only ever heard it places last when it comes to pvp. You could snipe gridlock with the gnasher and I'm not sure that was as fun as people remember.

[@BasketCase-rr7tx]

Not really. Gears of War is a cover shooter, not a Shotgun simulator. I actually think its kind of ridculous he put it at number 2 when stopping power actually turned the game into the thing that Epic wanted it to be.

[@handgun559]

@@BasketCase-rr7tx it was weird. I'd never heard someone discuss this as an issue with gears until now

[@Yobolight]

@@BasketCase-rr7tx a way worse game.

[@DishonoredSkull]

Note on Evolve: Stage 2 servers are being removed on the 5th of June and Legacy on the 6th of July. As an active Evolve player I have to agree with you here. The monster won most of the time at low skilled hunters but good hunters would destroy most monsters. I went through exactly as you described "an ego trip", when I faced proper hunt teams I knew I was worse than I lead myself to think and wanted to learn more. However that's just me, so last year when the game had its high rise of players I spent about a month teaching returning/new players for hours on end. Evolve is something very special to me and I don't think I'll find a game like it for years. Still my favorite "competitive" multiplayer game.

[@wurfinius1113]

Saying that’s impossible to stagger and enemy without a poise meter is a bold claim, I have played the entire game only one time and rather quickly but as time went by I knew exactly how many and what kind of attacks I would do to break the enemy guard quicker. The poise meter in sekiro made sense because of the entire parry mechanic.

[@gediminasmorkys3589]

Seems like you didn't listen to this. He never said "impossible". He said you need multiple fights (and even more if you are changing gear between fights) to know exactly when poise break will happen. Something you described as "as time went by". What really happened was probably you met the same enemy multiple times, and applied the same methods, so you learned that poise breaks in 3 heavy jump attacks FOR THAT ENEMY WITH THAT WEAPON TYPE. If you only played one time, you don't understand the issue, which is perfecting those boss fights. For one time with a boss, you can get lucky, scrape by and never fight that same boss. You could have made the fight way more beautiful if you had more control (posture bar).

[@tator7722]

i choked on literal air when i saw Sekiro in the beginning..

[@michaeljohnston8891]

The reason there’s no visible poise meter in Elden Ring is that you’d then realize some of the bosses are cheating

[@Kat-Kobold]

Terraria solves the too many heals problem with Potion Sickness lmao

[@thedragonknight3600]

If it helps for the first thing, it has nothing to do with if they hit you. It’s a complicated system than having a bar honestly would not help with at all because poise is… complicated. For a lot of enemies it would actually be MORE frustrating to see that than less. Illusory Wall had a video on the subject, but the short version is: Weapons deal poise damage based on their size and the speed of their attack, generally, and Poise goes down after a certain amount of time. The bigger the enemy, the longer that window is, but that timer is reset NO MATTER THE HIT. so having a bone dagger on the bar for a quick hit if it’s too dangerous to close the gap should help.

[@Jeffmetal42]

This ^

[@gediminasmorkys3589]

The premise of your entire argument is wrong. Poise being complex actually increases the usefulness of a stance break meter. Because it is so complex, having an idea of where it is right now would help with decision making.

[@Dracoboss98]

The Mario party tug of war concept is also present in MP6. If you can press the A button faster than a brutal CPU and not strain any part of your hand, you are a mightier man than I.

[@eetdarichmarx7423]

One thing is clear… Demod really hated Elden Ring. I loved it, but dude is still a legend.

[@lobbetobb3387]

Disagree on 1. Sekiro isnt a previous title so to speak as it is so entierly different from the rest. Once you get the hang of it, bosses arent scary anymore in sekiro. Thats the reason they havent had a poise meter in any other souls game, it makes fights so much easier. It would trivialize so many of the fights. You learn what does good poise damage and learn when to use what. Its another skill you can choose to learn. Agree on the others but this was a real game journalist take.

[@mo6555]

i don't think the lack of poise meter in elden ring is bad at all. the reason sekiro has one is because the whole game revolves around posture and you actually do very little health damage to most enemies, so it makes sense to have a meter for it. in elden ring, sure it's useful, but you can say the same for status effects like bleed. why doesn't the game have a bleed meter, a sleep meter, etc.? the obvious answer is because it clutters the screen with unnecessary elements. besides, the game doesn't have to show you this. demon's souls, the dark souls games and bloodborne all worked just fine without a poise meter, and not knowing exactly when it's gonna proc adds an element of tension to the game like it does with status effects. just to be clear, i'm not arguing that including a poise meter would be a design flaw necessarily, i'm saying that the choice isn't so black and white.

[@BrotherGS]

God seeing that evolve gameplay gave me a weird sense of nostalgia, even tho I barely played it.

[@Sunny-di3ef]

The worst combat that Ive ever experienced is the witcher 1. My god its so awful, that the adaptability in ds2 doesnt even come close

[@theDeModcracy]

I couldn't even get through the first act in The Witcher 1. I believe they're making a revamped version with new combat, which would be a godsend

[@Sunny-di3ef]

@@theDeModcracy they are making it different than the original, so I hope they will make a new combat, cause even witcher fans hate it

[@RepublicOfBridger]

Dmod, my friend, was that… Timesplitters music I heard you using? Respect points through the roof

[@jettblade]

In Seikro breaking poise was a fundamental combat feature. It made sense to include a gauge because it was important in combat. In Elden Ring poise breaking isn't central to combat, you can defeat an enemy without poise breaking them. They didn't include a gauge showing it because it wasn't central. That isn't a bad design. It would be bad if they had a gauge that included Poise Breaking and not for any other status effect. Also you can't really compare separate games that aren't linked even if it was made by the same studio. It would be like saying 'I liked the Limit Break Gauge in Final Fantasy 7 but because Nier Automata doesn't have it it's combat system is worst'. One works for one game and doesn't with other. I like that it doesn't have gauges in Elden Ring it would be distracting having so many.

[@c0n33r]

After the adp issue from DS2, FROM needed to figure out a better way to punish and balance dodging. Bloodborne tried(poorly) with the counter hit system so slightly mistimed dodges are worse than completely mistimed dodges or just facetanking and rally. DS3 and ER went the right direction for instead going for delayed attacks, more complex timing tempos and roll catching moves.

[@skeiththe3rd]

My biggest gripe is in Code Vein. I absolutely love the game.... But the final boss just kills it for me. It has extremely high elemental resistance, it's immune to all status effects, and it only does pure physical damage. As someone that used a caster build for all of the game.... It punishes you for building your own character and rewards a pure strength 2 handed sword build. It's so dumb -_-.

[@TheSandkastenverbot]

The duo boss fight isn't much fun either until you find out you can make yourself almost 100% frost or fire-proof :-D. I too love this game dearly. Maybe it was a good thing the game destroyed my savefile shortly before the last boss 😁

[@skeiththe3rd]

@@TheSandkastenverbot Yeah, but the second to last boss fight was amazing.

[@headbow2346]

Are we gonna get an updated version of the top 10 hardest bosses and best bosses in the Souls series including Sekiro and Elden ring? because I would love to hear you talk about how the orphan of Cos has finally been dethroned by Mallenia

[@Folbak]

Malenia isn't anywhere near close to Orphan of Kos. Such a lame fight that she has to heal on hit even when blocking her attacks, but since even with that the fight is still too easy they gave her a single attack around which the whole fight revolves, which requires you to do some of the most convoluted shit to avoid consistently.

[@GreatQuestionFran]

For me, I vote for the "defense" stats in souls games having little difference. Nioh 2 is my example. I put on Lightning resistant everything and am still several levels over the boss, and yet the Lightning Gods of Yomi can one shot me with a minor electrical line. How!?

[@rayzu4380]

What is funny about both you and the person that replied to you is that, actually, Elden Ring is probably the first game in the souls series to do a great use of defense and damage negation. If you know how, you can go to the endgame with really low vitality and survive almost anything if you are prepared

[@GreatQuestionFran]

@@rayzu4380 Finally! Took them long enough.

[@rayzu4380]

@@GreatQuestionFran Yeah, ds3 was a joke in this, but ER gives a lot of items, talismans, speels and even armors that could reduce the damage from, for example, 1000 to 250 or even less if optimized. That is really cool for build variety

[@CC_Thompson]

Love the variety of this video!

[@Epsilon889]

Elden Ring would benefit greatly from a Poise Meter mod

[@josesosa3337]

I don't know if this counts but I don't like how games don't have an option for enemies with high damage with low health. Too many games just give high damage and high health on higher difficulties which makes most games unplayable.

[@Battleguild]

For Elden Ring, my take on one of the worst combat designs is specifically towards the stagnate caster gameplay that has been carried over since Demon's Souls. 1. We are STILL stuck with the useless Catalyst Bonk attack. They could have easily fixed this by replacing it with a free but short ranged cantrip spell that scaled directly off the Catalyst's Magic Adjust stat. (Example: Replacing the Bonk with a Farron Flashsword-like attack. If your Catalyst's Magic Adjust is 200, the cantrip spell will deal 200 damage before resistances/defenses are calculated.) 2. The near total lack of Ash of War options for Catalysts. Due to how AoW generally have higher FP to Damage ratio vs spells of the same FP cost, we'd be seeing a lot more close range oriented casters if they had access to the more spell-like AoW options. Don't get me wrong, Elden Ring handled spells fairly well, but it definitely dropped the ball practically everywhere else in regards to caster builds.

[@buckyhurdle4776]

Everything about the animation sets and ways equipment works is just a little weird. Not holding weapons correctly in the left hand, can't do running, jumping, or rolling attacks with the left hand, they fixed it but for a long time lots of incantations didn't work correctly if your seal was in the left hand. The fact that if you soft swap one of your hands you can't roll for a whole second. And the fucking PIVOT when sprinting. Backsteps still don't have any fuckin s and of course, like every other game where they didn't, no one uses it lmao

[@Dracoboss98]

2:12 this concept is why Kingdom Hearts bosses slap ass. You get a limited number of instant heals, and after that you have to rely on one that recharges over time.

[@makitstop]

he's STILL salty about being bad at elden ring also, even outside of that, a good couple of these show a fundimental misunderstanding of game design the breath of the wild one especially just shows you've barely even engaged in that mechanic because there is a huge drawback link can't attack while eating taking away precious seconds

[@rivdawg2403]

the fact that u used sekiro as your thumbnail is borderline criminal. i was about to come in here red hot

[@thegamewin100]

Thank you for talking about elden ring game is very good but still has flaws it’s not perfect

[@theDeModcracy]

There's still a lot I love about it. I'm stoked for the DLC

[@thegamewin100]

@@theDeModcracy also resident evil 4 remake is amazing if you put it out as it’s own thing as a remake they did cut some things but I like the direction where it’s going I’m about to finish it after I get some sleep

[@obijuankenobi3814]

Changing how mechanics work mid game In DMC, royal guard is 100% consistent in its implementation. You press guard at the right time, you take no damage, and you can royal release by pushing the direction towards and enemy and pressing the guard button at the moment it hits you. This does not change at all. Metal gear rising on the other hand, will change shit on a whim. They had the parry mechanic where you press the direction of the attack and light attack to parry. Do this right as it hits you, and you parry it with an immensely strong counter attack in one animation. However, this isn't consistent. Some enemy attacks just can't be perfect parried, no matter what you do. Some combo enders, boss attacks, ranged attacks, etc. This isn't clear on what is and isn't perfect parryable, and makes the game feel inconsistent. Re3 remake for instance does this too. In certain Nemesis encounters you can kill him for bonus loot. Other times, he's just invincible and you can't kill him or do anything. This is just stupid design and tilts the shit out of me

[@bigmc9049]

Great video! Also can confirm my hand back in the day was a victim to Mario Party tug of war burn!

[@TobyKBTY]

Okay a lot of my Bloodborne deaths make sense now. I kept wondering if damage would be inconsistent or if I just sucked extra hard…but COUNTER DAMAGE? Damn never even knew that was a thing

[@enlongjones2394]

8:13 I will never understand why they thought it was a good idea to bring back tug of war in Super Stars. It’s not an old classic, it’s a mark of shame.

[@samialivand1511]

Actually genshin impact perfected the food and healing problem with a bar that fils when you feed your character showing that they are full and you cant use food anymore

[@christophercramp17]

Felt a rush of nostalgia from the Goemon's Great Adventure track playing over the Pokémon section

[@azurewraith2585]

I’m not sure I understand number 1: are there really Skyrim builds other than stealth archer?

[@joeyscrewdriver336]

Before the video starts, I’m going to say the double damage mechanic in Bloodborne. A game that emphasizes quick timing and aggressive gameplay with no shields punishing you for a slightly miss timed dodge is insane.

[@Wizarde247]

Most things that are an insta-kill. I'm not talking grab attacks which are there to punish you for things like bad positioning or timing, I'm talking more along the lines of the terror debuff in Sekiro, where it just builds up until you're dead in an instant.

[@AlfonsoSRT]

Take a shot everytime DeMod says "battle of attrition" in a video

[@whatthehec108]

Personal gripe: In Fromsoft games, when the enemies get s in stupid situations. You back stab an enemy? You have to wait for them to get up before you can hit them again. Malenia shoves a sword through your friends gut and hoists them into the air? You gotta wait for her to look them in the eye and toss them aside before she can take damage again. I understand why the s are there, but it just feels like a really cheap and immersion breaking fix to a problem they themselves made.

[@Pyroniusburn]

Old video but I have to agree with the number one spot, it feels so limp and the total lack of feedback makes it feel less like I'm swinging a two-handed sword at someone's head, and more like I'm trying to wipe something off their mouth with a pool noodle, or spreading cold butter on their face with a comically oversized butter knife.

[@Scar3crowss]

Nah bro, Skyrim's combat is great, cause I get to fuel my god complex cause my superior armour makes me near invincible as I batter my enemies to death, and there's nothing they can do about it.

[@deuterium2718]

skyrim also suffers from #2, you can mod some pretty great combat sure, but the 400 health potions in your inventory & the dipping in and out of menus in combat seriously harmed the experience Souls games adding the checkpoints & refilling a limited pool mechanic is a simple but very effective fix for these kind of games, your solution presented for the LoZ example would be a great way to introduce it without "copying" souls

[@riskyumbrella4874]

The reason er didn't have the same posture mechanic as sekiro is because it's not sekiro, its a souls like. They still do have a posture mechanic but it's more optional