How do you parry?

[Ketzerfreund]

People talk about parrying here, but the game doesn't.

[Rufus]

Time your block so your guard comes up just as the enemy's weapon is about to hit you. Basically, block when you see the attack coming in, don't try to predict it, you will likely be too early.

[Ketzerfreund]

Oh, it's that variant of parrying mechanic. Thanks.

Could it be, that of all the From Soft souls-likes, Lies of P is more comparable to Sekiro rather than any of the others? After having failed to beat that butcher police-puppet a couple of times (haven't tried a lot so far, though; just dippin' in a little for now), it seems to me like parrying is integral to combat the way it is in Sekiro, rather than just an option like in all the others.

[Rufus]

Well, for a start, Sekiro isn't a Souls-like. But, I get what you're going at here.

Parrying has its' place in Lies of P, but is not the be-all-and-end-all of combat. Blocking and dodging both have their places too, it depends on the type of attack coming in. The only time you really need to parry is when enemies use the red fury attacks, as you can't block or dodge those.

[Ketzerfreund]

Yeah, but blocking costs health, so it's not really an alternative to parrying. And the dodge feels very weird. I struggle to see how I'm even supposed to get more than one hit per minute in with that guy, without a parry you're relegated to constantly hopping back and forth... For how long is that duel supposed to go on? A full hour?

So yeah, I feel like parrying is very much a necessity in this game. Thus, I'm already feeling like I'm bouncing off this game just as hard as I bounced off Sekiro, while stuff like Dark Souls and Elden Ring are comfort food to me. Though, Sekiro had that uninspired setting in many browns and a little bit of red to chase me away, too. At least, Lies of P is pretty.


(Sekiro shares over 50% of defining souls-like traits, thusly, it's indeed a souls-like.)

[Rufus]

Attacking after a block gets your health back, and the window to do so is VERY generous, as long as you don't take hits.
Parrying isn't a necessity, you can run out of range of fury attacks, it's just highly advisable to be able to parry so you don't break the flow of combat, otherwise you're going to get into the pattern you describe where you're just running around never getting attacks in.
The dodge works fine. It's not meant to be an escape mechanism, it's supposed to keep you close to keep on the offensive.

Sekiro is NOT a Souls-like and was never meant to be. Sekiro started off as a new Tenchu game but grew into its' own thing. It's not even an RPG. Having a few similar mechanics does not a Souls-like make.