The Parry and Attack QTE is the worst i have ever seen.

[Tungsten]

Honestly, I find the parry system really tough. I’ve never seen a game handle it like this, and I’m not a fan. Most attacks have some kind of built-in delay, and on certain enemies, you can’t even tell when a hit is actually about to land—it just feels off. You basically have to learn each encounter through trial and error, instead of reacting naturally in the moment. Some of the mobs are massive too, which makes it even harder to read their movements.

And don’t even get me started on the QTEs for attacks—they’re hands down the worst I’ve ever come across. I genuinely don’t understand why they were designed this way. The timing window is tiny and super punishing, even on normal difficulty. There’s definitely a lot of work needed from the devs to clean this up. Sometimes you need to parry three times just to land a counter, and then the mobs suddenly switch up their patterns… it’s wild.

What worries me even more is that I can already tell it’s only going to get worse when you’re up against multiple mobs—especially if they’re different types. It’s hard enough to deal with one, but juggling different patterns and timings? That’s just chaos.

[Modular]

It's ok being filtered. That's life.

[Prinny𖤐Wesker]

Originally posted by Lambi:

Originally posted by Prinny𖤐Wesker:

So a near one shot or 3/4 of the health bar going poof gets described a 'one shot'. Its not lying per se its hyperbole to get across their frustration - which is very real and apparent

Describing a "near one-shot" as a "one-shot" is lying. These are two extremely different things. Surviving with 0.0000000000000001% HP left, is still EXTREMELY different from dying immediately. (Not that you should even take that much damage to begin with). As even with that little amount of HP left, you can still take another turn. And you can essentially take twice as many hits, at least.

I understand that frustration can lead to exaggerations like that. I myself have probably done it when I've gotten my ass whooped in some video game. But it doesn't help their case. Cause when someone says "I'm getting one-shot constantly if I don't dodge". I know that there's no purpose at all to take anything they say seriously. Cause they're just lying or not telling the whole story there. Cause there's no reasonable scenario where that happens if you're actually not intending for it to happen. You have to spec pure glass canon, and/or be underleveled and/or undergeared.

It's splitting hairs. They're obviously frustrated and the mechanics aren't clicking with them.

Calling them out as a liar makes it sound as if they're being malicious with their criticism when its far more likely they want to enjoy the game and are upset that they aren't

[Lambi]

Originally posted by Prinny𖤐Wesker:

It's splitting hairs. They're obviously frustrated and the mechanics aren't clicking with them.

It's not splitting hairs when it makes a MASSIVE, and I mean MASSIVE gameplay difference whether it's a one-shot or not. When people talk about how they have to "perfectly dodge every single attack or you just get insta-one-shot", how are you supposed to hold a genuine conversation with them? How are you supposed to take that as genuine criticism of the mechanics? The answer is: You can't. Not until you call them out on their lie and have them paint the actual realistic picture. Then, and only then, can you move forward.

Originally posted by Prinny𖤐Wesker:

Calling them out as a liar makes it sound as if they're being malicious with their criticism when its far more likely they want to enjoy the game and are upset that they aren't

They are being malicious though. They are blatantly spreading misinformation about how the game actually function by being hyperbolic. And they use this lie as criticism towards the game. That's nothing short of malicious. Especially if anyone who is on the fence for the game would see their comments. They might think "Oh damn, you actually have to perfectly dodge every single attack even on easy mode or you get one-shotted? I don't like that, I'm not gonna buy the game".

[heather1348]

I'm starting to wonder if the story difficulty is bugged. "Story" implies that it is for people who are interested in the story and don't want to put any effort into the combat, and that the developers intended to provide a way for people to do this. If people are getting frustrated at that difficulty level, then it is not serving its purpose. Perhaps the story difficulty is really a standard easy mode, and if the developers want everyone to be able to experience the story without getting frustrated, they need to relabel this difficulty level as something else and add an actual story mode. Alternatively, they could add god mode, auto-parry (which probably would be close to a god mode), or combat skip options.

I've not bought the game so far, because I am the sort of person who only wants to experience the story. The only combat systems I enjoy are classic turn-based and real-time-with-pause with no dependence on reflexes. I'm not willing to engage in any significant way with any other combat system - I simply don't find it enjoyable. Naturally, I appreciate it when story-rich games provide options that allow me to concentrate on the story and exploration when they have combat systems that I find undesirable. Hopefully this gets fixed in a patch at some point.

[Monsieur blap]

You can survive story difficulty just fine without dodge and parry. But you'll find that if you invest some time in it it's actually not that hard. It might even be satisfactory to see the damage you do after a successful parry. Yes, it will take practice but what would be the challenge if everyone could do it from day 1?

[Crescent Dusk]

The timing is fair for some but for others the camera to see the attacks connect is horrendous, the camera angles on some enemies like the Chevalier's Freeze stab which is the first part of his 3 hit combo is just not visible, you have to parry by memory from the last time you got hit.

The flame attack on the Chevalier on the other hand is pretty fair, you see the sword swings clearly, it's not obstructed by the character model.

I think when it really started feeling unfair was the Sirene fight where the visual clutter and camera feels completely unfair for landing parries.

[rocketguardian]

So I'm playing on console through Game Pass, but I figured I share my opinion on this. They need to pick a lane. If the attacks are QTE based, then the parry should be as well. And if the parry is a QTE it would be too easy. I am having zero issues with the QTE minigame. I'm hitting perfect 90% of the time. Sometimes I zone out and forget, but yeah they're really simple for me. The parry isn't. I miss most parries and most dodges. Combat system is so damn good but the parry system brings it down so much.

[Lambi]

Originally posted by rocketguardian:

So I'm playing on console through Game Pass, but I figured I share my opinion on this. They need to pick a lane. If the attacks are QTE based, then the parry should be as well. And if the parry is a QTE it would be too easy. I am having zero issues with the QTE minigame. I'm hitting perfect 90% of the time. Sometimes I zone out and forget, but yeah they're really simple for me. The parry isn't. I miss most parries and most dodges. Combat system is so damn good but the parry system brings it down so much.

Why do the parry system needs to be as well just cause the attacks are? There's no real reason for that. Hitting the QTE is not really meant to be difficult. But simply a small bonus. So QTE works fine there. Parrying/dodging is meant to be more difficult but incredibly rewarding. So QTE wouldn't work there. And personally I would say that the parry/dodge system brings the combat immensely up. It's a big part of what makes the combat fun and engaging. Even against normal trash mobs.

[OmegaDestroyer]

It wouldn't be so bad if you weren't stuck fighting enemies with 8-hit combos, that got to act 3 times in a row. That amount of enemy attacks in the end game is absolutely bonkers.

[Lambi]

Originally posted by OmegaDestroyer:

It wouldn't be so bad if you weren't stuck fighting enemies with 8-hit combos, that got to act 3 times in a row. That amount of enemy attacks in the end game is absolutely bonkers.

3 times in a row? Unless that's a gimmick, then it sounds like you need some Rush, Slows and possibly a bit of Agi.

[Neon Ninja]

Originally posted by It is my CAT:

Originally posted by juliejayne:

Not just skill, by which you mean fast reflexes. But as an older player without fast reflexes I was hoping for a turn based game that simply allowed me to pick the correct options.

Sadly from what I am hearing, I won't now be buying it.

Well, i played dozens of TBS games and not a single one requires parry. It feels off for sure.
They could make it as additional rewarding mechanic. But right now you can't survive without it.

Play on easy if you can't get the timing down. Honestly the fact that it is one of the only turn based games that use parrying is what makes it great. I'm having such a fun time.

[Bad Distraction Carnifex]

Seriously, the parry/dodge/jump windows all need to be increased by about 20%. It might make the game easier but it'll at least fix the issue of a few mismatched animations which is way worse for skill-based games than it being too easy.

Outside of that they gotta fix the whole mouse stealing priority from the KB issue so inputs don't get dropped.

Otherwise imo it's been fine.

[Maze]

Originally posted by Monsieur blap:

You can survive story difficulty just fine without dodge and parry. But you'll find that if you invest some time in it it's actually not that hard. It might even be satisfactory to see the damage you do after a successful parry. Yes, it will take practice but what would be the challenge if everyone could do it from day 1?

This... that's exactly it here. I admit, I thought the parry was inconsistent at first. But then I had to accept the fact that every enemy will attack so differently from a next set, that it's actually challenging to take them on. Some attack soon, some delay, some attack as you expect, and I encountered one enemy that did a feint then one shotted me. It took me a while to figure that one out, but I was able to take him down. As long as people set up their kits right, that counter attack after a parry can be and should be devastating for most enemies. That's where the game shines for me.

Imagine the criticism if all enemies attacked at the exact same time and so the player will know when to parry 100% of the time. People would say it's too easy.

[Lambi]

Originally posted by Maze:

Imagine the criticism if all enemies attacked at the exact same time and so the player will know when to parry 100% of the time. People would say it's too easy.

That's exactly it. If you always knew when to parry all the time, then it would be the most boring, lamest system in the world. It's fun now BECAUSE it can be a challenge. Because you have to stay on your toes. But if you stick with it and have patience and willingness to learn, then you are rewarded for it. There's no greater feeling than flexing on a boss. Not because of some arbitrary percentage dodge chance. Not cause your stats were a certain number. But because you as a player managed to parry each of their attacks and hit them back with the full force of a counterattack.

[[SWE]Junker]

You don't have to parry/dodge all the time, you are suppose to miss a few or even all of them at times playing on normal, thats why you have potions and revives