What makes defense truly challenging is timing and application. Dodging/dashing has its own dedicated key. Block and parry use the same key, and slipping/hopping do as well, but with additional directional input. However, these are situational and the timing is tight, so you get punished harshly if you abuse these techniques with poor timing.Īll of these moves are relatively easy to execute as well. This is done by tapping backward or forwards on the movement stick while holding down the block button. For on-the-spot defense, you have slipping (bobbing and weaving) and hopping to avoid high and low strikes, respectively. You have a dedicated dash button, which you can use to get out of hairy situations, but it also pulls you out of the fray, so you’ll need to work your way back to your target. Timing is critical, however, and heavy attacks, telegraphed by an orange glow, cannot be blocked or parried. This lets you catch incoming blows, interrupting the attacking enemy’s combo, and doesn’t add to your structure gauge. Parrying is done by tapping the block button in sync with an incoming attack. When the gauge is full, your structure is weakest, so any further blocking results in a guard break. These are functionally similar to the system in Sekiro, where a posture gauge (called Structure in Sifu) determines how many consecutive attacks you can block. Sifu starts you off with a basic block and parry. The games then balance your defense around these various attacks, giving you several abilities to evade or counter incoming blows. Attacks in both games are classified by their damage and effects (like dazing, staggering, or knockdown), as well as their height (high or low strikes). In particular, Sifu draws from God Hand’s high/low strike mechanics and its beefy defensive options. Sifu takes much inspiration from Capcom’s God Hand, a highly underrated PS2 action game about a clownish hero who beats down demon thugs with his divine fists. Sifu is designed from the ground up to include various defensive techniques, and it punishes its players harshly for underutilizing them. These are flourishes with bonus perks for higher-level players to utilize, but they are never required as a core mechanic in the game.Ĭompare that to a game like Sifu, and there is a gulf of difference in how defense works and how the combat feels as a result. You never need to parry in Bayonetta or Royal Guard in Devil May Cry. Games that focus on spectacle and creative combos are deliberately designed around limited defensive options. Granted, this depends greatly on the goal of the game in question. New options breathe new life into the fight, and Street Fighter V was a better game for it afterward. SFV was a very offense-focused, unga-bunga sort of fighter as a result, and this remained the case until the introduction of V-Shift in 2021, which gave characters a parry/counter function that flipped the offense-focused paradigm on its head. Besides the game’s other launch day troubles, one of its biggest criticisms during its infancy was a lack of defensive tools. Think back to Street Fighter V at launch. But this also has the adverse effect of over-simplifying the gameplay in some respects: You don’t really need to change tactics or roll with punches, since all you ever need to do when you’re in danger is nail the dodge button.Ī variety of defensive abilities widens the scope of the action to accommodate more dynamic combat situations. There’s certainly nothing wrong with this, since you can focus your energy on the outrageous combo potential in these games instead and whip out the old reliable evasive maneuver whenever an enemy winds up for a swing. But the game’s challenge is balanced around one critical defensive ability: dodging. Yes, these games also give you alternative options to avoid taking damage, like parrying and jumping. Some games get by with a single defensive ability: you can get through the entirety of Bayonetta or Devil May Cry by simply dodging. Defense Is Often Oversimplifiedĭefense is pretty universal in the action game genre. Sifu makes defense integral to its combat, highlighting the value of having a robust arsenal of defensive tools, particularly since this PC game is so brutally unforgiving. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software.
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