The Art and History of the Video Game Parry

[ArjunKL]

From early fencing games and arcade fighters to Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Clair Obscur, the parry has turned a moment of defense into one of gaming's most satisfying attacks.

Read the full article here.

The Art and History of the Video Game Parry

 

[Megalomaniac]

I think Metal Gear Revengeance handled the sword parry the best. You press the direction of the attack and action and auto-parry. The problem is that the "defensive-offense" isn't well explained and you can't advance past Blade Wolf unless you've mastered it. Once you understand it, the game is a breeze.

 

[jbright]

Evo Moment #37 gets me every time. Fifteen hits, no time to think, pure muscle memory. Anyone who played Street Fighter III back then remembers failing the parry in practice mode a hundred times and then never trying it in a real match again.

 

[airbornex]

Glad Weaponlord and Killer Instinct 2 got a mention. Everyone assumes parrying started with Street Fighter III and Dark Souls, but the family tree is way messier than that.

 

[mbk34]

I don't normally play games with swords and the like but I got Space Marine 4000 recently as it was on sale. I tried it and realised I didn't have enough fingers, or the dexterity, to master the controls especially while parrying attacks. I'm an old guy so nimble key sequences are a bit beyond me. I'll fight on but the aliens may win this one

 

[NumberNine]

No Kingdom Come Deliverance?
Glad to see Blasphemous and Soulcalibur mentioned. Great parrying systems.

 

[Aolish]

I think parrying for fighting games seem to be the most accurate and fun. In almost all cases the 'window of opportunity' to parry a move in fighting games in general is so miniscule and so small you don't get any wiggle room for error. In addition to that, some games such as the VF games in general have the most accurate and difficult parrying system to master since you have to take into account for all the high, mids, and low parries you need to do! Truly separates the men's from the boys. As far as other games go when it comes to parries (non-fighting games), they are WAY WAY WAY more lenient when it comes to the 'window of opportunity', I mean my goodness the arkham games are a perfect example! You can purposely miss time a parry, be inches away from the enemy and it'll still register causing batman to bounce to the target. lol

 

[Alfonso Maruccia]

As an Elden Ring "veteran" who can't parry ****, I feel personally attacked here :-D