It seems parrying is being added to more and more games recently, from shooters like DOOM: The Dark Ages to turn-based RPG’s like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 parrying is seemingly the new hotness in town.
For those that maybe don’t know, parrying is a system that allows you to time your button presses to deflect an enemy attack, and in many cases, opens them up to a powerful counter-attack. It’s an effective system that rewards skillful play and looks stylish to boot. Of course, games like the Dark Souls series and Elden Ring have been using this system for years, so why now is it getting more popular?
Perhaps it’s the visual flair that it produces, showing a masterful perfection of combat and allowing you to have a higher skill ceiling whilst still having a pretty simple system. Maybe it’s to reward those that have greater reflexes and thus encourages a more skill-based audience. Or maybe it’s just cool, I don’t know, but either way I’ve come round a lot more to parrying than during my FromSoft years. I never really touched the system there, but especially in Clair Obscur it’s been a really fun and challenging system that has kept me engaged and rewards my attention to combat. Maybe when Elden Ring: Nightreign comes out I’ll do some more parrying, if my old hands can keep up at least.
What do you think about parry systems? Do you enjoy them, or do you never touch them? Let us know in the comments section below! That’s all for now, and as always. It’s not just a game, It’s a Life.