10 Awesome Video Game Mechanics (That Are Impossible To Pull Off)
5. Parry - Dark Souls
You can tell if a mechanic is hard to pull off if the game's community is separated into “those who can do it” and “everyone else”.
FromSoftware’s reputation is games that are notoriously difficult in nearly every regard but people flock to them because of their high quality. They’re not just cheap for cheap’s sake and overcoming challenges in the likes of the Dark Souls series is one the biggest rushes of serotonin modern gaming has to offer.
What makes parrying attacks in Dark Souls so tough is just how precise you have to be with the right frames of animation. Mastering one parry is something special and truly feels like outthinking your opponent. Trying to apply that same knowledge to another enemy is fruitless however as everything has its own timing.
Becoming a counter-attack machine is therefore such a game-changer that only the most intensely talented players can brag about it.
Dark Souls in general is a game about playing carefully and the combat centres around knowing when to duck and when to dive to avoid damage. But if you’ve had enough watching your player avatar roll from pillar to post and want to risk standing your ground then prepare to get splatted a great many times along the way if you don't master that parry.