Side scrolling melee combat sucks! What is a good example?

[Kyuu]

LegitHyperbole said:

Kyuu said:

I disagree with the notion that games with simple fundamental actions can't have an engaging or strategic flow. But otherwise you're probably right that most melee side scrolling are rather simple when it comes to your number of actions, and rely more on movement and timing. In a sense, Soulsborne games are similar. Souls movesets are shallow compared to say Devil May Cry.

Vanillaware games like Odin Sphere Leifthrasir might be what you're looking for. Check out its free playable demo.

Oh don't let the Soulsborne hardcore hear you say that. Soulsborne can be completed with one button yeah but they got more complex over time, Elden Ring is rather quite complex in movesets, there's combos and all but nothing as deep as DMC indeed. DMC has the same problem though, as did OG GOD of war, you can get through the latter on normal difficulty with square square triangle and you can get fairly far into DMC4 with just simple triangle combos and the odd square, it's the difficulty getting higher that makes combos necessary and 2d just can't bring that. Even if these games do end up having combos at some point, I can't see how they'd be used instead of simply going in tap, tap and getting out of the way. Fighting games are obviously very complex so I don't even understand what I'm actually complaining about here, to be rightly honest. 

I'll give Odin Sphere a whirl, it's on PS plus catalogue I think. Cheers for the recommendation.

It's important to note that Leifthrasir is a 2 in 1 pack. The original PS2 mode (Classic) and an updated mode (Refined). Their combat systems feel VERY different.

"Classic" has a stamina bar, different moves with different rhythm and animations. "Refined" is more action-based (but the difficulty goes up as you progress, so it isn't as button-mashy as it may appear early on).

Most people seem to prefer Refined because it's smoother and less punishing, maybe there are more reasons I'm unaware of. I only learned about how different the two modes are after finishing Gwendylon's path on Refined and trying Classic. Classic's "clunky" combat is more up my alley because I'm a sucker for weighty combat with limited action. But I didn't bother replaying the whole game.

My advice is that if you find yourself enjoying the game, try finishing the first stage on both modes and see what works better for you.