Is Melee Combat in Videogames Too Limited?

[CarlManvers2019]

I’m not sure if it’s me, but I think most melee combat doesn’t exactly have that complexity of skill in gaming

You can block, you can hit, you can dodge, you can dodge and then hit, you can do a special attack and in Soulsbourne you can even parry attacks

But really, I think it should be more able to choose

Like instead of pressing square repeatedly and the attack goes left slash, right slash and downward slash

You be able to choose which direction the slash goes

Same for unarmed combat, choose which arm you punch with and even the sort of punch and even quickly switch with kicking

Real test of skill in melee combat.

Block for a punch, only the opponent goes for a kick.

Try to raise an arm to bring the sword down, only the arm is it whilst doing so

Okay, admittedly I think this can only be done with VR

Anybody though, think melee combat in videogames’ too simple though?

 

[Marduk]

For one Mount&Blade has some parts of what you are describing, same for Kingdom Come and some "soulslikes". Doing too much of that would result in a lot of confusion and controls too complex to really use, at least in real time. VR goes around the controls issue to a degree, but even that is far from ideal. Now turn based and pseudo turn based games have potential for exploring new territories there. Toribash is an example of that, unfortunately it's also a demonstration of how hard is it to control a character in fully freeform, physics based melee or unarmed combat, might want to check it out if you want to experience this issue.
For a more abstracted version of that, check out Dwarf Fortress' RPG mode, though it's also not the easiest to control, and has some crazy shit going on there. But it's still a more viable way detailed melee\unarmed combat could be implemented into games.

 

[Human Primacy]

I was going to bring up Mount & Blade as well. It's got a system where the direction you're moving, or where you aim the mouse on the screen, will determine the kind of attack you make. That being said the on foot combat is a bit stiff and lacks proper feedback. Combat mostly shines on horseback. There's a lot of thought and consideration put into the combat, but the scope of the game is larger than that, and it seems they lacked the resources to really make it great. Hopefully Bannerlord will be better, if it ever comes out.

The Zeno Clash games had a similar thing with movement changing your attacks, if I recall, but focused mostly on unarmed combat. It also had things like grabs and throws.

The Necrovision games had an interesting approach to mixed melee and ranged combat. I seem to recall there were situations where I had like three different melee attacks to choose from. Not as in depth as some other systems, because it was mostly meant to work with ranged, so that you could rush someone instead of reloading, or hit them to stagger them.

Overgrowth is another interesting one. Holding attack doesn't just make you attack if there's no enemy, it makes your character ready to attack when they're in range, and from there, it's all about movement. Less about aiming your attacks and more about whole body movement of your character. It's quite well done, a shame it was in development hell for so long and everyone forgot about it.

Thing about controls, especially in first person, is that they're two dimensional, and you're trying to control something in a three dimensional space. This is not an issue with ranged combat, because the weapon itself accounts for the forward momentum. But with melee, it's hard to keep them streamlined and simple enough to be intuitive, while also making them involved enough for the player to really feel connected. The other is peripheral vision. This is why a lot of melee focused games are third person. While it doesn't give you peripheral vision, it sort of gives you a faux version of it by allowing you to see the area around you, and the cost of some imprecision in aiming. Both of these problems, as stated above, do have some alleviation with VR, but that comes with its own set of problems.