Wut. The game has no stamina system so you can just spam attacks until the enemy decides to attack, then all you have to do is block, and there is such a huge block window it's not even particularly challenging. You can knock enemies into the air, but it changes nothing other than making them not be able to attack you, you get no new moves or abilities of any significance while the enemy is in the air due to there being no jumping. If you could jump you could have different moves or abilities while being in the air, but they could do that because they removed jumping for some reason. You get new abilities but almost all of them serve the same purpose. You can throw your axe to freeze enemies, thus keeping them from attacking you. So many of the abilities are just variations on stunning an enemy. The fact that I have beaten the vast majority of fights by spamming the same two moves over and over doesn't exactly speak for it's supposed depth.
Lol, no you can't just spam attack. Maybe you need to up the difficulty? Remember difficulty in this game doesn't just change health and damage stats, enemies have different moveset, AI etc too. As Cory himself stated, harder difficulties change the game in a big way.
In the difficulty I'm playing, you can't even get off more than a few hits without the enemy immediately countering you, unless of course they're being juggled, on the floor, electrified, frozen or stunned.
And it's not challenging? Again, maybe if you're playing on easy. I have died FAR more times in this game on Hard than any of the Soulsborne titles. You had countless Soulsborne vets etc in this very forum who were dying multiple times in the opening tutorial combat segment for heavens sake.
If you just vaguely summarise just some of the combat options available to the player at any one time, all at once, interchangeably and dynamically;
Atreus
- You can use him to auto fire at enemies
- You can also specifically aim for him.
- You can use him strategically to distract enemies, or to keep enemies suspended in air, on the ground etc.
- You can switch between arrows for DPS, stun, shock, weakening, slowing etc.
- You can use his magic rune specials which also have different qualities, eg damage, keeping enemies in place, stun etc.
Axe Long Range
- You can throw the axe with either a light or heavy throw.
- You can also long charge throws to either add frost damage, explosions or to target multiple enemies.
- You can use the axe to specifically target enemy weak spots, limbs etc to stop specific attacks, stun, do more DPS, trip them over etc.
- You can leave the axe in an enemy to keep them frozen or impaled. You can also kick these enemies in to other enemies to chain freeze.
- You can strategically position yourself to call back the axe so on its return it hits other enemies, or hits certain weak spots, or their legs to trip them up etc.
- You can have it so precision hitting specific weak spots powers any potential return throw.
Close quarters shield and melee
- You can perform light and heavy melee attacks.
- You can perform specific light, heavy, and charged light and heavy attacks, that are only available while evading or dashing.
- Melee builds up a separate stun bar, which you can use to enable to to pull off specific finishers.
- Later you can instant recall your axe to combo in to the middle of a melee flurry.
- You can block certain attacks with the shield.
- On effective block timings or parries, you can do a follow up counter move to stun, DPS etc.
- Follow up moves include light and heavy, and charged light and heavy too.
- You can also do specific light and heavy attacks with the shield itself too, including concussive blasts, slams, knocking enemies over by their feet etc.
- You can perform specific light and heavy sprinting melee attacks.
Close quarters axe combat
- You can perform light and heavy axe attacks, including charged or powered light and heavy attacks too.
- You can juggle enemies, perform specific combos, finishers and so on.
- You can perform specific light, heavy, and charged light and heavy attacks, that are only available while evading or dashing.
- You can perform specific light and heavy sprinting axe attacks.
- You can pause mid combo or mid attack, to switch stances and chain to other specific light and heavy attacks and combos.
Magic and specials
- You can do specific light and heavy rune magic attacks, that can be good for dps, aoe, stun, freeze etc.
- You can do specific talisman abilities that have a wide range of effects, from granting temporary health or defence boosts, barriers, slowing down time etc etc.
- You can use Spartan rage, a special power mode which in and of itself has an entire new moveset.
To be able to dynamically, fluidly and constantly interchange between all the above mechanics and more, at any moment, at any given time in the midst and flow of combat, honestly adds for a massive amount of combat depth and complexity for those that care for it, and from a systems perspective, is imo far more comprehensive and deep than Soulsborne and similar comparatives.
Like I said earlier, there's such an abundance of gameplay and combat systems in play that it's not only a bit overwhelming at times, but even 30 hours in I'm still constantly experimenting.
