Thanks @BrawlMan for the parry videos. Yes, outside of maybe one ranged weapon in the game (which awkwardly can use the telescope for assistance in manually aiming pretty effectively) that’s the extent of their function. The bullets are limited (but farmable or purchasable) to prevent spamming and encourage proper timing. Lock-on may not be fool proof but when used judiciously it works well enough for people to do no-damage runs and perfect parrying tutorials are in no short supply.
The thing about lock-on that’s overlooked in these games is it’s not meant to function like with pure action/hack n slashers. In those games the control scheme is most effective using the face buttons for offense, and the environments are a non issue which frees up the camera and lock-on function to fully facilitate effectively using them. With Souls, the player needs camera control at all times for navigating environments, avoiding stray arrows, fire bombs, etc. which often needs to be done independently of active combat. That way the player can have 360 degree movement at any point with say a shield raised on a narrow ledge without having to worry about lock-on screwing up their pathing.
Hence, offensive/defensive controls work best on the shoulder buttons. Otherwise the player would need to constantly be fuddling between the face buttons and right stick, which would make targeting of any kind a complete shit show. Knowing when/what to lock onto or not is possibly the most essential part of making the games work for player instead of against them.
The thing about lock-on that’s overlooked in these games is it’s not meant to function like with pure action/hack n slashers. In those games the control scheme is most effective using the face buttons for offense, and the environments are a non issue which frees up the camera and lock-on function to fully facilitate effectively using them. With Souls, the player needs camera control at all times for navigating environments, avoiding stray arrows, fire bombs, etc. which often needs to be done independently of active combat. That way the player can have 360 degree movement at any point with say a shield raised on a narrow ledge without having to worry about lock-on screwing up their pathing.
Hence, offensive/defensive controls work best on the shoulder buttons. Otherwise the player would need to constantly be fuddling between the face buttons and right stick, which would make targeting of any kind a complete shit show. Knowing when/what to lock onto or not is possibly the most essential part of making the games work for player instead of against them.
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