A game with realistic swordfighting. Now, we all know that swords and medieval weapons are pretty much the coolest things ever, so imagine if there was a game that revolved around swashbuckling action like that. I don't mean the standard action-adventure thing where your character attacks with the same three or four hit combo all the time: I mean an actual semi-realistic depiction of swordfighting.
Leaping onto tables, finishing moves, kicking ass - it would be so awesome!
I actually have a decent idea of how the combat system could work:
- A "focus" bar and a health bar. The focus bar is how well you guard yourself against weapon attacks - it is depleted whenever you block or parry, but constantly regenerates. When you are out of focus, your health is drained instead. Physical attacks (kicks, punches, throws) could attack your health directly, at the price of vulnerability to other enemies and the capability of being reversed. If a character is hit with a sword in the leg, they would have a penalty to movement speed. In the arm, a penalty to parrying and attacks. There could also be some sort of armour mechanic that reduces damage dealt to a characters' health and provides resistance against those status effects.
- A somewhat deep combat system. Actual swordfights are complex matters - even if it was as simple as "overhead, middle, underneath," it would work. Combine those with light and heavy options, and that's six attacks that can be chained together. Add to that status effects, enemy health, enemy types, special moves, finishers - it would be pretty deep. And that's not even getting into positioning: sneak attacks, critical hits, backstabs, the potential is endless.
- RPG elements, because everything's better with those. That armour system I mentioned earlier could come into play - not complicated, maybe just a chestpiece, leggings, and some trinkets. A level up system (a few primary classes, some sub-classes) would add replayability and a feeling of progress. And the weapons! Maces and axes and swords and daggers and two-handed maces, axes, and swords - each one is used for different purposes, and that could be reflected in the gameplay. Swords are your default weapons, axes are good at crippling enemies, maces can smash through armour and defences but are painfully slow.
So, um, yeah. I kind of like medieval weapons and whatnot, if you hadn't guessed.
Leaping onto tables, finishing moves, kicking ass - it would be so awesome!
I actually have a decent idea of how the combat system could work:
- A "focus" bar and a health bar. The focus bar is how well you guard yourself against weapon attacks - it is depleted whenever you block or parry, but constantly regenerates. When you are out of focus, your health is drained instead. Physical attacks (kicks, punches, throws) could attack your health directly, at the price of vulnerability to other enemies and the capability of being reversed. If a character is hit with a sword in the leg, they would have a penalty to movement speed. In the arm, a penalty to parrying and attacks. There could also be some sort of armour mechanic that reduces damage dealt to a characters' health and provides resistance against those status effects.
- A somewhat deep combat system. Actual swordfights are complex matters - even if it was as simple as "overhead, middle, underneath," it would work. Combine those with light and heavy options, and that's six attacks that can be chained together. Add to that status effects, enemy health, enemy types, special moves, finishers - it would be pretty deep. And that's not even getting into positioning: sneak attacks, critical hits, backstabs, the potential is endless.
- RPG elements, because everything's better with those. That armour system I mentioned earlier could come into play - not complicated, maybe just a chestpiece, leggings, and some trinkets. A level up system (a few primary classes, some sub-classes) would add replayability and a feeling of progress. And the weapons! Maces and axes and swords and daggers and two-handed maces, axes, and swords - each one is used for different purposes, and that could be reflected in the gameplay. Swords are your default weapons, axes are good at crippling enemies, maces can smash through armour and defences but are painfully slow.
So, um, yeah. I kind of like medieval weapons and whatnot, if you hadn't guessed.
