I played Metal Gear Rising recently and i found the combat system in the game to be very good and polished.


Meanwhile most games like Witcher 3 or Skyrim have a boring combat system which isn't fun or engaging

Why can't more games have a good combat system?

Look at W3 for instance. The game is great but the combat system is very clunky and weird. For instance you can't jump while fighting. Geralt makes weird pirouettes etc.


If the combat system was better then so many games would instantly become better

Good Question.
In a matter of fact. Most modern gamers prefer a quick action oriented combat system.... With a lot of magical animations and explosions.
Devs: How many explosions do you like to see, in our gameplay?
Customers: Yes!

And yes, Skyrims combat system is so....boring. I can't stand this game for more than 20 minutes.

I would love to see a "HEMA" oriented tactical combat system, in a good medieval fantasy rpg.
But most people really believe that "battle" is like they show us in "Hollywood Movies". (rolls eyes)

Do they really, or is it just that big AAA developers think they do? And well, people buy big AAA games because look at the graphics!! (also the nonstop marketing)

You could have right.
In the BG3 Larian Forum. They where some players who criticize the melee combat effects. That they looked just to magical, for normal weapons.

That is why i don't like most AAA-Games. ^_^
I really don't care about realistic graphics. I prefe great gameplay. Graphics are just a nice extra.
Nice to have. But not necessary.
Sometimes good old 2D Sprites are still beautiful.

Is mostly what i find myself asking.

This is actually a good thread and if it was not your daily spamm I would rate it high...

Many games have good combat although I think you are refering to most AAA 1st/3rd person action RPG (whatever that means).
I don't know why the combat system is lame on most of those titles but most are built to appeal to many people as possible, including console players playing with a gamepad instead of mouse/KB. That is the precise reason why I don't play games like the Witcher or Cyberpunk for that matter.
However, many of the RPG (whatever that means, again) players don't really care about a sharp combat system, they play the games for the stories.

If you try other type of games you'll find good combat systems, like many Turn Based games, Metroidvanias, fighting games obviously and many 3rd person action games like Nier, Nioh, DMC and Dark Souls.

What you mean about the gameplay? Movement, interactions, quests, all of that?

TBH I really don't know what a RPG means this days. I understand some typical RPG mechanics, like the leveling up, the choices and the interaction with other characters but fail to really understand what RPG means (well, Role Playing Game are not pretty much all of the games?) He/She/It now does reply to most threads, since the warnings. Only one or two times and with not meaningfull replys, just enough to keep the thread going for more than 1 page... I wonder what's the agenda here.

He can't hide the fact that he spent most of his youth studying ballet.

Do you mean to imply you don't like combat? Well, i just think many games have an underdeveloped combat system. I wonder what could be done to counter it.

You see, Metal Gear Rising, which i mentioned, has a great combat system. After hitting the enemy a certain amount of times, some of his body starts glowing blue. It means you can cut that part of theor body off. It weakens them and changes their movement as well as attacks. After a while, you can perform a Zandatsu, which is the act of extracting the enemy's organs, which replenishes your health and energy.


I wish more games were like it.

I'm referring, to a large extent, to the combat, which consists of choosing commands for each party member and then watching them execute the commands according to their abilities. Then, after everyone (including enemies!) acts, you repeat the process until the battle is resolved.

I think that the user is asking whether combat is necessary in many games in the first place.

How would you describe the combat in Tetris the Grand Master (or most other single player Tetris games, for that matter)? How about Solitaire (Klondike) and Minesweeper? What about combat in kinetic novels? How about games like Cookie Clicker (notwithstanding the dungeon minigame that appeared in a beta a long time ago)?

I like the combat in Blade of Darkness and the Mount and Blade games.

Most big budget games today are dumbed-down and made to appeal to the lowest common denominator. They're meant for low-IQ console gamers and people who prefer a "cinematic" experience to actual gameplay.
If you want an interesting and more complex combat system, you've probably got to play niche titles. Try Age of decadence (or it's sadistically difficult spin-off Dungeon rats).

You can use the "favourite topics" feature as a dump for every forum game & recurring thread you don't like. That way, they'll all stay at the very top and won't clutter the forum below. If you have any favourite topics, you can just bookmark them in your browser. Not the best solution, but it kinda works. Not sure what happens if you put too many threads in there though.

I also think the Dark Souls game have a nice combat system, but they are very doffixult so that kinda lowers the enjoyment