u/DamnHare

I genuinely enjoyed the game - combat, story, even exploration (usually I really struggle with open world exploration games) - everything was just great. And combat - wow. As a parry addict I am extremely satisfied. Can't wait to play Ghost of Yotei!

PS: I've tried to post full clip several times, but it got auto-removed by Reddit filter. I think it has something to do either with length OR with Jin being butt-naked (before removal clip forcefully get NSFW tag haha). But you can still watch it here on my Reddit page (it got NSFW auto-tag again, had to remove it manually lol)
https://www.reddit.com/user/DamnHare/comments/1uoh6t1/ghost_of_tsushima_all_bosses_lethal_difficulty_no/

When I knew this is a DLC area it was too late for me to turn back, had to chase down this hag. Not sure why a mage-class thought it would be a good idea to fight us in a close combat though :D

I'm at Act II now, roaming Iki island. Absolutely love parry-oriented combat style, but have a feeling that Sarugami armor kinda trivializes it a bit. So I think I'll stop using it. Nevertheless, I love this game very much and don't even know why I've been sleeping on it for so long

Saying this as a parry addict who came to this game from soulslikes. Sure, Sekiro, Lies of P and all similar games with a deflect-style-parry focused mechanics are much harder to master, but the slow motion effect (similar to GoW series) you get after a successful parry in BotW and TotK is so satisfying! In terms of dopamine boost and aura farm zelda-style parry, when you know you open up an enemy for a counter attack after a successful parry, is much more exciting. The only gripe I have with parry in Zelda - most of the times it only gives you style points, 'cause flurry rush is much more efficient. I wish you could do a critical strike (like when sneaking) after a successful parry to reward encourage more players to do parries

Saying this as a parry addict who came to this game from soulslikes

But it really need to spend some more time in the oven. Especially in terms of polishing the combat - hitboxes are clunky and bosses AI is sometimes questionable (bosses switching their focus on your ally without any reason was driving me crazy during demo). Many small bugs and clunky things, but as an overall idea - it's really great. I sincerely want to believe in this game and devs

I'm a parry addict and just finished playing TotK for the first time. What a game!

Lynels edition

Phantom Ganon edition

Ngl, spearman's timing was the most tricky

I'm a parry addict. Next I'm gonna look for all types of Phantom Ganon!

Damn I love parry in BoW/TotK, it's such a dopamine boost

I hope that main bosses will be mostly parry-able like in BotW as well

Good thing that this particular Lynel had only one (I think) new move, compared to BotW. But panic mode at the end was real lol. First impression - weapons have MUCH MORE durability in TotK and I absolutely love it - the only gripe I had with BotW is weapon breaking so fast.

So, my ultimate goal is to defeat all main and field bosses no damage, while parrying as much as I can!

PS: oh boy, I just saw you can attach Lynel's horn to A SHIELD to damage your opponent after successful parry. Can't wait to test it!!!

PPS: But now shield eventually breaks even after successful parries - guess I won't stack any more horns to shields... ((

This was my first playthrough and due to some stupid reasons I decided to do a "no HP increase run". Needless to say that it felt quite miserable (tons of stamina was very good for exploration tho) and, in fact, meaningless, as I've aimed for no damage tries on every major boss anyway. So yeah, at the end I felt very dumb for not using extra hearts (at least from main bosses) - definitely won't do it in TotK. ANYWAY. I really loved the combat, especially the fact that you can parry almost everything in this game (thought I hate the fact that melee weapon breaks so fast). Different Lyonel fights, elemental Ganons fights - absolutely peak and engaging, especially for parry-focused playstyle (I only used perfect dodge and rush when it was technically impossible to parry).

Usually when I play and stream I do in on PS5 so I can record an extra footage without camera and mic, but I've totally forgot Switch2 can do it as well (it can, right?). So please bear with my yapping in Japanese. I've added English subtitles to make it a bit more tolerable. Calamity Ganon was one of my favorite fights in the game and I got really excited in the end!

Just imagine the level of oppression pre-nerf haste builds could've been! But ngl, even now playing like this is very fun

Following my first ever playthrough of GoW2018, where I beat everything, including Valkyries, with fists only, I immediately jumped into GoWR. At first I was discouraged by the lack of shield-oriented skill tree and simplification of barehand playstyle. But then I've got Dauntless shield and everything clicked - barehand style in GoWR is amazing thanks to vast amount of parryable attacks every boss has. I've beat to a pulp every single boss in the game (yeah, I had to use weapon for gimmicks in some fights, like phase one Heimdal) and after beating Odin jumped right into uber bosses. First was Gna (for the sole reason I could fight her right away without doing any side quests or exploration). She might be my favorite boss fight in GoWR!

Then I proceed to Hrolf. Some of his attacks force you to use weapons to cancel them (fire/ice ball and bifrost aoe), but I figured out how to pull though without using weapon! But overall I didn't like the fight that much. Well, maybe if gave up on no damage goal, I would've love it more lol. In the end no damaging him took me 1hr 48mins.

GoW2018 and GoWR are amazing games and I don't know why I've slept so many years on them.

I loved the story, exploration and overall pacing in GoW2018 more, but GoWR combat was just on the other level - I am a parry junkie, so I enjoyed it so so so much!

Now I'm totally waiting for the next game!! And I love Laufey 100%!!