Melee Overhaul Suggestion

[Norfair]

This is something I touched on back in my more general feedback posts, especially the first one that was sometime in January. It’s been in the back of my mind for quite a while, especially as we get more and more varied melee weapons to play with. So, bored one morning while killing time before it was time to leave, I wrote this up! Please enjoy.

 

Essentially, I would propose to make the various swords, staffs, staves, and various other melee weapons their own ‘weapon’, that is, it would be equip-able just like your primary and secondary weapons, and not an ‘on-demand’ thing. The usual “melee” with rilfe/pistol equipped could be replaced with either unarmed attacks (i.e. kicking, punching) or the ever popular rifle butt/pistol whip (which I would actually discourage, there’s plenty of that in every other third person shooter ever). Naturally, I would encourage DE, which is made of people far more creative than I to find a much better method than just a simple kick. The idea is, however, that with moving melee to its own “equipped” weapon, it can become a much deeper system over the current “quick attack” (largely useless for now on many enemies, but supposedly changing soon!) or “charge attack”. With an ‘equipped’ melee weapon, the current ‘melee’ key/button could be a secondary attack, perhaps a “strong” attack? Or, some other alternative. At any rate, regardless of the specifics, it could lead to at least a simple combo system. Specifically, I’m thinking of Team NINJA’s hack’n’slash series, Ninja Gaiden when I imagine this ‘simple combo system’; hopefully the name is recognizable enough that I don’t have to do into any deep detail to get the image across. To finish the thought, “fine aim” could be a third type of attack, or a ‘block/parry/counter’ function… that actually does what is advertised, unlike the current system (to my knowledge, it does little to nothing currently).

I make this suggestion/proposition because as the current system stands, it feels exceedingly shallow, for a Cyborg Space Ninja Slasher game anyway. Additionally, it feels tacked on in that the speed of weapon switching between firing a rifle and hacking away break immersion rather jarringly (your melee weapon literally appears in your hand).

 

I invite other Tenno to leave their own ideas and feedback about this proposal, but ask that you remain civil and polite. I would also ask that you try to stay on topic as much as you are able. Thanks for your cooperation!

[Zarrazheno]

I actually wanted this from the beginning. I've seen so many people enter War Frame and praise it for the melee. But it feels a little lackluster after a few hours. 

An overhaul would breath some air into it. 

[Lord.Finster]

Given the amount of melee weapons they bring out on a regular basis, the game's melee mechanic is comparatively lackluster.

 

Apart from the fact, that, mechanically, every longsword is practically a Skana reskin without a unique fighting style and thus not justifying a different weapon slot in my arsenal, my main problem is the unnatural feeling of my main gun teleporting to my back or secondary to my leg when I pull out my melee weapons.

 

I mean it's nice to try and pull of some gun kata but what would be even better is a fully fleshed out melle system with equipped melee weapons and a big amount of appealing animations that can be fully controlled by the player via movement and attack button combos.

It would be really nice if this game could be played as a shooter and a spectacle fighter without compromising both aspects.

 

Machete and Orthos are a good step in the right direction as they provide new animations and are thus fun to use. Now plz let me fully control these weps, instead of going through the motions until i finally get the stab or double swing that I want. If I want my Orthos just for the stab attack I should be able to to do so.

Edited June 27, 2013 by Lord.Finster

[inkias]

Even though I rarely use melee i do agree completly, it would be nice to have a different melee attacks instead of a simple slash back and forth. I do enjoy the different looks with the staff weapons but its stiil the same slash back and forth, granted the charge attack does do a little spin.It would make gameplay a bit more interesting if we were able to do combos.

[ElysianHarbinger]

Yeah! Sounds nice!

[ThinhMints]

Love this idea. I own Metal Gear: Revengeance and one thing I loved about it was Jetstream Sam's weapon and his attacks. After reading your post, I thought of how he sheathes his weapon and than attacked with it. Think that making a melee weapon your primary and secondary (your only weapon) would be a cool one. 
 

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