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Enemies exist to encourage/discourage various strategies (and to make the player feel smart among other reasons). Sekiro is largely built around parrying (and stealth). Let’s examine the EARLY GAME enemies and what they try to INVOKE from the player. #gamedesign #combatdesign
GRUNT - This enemy is helpless once he starts blocking Wolf’s attacks and will be Posture broken in a few hits. His only STRENGTH is taking advantage of a PASSIVE player. Once you block his opener, he’s hyper aggressive forcing the player to evade to mitigate Posture break. 1/2
He has a VARIED mix of opener attacks (different anticipation poses, slower/faster hit frames) whose sole PURPOSE is to trick you into parrying early so he can force you into block stun. If there are nearby enemies, a passive strategy will be less effective and dangerous. 2/2
GRUNT SPECIAL - This enemy’s aggression is basically the INVERSE of the Basic Grunt. He’ll usually stand back and strafe around encouraging you to attack him. Once he starts blocking, he’ll PARRY the player after a few blocks and immediately COUNTER attack. 1/2
Parrying this counter will open him for an instant kill. The timing of his counter is always the same to give the player mastery over the RHYTHM/TIMING. This enemy is a skill check (parrying a counter attack = instant kill) that the player can use to their advantage. 2/2
GRUNT STRONG - This enemy has a large Posture meter where mindlessly attacking is a lesser strategy. On his own, there's no penalty for mashing attack to kill it. Once this enemy is placed with aggressive enemies, the STRATEGY shifts to parrying its attacks to kill him faster.
SIMPLE FODDER - This enemy dies in ONE hit. To make up for this weakness, the Dog has virtually zero downtime/recovery when its attack is blocked or misses. It’ll also usually try to maintain a MINIMUM distance where Wolf’s basic attacks can’t reach. 1/2
The Dog’s run up/leap is a HUGE tell for the player to parry which makes for a satisfying interaction. Adding multiple dogs in an encounter increases the difficulty curve of timing the bite leap. Also, one hit enemies usually BAIT players into being GREEDY causing mistakes. 2/2
EARLY BRUTE - This enemy introduces a handful of new mechanics - barehanded attacks that penetrate block, Perilous (unblockable attacks) and hit “armor”. Hit “armor” is a fighting game term where a character continues their attack even when taking damage/being hit. 1/2
This enemy encourages the player to execute perfect parries or evade strategically (or use secondary weapons). The player simply cannot stand there and hold Block or attack with predictable patterns/cadences. 2/2
GRUNT PROJECTILE - Enemy design isn’t always about creating brand new characters with completely different behaviors. Tweaking an existing archetype and adding new properties helps the player’s mental load but keeps them engaged in finding new strategies/responses. 1/2
His weapon is melee/projectile based. Its counter attack is an unblockable projectile the player must evade. Also, this enemy outputs more damage, has a stronger Posture bar and different attack cadence. Keeps the player engaged even though the basic strategy is similar. 2/2
