It’s probably a really specific thing I’m looking for: after playing Xenoblade Chronicles, I’ve been craving for a game with similar combat, but with greater focus on positioning around enemies and I can’t find much.
The other games closest to what I’m looking for that i can think of would be Final Fantasy XIV and Monster Hunter (especially before GU and World), but I’ve played enough of them to be a bit burnt out. Another game I though would be similar is Atelier Yumia, but it ended up feeling a bit shallow.
Any recommendations?
It’s less important in the newer games, since the monsters are less predictable and their attacks track a lot, and the hunters get parries or other options (in GU and Rise in particular), but you often need to position yourself defensively to preemptively avoid attacks and usually keep attacking. For example: the Rathian charge is instant, so you should keep to her side to avoid it and her other frontal attacks like the fireballs.
Pretty often you could just walk out of attacks if you knew they were coming.
Hmm… this is common in action games and soulslikes, I think: Arkham in Devil May Cry 3 and Centipede Demon in Dark Souls come to mind. Those fights are all about positioning.
I feel as if this is a common solution to large boss fights in most games with melee combat; whereas humanoid enemies can typically either quickly turn, do sweeping 360 attacks, or teleport behind you (oh hi Vergil) so it’s less about positioning and more about pattern recognition and quick reflexes.
That said, it’s possible I misunderstood what you mean because I haven’t played older MH games or Xenoblade.
I realize I’m being a bit too vague, as I’m not sure how to describe clearly what I’m thinking about.
You mentioned both DMC3 and Dark Souls and while I don’t remember very well either fight, I do think that DMC3-5 (and Bayonetta too sometimes) allow you to do what I’m thinking about with most bosses, while normal encounters I feel are more about crowd control. On the other hand, Dark Souls and the other soulslike I played feel more focused on reacting to attacks, like the newer MH games.