You're right... but I don't want to be "good" at a game if I find the combat system to be a chore. Homecoming is not Bayonetta; it's not a game where the ultimate goal is to look flashy. So I have no desire to practice getting the timing on dodges exactly right.
*sigh* This line of thinking again? Nobody is advocating turning it into an action game or Bayonetta. You can have upgraded combat with exploration, freedom to run, and all that crap. Why do certain fans always have to think of combat enhancement as this "extreme" point of view as if it suddenly thrusts Silent Hill into action territory and have miniature panic attacks just thinking of it? Don't get how people keep thinking like this yet never complain about the first several games littering the levels with ammo and health so you could practically mow down most of the enemies that got in your way. Yes, some tweaks to the fighting are going to absolutely destroy the atmosphere, make it "flashy", and an action game. Let's save the melodrama.
I do appreciate gameplay as much as story. I just think that the gameplay in Homecoming is subpar comapred to earlier games. Trying to use the dodge button is too frustrating because the timing is too strict, trying to melee without the dodge button is frustrating because enemies are too fast and aggressive. There are tricks you can use by taking advantage of the enemy's AI at certain ranges, and using certain combos, but figuring these out is not intuitive or fun. Overall I think the combat is as sloppily designed as every other aspect of Homecoming obviously is.
The timing is not strict at all. You simply have to pay attention to what the monster is doing just like what you would do in the earlier games when attempting to melee fight them. Trying to melee without the dodge ability is stupid and of course you're going to have frustration because you're not playing the game properly. These are not difficult gameplay mechanics to get a grasp on. But unfortunately not everybody is going to be skilled enough to want to deal with them despite the fact that dispatching monsters in Homecoming doesn't take much skill to begin with. It just requires you to be patient and pay attention. You should at the very least not have any big problems playing through Normal because that one is rather easy. But apparently Homecoming could have used more action difficulty levels than just two in order to cover more bases.
Not the point. They add nothing to the game and have no reason to be there. Earlier Silent Hill games had very basic kinds of combos, and that's as far as it should ever go. I feel that "combos" detract from the atmosphere of the game, and afterall they serve no practical purpose except to make action games look more flashy.
This again? Flashy? They give the player more abilities to work with. If you're dealing with a slower enemy you can take your time using heavy attacks that deal more damage. If you're dealing with a more agile monster, then you switch to fast attacks. They have their uses. It's kind of odd you'd say they serve no purpose when you admitted that you felt the need to spam the knife and we all know why a lot of people use the knife. So to say the combos in Homecoming serve no purpose makes no sense.
First I disagree that it's easier, the timing is not easy at all considering the speed of the attacks. Second, why does Silent Hill need a "fluid" combat system? It's not supposed to be an action game. "Fluid" does not automatically equal better. I want the combat system in a Silent Hill game to feel real and visceral, but not fast paced or "fluid." Going for fluidity is going in the wrong direction, IMO.
First off, the timing is not hard at all. The fact that you said you needed to use the knife on the majority of enemies tells me the problem is that you're simply, for whatever reason, not good at the game. Secondly, can outgrow this outdated little mindset that a survival horror game need to have slow paced combat? Fluidity in fighting does make Silent Hill an action game. It's not suggesting throwing wave after wave of monsters like us. Just brush the combat up. You can still have your freedom to run like in Downpour. Why do SH fans have to consistently overreact like this? Homecoming is no more action oriented than SH3.
Sure, combat has always had an element of timing... that's only natural. But in the earlier games it was more organic and intuitive. You simply dodge by moving. In Homecoming, you have to rely more on the dodge button, which needs to be pressed at very specific times while holding a specific direction. It's still accomplishing the same basic thing, dodging, but now it feels less like a natural part of gameplay and more like a scripted video game event. Which would be fine if Silent Hill were trying to be a flashy action game, but it's not. And I don't feel that it should.
How was it more organic? Just because it was slower and more basic? That's hardly a good reason for it being "organic". Aside from combos, weak and strong attacks, and dodging what else is different about Homecoming's combat compared to the earlier entries? Not much of anything except ammo is scarcer to counteract the new aiming system. Sounds more like you're just overblowing the combat just because you didn't like it and couldn't get a grasp on for heaven knows what reason not because it actually took away from something.
Also, the monsters are way more aggressive, so you actually have less options when you fight them. In previous Silent Hills, combat was generally about timing your attacks so that you'd hit them before they hit you.
As far as fighting mechanics go, that's false. You have more options in dealing with them than in past games. While there are more scripted monsters you have to kill, you can still outrun the majority of them.
In Homecoming, they are aggressive and can't easily be stunned, so you are forced to get into a pattern of waiting for the monster to attack, countering, and then repeating this cycle.
Personally, I find it hard to take you seriously when you can't even play the game without spamming the knife which is the first sign that you're doing something wrong if you find you CANNOT kill enemies with any other weapon which you absolutely can. They can be easily stunned. But obviously the stronger weapons are going to stun them more.
They also tend to have more life, so combat is often about repeating a pattern over and over, especially on hard mode (although you should just be running away on hard mode so as not to deal with the atrocious combat.) So I'd say there's less flexibility and less options in Homecoming's style. I'd say it feels less natural, and more like a video game. And it's certainly not fun, at least not for me. It's a chore.
I'm still aware I'm playing a video game when I play any of them. You just come across as unnecessarily nitpicky about atmosphere. Like you need to have this, this, this, this, and that in order to immerse yourself into the game. While I can understand in some respects, Homecoming's combat just isn't one of them. I agree the game suffers from a lack of atmosphere. However, it's more due to uninspired monster designs and environments along with lack of scares and disturbing imagery.
I agree with you that strafing is a good addition, though. I like tank controls and I feel like they need to be in future games. They take getting used to, but they are also a natural control scheme for when you have cinematic camera angles, which Homecoming also didn't try to do.
How are tank controls more "natural"? It seems more like another case of nostalgia and fear of change than it being a legitimate case of something being "natural". Fatal Frame already proved you could have rich atmosphere and fear without tank controls. I can adapt to tank controls myself, but there's no reason to bring them back. They only make the game clumsier and SH doesn't need to consistently cookie cut its gameplay to be feel scary, "natural", or immersive. It's flawed thinking and the type that needs to stay out of the series because it holds the games back. We can't keep recycling the same gameplay concepts over and over. That's why I found SH4 intriguing because it opted to do something different even if it didn't exactly fulfill its premise.
That's another thing I hated about Homecoming, having the camera always planted firmly behind your head is boring. Cinematic camera angles really add a lot to atmosphere, and tank controls are a natural compliment to them.
Downpour solved this problem by having cinmatic camera angles on occasion and without dumbing itself back down to unnecessary tank controls. Homecoming's default behind Alex's back perspective isn't all that different from Harry's perspective in SH1. The only different being the lack of tank controls and being able to control the camera.
They can be awkward at times, so I think the ideal control system for future games is a hybrid system where the d-pad is tank controls and the analog stick is analog movement. Fatal Frame sort of toyed with this idea by giving you analog movement and a button that made you run straight forward, and I think it was on the right track.
This is actually a bad idea. Using the dpad for tank controls just takes away more buttons that could be used for other things such as quick healing, flashlight, or whatever else the developer can use them for.
Well, I never said it should be stripped down. I just said it should be kept simple. You keep using that word "evolve," which I guess is supposed to mean "improve," but keep this in mind... just thoughtlessly adding more mechanics is not necessarily an improvement. Sometimes you can improve things by simplifying, or just refining what is already there. If you really want to improve Silent Hill's melee combat, I think you should start by making weapons behave more realistically.
Homecoming already made the weapons realistic. Knife slashes very fast and the heavier weapons take more time to swing and deal more damage. You can combat this being too overpowering by borrowing Downpour's "one melee weapon at a time" and "breakable weapons" concept. It's the most logical approach with falling back on the cliche idea of overly simplifying combat and crippling controls.
Rather than trying to make combat flashy and fluid, make it feel more visceral and real. Rather than having combos, have meaty hits that do realistic damage with realistic consequences. Now THAT would be true evolution.
You mean stuff like the character limping upon being attacked too much or something? You have to be more clear. If so, SM had a somewhat similar idea with Harry limping and running slower upon being attacked too much. I wouldn't have a problem with that idea. But it's not exactly a mind blowing idea either. You complain about how combos aren't original, but bodily damage isn't either. It's not always about originality. You also have to take into account functionality as well. Even if there are ideas used by other games, if they can really lend themselves well to the series then why not implement them? Give the player more things to do.