[CONCEPT] for souls-like combat

 So nice you're gonna design twice. I decided to revisit the souls-like concept and this time expand on the mechanics, because damn it i liked the idea! So let's break it down:

Nowadays, when designing combat, i tend to gravitate towards aggression. As a player i am naturally aggressive and my highest points are the rush of overwhelming any foe with reckless abandon, which should not surprise you since i am a sol badguy main in guilty gear xrd rev 2 and a romero evangelist in hunt showdown. In terms of feeling, i prefer a balance between heavy aggressive and fast aggressive, which will be my goal to achieve with today's design.

Also any controls referenced will be using a controller and specifically the XBOX 360 one. What can you do, i'm a PC kiddie.

Another thing i would like to accomplish is give the players a slew of options to express themselves, like dark souls, but unlike dark souls i want to make every choice meaningful and impactful (looking at you, 3/4ths of the weapons and like half of the spells). I would also like to encourage the players to try out a multitude of gear during their playthrough (if not each and every weapon) and i would also like to tackle a dark souls boogeyman, that being ranged combat. I see a lot of untapped potential. Imagine my disappointment when i saw that you could wield a bow on horseback in elden ring only for it to be completely useless!

Ok so let's get the basics out of the way first, those being things that won't be carried over from dark souls. Number one, armor. Sorry fashion souls! Number two, spells. When i said range i meant weapons, spells and magic are pretty cool but i am not going to compromise the design by adding things that just don't fit. Not that there's anything wrong with spells, i just didn't think of them when coming up with the design. Another thing getting removed is dual wielding. Whether a weapon is wielded with one hand or two hands or there is a weapon on each hand, all of that is gonna depend on the weapon equipped. Dual-handing is kinda underwhelming on its own in dark souls, since it's a choice between using a shield and a weapon or two-handing it to get an objectively better weapon. It makes no sense to just have a sword in one arm without dual-handing it. I haven't really thought about consumables either so i'm gonna try to tackle healing in a way that does not require an item.

The basic controls are as follow: left stick for movement, right stick to move the camera, pressing the right stick locks onto the enemy, all the usual. The lower face button (A) crouches, the left face button (X) interacts with NPCs and doors, the right face button (B) dodges and the upper face button (Y) jumps. The bumpers and triggers all do different things depending on the weapon equipped. Start accesses the menu and i don't really see select needing to do anything, or the directional buttons for that matter. 

The striking addition of course is crouch. I like in fighting games blocking high and your enemy punching low going through your guard, so i'd like to see how that would work in a 3d fight. A crouched stance also lets us add even more moves to the moveset of every weapon which is always a plus. The rest of the controls are weapon dependent, so let's get into that.

My goal with the weapons is to basically take the bloodborne approach, with each weapon having a unique moveset (and unique feeling) to it, but taking it to its logical extreme. Here are some:

• Halberd: A normal halberd. Wielded with two hands and normally held in front of the player. The weapon has a sweetspot (which begins at the end of the halberd's spike and ends at the end of the axhead portion) and if the player hits an enemy with the haft, the weapon deals almost no damage. While standing upright or crouching, pressing RB makes the player thrust the halberd forward. Pressing LB makes the player pull the halberd back. Pressing RT makes the player swing the halberd from right to left. Pressing LT makes the player swing the halberd from left to right. Thrusting back and then front will result in the second strike dealing more damage due to the distance travelled by the spike. Trusting back while the enemy is close enough to the weapon's sweetspot and blocking will pull on their shield, leaving them open to an attack. Thrusting back while crouching and the enemy is in the weapon's sweetspot will pull on their leg, making them fall down and open up for a critical strike. Pressing any of the triggers while a swing is mid-way through will chain into the next attack, letting the player keep cleaving through enemies. Pressing any of the attack buttons while running or in mid-air will make the player hold the halberd over their head and bring it crashing down. The attacks are the same while crouched, but they all hit low.
• Katzbalger and Buckler: On one hand a greatknife and on the other a buckler. While standing, pressing RB will swing the katzbalger. RT acts like a dark souls 3 heavy attack, with the swing being slower, more damaging and being able to be held for even more damage. LB launches a quick strike with the buckler which, while not dealing a lot of damage, is good for interrupting your opponent. Holding LT brings the buckler close to the weapon. Launching any attack also swings the buckler, which parries the first attack it catches. If an attack is successfully parried, the rest of the katzbalger attacks come out faster if they are inputted the moment the greatknife connects with the enemy and LB changes to a quick thrust with the katzbalger, which acts similarly to the buckler strike, simply dealing more damage. This effect lasts until the player is hit or until any attack animation finishes. While crouching, RB and RT act the same, simply hitting low. Pressing LB will launch an uppercut with the buckler which, if an enemy has been struck with an attack already, knocks them off balance and opens them for a critical attack. Pressing LT will have the player raise the buckler over their head, catching the first attack and parrying. If the parry is successful, the player dashes in front and, if close enough to the enemy, circles around them. The katzbalger and buckler do not have a running attack. Pressing any of the attack buttons while running will bring up the buckler for a parry. Pressing any of the attack buttons while in the air will swing the katzbalger downward.
• Axe and Javelin: The player holds an axe on one hand and a javelin on the other. While standing, pressing RB will chop with the axe, with RT making the player take a step forward while bringing the axe overhead to chop from above. If an enemy is blocking, the axe catches and lowers their shield, opening them up for attack. Pressing LB will poke with the javelin from range, serving as an interrupt, since the attack doesn't deal much damage. Pressing LT, the player throws the javelin, dealing damage to any enemy it strikes. Pressing LB with no javelin in hand will make the player punch forward making the interrupt even faster and deal even less damage. If an enemy is blocking, the player will grab their shield and pull it aside, exposing them for an attack. Pressing LT with no javelin in hand does nothing unless it is pressed in front of the tossed javelin, picking it up. If it is stuck in an enemy's shield, the player pushes the javelin through the shield, stabbing the enemy and retrieving the javelin. If the javelin is stuck inside an enemy, the player violently rips it off, dealing damage. While crouching, pressing RB will thrust with the axehead as an interrupt, hitting low. Pressing RT will swing the axe upward, hitting low. Pressing LB will swing with the javelin, having more range than hitting with RB but less damage. Pressing LT will toss the javelin normally. After the javelin is tossed, pressing LB turns into a grab, with the player grabbing an enemy's foot and pulling it to make them fall prone and leave them open for a critical attack. Pressing LT will retrieve the javelin normally and will do the same attacks as normal. Pressing any attack button while running or in the air will have the player swing the axe down to chop at enemies.

It is now 8 hours later. I would've have written more weapons and some enemies but that's all you get for today. Maybe one day i revisit this concept again. Au revoir!