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[Bloodporne]

Nioh

Definitely for this gen. The combat system is a complete joy to play and tinker with in all regards.

The enemy variety flaws etc. are another story.

 

[SRTtoZ]

I'd have to put more time into Nioh as I just bought it on PC last night but it's pretty damn good and polished. Very different than Dark Souls but different does not mean worse.

 

[Mister Apoc]

Is Nioh as deep as Bloodborne?

 

[Renna Hazel]

Ninja Gaiden 2 for all time. Bayo 2 for this gen.

 

[Theognosis]

Odin Sphere for PS4. No clunky 3D action game can ever be as snappy as the 2D ones the fact that you don’t have to worry about your position in 3D space.

 

[Gilby]

Absolver this gen for me, easily. Gold-linking is genius (it's the Gears of War reload timer applied to EVERY attack, all with different timings to learn).

 

[FireSol]

Bloodborne/Dark Souls 3 anyone who thinks otherwise needs to get off this planet.

 

[geordiemp]

Ninja gaiden

 

[stranno]

Rebel Act Studios' Blade: The Edge of Darkness (Severance in USA) is in my opinion the best blade combat system ever, infinite times better than From Software's Souls series.

I also love the PlatinumGames' counter-time fighting system (seen in pretty much every game from them).

 

[Marvel]

For Honour

Metal Gear Rising

 

[Sailent]

Horizon definitely has great action combat this generation because all of it gels so well together, is fluid, responsive and fun which also makes it one of the best this generation. Very few games can add stealth, melee, bows and arrows, gadgets, traps, etc. and do it all to where as said above, can gel great together, be fluid, responsive and fun.

How does a game that can only run at 30 fps be responsive?

This Gen: None.
All time: I'd say Godhand or Metal Gear Rising

 

[kaydigi]

All time Final Fight 1. I know it’s just button mashing but man the thrill punching down bad guys Cody was epic in the arcades.

 

[samred]

Current-gen: The way Horizon combines combat, vulnerability, and hunting/trapping tactics is so cool and refreshing. Nioh is also a baller refinement of the Demon's archetype.

All-time: hard to understate how revelatory God of War 1 felt when it launched, even with Devil May Cry having established similar combat practices.

 

[AdamMcKraken]

Vermintide:

There is no other game I know where it's you who levels up by skill and not your character.
There are no abilities, no getting better armor (although weapons scale a little), here you just have to learn to dodge, block, attack patterns of the different weapons and how to effectively use them, also block cancel and to pair it with the ranged weapon that suits your playstyle.
For me this is the GODLY example of first person melee combat.

Spoiler

Also you can kill rat-men non-stop