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[Shotgun Kiss]

I started Metal Gear Rising the other day. I like it, but holy fuck, it does a shit job of teaching you how to play.

I understand that you need to try and perform Zandatsu when possible, but my biggest problem is parrying. I can seem to pull it off most of the time against standard enemies, as it seems just mashing the light attack button while moving the control stick towards them works. But whenever I'm up against a strong miniboss or actual boss, I can't seem to counter at all, even if I try and time it. A lot of enemies also seem to arbritarily decide when they can block my attacks.

I just beat Monsoon and finished the third chapter, and went through god knows how many of the items that automatically heal you when you run out of health. I couldn't counter him for shit, couldn't even dodge most of his attacks, and I couldn't figure out what made him vulnerable (as half the time he can just split himself up to avoid your attacks).

When I'm up against enemies I can handle OK, I really like the game, but there are too many times where I feel like I'm just bashing my head against a wall until the wall gives way. I mean I'm almost halfway through the game, and I still don't feel like I have a grasp on how to play it properly.

I found Wonderful 101 dofficult to get into until some people here pointed me in the direction of an awesome beginner guide on YouTube (which I now think is required viewing for anybody playing W101). I was wondering if there was sometging similar, as I have a feeling I'd love this game if I felt I was actually conpetent at it.

 

[Abilidebob]

Countering is all about timing, not too late, not too early.
If an enemy starts to glow yellow, then you can't counter the hit it's going to do.
For Monsoon you need to counter like crazy, constantly.
It's a good idea to try beating him again and again to get a hang of the counter.

 

[Sinatar]

Parry is surprisingly simple once you understand it.

You hit towards plus attack as one motion, you can't hold towards and mash attack, it needs to be done together.

If you've played dark souls it's very similar to how you do kicks or jump attacks.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

If you still aren't countering properly, go back and play the tuturial level and practice.

 

[Coffee Dog]

The entire game is about parrying. Get a handle on it before you progress further.

 

[RecRoulette]

I got to the final boss of the game before I learned how to parry. I highly recommend that you stop now and replay the wolf boss fight (Where the game "forces" you to learn how to parry) until you get it down. You can brute force your way to the end of the game without learning how to parry, but goddamn you will hate yourself for it.

 

[Joqu]

I don't know if his was the Wonderful 101 video you watched, but ChipCheezum's really helping out with that game. I didn't need his for Rising though. But here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7IlIUKP64o

But yeah, replaying the tutorial would be a good idea. Just go against a regular enemy until you've got the parrying down on him. Really the Blade Wolf fight is your test for that stuff, I'm surprised you had the patience to play all the way to Monsoon without having a good handle on it.

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

Parry is surprisingly simple once you understand it.

You hit towards plus attack as one motion, you can't hold towards and mash attack, it needs to be done together.

If you've played dark souls it's very similar to how you do kicks or jump attacks.

Ah, I've just been holding towards the enemy and pressing the light attack button rathet than timing the movement. But strangely, that seemed to work against Blade Wolf. I beat Blade Wolf on my first go, and parried it a lot.

I'll play around in the tutorials, and maybe fight Monsoon again a few times. How do I go back and replay specific areas/bosses?

 

[Hypron]

On top of what other people have said, also learn how to dodge (square+X). Dodging is really important because some attacks can't be blocked or parried and it prevents enemies from jumping back to avoid your riposte. As a consequence, it allows you to keep the pressure on and get lots of damage in. It's actually better to use the dodge against blade wolf than the parry because of that.

 

[jetsetnickradio]

Your entire first playthrough of the game is basically the tutorial. The more you play it the more you'll understand the mechanics. A lot of it comes from watching the enemies attack animations and trial and error. I didn't actually master the parry until probably the last boss fight.

 

[Ricky Ricardo]

I got to the final boss of the game before I learned how to parry. I highly recommend that you stop now and replay the wolf boss fight (Where the game "forces" you to learn how to parry) until you get it down. You can brute force your way to the end of the game without learning how to parry, but goddamn you will hate yourself for it.

This was me on my first playthrough and phase 2+ Armstrong opened a can of whooping on me. 2nd and 3rd playthrough clicked though and it felt much more fluid going through.

Perfectly parrying Monsoon is still impossible for me though, toss that achievement.

 

[FlashbladeGAF]

Dont mash...
practice parrying against LQ-84 (aka blade wolf)

 

[Abilidebob]

Ah, I've just been holding towards the enemy and pressing the light attack button rathet than timing the movement. But strangely, that seemed to work against Blade Wolf. I beat Blade Wolf on my first go, and parried it a lot.

I'll play around in the tutorials, and maybe fight Monsoon again a few times. How do I go back and replay specific areas/bosses?

If it's not shown on the main Menu, input the Konami Code at the "Press Start to Play" and I think the option to select bosses and so will unlock.

 

[Hypron]

This was me on my first playthrough and phase 2+ Armstrong opened a can of whooping on me. 2nd and 3rd playthrough clicked though and it felt much more fluid going through.

Perfectly parrying Monsoon is still impossible for me though, toss that achievement.

Monsoon is actually fairly simple if you have the right technique. Fully upgraded pincer blades will tear right through him.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

On top of what other people have said, also learn how to dodge (square+triangle).

It's Square + X (i.e. light attack and jump simultaneously).

 

[Ala Alba]

Monsoon is actually fairly simple if you have the right technique. Fully upgraded pincer blades will tear right through him.

Um, I'm pretty sure you can't buy the pincer blades until after the monsoon fight.

 

[Hypron]

Um, I'm pretty sure you can't buy the pincer blades until after the monsoon fight.

The guy I was replying to wanted to get the trophy for no damaging monsoon, you usually wouldn't go for that on your first play through.

It's Square + X (i.e. light attack and jump simultaneously).

My bad!

 

[Yudoken]

Just parry everthing

 

[Ala Alba]

The guy I was replying to wanted to get the trophy for no damaging monsoon, you usually wouldn't go for that on your first play through.

Oh, I see. Sorry, that makes sense.

 

[nynt9]

When you see the attack coming, you need to flick the analog towards the enemy (not hold) and press circle at the exact same time. Mashing circle or holding the analog will make you fail.

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

When you see the attack coming, you need to flick the analog towards the enemy (not hold) and press circle at the exact same time. Mashing circle or holding the analog will make you fail.

But then why has doing just that been working for me just fine against basic enemy grunts? That's bad design if the game teaches you that doing something is OK against normal enemies, but then it doesn't work against strong enemies/bosses, and you're not informed of an alternative.

Again, I had no problem against Blade Wolf. I could parry him just fine even by holding and mashing.

In any case, thanks for the replies; I'll definitely be going back to the tutorials.

 

[Seraph_Nicholas]

Just keep smashing your face into that wall. The bewildered first run is important. The final trial by fire will make you good enough for hard, and that's when you should start worrying more about reading enemies, i-frames, and chasing S ranks.

 

[matrix-cat]

Again, I had no problem against Blade Wolf. I could parry him just fine even by holding and mashing.

Are you sure about that? Because that's absolutely not how the mechanic works. Every time you want to parry an individual attack, you have to push the stick towards the enemy and press the light attack button at the same time. Every attack. If you're parrying a three-hit combo, you need to push the stick and press Square, push the stick and press Square, push the stick and press Square three distinct times. It works exactly the same way for every enemy and every attack in the game (except the unblockable ones, obviously).

The timing window is very generous for a regular parry, but for a perfect parry (where Raiden automatically counter attacks) you need to be much tighter with your timing.

 

[GuardianE]

But then why has doing just that been working for me just fine against basic enemy grunts? That's bad design if the game teaches you that doing something is OK against normal enemies, but then it doesn't work against strong enemies/bosses, and you're not informed of an alternative.

Again, I had no problem against Blade Wolf. I could parry him just fine even by holding and mashing.

In any case, thanks for the replies; I'll definitely be going back to the tutorials.

The timing is just more generous against certain enemies than others. The parry is also stricter on higher difficulties. Maybe you think that holding the direction worked while mashing, but I think it was more likely that you just pressed the direction super early and held it, and it worked for you.

Some general parry advice:

• A Parry is performed by TAPPING towards the enemy + light attack during the startup and active frames of an enemy's attack. Do not hold directions. Do start from neutral.
• You must Parry in the direction of the enemy, not necessarily the direction of the attack.
• You must press toward + light attack for EVERY hit. This means, if a move strikes Raiden three times, you must press towards + light three times, timed for each hit.
• The Parry is simply a regular block if not timed perfectly. If you time the Parry with the very moment that Raiden will get struck, you'll get a Perfect Parry. Timing is less generous on the harder difficulties.
• A Perfect Parry will result in a powerful auto-counter slash by Raiden that will typically stun enemies, setting them up for Zandatsu. While you're learning the timing of the Perfect Parries, the general rule of thumb is to attempt Parry earlier rather than later. If you make a mistake, you'll still get the block.
• You can cancel almost any light attack into the Parry.
• You can cancel a Parry with Defensive Offense.
• Aerial Perfect Parries (must be bought in the shop) will hit enemies that otherwise dodge the the grounded Perfect Parry counterattack (such as Geckos).

Other tips:

• You can click the stick to snap the camera behind Raiden.
• You can look at your movelist under HELP in the pause menu.
• Set the camera sensitivity to setting 8 or so.
• The Parry and Perfect Parry mechanics are the foundation of the entire game.
• As soon as the store is available, purchase "Defensive Offense". This is a short dash slash with generous invincibility frames to avoid otherwise unblockable attacks (beams, fire, explosions, grabs/throws). The majority of attacks can be canceled into Defensive Offense, so you don't have to let up the offensive.
• Zandatsu's restore all fuel cell gauge and health. The game is set up where you can Zandatsu every enemy in a engagement and recovery whatever energy you need.
• Regular fodder enemies can be Zandatsu'd right away. Tougher enemies will either need to be stunned via Perfect Parry or you need to do enough damage to body parts (body parts will have a mild blue glow if they can be severed via Blade Mode).
• Blade mode camera and the slice angle can be controlled with both thumbsticks. You can press an attack button to actually perform the slice - X for horizontal and Y for vertical. If you line up the initial cut with the sticks, just press an attack button for the surgical slice. Once you've hit the red box target, you can "let'er rip" with the slashes... they won't destroy the spine, but do add to your combo/score.
• You can cancel anything into Blade Mode. This is useful for canceling the recovery on slower moves.
• Sometimes certain moves will initiate a slowdown and there will be a blue haze over the screen. This usually indicates a good Zandatsu opportunity, since certain moves will line up easy Zandatsus. Examples are the full L aircombo or running H.
• Falling Lightning, despite the name, is the easiest way to take out airborne opponents. Purchase it from the shop. This autotracking divekick sets up Zandatsus perfectly against the vulture-types.

If you're having difficulty figuring out what to do against certain enemies, the game tends to use colors and sounds as cues. Like in the above, blue means Zandatsu, yellow means dodge. Against Monsoon, his purple haze effect means he'll dodge your attacks. Specifically

Spoiler

a radio conversation tells you that you can use EMP grenades on him. Another hint is that EMP grenades are dropped throughout the fight.

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

Got a chance to play a little bit last night, and Did a lot better than I was previously. Knowing how to parry properly makes a huge difference. I had to fight a GRAD, and I absolutely curbstomped it, whereas my first encounter with a GRAD had me retrying about 20 times before I managed to beat it. Thanks all.

 

[Jintor]

Ah, I've just been holding towards the enemy and pressing the light attack button rathet than timing the movement. But strangely, that seemed to work against Blade Wolf. I beat Blade Wolf on my first go, and parried it a lot.

Blade Wolf's attacks aren't as 'precise' as Monsoon's (that is, they have a larger block window/opportunity for you to block them) so it's a lot easier to trigger blocks against his longer attacks by just spamming the inputs. Monsoon is supposed to be the final exam for parrying (insofar as the entire game is).

Also, if you don't have it, buy offensive-defence (A+X) move. It has slight invincibility frames and will let you sidestep enemies.

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

Blade Wolf's attacks aren't as 'precise' as Monsoon's (that is, they have a larger block window/opportunity for you to block them) so it's a lot easier to trigger blocks against his longer attacks by just spamming the inputs. Monsoon is supposed to be the final exam for parrying (insofar as the entire game is).

Also, if you don't have it, buy offensive-defence (A+X) move. It has slight invincibility frames and will let you sidestep enemies.

I bought that early on, but wondered why it wasn't working. Turns out I forgot to equip it.

Just beat chapter 4, and after learning how to parry and knowing more about the mechanics, I found it relatively straightforward, and a lot more enjoyable. Fighting the AI clone of Monsoon really put it in perspective, as I absolutely wrecked him.

Platinum absolutely knock it out of the fucking park when it comes to designing action-based fighting mechanics, but holy shit are they bad at explaining them. I had a similar issue in getting into Wonderful 101, which I loved once I knew ehat I was doing. And I don't know why they seem to insist on making dodge moves unlockables, when they should be part of your basic skillset.

In any case, I'm fucking loving this game bow. Looking forward to playing Bayonetta afterwards.

 

[Enco]

Hated the wolf fight but kept pushing forward. Hated the bosses after but I was dedicated.

Then I was expected to beat the same bosses again and in a row? LMAO. Straight deleted that shit. Ain't nobody got time for that.

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

Hated the wolf fight but kept pushing forward. Hated the bosses after but I was dedicated.

Then I was expected to beat the same bosses again and in a row? LMAO. Straight deleted that shit. Ain't nobody got time for that.

That's probably where I would have thrown in the towel had this thread and the video posted above not taught me how to play properly. Once I did, those two repeat boss fights were easy and over in no time.

Ironically, you're close to the end of the game. I made my post prior to this one after beating that bit, and I'm currently watching the credits. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 are incredibly short.