- Primary Subject: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Combat
- Key Update: The article argues that the parry mechanic in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is shallow and detracts from the combat's potential depth.
- Status: Final
- Last Verified: 2026-07-10
- Quick Answer: This article critiques the combat system in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, arguing that its overreliance on the parry mechanic hinders true depth.
I really enjoyed Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, giving it a 9/10 in my review. That said, one of the reasons it didn’t make it all the way to a stellar and almost deserved perfect score is the combat. It’s not bad per se, but it showcases that not every action game requires a parry mechanic.
Resynced’s combat is somewhat simple; you have basic light/heavy attacks, and a few tricks like leg sweeps, Spartan kicks, rope darts, and pistols to mix and match as you try to deplete an enemy’s stun bar before you can go for a few strikes or a deadly takedown that will instantly see you come out on top.
Parrying is part of the combat system, as enemies will attack you with strikes that can be parried (blue flash) or unblockable attacks (red flash), keeping you on your toes as you need to identify when to try and parry or dodge. But, to be honest, it’s so shallow it just made me wish it wasn’t there to begin with.
Melee combat, at its core, can be dumbed down to waiting idle for a blue flash and parrying for a quick takedown; depending on whatever weapons you equip, you can consistently abuse this to make encounters against multiple enemies at once a complete cakewalk. Take, for instance, Naoe’s legendary swords, which can let you chain four total takedowns every time you manage one. That’s four instant kills with little to no effort, or forcing you to engage with the entire combat system as a whole.
Action games have defaulted to parrying mechanics for far too long, and it seems developers have quickly become accustomed to using this basic tool as a means to make players feel good at the cost of combat depth.
Parrying, inherently, forces you to take a second, stopping everything else you could be doing while you wait for that perfect moment to go on the offense. It’s why developers like Suda51 are so against it. Done wrong, it’s just a cheap mechanic that could render all other system mechanics useless—and that’s kinda what happened with Black Flag Resynced’s combat.
I recently interviewed Yacht Club Games’ founder Sean Velasco, and he stated the combat in Mina the Hollower, their recently released indie gem, was about player positioning and having them rethink their approach to combat in action-adventure games.
Wouldn’t it be cooler if Edward Kenway didn’t have a parry, and instead the game forced you to think critically about how to approach each face-to-face encounter, utilizing all the tools at your disposal? Instead, most combat can be solved by going straight into hordes of enemies, waiting for the blue flash, and tapping a button that will grant you a few easy takedowns with no fuss.
Parrying in video games can still be cool. But developers, please, let’s not overuse it. And that’s it. Stick with us at Gfinityesports.com: your go-to source for all things Assassin’s Creed.