How Platinum Design a Combat System- Director's Cut (Patreon)

Hey! Welcome to another director’s cut!

One of the big things Platinum do well that I just didn’t quite have the space to talk about is the interesting way they try to make games accessible for people who might struggle with vision or hearing or both. Normally, so-called “hardcore” games don’t always cater to disabled audiences, so Platinum’s commitment to these audiences was really heartening to see during my time with their games, even if they’re not always successful- but more on that later.

In order for combat to be satisfying, and for all players to feel like they’re able to feel the way Platinum wants them to feel, games need to be able to communicate important information over the visual and auditory noise of combat. Often, just expecting players to pay attention to animations isn’t enough, particularly when there’s more than one foe on-screen or time-sensitive parries are involved. Even for people who have no trouble with visuals, sometimes there’s simply too much going on to spot every attack and opportunity to strike. Without properly signposting this stuff, more subtle attacks can get lost in the shuffle and so players will feel like they’re being attacked out of nowhere, even if they actually aren't, compromising the empowerment fantasy most Platinum games are built on.

The best way that Platinum fix this is, kind of counter-intuitively, to make each attack as distinctive, over the top and colourful as possible. In metal gear rising, countering enemy blows and knowing when enemy body parts are vulnerable to being sliced into bits with blade time is a huge part of the game, and so, these features are made as obvious as possible. When an enemy charges up an attack that can either be parried, they stop, flash red, make a noise and charge up for a little while before unleashing the attack, not only does this stand out against the fairly understated enemy palettes, but it also signifies which attacks can be countered and which ones can’t. Unblockable moves like the hammer soldier’s smash have a gold outline instead, and it’s usually a good sign that you need to get out of the way.

Similarly, when you stun an enemy such that they’re vulnerable to a blade time attack, there’s this big blue flash, which prompts you to press the button to start a little quicktime event where you can hack them into a million pieces. These big flashy moments help to subtly teach newer players that something turning blue means that it’s become vulnerable to blade time, and lets them gradually start working it into regular combos, chopping off enemy limbs to take them out of the fight and destroying armour to make baddies more vulnerable.

Not only do all of these status effects have a colour associated with them, they’re also accompanied by a Japanese symbol (which I’m unable to translate) to help distinguish them even further. All platinum games follow this pattern, enemies will make noise, flash a  particular colour and do insanely exaggerated animations before they attack to make sure that players can spot the move and react accordingly. This strategy makes it easier to anticipate moves, but crucially doesn’t affect the tactical side of the combat at all - shifting things in a more conceptual direction rather than relying on raw mechanical skill.

However, it’s on that note that I do have to mention some accessibility areas where Platinum fails. A lot of their combat, and in particular the quick-time events (which are designed to be beginner friendly) are heavily reliant on button mashing and quick, repeated inputs. From listening to friends with RSI, chronic pain and related conditions, these segments can be a nightmare to deal with, even if the actual combat is perfectly manageable. Simply adding alternate control schemes such as holding a button down would alleviate this concern immensely, and allow an even wider audience to appreciate Platinum’s games. 

We as a community have got a fair distance still to go when it comes to accommodating all possible players, but Platinum do appear to be leading the charge somewhat, in-fitting with their accessible mandate I talked about in the video itself. 

I will admit though that I’m no accessibility expert and I could’ve grossly misread Platinum’s design- if I have, sorry! And please do tell me where I’ve gone wrong, this is a topic I didn’t really have time to research and so your feedback/corrections are very much appreciated!