I don't understand all this bitching about the aggressiveness of the combat. It's the least of this game's problem. Even if you suck and can't git gud the game gives you so much shit to fuck up mobs and even bosses i would hardly call this game unfair, and as pointed out, even vanilla melee got extra options, like posture breaking, guard counters and jump attacks with bonus critical or whatever they do.
It's not the aggressiveness per se. It's the shape taken by this aggressiveness versus the tools possessed by the player. Let's compare dealing with incoming attacks by way of dodging in Elden Ring, versus the same thing in Nioh.
TL;DR: in Elden Ring, you mostly wait while it's the enemies' turn, then take your turn, provided the enemies don't suddenly decide to dash half the world away or get some hyper-armor. While in Nioh you're almost always doing something active
even when dodging, something that will put you ahead of the enemy.
In Elden Ring dodging is almost purely a passive option. Which seems fine enough, but even if you've perfectly dodged a series of attacks, what has happened? Depending on the boss' attack or combos and a bit of RNG you've spent upwards of 20 seconds pressing the same dodge button in the same manner; and during that time you've depleted a vital resource, stamina, about which the boss feels no concern whatsoever because he has
unlimited stamina. So you've dodged everything perfectly and yet, all in all, you're worse than before, with no recourse. You can extend the duration of your i-frames with the Crucible Feather Talisman, and you also have Quickstep, Bloodhound Step, and Raptor Of The Mists.
Now for comparison, Nioh 1&2.
First of all, enemies have actual, visible stamina in those games. That is a massive difference, because they can't attack forever and again without consequences. Even the most busted human bosses in Dream Of The Nioh have to stop at one point and that's an actual, out-of-breath stopping point, not a gotta-pretend-the-boss-can't-attack-for-a-couple-of-seconds moment like in Elden Ring.
Also the dodge timing in Nioh is very tight, and no matter your equipment you have multiple types of dodges available at any given time. In Low Stance, you have a very short, tight dodge with 10 invicibility frames (compared to a whopping 26 frames in Elden Ring!) which you can chain to another dodge that has only 8 i-frames, but you can act quickly when coming out of them; in Mid Stance, you have a short dodge (10 i-frames) followed by a roll (18 i-frames) but a longer recovery; in High Stance you have a single, slow roll (20 i-frames) that has a very long, dangerous recovery. (also of note: extended Dodge Invulnerability adds 3 i-frames across the board.)
That alone already gives you more options, since every dodge will leave you closer or farther to the ennemy and leave you with more or less time to act afterwards. Meaning that while still a passive option at its core, it's already more involved. And in fact much more involved, since to access all that you actually have to change your stance on the fly, reacting to exactly which attack or combo is coming towards you.
Of course dodging in Nioh, like in Elden Ring, also consumes stamina (ki). But with a special input called Ki Pulse you can actually recover
instantly most of the stamina you've used while dodging! So the enemy has spent a bit of his ki when attacking you, while you have dodged it all and you've already recouped your losses. And this Ki Pulse can also be used to dispel the Yokai Realms that slow you down, meaning dodging is not merely a passive action anymore, you're doing
more, and you're coming out ahead.
On top of that, if you're using a sword or a spear, you can also get a special sidestep with 15 i-frames. And with some weapons like the sword, odachi, or tonfas, and their respective skills like Mind's Eye, Swallow's Wing, or Demon Dance, you can cancel out of your attacks into dodges. Add a grace bonus like Death Dancer which augments your damage when you attack without having been hit or having blocked, and you're highly encouraged to dodge and keep the pressure on.
Still on top of that, the dodge input in Nioh is like in Elden Ring, that is with a negative edge. But if you press dodge while holding block, you will dodge on a
positive edge. Meaning that you can chose whether you prefer the slight delay in reaction time intrinsic to a negative edge, or if you prefer the tight response of a positive edge but risk blocking a hit if your timing is off. Again, choice and possibilities.
You could also dodge by using a Yokai Skill. Enki will see you jumping very high in the air then attack; Waira will make you disappear underground then inflict damage when you resurface; Ongyoki will make you completely invisible. Or you could dodge by using the Feral Counter, which works as a cancel out of everything.
And that's just a short version of what dodging is like in Nioh. I'm not even gonna enter into the vast domain of blocks and parries and counters. And with the amazing system of Yokai skills, you can do everything from simply repositioning to chasing and damaging a boss who darted to the other side of the arena. Maliket jumps back five miles away? Not a problem in Nioh 2: chase him down instantly with Lightning Gods of Yomi or Kinki.
Like Nioh, Sekiro was fantastic for that; every defensive option was also offensive in some way. By returning to the DarkSouls x Bloodborne formula, FromSoft went backwards with Elden Ring.
