Heavenly Sword

Fighting enemies relies often on counter attacks. Nariko has access to a large amount of combos for each stance, but only a few of them can break guard. Attacks of stronger enemies highlight them in a colour and Nariko has to block, done automatically by not attacking, by choosing the correct stance. Blue is blocked with Speed, yellow with Power, and red attacks are unblockable. The latter are avoided by evading using the right analog stick. Most of the new combos are unlocked by collecting glyphs. These are stored in pots throughout levels and also refill health, but many are awarded based on the player's performance. At the end of every section, up to three glyph symbols can be earned, by not getting hit or countering a lot of attacks. Nariko also has a number of counter moves that need to be executed at a precise moment, and for each consecutive hit a bar at the bottom is filled up. This is used to execute Superstyles, a brutal attack from up close.