Just saw the video and it looks really great. I've always thought in my head with warband, how in the world do you keep direction based melee attacks/blocks and eliminate the pretty horrible animation feint spam, and bam, here you go.
The more I kick the system around in my head the more I think you have a really great base here. Sure, the numbers will have to get tweaked around and all that like any game, but the idea of the mechanics feel solid.
I like that switching stances takes time and it is controlled, meaning you can make it take more or less time depending on the feel you are going for. I think it is really nice to have 8 attack directions yet cover them with 4 passive stances, but you have to risk to get the perfect block. I thought having the 360 directions blocking/attacking just added complexity and no depth, but this system seems nip that in the bud.
I was going to be concerned that it might be too easy to block in time, but you guys mentioned there is a feint mechanic, and really to feint you change stances, then attack, so it's just adding in some latency to changing directions, which doesn't have to be that much at all.
The stance switch time might be everything really, I can see the idea of needing to balance your need to swing the correct direction vs the stance the opponent is using and when to mirror them or go off their stance. The time you have to flow from one stance to the other will determine if you have to passively wait for them or can start leading them in a stance switch so they'll have to follow to block you or get hit.
That speed will determine how well you can defend multiple opponents, if you have a long time to stop stances you need that much more space between your opponents. I mean in warband you only beat multiple opponents by managing how many can attack you at once and how far away they are, two good players that can swing simultaneously will get you fast, but if you can time it so you parry one, then the other, with enough time to adjust your block, you are good. You should be able to do the same here, though one of those blocks might just be a passive rather than a good active one due to time, giving a bigger stamina penalty.
Speaking of which, I think the stamina you have in seems like it's just going to be your secondary resource manager. Your 'special abilities' are sprints, lunges and whatever else they add. It seems like the more tired you get the less special abilities you have, but you should be able to move around and swing just like a normal player through most fighting, meaning if you have good swordwork/blocking, you should be fine in a low stamina state. That doesn't sound too bad to me and might add another interesting layer to things.
For sprinting, I really like the warband way, maybe not 100% but the idea of having to hold w for 3 seconds while doing nothing else. In war of the roses alpha they had shift sprinting at will basically, and you'd end up playing out a combat with a person at full sprint all the time, like fighter planes. It was like, either you decide to make the movement speed that high, or just make it so you can't do it reasonably in combat.
I like the idea of sprint as a 'transport' just a way to go from fight to fight, but not being a huge factor in the fight itself, let us work out weapon ranges from a semi constant movement speed rather than a constantly changing threat range.
All in all I think the game is looking great and heading in really positive direction with the combat. It feels much more refined and thought out than the 360 combat from before.
