Another spicy premise, I know. But bear with me for a second, will ya?
Obviously Ryse isn't a perfect game. Most people would say that it's not even a good game. Others would say that it's a pretty shitty game. And all of those opinions have merit. Upon my recent replay of Ryse, I frequently found myself looking at my watch, wondering how long is it going to take to finish it, which is telling how much of a dull and repetitive slog the combat can be in this game. It's already a very short game and yet it still manages to overstay its welcome with its simplistic, repetitive gameplay, over-reliance on quick time event finishing moves, and overall emphasis on style and spectacle over any actual substance.
However...
There's one thing that Ryse does about its combat system that's pretty cool.
Notice how the camera works in this game. When you're outside of combat, it assumes a very familiar position over the player's shoulder with the controls resembling the traditional third person shooter scheme that's also used in recent God of War games. However, while the camera position and control scheme remains the same almost the entire time in God of War, as soon as you enter combat in Ryse, the game actually pulls its camera back and switches to a more orbiting view of the action while the player gains the ability to direct their attacks in any which way while also having the ability to parry any incoming attacks, regardless of where they're coming from. Frankly, that's quite an elegant solution for a melee action game of this sort and I think it would solve the majority of the problems with the combat that the recent God of War games are suffering from.
Now, the obvious question is: why God of War designers decided to use such a camera in the first place? Well, according to the commentary provided in the making of videos, it seems like they wanted to prioritize immersion and staying up close and personal with the characters. And that's a fine idea on paper, but as soon as you get into the fray with several monsters at once, some of which attack you from off-screen and when it's frequently difficult to notice, even with all the attack indicators and shit, it just becomes a bit of a clusterfuck and a constant source of frustration, especially on higher difficulties.
If the camera was allowed to zoom out a little bit and give you a more comprehensive view on the battlefield as well as bigger freedom of movement, then I think the combat in this game would work much better overall. Obviously the moveset, enemy variety, and everything else should remain the same, but the only change that I would welcome concerns the camera work and movement during combat.