I’m Tired Of Parrying, But Blood Message Changed My Mind

Blood Message is an ambitious swing from 24 Entertainment Lin’an and NetEase Games. Set against the backdrop of the real-life Shazhou uprising during the height of the Tang Empire, the game eschews much of the fantastical potential of gaming worlds for a much more realistic and grounded story. The game takes inspiration from real people, who were lost to history but whose actions reshaped entire empires.

ComicBook got our hands on Blood Message during Summer Game Fest 2026, taking part in a short demo that highlighted the visuals, story, and gameplay. It’s the latter that we were most pleasantly surprised by, as it found a way to take the parrying mechanic that some players (this writer included) have grown tired of and make it actually feel brutal, effective, and necessary once again. I’m tired of parrying in general, but the Blood Message demo made available for media attending SGF found a way to make it exciting again.

Blood Message’s Combat Is Absolutely Brutal

The gorgeously rendered Blood Message looked pretty impressive when I first sat down to try out the demo at Summer Game Fest. The game recreates China during the height of the Tang Dynasty, vividly showcasing the era with distinct detail through the eyes of Pei Changguan. A regular man in extraordinary times, Pei is introduced alongside his brother as survivors of a massacre that is taking place across their town. This set up a handful of combat encounters with the soldiers behind the murders, showcasing the action gameplay. The controls are tight, blending together well with the graphics to make chase scenes thrilling and exploration engaging. I was less excited by the inclusion of QTE events that popped up during the demo, however, which force the player to quickly pound a button to kick off an attacker or escape a potentially fatal blow.

While gorgeously designed, I gradually became worried that the game would simply be another third-person action-adventure game, especially once the combat segments of the demo started. Players will find themselves quickly surrounded on all sides and reliant on dodges and parries to get an opening to bring down enemies. However, once the combat actually got going, I was surprised by just how visceral and brutal it is. It’s not gratuitous or over-the-top, but realistically gory and suddenly gruesome.

Rather than the free-flowing combos, telegraphed blows, or constant attacks of other games that rely on Blood Message instead feels weighty and realistic — a natural reflection of the game’s grounded storytelling. Succesfully parrying an attack opened me up for two quick slashes, which weakened enemies enough for a brutal and realistic killing blow. Conversely, failing to dodge or parry correctly left me quickly butchered by the surrounding enemies. There’s an importance placed on parrying in Blood Message that feels effectively strategic and quickly frantic in ways that reinforce the grounded aspects of the game.

Blood Message’s Grounded Approach To Combat Won Me Over On Parrying

Parrying has become a key feature in many modern action games, especially in the aftermath of the spread of Soulslike titles. Games as varied as Sekiro, Wo-Long: Fallen Dynasty, Lies of P, God of War, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 all put emphasis on that parrying mechanic, to the point where I was personally getting tired of it. I like having a bit of variety in combat, whether that be the counter-heavy approach of the Batman: Arkham series or the floaty, non-stop combos of Control Resonant.

Parrying can be fun as a mechanic, but the oversaturation of it in the last decade has left me frustrated more than engaged — especially when a quick dodge and healing item undoes the genuine need for it. Blood Message‘s decision to deliver a more grounded game provides the perfect opening for parrying to win me back over. The game puts emphasis on it as a sudden burst of violence, a patient pause before countering an enemy, and quickly ending their life. The demo made available to the media at SGF put emphasis on this. While there was a hulking character introduced who seemed like an inevitable boss, we never fought him. Instead, combat was defined by swordsmen who would wait to take an opening provided to them and deliver fatal blows quickly.

It raises the stakes for the player, knowing that a single missed parry will leave Pei staggered and likely to die with another blow. It reflects the historical setting and the grounded approach to the game, even as it sets up some epic adventures and video game-y challenges. More than anything, I was deeply impressed with the way the game managed to make the fairly intuitive parrying feel effective again. I’m tired of timing out parries against my enemies in games, but Blood Message may have cracked the code on how to do it effectively.