I see people getting excited about parry mechanics in their video games, a mechanic that I have never appreciated, but it's mostly because, like, I've never done it. I'm not even particularly clear on the definition of parrying, but I'm guessing it's something like, defending and attacking at the same time by attacking at exactly the right moment.
There is some formative gaming experience where everyone learned to parry and I didn't, right?
Many games want me to parry and seem disappointed in me that I don't, and then they either let me proceed anyway by other means (Tunic) or force me to give up and play a different game (Iconoclasts). And I have tried to parry in those games. It just means I stand around and get hit because I'm doing it wrong, or doing it in the wrong situation, or something.
A judge comment in Make a Good Mega Man Level 3 says something like "a good game design isn't one that punishes beginners and rewards experts; it's one that turns beginners into experts".
Think of how Celeste is a hard precision platformer that brings in players who aren't already interested in or good at precision platformers, because its design encourages you to learn, and gives you the right opportunities to learn. What is the Celeste of parrying?