History Main / ActionCommands

** In a unique twist to the formula, [[spoiler:the TrueFinalBoss of the story DLC pack Part IV: Nirvana, Chakravartin, has Counter Action commands in the last phase of his fight. As he keeps getting beat down, it becomes an inverted version of a HopelessBossFight, as most of the ''boss's'' action commands start to fail automatically. And it is [[MomentOfAwesome awesome.]]]]

** The first two installments in the series had an unusual form officially known as "Smooth Landing", but universally referred to by the fanbase as "L-cancelling". By pressing the shield button in the middle of an aerial normal attack right before hitting the ground, the landing lag would be reduced (to a constant 4 frames in ''Smash 64'' or halved in ''Melee''). Among other things, it was removed from ''Brawl'' onwards due to the creator's belief that it made the gap between skilled and casual players too high.
** Donkey Kong's [[LimitBreak Final Smash]] in ''Brawl'', Konga Beat, gives a high damage/range bonus for pressing "A" with the beat. This is made much easier in the 3DS and Wii U installments with a rhythm bar appearing over DK.

In Action Adventure games, players receive a visual cue in the MainWindow, often connected to the targeted enemy. Action commands allow the player to kill regular enemies more efficiently, and are sometimes necessary to defeat more advanced enemies (''especially'' bosses). Again, it serves to reward players for attentive gameplay, rather than simply {{Hack and Slash}}ing their way through. Compare the CounterAttack, which usually does not have an overt visual cue.

* One of the more traditional examples in MMOs comes from ''FinalFantasyXIV'' and its Active Time Maneuvers. First introduced in ''Heavensward'' and then given more prominence in Stormblood (as part of two seperate story battles), ATMs require you to rapidly mash buttons in order to survive a certain mechanic. The most notable occurs during the Susano fight, where [[spoiler:the tank must struggle to parry a building sized sword while the rest of the party struggles to keep them alive.]]

* '''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' uses this to the point where you're not sure where it begins and where it ends. The most common one is the FinishingMove, which shows an arrow in a direction you must swing the Wii remote to kill an enemy. There's also the various wrestling moves, which also use onscreen prompts, a SuperMode that causes a OneHitKill when the right button is pressed, and a "Weapon clash" that happens when you and an enemy attack at the same time, which requires you to spin the controller around to get out of it. Also blends into PressXToNotDie in certain boss fights, where you need to shake the Wiimote, nunchuk, or rapidly press the A button to get out of various traps.

* ''Videogame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' used timed hits similar to Paper Mario (which has been cited by the developers as a major influence) to execute attacks as well as to defend.

* In the critically loved but poor selling ''{{Gladius}}'' by Creator/LucasArts (UsefulNotes/{{XBox}}, UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube and UsefulNotes/Playstation2) almost every attack your characters make is an action command, with a timing bar across the bottom of the screen. different types of maneuvers had different timing bars ranging from as simple as "press the X button in the green part" (primarily for [[StandardStatusEffects status inducing attacks]]) to combo attacks that required each button in a string to be pressed at certain intervals along the bar, to complex strings of button presses (up to 12 buttons, with more successful button presses causing more damage), to alternately pressing X and Y or A and B as quickly as possible. On damaging attacks, completing the attack in the red section of the timing bar resulted in a critical hit. This system is optional and you can simply allow the game to handle attacks automatically; however, with a little practice, you can guarantee a critical hit almost every time, [[GameBreaker breaking]] the "[[MightyGlacier heavy]]" classes (whose primary weakness is [[TacticalRockPaperScissors low accuracy against lightweights]].

* ''DynastyWarriorsGundam'' uses these to resolve BladeLock situations. Related series ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' and ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' just have the player mash the attack button as quickly as possible, while ''VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarKensRage'' requires a sequence of button presses to finish off the story mode bosses [[LudicrousGibs in style.]]

* ''VideoGame/DantesInferno'' has quite a few of these. They're random buttons and you must push them at exactly the right time, and yes, it's hard. Then again, the game ''is'' unashamedly ripping off ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'', so what else would you expect?

Action Commands that occur during otherwise non-interactive {{Cutscene}}s, as a means of subverting or averting CutscenePowerToTheMax and/or CutsceneIncompetence, are known as PressXToNotDie.

** In a unique twist to the formula, [[spoiler: the TrueFinalBoss of the story DLC pack Part IV: Nirvana, Chakravartin, has Counter Action commands in the last phase of his fight. As he keeps getting beat down, it becomes an inverted version of a HopelessBossFight, as most of the ''boss's'' action commands start to fail automatically. And it is [[MomentOfAwesome awesome.]]]]

** In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'', not only do dogs and their associated action commands return, but several other new ones pop up as well. The first major one is pulling triggers to simulate climbing a glacier with ice axes. Others then pop up when being stealthy to perform silent takedowns. [[spoiler: And in the finale against Shepard, there are a ridiculous level of commands ranging from crawling after a gun to pulling a combat knife out of ''your own chest''.]]

* Attempted justification in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'', during the battle [[spoiler: between Rex and RAY]]. The designer of your vehicle wanted to program it to perform close-range combat, but couldn't get it past military regulations. Being an AscendedFanboy, he decided to install the program anyway, but since the program was still incomplete it was too context-sensitive to be very flexible. This means that the action command pops up on the screen whenever the vehicle is in an appropriate situation for melee.

* In ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'', regular attacks caused Geralt to do a combo, and continuing the combo required the press of the attack key or mouse when his sword glowed. ''TheWitcher'' also used the reverse with charge-ups, by holding down a button and releasing it on time for successful attacks and magic.

* ''ValkyrieProfile'' had the ability Counter, where you had to hit X after dodging an attack to deliver an unblockable counterattack. Poor timing would result in either not dodging at all (too early), or not activating at all (too late).

* In ''MagicalStarsign'', you can tap the casting character with the stylus at the right moment to perform a critical hit. Similarly, you can tap a character about to be hit in order to guard.

* A slight variation exists in the ''Franchise/TalesSeries'', where magical characters, when controlled by a human player, can use a special skill called Rhythm; repeatedly pressing the Attack button while spell casting would shorten the time the spell takes to cast.

* In the critically loved but poor selling ''{{Gladius}}'' by LucasArts (UsefulNotes/{{XBox}}, UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube and UsefulNotes/Playstation2) almost every attack your characters make is an action command, with a timing bar across the bottom of the screen. different types of maneuvers had different timing bars ranging from as simple as "press the X button in the green part" (primarily for [[StandardStatusEffects status inducing attacks]]) to combo attacks that required each button in a string to be pressed at certain intervals along the bar, to complex strings of button presses (up to 12 buttons, with more successful button presses causing more damage), to alternately pressing X and Y or A and B as quickly as possible. On damaging attacks, completing the attack in the red section of the timing bar resulted in a critical hit. This system is optional and you can simply allow the game to handle attacks automatically; however, with a little practice, you can guarantee a critical hit almost every time, [[GameBreaker breaking]] the "[[MightyGlacier heavy]]" classes (whose primary weakness is [[TacticalRockPaperScissors low accuracy against lightweights]].

* The second ''Franchise/StarWars: RogueSquadron'' sequel, for the most part an arcadey SHMUP, had a particularly frustrating round of this in one level. Here, you must use the Force to raise Luke's X-Wing out of the swamp. Many controllers were hurled.

* ''Mario Super Sluggers'' has these when the ball and a runner approaching 3rd base or home are close. If the runner presses the button first, they're safe. If the catcher presses first, the runner is tagged out.

* ''Undertale'' has your basic attacks require you to tap a button as markers move towards the center of a gauge, if you're not close enough your attack will miss or do less damage. When monsters attack you, the game switches to BulletHell style dodging to avoid their attacks. Several of the Mercy options also require you to do certain things while dodging.

* ''VideoGame/JetSetRadio'' used these in its graffiti sections- dropped for the sequel, ''[[VideoGame/JetSetRadio Jet Set Radio Future]]''.

* ''Heavy Rain'' invokes this trope during fight scenes. In many other cases, innovative uses of the joystick may be required.

* ''SpiderMan 3'', during action cinematics, flashed the necessary buttons to press moments before in order for Spidey to win the battle.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[AchievementSystem Achievement Unlocked]] - Employee of the Year]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Condemned}} 2: Bloodshot'' uses these in Chain Combos (not to be confused with the game's {{Combos}}, which are series of regular attacks) that range from doing massive damage, to broken arms, to instant kills.

** The first two installments in the series had a rather bizarre form officially known as "Smooth Landing", but universally referred to by the fanbase as "L-cancelling".

* Donkey Kong's [[LimitBreak Final Smash]] in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'', Konga Beat, gives a high damage/range bonus for pressing "A" with the beat. This is made much easier in the 3DS and Wii U installments with a rhythm bar appearing over DK.