History Main / LagCancel

* In the [[UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} modern]] ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' series, you can throw a single shuriken to cancel the basic attacks' rather long recoveries (it doesn't work for strong attacks, though); especially useful when using the sword or the scythe in in the second and third games. In ''Razor's Edge'', the [[NoIAmBehindYou Cicada Surge]] also allows you to escape attacks or grabs that enemies frequently attempt during recoveries, although using it effectively requires very good reflexes.

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' builds off ''Symphonia'' and ''Abyss'' so it has spell cancelling and Over Limit cancelling as well... but the UpdatedRerelease for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and the later Definitive Edition added Free Run Cancels, or Manual Cancels as they are only possible in Manual Mode. (Sorry, semi-auto players!) To put it simply, ''any'' action in the game can be cancelled by free running forward so long as you're in Manual Mode, which not only greatly increases combo options, it also makes every attack safer to pull off. Essentially, you should be ending any action that you don't plan to chain into another action with a free run.

* ''VideoGame/TronDeadlyDiscs'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 2600}} and the UsefulNotes/{{Intellivision}} lets you recall the disc you use to defeat the MCP's warriors after it's thrown in case it misses its target and you don't want to wait for it to return.

*** The series' unique version of trope is called a Roman Cancel, introduced in ''[[VideoGame/GuiltyGearX X]]''. Roman Cancels can be used to cancel almost any attack in the game, which has many tactical benefits. They're very costly (half of a full Tension Gauge) and only work when an attack hits, but in the ''XX'' games each character has at least one move that can be cancelled at a very specific point with only 25% Tension bar and regardless of whether or not it hits; this special technique is called a "Force" ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS sometimes localized as False]]) Roman Cancel. Later entries like ''Xrd'' and ''[[VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive -STRIVE-]]'' altered these mechanics slightly; in addition to a new version of Force Roman Cancel, attacks can now be Roman Cancelled if they miss, and successful use temporarily [[BulletTime slows down the rest of the game]] (with the exact duration of slowdown dependent on the Roman Cancel's color).

** A more specific example comes from the [[DropTheHammer hammer]] weapon. The weakest level of charge attack can be chained into the weapon's basic attack combo. You can cancel the basic attack combo before the third hit into a charge attack. Put two and two together, and you have what's supposed to be a weapon that does more damage in fewer hits at a time having the hit rate, and much more DPS as a result, of some of the faster weapons. This was nerfed in ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri 3 Ultimate]]''.