A clunky combat system can really frustrate players, disengage them from the story, and make them disinterested in continuing. When combat flows well it can help a player to feel more connected to their character and the game. It also helps keep combat from getting stale.
Example #1 –[]
Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning
Kingdoms of Amalur Combat-1
A criminally underrated game, Kingdoms of Amalur has a very fluid combat system. Switching between weapons, blocking, and dodging is almost instantaneous, magic can be easily weaved between attacks and chained for even stronger attacks and the whole experience feels very fluid and natural. This helps to keep the combat interesting, and helps the player to feel connected with the adventure.
Example #2 –[]
Batman Arkham Asylum
The first Arkham game developed a unique combat system called, "Free Flow Combat." The basic idea was that the player is controlling what almost seems to be a choreographed action sequence. It doesn't just keep the player involved, it's also one of the major factors in helping the player really feel like a bad ass. The developers wanted to give the players the feeling of not just controlling any old schlub, they are controlling Batman and as long as you don't mess things up he's going to casually dispatch a horde of goons with style.
Batman- Arkham Asylum free flow combat system
Batman's constant variation of moves, customizable gadgets arsenal, and the point rewards all give the plays variety, feedback, and reasons to keep practicing. While many of the bosses in the game end up using some other mechanic that is less tied to the combat, the challenge maps make improving your combat feel rewarding.
This system was very successful and the creators pulled it into sequels for the game. This gave an extra reward to past players who can skip the learning curve and just wade into any gang of enemies fully confident in their abilities. Sort of like Batman would.
Example #3 -[]
Lugaru
Lugaru is a small independent game developed by Wolfire studios, that focuses on combat encounters between small numbers of characters. Generally the player is presented with a number of enemies and must navigate the level, using stealth and combat to eliminate all enemies. The combat feels intuitive and fluid because attacks are determined by a combination of button and movement input - the attack used changes as the player moves. So sweep kicks happen while crouching, regular kicks happen while standing, diving kicks while jumping, and so on. This means that one button, 'kick', explodes into a large set of actions based on movement - and the player learns to tie their movement into their attacking strategy. As the player comes to understand the necessity of constantly moving, they add in rolling, flips, and wall-runs to evade groups of enemies or confuse single opponents. Thus the game provides and encourages a fluid combat system that relies on movement and speed.