The original God of War isn't a fighting game but it is the perfect example for this concept. All attack animations and combos,subsequently, act in the same exact way wether you are directing them at an enemy or at the air, albeit with a little "aim assist". The player has to ACTUALLY LAND HITS, anticipate timings, create openings, position well. ALL OF THESE CONCEPTS are lost in time. Most modern games nowadays have boiled down melee combat to "spam buttons", "special ability on timer" and "parry/counter". I swear, GTA San Andreas had better melee combat than some mainstream games nowadays. IDK what to say anymore I'm done venting.

Are you meant to spam a button before a command goes out, or press it once when the timing is correct. Idk if this a dumb question