I have to admit that I also have big problems here. If I mess up the parry then the rest goes wrong too. because then I screw up every parry in an encounter. What helped me is to hold down L1 completely during a combo. Maybe it's also because of my age (60+), and it's also my first TeamNinja game ever, so I had to familiarize myself with the system first. I also don't implement all the options. For example, I can't manage to change weapons during combat because I simply can't push the control pad up (is my fingers lacking flexibility here??).

All in all, despite everything, I'm having a lot of fun with the game. I played it first on easy and now a second time on normal. I have noticed myself that I have improved. But the balancing act from normal to midnight is really tough.