yea i realize you can stagger him when he charges at you, but i found it too unconsistent, it happened to me several times, that it didnt cancel the animation despite hiting him, frustrating as fuck, since one shot is all he needs. i believe it doable this way, i just dont have the patience to do it.
That's because once they initiate an attack sequence they're locked into it. As soon as you see the animation it's going to completion.
A good example in a different game would be player attacks in AC: Origins. Once the player starts an attack Bayek is locked into it until the animation completes. Well, for the most part. AC apparently loves long winded, flashy animations too. The enemies in the game can hit you during these animations. So the combat in AC: Origins can feel weird. You almost have to plan the attack but also account for the animation duration when doing so. Enemy positioning, attack reach and things of this nature must be accounted for in all of that. Otherwise you initiate an attack and get slapped in the middle of it.
I suspect the NPC's in the fist fights behave the same.
So basically what you're saying is you actually have to invest in being a 'fighter' in order to beat the best 'fighters'.
sounds like one of them actual rare RPG moments this game has.
Topics like these become funnier every time. On one end we complain about it not being an RPG (in that sense) but at the other end we want to beat everything regardless of what we build ourselves to be...
Yes, it would be more "RPG" if a player character with trash hand to hand ability would get smashed by the fist fighters. Alas, this isn't really the case. If the player is "good" enough, executes correctly and does it for long enough they can eventually win the fights. The build used doesn't change this at all.
I'd also point out none of the fighters you face appear to have any grasp of fighting properly either. Those big old windmill punches the NPC's toss around stand out like a sore thumb.