Do you remember the move called Terradors Sentence from the Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon? It's similar to the beatdown ability that appeared in Batman: Arkham City three years later. This is inspired by both of those moves and named after one of them.
They already share several things in common, such as the button sequence of pressing circle, then rapidly pressing square to deliver a series of hits to an enemy as it picks up speed until giving a powerful blow. The difference is that while Arkhams beatdown ended the moment the enemy lost the last of their health (which is more practical for gameplay purposes), Terradors sentence ended after a specific number of strikes without necessarily finishing off the foe, yet you could continue to reuse this move on the same grublin even after they were dead (which I continue to find amusing).

This may not be as instant as using shatterfang on an unarmoured foe (let alone a finisher), but it does help rack up a good combo and allow you space to keep surrounding enemies off your back. There are other unexplained tactics you can mix in.