Favorite combat system

Games with combat, inventory, crafting and more beside a story and dating/life sim gameplay

What is your favorite combat system for RPGs?

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jack1974
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Favorite combat system

Post by jack1974 »

I am curious what people prefer. I think I covered every possible system, but if I forgot something let me know and I'll add it in the poll (adding an item could reset the vote count unfortunately).
Personally my favorite is the first one, even if it's a bit confusing sometimes when there are many enemies or party using skills all at once. As for the turn-based, I like the one I used in Loren but also the one of Fallout 1-2, each action having an "AP Cost". It felt somehow more realistic.
Though personally I think all of them are valid if the game is well designed/balanced (for example the weakest could be considered PS1 system but with the aggro feature I think still works well).
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Pace675
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Re: Favorite combat system

Post by Pace675 »

BG style (With AI script control) then SoTW Loren style next.
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jack1974
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Re: Favorite combat system

Post by jack1974 »

I guess that also depends on the visuals... I mean when people think Fallout they imagine isometric map, or Loren as the classic JRPG layout. But there could be for example a game using SOTW/Loren system, but with a map. I never played them but I guess the Disgea game series could be something like that (or Final Fantasy tactics).
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Franka
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Re: Favorite combat system

Post by Franka »

It has to be turn based. I only play real time combat when I'm forced to in games that I want to play for their stories/romances/whatever, and I don't really find it fun. I need time to plan my moves.

Disgaea, and its ilk, doesn't have initiative. All your units take a turn in the order you choose, then all of the AI units do. You can stack actions on top of each other before taking them though, so by having two (or more) units execute their attack simultaneously, they may do combo moves. There's a lot of strategy involved.
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jack1974
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Re: Favorite combat system

Post by jack1974 »

Ah interesting. I'll need to try that game someday when have time! :)
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Oniyuri
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Re: Favorite combat system

Post by Oniyuri »

Hmm, can't say that I really prefer the one above the other as long as it's well implemented. Generally I'm happy as long as the combat remains challenging and/or engaging.

If you think about it, in a sense the combat system in PS1 is reminiscent of e.g. Dragon Quest VIII, so I also wouldn't really describe it as being weak. I was actually fond of PS1's combat :)

I remembered when I played Baldur's Gate and the original Fallout that I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of strategy you had to consider - especially for the tougher battles. But it's not like there is no strategy involved in other styles of RPG games (Shin Megami Tensei IV was the first that came to mind). Rather than the base combat style, it feels more like the appeal lies with the aspects/systems added onto that base (e.g. elemental weaknesses, attack range, combo/support attacks, attack cancellation/delay, turn-order manipulation).

Ignoring the more "action RPG" types, it feels like the first two options (pause option and AP-based) have a greater tendency to appear in Western (not the genre... lol) games, whereas the remaining options feel more prevalent in Japanese-style games. Not that I'm saying it's exclusive, for instance Valkyria Chronicles effectively used an AP-based system (ignoring the overall player vs. enemy turn where you choose to manipulate any number of your units in any order during your turn, which is generally found in Japanese strategy games).
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Jaeger
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Re: Favorite combat system

Post by Jaeger »

It goes down to nuances of each game, though I generally prefer games where where position and space control is involved. Silent Storm, X-COM, Shining Force, and Vandal Hearts come to mind.

I did like the pausible real-time element of Baldur's Gate. However, the underlying D&D system was confusing to me.

Fallout 1-2 felt restrictive. Fallout Tactics, on the other hand, was big improvement when it came to combat with elevation, cover, stances and controllable party members into play.

However do enjoy traditional JRPGs when they are refined or have interesting nuances. Etrian Oydssey is a traditional turn-based combat, However, the variety of party abilities/builds and sufficiently tough enemy encounters that encourage players to make the most of their abilities make it more enjoyable than most. Crimson Shroud takes cues from tabletop RPGs, including dice rolls which the player manually rolls, but doesn't overwhelm the player with so many rules.
Last edited by Jaeger on Sat Apr 30, 2016 5:21 am, edited 5 times in total.
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jack1974
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Re: Favorite combat system

Post by jack1974 »

Oniyuri wrote:Hmm, can't say that I really prefer the one above the other as long as it's well implemented. Generally I'm happy as long as the combat remains challenging and/or engaging.
True the important no matter what system you use is to have gameplay mechanics to make the battles varied and the skills interesting. In this regard I think is better to have fewer skills but each one do something different, than having many skills but with more or less same result (even if depends on the game in general).
Jaeger wrote:It goes down to nuances of each game, though I generally prefer games where where position and space control is involved.
Same for me, though sadly that basically means having a map :oops: who knows maybe one day I'll make one. For sure it cannot involve a big variety of enemies or party members (doing isometric animated sprites is super time-money consuming). Something like Banner Saga in which there is very little variety of enemy/party members could be possible though :)
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DarkWolf
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Re: Favorite combat system

Post by DarkWolf »

jack1974 wrote:I guess that also depends on the visuals... I mean when people think Fallout they imagine isometric map, or Loren as the classic JRPG layout. But there could be for example a game using SOTW/Loren system, but with a map. I never played them but I guess the Disgea game series could be something like that (or Final Fantasy tactics).
That is exactly my favorite style of gameplay, turn based with map movement such as many JRPGs tend to have like FF tactics that you mentioned or Kamidori for example.

That said I think that rather then gameplay style it mainly depends on how good it is done and can think of both really good gameplays and really bad ones of each style.
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fabulaparva
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Re: Favorite combat system

Post by fabulaparva »

I greatly dislike most of what is called "real"-time.... unless we're talking about online fighting against other players and even then I often prefer turn-based games. I can work with anything turn-based, so I don't really have a preference there. I'm a Civilization-level-strategy-game-type-of-player, not first-person-shooter-type. :)
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