The number one thing that makes conbat very satisfying to me in an RPG is to have a very large variability in the result (and, importantly, to have that variability be based on how well I play the battle rather than on RNG rolls or AI roulette). I love to start a battle and - even with knowing how strong the enemies in that fight generally are - being able to foresee the result being anything between a flawless victory or a game over.
This is pretty easy to do in an Action Battle System - if well-balanced and well-designed, the battle is going to rely almost purely on the skill of the player - how well they hit, dodge, and manage their characters in the chaos of the fight.
Star Ocean 2 and
3 might represent the best form of this variability - things can go very bad very fast, but you rarely (if ever) feel like a battle is unwinnable. The recent
Tales Of games (
Vesperia and onward, for the most part) do a very good job keeping battle exciting like this, too.
Eternal Senia is a nice RPG Maker example of this once you get about halfway into the game, as is
Homage.
This excitement is less often there in turn-based combat, but some games have done it beautifully.
Persona 3 and
4 can feel slightly too random but in general they give a great sense of strategic variability - you can earn a convincing victory, a pyrrhic victory, or a game over in any given battle based on how well you manage turn order and information.
Disgaea and
Phantom Brave can provide this to players who don't grind, forcing them to rely purely on their ability to position their characters in the best possible way on the battlefield.
Grandia 2 (though it's too easy to be exciting) has all the makings of such a system, with the ability to tactically juggle opponents so that they can never attack if you do it perfectly.
Skyborn did a decent job of this on the RPG Maker front.
In short, knowing that my skill and strategy can massively affect the outcome of the battle is the most satisfying thing there is for me in RPG combat.
Besides this player-based variability, here are some other things that make combat feel good to me:
- Real-time systems, especially action battle systems, which lend a real sense of viscerality to the combat
- Lots of variety in the enemies and the moves that I should be using (a tricky faerie or gremlin should require much different play patterns to defeat than a hulking ogre or stone elemental)
- Likable characters - this sounds like a weird one, but having characters that I care about makes it much more satisfying for me when they achieve a victory
- Nice rewards from battle (crafting items, points on a skill tree, etc.) that make me feel like I'm building toward something - especially if these rewards are based on how convincingly I win the battle
