Your favorite TURN-BASED Battle System?

[aozgolo]

This doesn't have to be your favorite RPG, but I'm curious what people's favorite Turn-based Battle Systems are and why? To specify, this is a battle system that requires no "twitch" element of quick or timed button presses (so no loading bars), other than that anything goes.

I am kind of a fan of simple systems that are deceptively complex, so for me my favorite is Dragon Quest, particularly 8 and 9. The combat is very easy to learn and perform but you can't be asleep at the wheel even on trash enemies and expect to do very well, there's a lot of difficulty there and if you don't properly equip your characters and make full use of all your spells, skills, and items you'll find yourself with a lot of dead party members.

Post your favorites!

 

[NPC]

Golden Sun. End of story.

 

[Mouser]

I liked FF X's system, though it isn't one of my favorite games overall.

 

[Kaelan]

If SRPGs count, Temple of Elemental Evil hands down. Tons of options and different ways to play, and proper movement and spacing play such a huge role in addition to which attacks or spells you use. I like how controlling/disabling enemies is often more useful than outright doing as much damage as you can.

If not, three-way-tie between:

* Pokemon: Tons of depth behind a deceptively simple system

* Last Remnant: Huge amount of ways to build of a party, very rewarding when everyone works together, and makes good use of movement and positioning in a turn-based system. I also love the idea of controlling a fairly large army (15-18 characters fighting at a time) and making higher level tactical decisions instead of micromanaging each character's attacks.

* Breath of Fire 3: Simple but very fun to play, the peak of classic JRPG style, in my opinion.

 

[Harmill]

I'm a huge fan of CTB battle systems in general, but the main game that I think of when I think CTB is Final Fantasy X. Very solid battle system. I think if you can complete the game without leveling up at all, there's a good chance that battle system has huge strategic potential (the ability to completely negate damage if you're prepared for a boss fight).

I really liked the idea behind Legend of Dragoon's battle system (CTB as well except it's fixed AGL). I love the idea and interaction behind the Addition mechanic but I didn't think it was executed well. Essentially, when attacking, you performed combos by pressing X at specified times. My biggest gripe with the system was that you couldn't select which Addition you wanted to use on a per turn basis, and instead had to pre-select your Addition outside of battle. You then could only perform that one Addition for any given fight. It had a lot of potential if different Additions had more properties besides "How much Damage does it deal", "How much SP does it accumulate", and "How easy is it to perform this combo".

Pokemon has super solid mechanics. I love Pokemon's turn-based battle system.

I  liked Suikoden III's battle system. It had a minor element of positioning during its battles but there were some drawbacks in how it was implemented. It was a shame that the Fire Rune's AoE abilities (you know, the abilities that make positioning-based systems interesting...) can damage your own allies. It also would have been nice if you had more control your party member's positions in the battlefield. Still, I really liked the idea behind it's battle system.

 

[xein]

Persona 3 and 4.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Turn based battle system. that simple...


if you want a game, I'd go with FFX or FFX-2 (ATB's are still turn-based right?)

 

[Archeia]

I like CTB. But lately there's so many definition for it and the mechanics change massively. Like you have Conditional Turn Battle System (FFX IIRC) and then there's CHARGE Turn Battle System (FFT). Then there's ACCB Like in Mana Khemia that kinda works like a CTB but does it differently. Atelier PS3 series does it as well.

My favorite one is FFTs. Where the bosses don't jump around the CTB, like they should! (I'm looking at you Seymour and Yunalesca)

 

[Milennin]

Golden Sun.

Mostly because it was so fast, while still looking amazing with every skill and attack you used. Long animations could be skipped, no problem. The summon system was really fun, although a bit overpowered against bosses at times (summon rush could sometimes destroy a boss on turn 1 or 2). Weapon unleashes were awesome (MEGIDDO!!)

 

[servantb7]

I liked FF X's system, though it isn't one of my favorite games overall.

Completely agree. The game wasn't that great, but the battle system was excellent. It had diverse enemies that required diverse strategies in bringing them down, and required you to use your characters strategically. I especially liked how you could switch characters in and out of battles. Almost makes me wanna play the game again, if I didn't have to deal with all those annoying cutscenes and the utter lack of exploration for most of the game.

Also, Lord of the Rings: The Third Age also had a great turn-based battle system.

 

[Milkdud]

The Temple of Elemental Evil or Underrail. Both the combat systems in those games are some of the most fun I've had.

 

[ThatMaestroGuy]

I liked Suikoden I's battle system. It had a few options for every character, some of them had united attacks they could perform with other party members, and (depending on the characters' speeds) it just felt good to see all of the action take place at once--made the battles seem really hectic when 2 or more of your party members jumped in at once, attacking, counter-attacking, and dodging. And close digital zooms on characters who were going to land a critical strike? Oh, that was great...! =D

 

[Traveling Bard]

Some of my favorite games were listed here! Loved the shout out to Last Remnant, that battle system carried that game in my opinion... I guess I'll list two of my other favorites:

1. Earthbound - simplicity at it's best ok ok, it has it's flaws and it's quite outdated but the two things to take away from this battle system are the strange states that added to the character of the game (mushroom'd/feeling funky = inverted movement controls as well as confusion state, home sick = making you miss home until you call/see your mother, possessed = state will carry over until you reach a doctor and the ghost will either deal small damage to your character or stun you for a turn, etc) AND the rolling hp counter. Rolling hp counter? Why yes, this genius idea allows the player to sometimes survive double knockouts if you press quickly enough through the text boxes to get back to map! (stupid exploding trees!)

2. Lunar Legend - I know this is a sin, but I've only played this remake/remaster and not the original (gasp!) however, this game did something that I would like to point out. Limit breaks. Ok, it's been done and we have the same thing in the form of the TP system natively, but I enjoy how they did this. They would declare the attack, then you'd get a picture like this, and boom! It added flavor to the game and to the attacks. 

Both of those are totally things you can do in rpg maker vx ace with alittle eventing ingenuity or a simple script. Especially the funny/strange the states XD  

 

[aozgolo]

1. Earthbound - simplicity at it's best ok ok, it has it's flaws and it's quite outdated but the two things to take away from this battle system are the strange states that added to the character of the game (mushroom'd/feeling funky = inverted movement controls as well as confusion state, home sick = making you miss home until you call/see your mother, possessed = state will carry over until you reach a doctor and the ghost will either deal small damage to your character or stun you for a turn, etc) AND the rolling hp counter. Rolling hp counter? Why yes, this genius idea allows the player to sometimes survive double knockouts if you press quickly enough through the text boxes to get back to map! (stupid exploding trees!)

I really enjoyed the Rolling HP Counter as well, though it seems a strange thing to say as I generally despise any gimmicky action element in turn based battles (which is why I hate Final Fantasy 4 - 8's AT. I wonder how complex it would be to add this to a RPGM game.

 

[PixelLuchi]

Phantasy Star IV. Sure FF6's sprites looks neat, but every single critter in IV is animated. Awesome stuff for a game released on a Genny back in 1994 ( it was done as early as Phantasy Star 2, which came out in 1989 ) but 4 perfected it. And that combination attack system... too epic for words...

 

[Seacliff]

Chrono Cross and Skies of Arcadia

 

[hiromu656]

Shin Megami Tensei 3 and up. The Press turn system was something both fun to exploit and scary when used against you.

 

[Dark Phoenix]

Phantasy Star IV. Sure FF6's sprites looks neat, but every single critter in IV is animated. Awesome stuff for a game released on a Genny back in 1994 ( it was done as early as Phantasy Star 2, which came out in 1989 ) but 4 perfected it. And that combination attack system... too epic for words...

I was hoping someone'd mention this one.  PSIV was ahead of its time in a lot of ways; although a lot of other games gave you combination attacks, PSIV gave you macros to go along with it, so you could pre-program your preferred battle strategies before a tough fight.  Or auto-setup a specific combination attack (Blizzard on Sand Worms, Grand Cross on a ton of enemies, etc.)

 

[arekpowalan]

Dragon Quest, pretty much. The system is the basic of the basics, and it's the best, since you don't have to go through tutorials just to play it properly.

Though I'm also interested in MS Saga (PS2)'s battle system. it hints you of an upcoming attack. With smart tactics and memorization, a player can counter the enemies' attacks, turning a losing battle into a winning one.