So we always seem to be talking about games that just couldn't quite get it right. The survival horror that isn't scary. The shooter that just fails miserably when compared to other shooters. The combat system that is completely broken. The game with a story that makes no sense what so ever.
But, what games just got it right? So Escapists what games, new and old, just excelled in some execution? It doesn't have to be a perfect game. It might just have one good part.
My nomination for my own thread is Legend of Legaia for the Sony Playstation for it's surprisingly deep combat system.
At the start of each round of combat, you were given the option to fight or run. You could then select from four options for each character: Attack, Item, Magic (though this was the name of your character's Ra-Seru), and Spirit.
By selecting Attack, you could input a small number of commands based on the characters Agility stat. There were four basic attacks, each assigned to a particular body part: Left, Right, High, and Low. It's worth noting that short enemies would be completely missed my High attacks and flying enemies float over a Low attack. If you put in the right commands, the character would use an Art attack that would do more damage and many would hit more than once, though they'd expend a small amount of AP to do so. Each character could also learn three Hyper Arts that were more powerful and required more AP and one Miracle Art that required 99 AP(and used a full 9 commands). Also, there were various secret Super Arts. You gained AP by being attacked and could have a maximum of 100.
Item should be pretty self explanatory. These worked just like any other items an any other game. There were a few things worth noting, though. One of the biggest items would probably be the Point Card. This item would acquire points as you bought weapons, armor, and items from shops. In battle, you could use the card to inflict those points as damage on an enemy, up to a maximum of 9999. I might as well point out here, that your character's appearance would change in battle depending of the weapons and armor they were equipping. Also, as each character's Ra-Seru leveled up (this happened during certain story events) they would change in appearance and increase the character's Attack power. So, what are Ra-Seru? Well, there were each character's partner during the adventure, but they also allowed the characters to use...
Magic was the third option in battle. Now, your character's didn't gain access to this ability until they gained a Ra-Seru. In battle, the Magic command would say the name of each character's Ra-Seru. Unlike other games, magic wasn't bought or learned as you leveled. Instead, you had to fight particular enemies known as Seru and defeat them in battle. Upon their defeat, there was a small chance that you would absorb them into your own powers. Note that each character learned the spells separately. You could then summon the defeated enemy by expending MP. Think of it like Pokemon. What's more, as you used the various spells, they would level up as well. Not only would they do more damage or heal more, they would also gain special effects such as reducing the enemies attack power or curing poison. It was a pretty cool system.
Finally, you could use Spirit. This acted as a guard. Your characters would take less damage and had a greater chance to block attacks. But that's not all. They would also generate some AP when they did this AND extend the command bar allowing for more attacks and greater damage on the next turn. As a result, Spirit was an ability that you would actually want to use. Other RPGs featured abilities like Defense or Guard, but they served little actual purpose in most fights if any. In Legend of Legaia, defending was part of basic tactics, not only to defend against a boss's super attack, but just to fight any enemy.
For all these reason's I think Legend of Legaia had one of the best combat systems in any RPG ever. I'm not saying it would work for all RPGs or any other RPGs, but for this one game, it was perfection. And I'm not talking about Legaia 2! That game did not live up to one of the best RPGs on the PSOne.
TL;DR: Legend of Legaia had an awesome combat system. Tell me what games, you think did this or other things excellently.
But, what games just got it right? So Escapists what games, new and old, just excelled in some execution? It doesn't have to be a perfect game. It might just have one good part.
My nomination for my own thread is Legend of Legaia for the Sony Playstation for it's surprisingly deep combat system.
At the start of each round of combat, you were given the option to fight or run. You could then select from four options for each character: Attack, Item, Magic (though this was the name of your character's Ra-Seru), and Spirit.
By selecting Attack, you could input a small number of commands based on the characters Agility stat. There were four basic attacks, each assigned to a particular body part: Left, Right, High, and Low. It's worth noting that short enemies would be completely missed my High attacks and flying enemies float over a Low attack. If you put in the right commands, the character would use an Art attack that would do more damage and many would hit more than once, though they'd expend a small amount of AP to do so. Each character could also learn three Hyper Arts that were more powerful and required more AP and one Miracle Art that required 99 AP(and used a full 9 commands). Also, there were various secret Super Arts. You gained AP by being attacked and could have a maximum of 100.
Item should be pretty self explanatory. These worked just like any other items an any other game. There were a few things worth noting, though. One of the biggest items would probably be the Point Card. This item would acquire points as you bought weapons, armor, and items from shops. In battle, you could use the card to inflict those points as damage on an enemy, up to a maximum of 9999. I might as well point out here, that your character's appearance would change in battle depending of the weapons and armor they were equipping. Also, as each character's Ra-Seru leveled up (this happened during certain story events) they would change in appearance and increase the character's Attack power. So, what are Ra-Seru? Well, there were each character's partner during the adventure, but they also allowed the characters to use...
Magic was the third option in battle. Now, your character's didn't gain access to this ability until they gained a Ra-Seru. In battle, the Magic command would say the name of each character's Ra-Seru. Unlike other games, magic wasn't bought or learned as you leveled. Instead, you had to fight particular enemies known as Seru and defeat them in battle. Upon their defeat, there was a small chance that you would absorb them into your own powers. Note that each character learned the spells separately. You could then summon the defeated enemy by expending MP. Think of it like Pokemon. What's more, as you used the various spells, they would level up as well. Not only would they do more damage or heal more, they would also gain special effects such as reducing the enemies attack power or curing poison. It was a pretty cool system.
Finally, you could use Spirit. This acted as a guard. Your characters would take less damage and had a greater chance to block attacks. But that's not all. They would also generate some AP when they did this AND extend the command bar allowing for more attacks and greater damage on the next turn. As a result, Spirit was an ability that you would actually want to use. Other RPGs featured abilities like Defense or Guard, but they served little actual purpose in most fights if any. In Legend of Legaia, defending was part of basic tactics, not only to defend against a boss's super attack, but just to fight any enemy.
For all these reason's I think Legend of Legaia had one of the best combat systems in any RPG ever. I'm not saying it would work for all RPGs or any other RPGs, but for this one game, it was perfection. And I'm not talking about Legaia 2! That game did not live up to one of the best RPGs on the PSOne.
TL;DR: Legend of Legaia had an awesome combat system. Tell me what games, you think did this or other things excellently.
