Poll: Which RPG Battle System do you prefer?

[Durxom]

After playing a few RPGs, you start to notice different style of play within them, especially in the battling. The most common varients are the ATB System and the CTB System (names coined by Squaresoft/SquareEnix), ATB meaning Active Time Battle, with the most prominent example being the system in FF7, and CTB meaning Conditional Turn Battle, being more akin to the Final Fantasies of old, and FFX. There are also different ones from that such as the Realtime Battle System(FF12) and the Linear Motion Battle System(Tales series), and others. Which on do you prefer???

I personally hate the ATB system, while it is more "realistic", most RPGs are about strategy and finding a way to take out a boss or enemy faster or a certain way, which all goes down the drain when the boss is mowing you down while you are trying to decide what to do. So I prefer the CTB system over anything else.

 

[aarontg]

If it counts borderlands, as well as world of warcraft, and any other rpg that keeps a brisk exiting pace.

 

[Ohten]

I'm partial to the system found in action/RPG hybrids and MMOs that keep you on your toes rather than everyone politely waiting for you in a group about 15 meters away to sort through your menu for "Cast World-Ending Explosion."

Edit: If we're dealing exclusively with JRPG combat systems, I'll have to go with the system used in Valkyrie Profile 2. Not fond of the idea that Lezard's waiting patiently for Valkyrie to whip out her fiery apocalypse soul crush but at least in that game I know he gives back as good as he gets (though only your three allies really take the hit it's still enough to put a monkey wrench in your plans if one of them eats it), unlike the FF7 example mentioned in the OP where he just kind of whimpers at you for shrug-worthy damage.

 

[Jandau]

First of all, you phrased the question wrong. It should be "Which JRPG battle system do you preffer?", at least by looking at your poll options.

When it comes to JRPGs, I don't give a damn. However, in RPGs in general I preffer a RTS-style isometric view of the battle (Baldur's gate series, Dragon Age, etc.). I like seeing what's going on and I enjoy party-based games more than solo RPGs, so the isometric view offers me the best tactical perspective.

 

[Twad]

My favorite rpg battle system, by far, is the battle system in «Tales of Destiny 2» aka Tales of Eternia. It kinda plays like Smash Bros.

 

[drizztmainsword]

Anything that resembles a JRPG fighting mechanic can go crawl under a rock and die. I prefer a completely real-time battle system. No "turn" mechanics at all, even under the hood.

 

[Durxom]

First of all, you phrased the question wrong. It should be "Which JRPG battle system do you preffer?", at least by looking at your poll options.

When it comes to JRPGs, I don't give a damn. However, in RPGs in general I preffer a RTS-style isometric view of the battle (Baldur's gate series, Dragon Age, etc.). I like seeing what's going on and I enjoy party-based games more than solo RPGs, so the isometric view offers me the best tactical perspective.

Well, I'm leaving it open to opinion, that's why there is the other and specify option, the ATB and CTB are the most prominent ones, but there's also the realtime ones like in Oblivion and Fallout 3, the D&D style ones that you described as well as others. That and most WRPGs don't have a "distinct" style so its hard to find a label for it, without going into about 4-5 other systems.

 

[Universe42]

I like in Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door you have to do the different button and control stick combos to do max damage. The only thing that sucks is that the audience can attack you if you have to leave during a battle.

 

[DanielDeFig]

In JRPG's i personally preffer the CTB, vause it gives you time to think and plan strategies (which is crucial in most FF games).

The best RPG Battle System of all is the one Bioware uses for KOTOR I & II (and Mass Effect and Dragon Age apparently). It allows the player to give live commands and abilities, but you can pause and look around to plan whenever you need.

I kinda slow and i don't like to be rushed, especially not when playing games, so i never really liked battle systems like ATB for RPG's where strategy and planning is crucial.

 

[Jandau]

First of all, you phrased the question wrong. It should be "Which JRPG battle system do you preffer?", at least by looking at your poll options.

When it comes to JRPGs, I don't give a damn. However, in RPGs in general I preffer a RTS-style isometric view of the battle (Baldur's gate series, Dragon Age, etc.). I like seeing what's going on and I enjoy party-based games more than solo RPGs, so the isometric view offers me the best tactical perspective.

Well, I'm leaving it open to opinion, that's why there is the other and specify option, the ATB and CTB are the most prominent ones, but there's also the realtime ones like in Oblivion and Fallout 3, the D&D style ones that you described as well as others. That and most WRPGs don't have a "distinct" style so its hard to find a label for it, without going into about 4-5 other systems.

The thing is, ATB and CTB aren't "the most prominent ones". They are the most prominent ones in Japanese-style RPG games, but they are practically non-existant in western-style RPG games. Due to that, I consider either the poll question or poll options to be poorly phrased. It's like asking "What's your favourite beverage?" and then have the options "Coke ", "Pepsi" and "Other". Either ask "What's your favourite Cola?" or add more poll options to the original question.

That being said, western RPGs can roughly be divided in the following manner when it comes to combat systems:

Basic split between First-person (Fallout 3, Elder Scrolls, Borderlands), Third Person (Knights of the Old Republic, Risen, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Dragon Age) and Isometric (Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Icewind Dale, Dragon Age, Diablo). I mention Dragon Age twice since the PC version incorporates both the Third-Person and Isometric.

Once upon a time the Real time VS Turn based division was relevant, but Turn based has pretty much died off as far as RPGs go.

Also, another criterion would be party-based VS solo. And let's not forget the distinction between RPGs where the player directly controls the combat (Mass Effect, Jade Empire, Fallout 3, Borderlands) as opposed to RPGs where combat is handled through dice rolls (KotOR, Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age, Neverwinter Nights, etc.)

Basically, your poll implies that western RPGs don't count and you're likely to get flamed for it...

 

[Kuchinawa212]

I hate turn based combat. I attack, You attack, I attack, You attack, One of us dies, Other one gets a victory screen
I like the more action focused combat (like is Tales of Symphonia) allowing me to have full control over my characters attacking and dodging, then just hitting a button and hope they do well

 

[Durxom]

-mega snip-

I'm not saying that the WRPGs don't exist, but there is a far greater number of JRPGs then their are of WRPGs, making the 2 systems used in them far more promient than the ones you have mentioned. I wasn't really trying to make this thread into flame-bait, but those were the first two that came to mind as major styles...I'm sorry for not including the other ones x-x

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I kinda enjoyed the real-time battle systems featured in the Star Ocean games, Tales of Symphonia, and others.

 

[RandV80]

I don't know if the JRPG Genre should be defined as CTB vs ATB. CTB will always be the original standard, but at around the same time Square came up with the ATB there were other battle systems being made. There was the 'tactics' style brought in by games like Fire Emblem and Shining Force, Lunar took the original CTB and added a movement factor to it (so you weren't just lined up at opposite sides), and of course Tales of Phantasia(?) and Star Ocean started the real-time combat. And going further still more recent games like Dragon Quest VIII with it's old school RPG difficulty showed it isn't just the style but also the pacing. The only difference between these and ATB is that Square is the biggest RPG company real.

Personally, my favorite has always been the Grandia series, which expanded on the Lunar formula but added a much stronger strategic element to it. Followed by Valkyrie Profile, for it's awesome beat-em up style. And finally from the Real-Time Action systems, not Tales or Star Ocean but rather a much lesser known PS2 game called Radiata Stories, which seemed like a slow & boring version of the others at first but once your skills started expanding became much more strategic than those button mashers.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

CTB. Games with ATB that actually allow for strategic battles are rare as tritium. Best example of what I mean that I've played is likely the Star Ocean and Tales games, particularly the 2D ones. Few battles involve any advice besides 'get your levels to this point, make sure you have X item'. In Star Ocean, X item is ALWAYS something that increases your ability to make the enemy spam flinch (more) while you hit them as fast as you can. Its uber-bosses can wipe out your entire party before you even know why if you don't do this.

A similar condition applies in WoW. Though I'll admit I haven't played it past Level 35 due to boredom, both my brothers are way into the Arena scene with multiple Level 80s. Their strategy of hammering two or three keys to spam certain techniques as fast as they can has already destroyed two keyboards. They are actually pretty high-ranked.

 

[Naheal]

I'm a tactical RPG fan. Neither the ATB nor CTB work well with such.

 

[LeonLethality]

old ff games were not CTB just turn based CTB depends on the action you took which is prominent in final fantasy tactics and final fantasy X your facts were wrong