I like some third person style and there's something to be said for first person but really I like some strategy. Fire Emblem and Baldur's Gate are good examples. Also I like the idea of programming your strategy ala Dragon Age or FFXII but I've yet to really try that out.
Poll: Your opinions on RPG combat
- Thread starter Panicbox
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True. Mashing LMB is about as bad as combat can get in games.Glademaster said:
For realism, I actually consider the turn-based system you see in roguelikes to be one of the most realistic ones I've played, simply because it rewards using advantages from your inventory and the dungeon environment so thoroughly. IMO, a system that lets you be creative with how you kill things (light the fungus the ogre's standing on on fire, petrify a goblin by hitting him in the face with a cockatrice corpse, etc.) is the kind of realism that games should aim for.
Hopefully they'll develop an AAA game with the rougelike style and it will catch on and the better parts might bleed through to other styles.Kahunaburger said:
Whatever genre Fallout 2, Jagged Alliance 2 and Silent Storm applies to.
I figure it would be one of the first two categories, but having never played a FF game, I have no idea what you mean by those.
If it's a D&D game, I like how it worked in NWN 1+2. Pause, plan, play.
I figure it would be one of the first two categories, but having never played a FF game, I have no idea what you mean by those.
If it's a D&D game, I like how it worked in NWN 1+2. Pause, plan, play.
I tend to enjoy the actiony style of RPG the most.
Tales of Symphonia, FF13, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age 2 are easily the most fun battle systems I've encountered in RPG games. I enjoy systems that utilize combo's, real time fighting and strategy.
While the above is certainly the most fun and memorable for me, the age old table top style of the original FF will always have a place in my heart.
The only one I feel fails is the first person ones. I find combat in Fallout and Elder Scroll games to be far and away the worst feature of an otherwise good series. I believe that first person combat in an RPG can work, it's just that I haven't played one that does yet. Take the Fallout story and use the Borderlands controls and leveling system and you'd have one hell of a FPS RPG.
Tales of Symphonia, FF13, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age 2 are easily the most fun battle systems I've encountered in RPG games. I enjoy systems that utilize combo's, real time fighting and strategy.
While the above is certainly the most fun and memorable for me, the age old table top style of the original FF will always have a place in my heart.
The only one I feel fails is the first person ones. I find combat in Fallout and Elder Scroll games to be far and away the worst feature of an otherwise good series. I believe that first person combat in an RPG can work, it's just that I haven't played one that does yet. Take the Fallout story and use the Borderlands controls and leveling system and you'd have one hell of a FPS RPG.
Worst combat system I've experienced: Bethesda's Elder Scrolls. When I am grinding, the last thing I need is a boring fight. It really takes me out of the game especially if I'm gonna be spending shitload of time in combat.
Good combat system(s): A toss up between Grandia's turn-based style which involves skill and character positioning as well as delaying and interrupting enemy's turns, Diablo's isometric point-and-click and Kingdom Heart's plain old bash-em-up without the Quick Time Event (I've never liked QTE and never will). What they have in common is all three games require you to pay attention to the battles and not just mindlessly tap X or left-click through the combat.
Good combat system(s): A toss up between Grandia's turn-based style which involves skill and character positioning as well as delaying and interrupting enemy's turns, Diablo's isometric point-and-click and Kingdom Heart's plain old bash-em-up without the Quick Time Event (I've never liked QTE and never will). What they have in common is all three games require you to pay attention to the battles and not just mindlessly tap X or left-click through the combat.
I really liked Grandia's system- it was almost good enough to carry the third one all on it's own. Likewise for FF's Active Time Battle, though I wish they'd let you see the enemy's meter too- even if it was really fast you could at least know when to have healing ready.
My least favourite system is the type used by the Tales and Star Ocean series. It's extremely messy. In every single one, the attacks that cause flinching are king. The strategy for the uber-bosses is usually just trapping them inside of multi-hit area attacks like Chisato's Tear Gas ad infinitum, assuming you can get the normally brain-dead AI controlling 3/4 of your party to cooperate. I feel if you're going for complete real-time, a battle transition is unnecessary- Secret of Mana did it right.
My least favourite system is the type used by the Tales and Star Ocean series. It's extremely messy. In every single one, the attacks that cause flinching are king. The strategy for the uber-bosses is usually just trapping them inside of multi-hit area attacks like Chisato's Tear Gas ad infinitum, assuming you can get the normally brain-dead AI controlling 3/4 of your party to cooperate. I feel if you're going for complete real-time, a battle transition is unnecessary- Secret of Mana did it right.
NOT
Everything else is fine, so long as it fits the style of the game. I generally play RPG's for the story and characters, not the the combat. It is nice when the combat is really fun though.
I like party based, tactical combat in the style of Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age.
Semi-real time, appears real time but it's turned based really.
Semi-real time, appears real time but it's turned based really.
Dont really have a preference as long as it is implemented well, although the one I have probably had the most fun with is very recent and thats the system that is featured in The Last Story which is mostly real time but mixes in time delayed attacks, special moves and effects plus use of cover, FPS elements and occasionally destructible scenery make it absolutely awesome.
I know everyone will chastise me for this, but I have to say that the style seen in FF XIII is the best style of RPG combat I've seen in games to date. I've played FF since X, as well as several Western RPGs, and Kingdom Hearts, and I just think FF XIII has the best one of the lot. Western RPGs are too similar to a standard shooter, so although I enjoy games like Fallout 3 and so on, I see them less as traditional RPGs and more as FPS or 3PS games with RPG elements. As for turn based, I don't mind it, but I hate the lack of realism, and more importantly I hate that it isn't anywhere near as challenging. When you have enough time to think you can deal with literally any scenario easily, and that just isn't worth it, whereas with the ATB style (and especially that in FF XIII, with the Paradigm system), you have much more of a challenge, and it encourages you to think quickly and come up with strategies and tactics on the fly, which is a lot more fun. If I want to wait around thinking about my next move and plan ahead, I'll play chess. Or Advance Wars.
I prefer turn based combat because of the strategy involved.
But I also like actiony stuff like Kingdom Hearts.
But I also like actiony stuff like Kingdom Hearts.
