Poll: Your opinions on RPG combat

[Ursus Buckler]

I'm not that picky. I like the turn based combat of Pokemon and FFX, but I also like real time, like in KH2, BUT I also like the first and third person styles of Skyrim and Fable.

so yeah, like whatever man.

 

[josemlopes]

I like the last two (FPS,TPS) because I like to influence the outcome through my own skills instead of relying solely on the statistics of the character

 

[Dudeman325]

Actually , FF1 doesn't have the same turn base combat as FFX. It's more like ff4 Through ff9 . Enemies will attack you rven if you don't input a command .

I'm not sure about some of the "remakes" that change FF1 around, such as the "spells per day" being turned into the MP system, but this certainly isn't true of the NES version. In combat, everyone stands around doing nothing until you give a command to all four of your party members, THEN actions are executed once per round by all characters/monsters until everyone has a turn, before starting up the next round. Almost nothing like the ATB battle system.

 

[Slayer_2]

Either third or first person combat, although I tend to prefer FPS style combat. Just no damn turn-based.

 

[skywolfblue]

Hmm.

I like WoW's combat when it's done right. Though, WoW was kinda designed on combat on your own being rather boring, but combat as a group to be extremely synergistic and interesting. Plus it was more about "not standing in the fire" and position-dependent group work then having flashy ways to kill the other guy. So not really single-player material.

Dragon Age 2 would be my current nominee for best single-player RPG combat. (I haven't played Dark Souls or Kingdoms of Amalur so I don't know how well those fair, Amalur looks like it might be a contender if I ever get around to it.) There were some flaws (wave-based combat, some weak abilities, etc etc) but on the whole the ideas were great. Having easy access radial menus, all 4 face buttons on the controller mapped to abilities, every time you push a button something happened, no delays, misfires, constantly being bumped out of melee range before you could push the attack button or other problems.

 

[Suicidejim]

Turn-based combat, either with or without an ATB gauge, tends to be my favourite. Also, I've been playing the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor series and find that combat system (sort of a mixture of classic FF turn based battling with grid-based strategy) to be surprisingly engaging.

EDIT: And The World Ends With You gets special mention from me just for having the biggest clusterfuck of a battle system I've ever seen. Still love the game though.

 

[skywolfblue]

every time you push a button something happened

Come on. You know you wanted to slip AWESOME in there

That was a quote from one of the devs that gets used by a lot of people to mock the game if I'm remembering right?

I think it's one of the more silly complaints people use against DA2. Most of the time pushing a button did do something nifty, I don't know why people think that's a bad thing. Sure there were cases of going overboard, but on the whole I think it was a good idea.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I think it's one of the more silly complaints people use against DA2. Most of the time pushing a button did do something nifty, I don't know why people think that's a bad thing. Sure there were cases of going overboard, but on the whole I think it was a good idea.

Why is "button awesome" shorthand for all the terrible combat decisions in DA2?

In a nutshell.

Button-mashing aside, I don't want something "awesome" to happen every time I hit a button in an RPG. "Awesome" things happening are only actually awesome if they're a reward for good gameplay. For instance, in the game I'm playing right now, Brogue, fire literally looks like this: ^^^^^, except red. But when you trap a powerful enemy in a burning room, it's satisfying because it's the result of using your resources in a creative way. If, on the other hand, my character does some kind of complicated ninja flip every time I mash A, it gets old quickly.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I am quite into SRPG's at the moment thanks to FF:Tactics A2, and Disgaea... but I also love every other type of RPG... seriously! Well... maybe not MMO's, but that's just because I haven't played any! :S

I also for some reason thought we were going to be talking about Rocket Propelled Grenades... Damn work! :S

 

[Kotaro]

For me, the specific system doesn't matter as long as it's fun. I've enjoyed turn-based and action-based combat systems equally.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Turn-based combat can quite literally put me to sleep. Real-time has never done so.



so I say any turn-based combat can go to hell.


I also think the outcome of battle should hinge as much on your skill at the keyboard as it does on the numbers, perhaps even moreso. Nothing shatters immersion more than numbers deciding that an attack that hit by every other cue the game has to offer didn't hit.


Basically, something like Fallout 3/NV.

Although my impression of FONV was that it was very build-dependent. You basically set up something powerful (in my case crits + energy weapons, but I imagine you could do something ridiculous with the brush gun) and then shot everything in the face 1-2 times. Although that might just be the way I play games like this.

My personal opinion is that in ARPG design tactical skill > twitch skill > build skill. Coming up with a good build is fun, but it shouldn't be the basis of an entire combat system because otherwise there's not much point of the player being involved in the combat part of the game.

 

[-Seraph-]

I will take combat for what it is, be it turn based or real time. What matters is how well implemented and meticulous I can get with it. Turn based combat should always present a good deal of strategy that allows me to utilize abilities to their fullest extent and yet still present some challenge. While real time should not be button mash and allow me to put some skill behind it.

As far as favorites go:

Turn Based- Valkyrie Profile probably has one of my favorite turn based combat systems, it's just fucking awesome and rewarding. Turn based - combo combat gives you enough control over the fight to not feel so automated, and there is some skill in how you time your attacks to rack up big ass combos. Having your whole party pretty much juggle a boss with a barrage of attacks and then letting loose a limit break or two is so damn satisfying to do and to watch.

Just look at it!!
Fucking awesome!

Real time- I really like Witcher 2 and the Souls games. Witcher 2 does have a bit of an inverted difficulty curve, but the higher difficulties remedy that. These games allow you full control of what your character does in real time, and have a lot of depth and skill behind them which is required to succeed. I just love punishing combat that forces you to think and use the proper gear, items, skills at your disposal to defeat enemies. Ys7 is a runner up (a lot like the mana games), with its brisk and fluid combat that is simple and yet never feels brainless.

 

[Darknacht]

Turn Based is way too slow and boring. No strategy is really involved especially in games like Pokemon if you just play the cpu. *Thunder pokemon, SPAM THUNDERBOLT!* *WATER POKEMON, SPAM WATER BLAST!" etc.

A proper turn based combat usually requires far more strategy then the more simple action real time games you just haven played any good isometric turn based games. Just look at games like Fallout, and Arcanum.

 

[MammothBlade]

In a nutshell, the more combat mechanics RPGs steal from other genres, the better they will be.

I like turn based combat too, but a lot of games screw it up. A turn based game should be about planning your actions, not about being forced to take turns performing the same actions over and over again.

Exactly, and this is what made Final Fantasy XIII in particular, feel so dull and repetitive to me. Auto-battle? Wtf. It often confined the player's role in combat to nothing more than the ape who presses auto battle and paradigm shift. And that is not what makes a fun RPG.

I prefer turn-based systems, particularly the press-turn used in Shin Megami Tensei games. You have have to coordinate your party's actions carefully, or you could lose a turn and let the enemy thrash your arse back to the title screen. Though there is an option to rush, which is useful if you want to skip easy random encounters.

Dragon Age allows something of a hybrid between turn-based and real-time combat. You can pause right in the middle of a battle, which is a must have to get a good grasp of the situation. Pressing the space bar means the difference between victory and defeat.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I don't know what half of that shit is. The only RPG combat that I ever played that didn't bore me to tears was Paper Mario and Paper Mario 2. Whatever that is.