RPGs with the best combat systems

[Eduku]

There's been a lot of discussion about whether combat in RPGs is good or not, but I couldn't find a recent thread with suggestions for good combat systems.

For me, The Witcher 2 is definitely up there, mixing a good blend of action and flashiness with a good amount of realism and difficulty.

On the turn based side, I really like The Last Remnant and Resonance of Fate's systems, both really deep and require a high level of understanding, but it's really satisfying when you get them down. Special mention to the Fire Emblem series too, although that's less of an RPG in the traditional sense.

So, which RPGs do you think have the best combat systems?

 

[tippy2k2]

Does XCOM count? If XCOM counts, I'm going with that for I can't stop playing that game...

If it does not count, my runner up would be Skyrim if you fixed the broken AI. I've always wanted a MMORPG with an actual fighting system instead of the WoW route of click...click....click....it died....click....click....and so on. Skyrim's bow and arrow and knifing people in the ass are loads of fun for me and would probably have been a much higher rated game for me if the AI wasn't so God-awful against stealthy characters.

Also Fallout 3/New Vegas. The ability to free shoot when you're just moving through and VATS if shits getting too real is really nice.

Although, I hated Witcher 2 so maybe my opinion is now null and void

 

[djl3485]

I enjoyed Star Ocean: The Second Story's combat system, along with the Shadow Hearts series.

 

[shrekfan246]

Depends on the type of RPG, in my opinion.

For D&D-esque RPGs I'd have to give it to Knights of the Old Republic or Final Fantasy XII.

For WRPGs in particular, I'll have to pick a JRPG; Dark Souls. I love how deceptively simple the combat is on the surface, with all of its depth hidden beneath, plus it's just immensely satisfying.

JRPGs are so different from title to title... Persona 4, Final Fantasy IX, Tales of the Abyss, Resonance of Fate, they all have similar mechanics on the surface but vastly different ways combat actually plays out. So I don't know if I'd really be able to settle on one.

SRPGs I admittedly have very little experience with, but Disgaea has a pretty darn fun combat system in a similar vein to the newest X-COM.

MMORPGs I'd probably go with Star Trek Online, actually, because the ship-to-ship combat is some of the most fun I've ever had. I do like combat in WoW, but the scope of battles in STO is much more awe-striking.

And then for isometric ARPGs, I'd personally say Diablo III. I love the addition of signature spells that change the character's auto-attack but don't use resources, and that alone goes a long way toward making it more fun for me compared to the likes of Diablo II or Torchlight II.

I could probably include over-the-shoulder ARPGs as another separate entry, but... I'd probably still give that one to Dark Souls again over the likes of Mass Effect or The Witcher 2.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Grandia was my favorite turn-based game. It was all about character speed and positioning in battle, and it takes into account things like is your enemy facing you, is the enemy knocked down or in midair, what type of attack you are using, are you collaborating with a teammate? It's a lot like taking an over-the-top fight scene and managing what each character does and letting it play out - it's really engaging, and there's more effort to it than going on autopilot.

But I've only played Grandia 3, and people think it's a weak game. Forgot everything about the story, loved the combat.

 

[The Madman]

Temple of Elemental Evil despite otherwise being a so-so game has by far the best interpretation of DnD combat in a game to date. That alone is why I've played through ToEE a couple times now, just to replay these satisfying combat encounters and to play with the various makeups of a classic adventuring party. It's just really in-depth and surprisingly fun.

As far as action rpg go Witcher 2 was indeed very well done. At least off the top of my head can't really think of any decent rpg that did it better anyway. I mean there's Mass Effect 2 and 3, but honestly those feel more like shooters than rpg, which I imagine was the point but still.

 

[sanquin]

I wouldn't know what my number one is, but my top rpg's for their combat systems would be Dark Souls for action, FF: tactics for stategy, pokemon for turn-based.

 

[thesilentman]

Dark Souls has the best combat system I've seen in years. So easy to grasp, but so fucking hard to master, which is precisely the fun. ;-)

As for a straight up turn based RPG, Chrono Trigger wins. It's very sleek and quite engaging, to me at least. But that may just be me.

 

[nomzy]

Dark Souls.
It is by far and wide one of the most satisfying and fun combat systems of any RPG I've ever played. I also enjoyed the Dragon Age: Origins combat specifically because of the friendly fire on spells.
When I really think about it though, I don't really love the combat systems in most RPGs - That is to say it's not the reason I play them.
I mean sure I like some of them but it's not a sticking point. I dunno I'm more of a shooter guy when I play a game purely for "combat".

 

[IllumInaTIma]

Hmm, I kinda liked Path of Exile's system for the way it shake usual Diablo style RPG formula. Bounding traditional skill system to socketable stones and removing usual economy system was a daring move.

Also, I am still to see anything close to Jade Empire battle system. That shit was rad.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

There's been a lot of discussion about whether combat in RPGs is good or not, but I couldn't find a recent thread with suggestions for good combat systems.

So, which RPGs do you think have the best combat systems?

Glad to see this thread.
I lean towards RPGs that give you control of the combat. I like developing skill while simultaneously figuring out my strategy. Turn-based doesn't give the player very much control.

So the games that I'm going to suggest may not seem like great games, but here you go:

Tales of Vesperia - Tales games (Legendia comes to mind) usually deliver great combat. It's a little stiff at first, but the combat in Vesperia is really solid. It feels like your skill is what matters when controlling a character.

Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning - The game may have been too big, which is why the story kind of fell flat in places, but the combat system here is more like what I want the next generation to experience. I really enjoyed the freedom that it allowed in terms of what kind of fighter you wanted to be.

Dragon's Dogma - I'm currently hooked on this game. Capcom knows how to do combat, period.

Again, I prefer games where your knowledge of the character's move set has more bearing on the outcome of battle.
If we're talking about combatin RPG's I want to control the action. I don't want numbers to dictate the outcome.

There have been turn based games that I've found interesting in the past generation, but I usually get stuck at a later point in the game because I wasn't building my character in the way the game was set up for. Vagrant Story, and Gladius come to mind with this. Out of the two games, Vagrant Story's combat was extremely satisfying in that day.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

I stand by Gothic II having the best combat system in an RPG. It's so enjoyable to use, and with the right amount of skill, you can defeat more or less anything even at level one with shitty equipment. It takes some practice, and time, to master it but when you do, it makes you feel very accomplished. Melee combat, at least. The ranged combat is rather terrible, and was fixed in the third game, but melee - Gothic II for me, is unmatched. I even like it more than Mount & Blade.

 

[Chris Tian]

I really liked Dark Souls Combat, mostly because of the balancing. Every wepon had its pros and cons. A spear might do less damage but was very safe to use from behind, the zweihander did crazy damage but left you wide open for counter attacks, etc. There was no clearly best weapon in the game, you could decide between so many different combat styles.

I dont know if Fallout 3/New Vegas and ME 2/3 (I did not like the immunity spamming in ME1) count, since those have more shooter(ish) gamplay mechanics. But I feel they are worth mentioning because the games are overall classified as RPG's.

Dragon Age: Origins combat was alot of fun for me too. I liked that you needed a party where each member had to do a particular job, like tanking, crowd control, damage dealing or healing.

For me, The Witcher 2 is definitely up there, mixing a good blend of action and flashiness with a good amount of realism and difficulty.

I love TW2 combat too, especially the combination of swordplay, bombs, traps, and magic, and how you can mix that up however you like.
But that is as far from realistic as its gets. I mean even aside the bombs, traps and magic, which is nowhere near realism as you will surely agree.

In a "real" swordfight there is no spinning and rolling around and flailing your sword around. Depending on the Sword and fightingstyle used, there are very few heavy hits or precise cuts and stabs answerd with a short parades or ripostes and then its over. On average a swordfight is(or better was) decided by the first blow, and is seldom longer than 5 different actions (counting each attack and parade as one action). I have some training myself (Kenjutsu, and a little european sword and shield fighting technique) and did some reaserch on historic swordfighting (just so you know I am not talking out of my a**).

You just don't see realistic swordfights anywhere, even if people try to be somewhat realistic about it, because they are very boring to watch and are over, from sword drawn to sword sheated in like 30 seconds.

 

[piinyouri]

Star Ocean: Till The End of Time was one of the more unique ones I've come across.
Very odd but satisfying blend of live action and turn based.

 

[Zeckt]

I stand by Gothic II having the best combat system in an RPG. It's so enjoyable to use, and with the right amount of skill, you can defeat more or less anything even at level one with shitty equipment. It takes some practice, and time, to master it but when you do, it makes you feel very accomplished. Melee combat, at least. The ranged combat is rather terrible, and was fixed in the third game, but melee - Gothic II for me, is unmatched. I even like it more than Mount & Blade.

Ah, I would certainly hate to fight a shadowbeast at level 1 though.

 

[AuronFtw]

Classic (Turn Based) RPG: FFX-2 (no joke)

This, surprisingly. FFX-2 had a *lot* of shit wrong with it, but the combat was quite possibly the most fun/engaging/etc combat any final fantasy has had to date. Class swapping mid battle, setting up team builds that rely on the buffs you get for swapping across specific dress-sphere grids, and a rather fat list of trinkets that had both pros and cons (as opposed to the typical short list of insanely powerful trinkets with no drawbacks for anything). Also helped that, for the most part, all the classes were somewhat viable - earlier games featured more classes (namely FF5) but there was a *lot* of overlap and many were just terribad, but X-2 does a pretty good job of keeping classes from feeling redundant. Also, the combo system was amazing.

For other games, I... still really like Baldur's Gate (2, mostly) for older style top-down combat. I find that kind of frequent pausing top-down view combat *way* more tactically intensive than more recent games it influenced. If Dragon Age was even 1/10th as complex and engaging as BG, I would have liked it - but it was just a poor man's mockery of a once-great combat system, and the frequent pausing felt very out of place in Kotor/Mass Effect (the latter in particular), and the smaller party size/reduced party options threw complexity/neat team builds out the window. IMO a party of 6 is that sweet spot - enough for meatshield, melee damage, support caster, damage caster, thief, etc.

The thief concept in particular is one that very, very few games have ever done well. Final Fantasy as a series has a real problem making thieves feel useful - in the earlier games, they were the horribad grindyclass that people "dealt with" just because it led to ninja, and even in later games the "Steal" function (whether character-specific or granted by items) felt really perfunctory and... useless. It failed constantly, and sometimes even hurt your thief when they failed, and after spending a good 5+ turns spamming steal you end up getting a hi-potion. Whoop de fuckin' do. Give me a thief that actually does thiefy stuff - sneaking, disarming traps, stealing items from shopkeepers, stealing jewelry from nobles milling around a marketplace, and taking out key targets early in the battle with a glass-cannon combat style that promotes picking targets well without letting the thief become a hilarious auto-win button like in Skyrim (hurrr shadow warrior).

The AD&D mechanics are pretty arcane and definitely feel dated (I hope you love reading pages-long spell descriptions!) but even despite that, BG2's combat remains one of the most complex, engaging and rewarding turn-based RPGs have to offer.