Favorite RPG Battle System

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

I haven't seen this one discussed before.

Final Fantasy's ATB? The classic menu driven system of Dragon Warrior, Phantasy Star, and hundreds of others too numerous to mention. Or perhaps one of the more "outside the box" systems of Chrono Cross, Sudeki, or Shadow Hearts.

As for me... Grandia II.

There should be legislation put forth to make that the standard for RPG's. I can't even remember it's name off the top of my head, but it was the perfect mix of strategy and reflexes. There was a frantic sensibility about it that kept those scores of random battles from getting stale.

[Crush Crawfish]

Well, I'm not sure if it qualifies as a seperate battle system, but I absolutely loved Chrono Trigger's dual tech/triple techs. The fact that it was so downplayed in chrono cross really sucked.

The judgement ring from shadow hearts rocks as well. It keeps you on your toes without making the battles real-time.

[Aussie2B]

The Star Ocean battle system; specifically, the Blue Sphere form is the best. Valkyrie Profile has a fantastic battle system as well, and in general, I love strategy RPG battle systems. As for the more traditional side of things, I too have to throw out a vote for Chrono Trigger, the peak of ATB. Everything after that got dumbed down, slower, too easy, and monotonous.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I hate turn based, does that count?

(But I love me some action/hack 'n slash)

[tylerwillis]

Before I even read the OP, I thought "Grandai II." I love all types of RPGs and usually enjoy battle sequences (interesting thread: what about the worst RPG battle).

But yes, Grandia II. One of the few RPGs that didn't have me bored with the battle system by the time I finished.

[PDorr3]

I really enjoyed the battle system that shadow hearts introducted on ps2. It was a sphere grid that makes you press the button during battle as a line spins around it, large and small areas that you must time right on button presses for your combos.
It really kept you awake during battle instead of the often boring battle sequences of most rpgs.

[Yago]

The Bards Tale. Because it is the only RPG I ever started and finished. :D

[SRC]

I enjoy tile-based games a lot! Fire Emblem is pretty challenging to me, having to manage who gets the expierience and losing characters forever when they die.

[Nez]

Another vote for Grandia 1 or 2.

[spider-man]

Grandia 2 and valkyrie profile (shadow hearts as well).

[Ronfar]

My favorite is the battle system from Shadow Hearts: Covenant. They took the "ring system" from the first SH and made it customizable and added a combo system.

My second would probably be the Lunar battle system.

[hezeuschrist]

Here's a mind blower: Final Fantasy X-2. Thats right, I said X-2.

When you strip away all the cheese and all the girlyness, if you make it a standard job system (instead of that "dress sphere" crap), it kicks a whole lot of ass. No swapping characters, no slow paced battles. Everything was FAST.

But to be honest, if I could in some dream world get the set-in-stone character classes and cast size of Final Fantasy IV and the ATB system of Final Fantasy everythingpastfive, I'd be a happy camper.

Suikoden I and II get an honorable mention, and while I didn't mind the tandem battle system of III it just didn't make any sense. I'm playing through IV right now (time to update my sig) and it just doesn't scream high quality like the other titles did.

As for the Dragon Warrior style hardcore menu driven system... I don't know if I could go back to it after playing Final Fantasy X/X-2. The battles in both games were very fast paced (for being turn based), and I played a bit of Dragon Warrior VIII at E3 and I don't know if I could force myself to sit through the entire game with battles like those.

[Snapple]

Probably the most strategic and mathematical battle system is actually the one from FFX. Most of the game is pretty easy, but once you try to kill those uber arena monsters, things get pretty damn complicated. But I like that. I like to be made to think beyond "smash the enemy for a while and then heal." You could clearly see and plan your next several moves in advance, as everyone had a set turn according to their respective agilities, with modifiers like Haste and Slow. And you *have* to plan several turns in advance on some battles to survive. Yet at the same time, everything moved extremely fluidly. It was a nice change of pace to the tired old ATB system.

I'll second Star Ocean, although I'll go with Star Ocean 2 as the best of the bunch. I haven't played Blue Sphere, but last I checked, nobody's translated Blue Sphere into English. Still, it's an absolutely beautiful blending of action with traditional RPG battle elements. Playing through SO2 again and again and again, the battles *never* get boring, like ever.

[FantasiaWHT]

Throw another in the camp for Grandia!

I also love the Tales games' battle system. The 2D fighting style battles are just an incredible amount of fun and very flexible. And scoring those uber-combos just feels good :)

[ig88vsbobafett]

I would have to say Grandia 2
So far that has been the only RPG i have liked

[XxMe2NiKxX]

Though I prefer the real-time Diablo 2 style, the best I've seen in a turn-based game is the original Final Fantasy, minus the bug(?) that caused you to miss if you targeted an enemy that was killed.

[NeoZeedeater]

Aside from action hybrids like Deus Ex, I would say Panzer Dragoon Saga.

[Daria]

minus the bug(?) that caused you to miss if you targeted an enemy that was killed.

That wasn't a mistake. You were suppose to strategize your attacks. :P

[Tron 2.0]

Tales serise
Xenogears
Star Ocean 2nd Story

[crazyjackcsa]

Another For Grandia II as soon as I read the title I thought of Grandia. Greatest system ever!

[Ed Oscuro]

Legend of Legaia was awesome.

[Slimedog]

Advance Wars. Sure the Fire Emblem system is similar and fun, but I really like not having to manage unit experience and most importantly not having to worry about units dying. Having disposable units is very liberating and allows you to focus on completing a mission instead of babysitting weaker units.

[SRC]

Advance Wars. Sure the Fire Emblem system is similar and fun, but I really like not having to manage unit experience and most importantly not having to worry about units dying. Having disposable units is very liberating and allows you to focus on completing a mission instead of babysitting weaker units.
Is Advance Wars even an RPG? I would classify it under just strategy.

[Leroy]

The Tales system is my favorite. I used to be a huge RPG nut but I can no longer go back to boring menu based battles. Stuff like Tales, Kingdom Hearts, Ys and Paper Mario have firmly nailed me down as an action-RPG fanatic.

It's such a shame Namco Hometek treats the Tales series like a second-rate series in America, Destiny was my first and still my favorite and I really wish I could play Tales of Destiny 2 to its fullest.. one of the few games I actually care about the story and it's only in Japanese.

Kingdom Hearts comes into a VERY close second.. the only thing Square has done that I've liked since the SNES days and Kingdom Hearts II is my most anticipated game of ALL TIME.

[Gamereviewgod]

One more for Grandia II. Never played the first one. It made sure you're involved and paying attention in every battle.

Legaia is a good one too, though I barely remember it.

I liked Vagrant Story too.

Still, it's always the BEU/hack-slash style RPGs that appeal to me the most. Otherwise, I never feel like I have full control (couldn't play Knights of the Old Republic for that very reason).

[stimmyjimmel]

i actually mostly like the turn based stuff because it lets me actually controll all of my characters. i mean sure running aorund and having 2 other helpers is ok but that way you arent as in charge as i like to be. if i was going to run around and hacka and slash stuf i would pullout bujingai or chaos legion.. although the hacking and stuff aint bad in the bards tale.

oh well i guess i'll just continue to be a lover of old school turn based rpgs.

basically i like alot of the systems from the days of the ps1 and back

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Wow, two pages worth of replys and only one person has mentioned Xenogears so far? That's truly shameful. :shameful: How can you not like a series battle system when there's mech and Human fighting in it?

Anywho, like most people, I'm also going to give my vote to the Grandia series. It's so fast paced and you actually don't mind so much when you bump into an enemy. Truly the best RPG battle system to date.

[FantasiaWHT]

Wow, two pages worth of replys and only one person has mentioned Xenogears so far?

I might have mentioned it under least favorite combat system ;) Never cared for it at all. I couldn't finish that game because I was so utterly bored by the gameplay; combat being the core of it.

[Daria]

I don't think I have a favorite... I enjoy action RPGs and Tactical RPGs for their gameplay- which in an RPG really means "Battle System" but I also appreciate the turn based games that try something new. The Grandias, Legaias, and Batten Kaitos of the world.

[Ed Oscuro]

i actually mostly like the turn based stuff because it lets me actually controll all of my characters. i mean sure running aorund and having 2 other helpers is ok but that way you arent as in charge as i like to be. if i was going to run around and hacka and slash stuf i would pullout bujingai or chaos legion.. although the hacking and stuff aint bad in the bards tale.
Lol, gackt and Chaos Legion...but I get your point. Still, I think that a number of the new RPGs give you as much control over units as old RPGs did, if not more. Take the Command & Conquer games. However, I never really did get into those...mostly for lack of trying, though (I might love 'em if I tried them out).

[DDCecil]

I love the turn-based, timed attacks of Super Mario RPG. I also love turn-based games with lots of text (Dragon Warrior series).

[Daria]

Which reminds me, I don't think it would work well for any other game but I love the battle system for Paper Mario. It really emulates the gameplay of the plateformers in a structured turn based sort of way. I also love the fact that the chatacters don't have limitless amount of health, you really have to be careful and plan your battles down to the last hit point.

[Raedon]

I got to go with the simple FF3 system. I like turn based, but all the crap you have to do now is a bore.

[Fuyukaze]

My favorite would have to be Parasite Eve. The ability to customize your weapon and armor gave each one a special feel to them. Even the most useless of equipment had something to give with it. Which reminds me I still need to finish that secret boss. The one in the crystler building.

[stimmyjimmel]

i actually mostly like the turn based stuff because it lets me actually controll all of my characters. i mean sure running aorund and having 2 other helpers is ok but that way you arent as in charge as i like to be. if i was going to run around and hacka and slash stuf i would pullout bujingai or chaos legion.. although the hacking and stuff aint bad in the bards tale.
Lol, gackt and Chaos Legion...but I get your point. Still, I think that a number of the new RPGs give you as much control over units as old RPGs did, if not more. Take the Command & Conquer games. However, I never really did get into those...mostly for lack of trying, though (I might love 'em if I tried them out).

yeah thats fine but err isn't command & conquer an rts game? cause ya know i've never seen an rpg with that type of system but then agian i dotn know every rpg game

[chrisbid]

second for for Panzer Dragoon Saga

[Berserker]

Daggerfall. Hold down the right mouse button, move the mouse down and you swing your weapon down, move the mouse right and you swing right, etc. It strikes that balance between giving you complete control over a range of different attacks while still being deviously simple.

It feels a bit tedious if you were to play the game nowadays, but I think I'm rooting more just for idea itself.

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

The original "Gargoyle's Quest" and "Sword of Vermillion" both had that mix of random encounter and action RPG that isn't seen too often. "Vermillion" had its fair share of problems, but I always loved hacking my enemies in real time.

Plus that game had one of my all time favorite title screens. Oooo new topic idea.

[googlefest1]

i like turnbased the best - i like to be in full control of all the characters - even though i dont have much trouble with realtime i just dont like it

[dieourumov]

Chrono Trigger's , no doubt. I don't think i've ever played a game with as smooth battles as that one with no annoying waits.

[Crush Crawfish]

I have to add a vote for Baten Kaitos' battle system. The combination of card battling and turn based combat works extremely well, and the combat never gets old.

[monkeychemist]

Probably the most strategic and mathematical battle system is actually the one from FFX. Most of the game is pretty easy, but once you try to kill those uber arena monsters, things get pretty damn complicated. But I like that. I like to be made to think beyond "smash the enemy for a while and then heal." You could clearly see and plan your next several moves in advance, as everyone had a set turn according to their respective agilities, with modifiers like Haste and Slow. And you *have* to plan several turns in advance on some battles to survive. Yet at the same time, everything moved extremely fluidly. It was a nice change of pace to the tired old ATB system.

I could not agree with you more! For the first time in all my RPG playing experience I played with ALL the characters. For example my favorite game is FF6. It is so much fun, however towards the end Terra, Umaro, Shadow and Gogo are badass while a few are medium and Strago, Relm and maybe a couple others are just garbage. Not because the game made them weak, but because i did not like them/care to level them up. FFX was the first game that made each character indispensible. I have not yet seen any game do that. Also, switching in and out was a blast...yea it made the game a little easy, but when it comes down to it for me it is about how much fun i have with the game and not how many times i have to start over because i lost to a boss... in fact if it has been a while since my last save i will not be able to pick it up and continue for a couple days.

[MuppetMaster]

Grandia II. Hands down

[evildead2099]

Probably the most strategic and mathematical battle system is actually the one from FFX.

I take it that PC style RPGs aren't being taken into consideration. In terms of complexity and sophistication, Final Fantasy's battle system is a joke compared to Fallout's.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Grandia II

How come nobody's showing love for the original Grandia? After all, Grandia 2 was actually a step down in the battle system seeing as you couldn't level up multible weapons for your characters.

[Aussie2B]

Probably the most strategic and mathematical battle system is actually the one from FFX.

I take it that PC style RPGs aren't being taken into consideration. In terms of complexity and sophistication, Final Fantasy's battle system is a joke compared to Fallout's.

I'd argue that the Final Fantasy battle systems are a joke to PC AND console RPGs. ;)

Seriously, though, PC RPGs and console RPGs play entirely different, and I don't think it's even fair to compare them. Neither is 100% factually better than the other. It all comes down to preference. I personally have absolutely zero interest in PC RPGs. They don't even feel like RPGs to me since you're just running around and hacking away at whatever crosses your path in most of them. At the very least, I like to be transported to a separate battlefield for duking it out, otherwise I just feel like I'm playing an adventure game like Zelda (although some games do a good job at making a structured battefield right where you stand, like in Chrono Trigger or Quest 64).

[PDorr3]

Which reminds me, I don't think it would work well for any other game but I love the battle system for Paper Mario. It really emulates the gameplay of the plateformers in a structured turn based sort of way. I also love the fact that the chatacters don't have limitless amount of health, you really have to be careful and plan your battles down to the last hit point.
agreed, it is simplistic in terms of rpg battles, but the time based button pressing and low hp amounts makes it fun!

[8bitcrooner]

My favourite is the traditional turn based system of Ultima, Wizardry, and Might and Magic. The Dungeon Crawlers bring me the satisfaction of knowing I can fully calculate each round of combat; so long as I am on top of my characters and their progression, as well as the monsters, stat wise. I am usually able to visualise the entire round and watch it play out to a T. I am very fond of the punishing mathmatics in these early systmes as well; for me it created a "no nonsense vibe" . In other words I enjoy the Dungeon Crawlers because they spank my bottom when I misbehave.

[Policenaut]

My personal picks are:


The materia system of FFVII: one of the most customizable battle systems, and one of the best by far. Each character had the ability to have counter attacks, first attacks, apply elemental attacks to their weapons, re-healing, etc. Some of this features can be seen on other FF's, but this one was one of the best systems.

I liked a lot Panzer Saga.
FFIII is one that needs no explanation.

I love both Advance Wars and Fire Emblem, but Fire Emblem is more challenging, the way you level up your weaker party partners is unique and more fun. Having a skilled and tougher partner in the game , like a general helps a lot too LOL

[hezeuschrist]

Am I the only one that thinks making every character have the same abilities is stupid? (Materia, Draw, etc) They completely rail the uniqueness of the character, and while FF7 was able to get away from it a bit, I still had barrett casting KotR at the end of the game, and that really doesn't make sense.

[UnInformer]

Grandia II

How come nobody's showing love for the original Grandia? After all, Grandia 2 was actually a step down in the battle system seeing as you couldn't level up multible weapons for your characters.
I was wondering the same thing. I love both games, but prefer the original in nearly every respect.

The Legaia games have good battle systems, too.

Strategy RPGs-that should just go without saying considering they are all about the battle system.

Fallout had a clever little system as well (except for the crappy teammate AI, of course), and some exceedingly violent deaths as a bonus.

[UnInformer]

Grandia II

How come nobody's showing love for the original Grandia? After all, Grandia 2 was actually a step down in the battle system seeing as you couldn't level up multible weapons for your characters.
I was wondering the same thing. I love both games, but prefer the original in nearly every respect.

The Legaia games have good battle systems, too.

Strategy RPGs-that should just go without saying considering they are all about the battle system.

Fallout had a clever little system as well (except for the crappy teammate AI, of course), and some exceedingly violent deaths as a bonus.

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

My favorites are out of the way. Here's one that drives me nuts. Any RPG where the enemies grow stronger based on your levels. What sadist thought that concept up.

I love the Lunar games, and the Sega CD version is one of my all time favorites. Lunar Complete rules, but sweet damn I'm not spending all that time leveling up just so my enemies can get harder to kill.

Final Fantasy 8 does the same thing. I can see part of the allure of that one being the ability to "beat" the system and just dominate every creature they throw at you, but it's one of the few RPG's that you can screw yourself over with crappy character management.

[b0bby]

final fantasy III and kingdom hearts

[AlexKidd]

I've never played any of the older tales games but i'm a fan of the battle system in tales of symphonia. Kind of a cross between turn based and action rpgs. Chrono Trigger has a nice one too. I like any rpg where you can see the dudes you're about to fight. I still love the games but all the random battles in Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star can get pretty annoying after awhile.

[sealboy6]

My favorite battle system would have to be the Chrono Cross battle system. I like it. Complex, yet at the same time, very simple. Good mix of stuff. My favorite RPG though, is Final Fantasy V.

[GameNinja]

I really like the battle system of Lost Kingdoms 1 and 2. It is a good mix of collecting and real-time action. I found myself looking for hours for just a few awesome cards.

[fpstream]

Just the straight up turn based, I like it better than real time like Kingdom hearts, I think you can plan strategy better with you characters. So I guess the early Final Fantasies, the ATB style.

[retroman]

i have always been very fond of the Dragon Warrior style