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Thread: Favorite RPG Battle System

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    Insert Coin (Level 0) The Plucky Little Ninja's Avatar
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    Default Favorite RPG Battle System

    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.

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    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.
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    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.

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    I hate turn based, does that count?

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

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    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.

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

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    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.

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    Another vote for Grandia 1 or 2.
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    Grandia 2 and valkyrie profile (shadow hearts as well).

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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

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

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    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.

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

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    Quote Originally Posted by XxMe2NiKxX
    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

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    Tales serise
    Xenogears
    Star Ocean 2nd Story

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

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