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(Lack of) General Consensus: Best JRPG battle system ever?

redfox088

redfox088

Banned
Been putting in hours with Zodiac Age. I love the gambit system so much. It might be my favorite battle mechanic in a jrpg. I'm just not sure it's the best in the entire genre. Thoughts? I know Press turn is revered as well as ATB. Which game/series has the best? This question includes action, Strategy, etc.
 
Exentryk

Exentryk

Member
Bravely Default's system. Being able to take 16 (!) actions in a single turn just opens up sooo many combos, it's insane. And the best thing about it is there are meaningful interactions within those actions. Amazing depth!

Gambits are also up there for me.
 
W

Wollan

Member
Vagrant Story:

Position & elevation (real time movement between strikes).
Timing (chaining).
Target individual body parts for different outcome.
All the various stacked effects & counter effects.
Need of weapons specifically crafted for certain tasks.
Probably more I'm forgetting.

Some may say it was too complex & involved but I loved it.
 
Dr. Buni

Dr. Buni

Member
There is no such thing as a general consensus.

Anyways, for me, it is a tie between the Bravely Default and Press Turn (Shin Megami Tensei) systems.
 
J

Jimnymebob

Member
Pokémon is definitely a favorite, if only for the amount of depth you have when it comes to breeding Pokémon, assigning moves, and choosing a team that works well together. Also, it's one of the few multiplayer RPGs.

Final Fantasy X-2 is probably my favourite, traditional ATB Final Fantasy game. It's a shame the things surrounding the combat went so great, but still, it's probably one of my favorites in the series.

I never played much of it, but Valkyrie Profile 2 had a really interesting battle system, too.
 
M

MetalliCabombination

Member
Bravely second, vagrant story, ff12. I wanna say p5 but Persona just adds mechanics for the heck of it. Its smooth as hell but its overly basic nature and poor animations of the persona attacks continue to disappoint me greatly.
 
Alternative

Alternative

Neo Member
Grandia had one of the best battle systems out there. It feels so dynamic. You can guess what kind of attack an enemy will do and counter it depending on how fast their icon moves through the time gauge (stronger attacks move slower). This is one of the rare JRPGs where defending was actually a viable option.
 
E

emag

Member
There's no general consensus to be found here, particularly when the genre is so broad.

berserkawprd.gif

I'd go with Dragon's Dogma, if that counts. So good.

Otherwise, I like the Front Mission's tactical system (as implemented, e.g., in FM4). In particular, I appreciate the link system which allows for offensive or defensive support from nearby units in a more strategic manner (with real costs and choices) than, say, Fire Emblem Fates provides. Obviously there's more to it (targeting of parts, AP allocation, mech customization, etc.), but the link system stands out in particular.

885416-frontm4_005_large.jpg
 
S

SuperSah

Banned
Active time battle - especially in FFIV for DS. It made fights feel more intense and a race to get your strategy out in time.

It helps the game was exceptionally hard requiring real skill.
 
Z

Zhao_Yun

Member
My personal favorites are Press Turn from MegaTen and the ones from Star Ocean 4 and Tales of Graces f. I heard really good things about the combat in Grandia, so I'll have to take a look at that.
 
sazzy

sazzy

Member
I don't play too many jRPG's, but of those I've played, Ogre Battle 64 was the one I liked the most.
 
P

Patryn

Member
I have a soft spot in my heart for the original ATB, with Chrono Trigger having the optimal version of it by introducing the Double and Triple Techs.

That being said, I feel like Grandia has the best battle system, with both positioning and strategy and even timing all playing into things.

I'm also a heathen who feels that Tales of Vesperia has the best-feeling real time combat system,
 
P

pbayne

Member
I want to say The World Ends with You because its so unique and awesome but i can understand that some people find it finicky.

Probably the smt press turn system. Just for how straight-forward it is to grasp.
 
Y

Yabberwocky

Member
Not mentioning any new titles here! FFXII's gambit system is one of my favorites, along with FFX-2. I really enjoyed the flow to FFXIII's battle system, especially when you had to quickly flick back and forth between paradigms (ie everyone needs to be on defence to survive a hit), the rhythm was so distinct. Dear god did I loathe the story, but FFXIII:LR's battle system was fantastic, and built on what XIII/XIII-2 had established but gave you direct control. For non-FF, Bravely Default was extremely creative and flexible. Of the SMT games, I've only played IV, but goddamn, the press turn system was an addictive and tense gameplay epiphany. P5 perfected the Persona formula, too.

...that wasn't a short answer.
 
B

Buzzi

Member
I'm gonna say Golden Sun 2 and Etrian Odyssey 4, as they both are super fast, nerfing the random encounter sickness, but also deep enough without feeling overwhelming or unbalanced.

Out of the 30+ jrpgs I played nothing beats them in my heart, although there are valid nominees (TWEWY's is strange but good), while many are based on things I don't really dig like abusing of skills (Bravely Default) or combo systems (Tales of).
 
T

Triggerhappytel

Member
Wollan said:
Vagrant Story:

Position & elevation (real time movement between strikes).
Timing (chaining).
Target individual body parts for different outcome.
All the various stacked effects & counter effects.
Need of weapons specifically crafted for certain tasks.
Probably more I'm forgetting.

Some may say it was too complex & involved but I loved it.
Click to expand...

I love Vagrant Story, but pretty much everything in the game requires too much micromanagement. While the risk chains were an interesting system, I also recall spending an awful lot of time standing around waiting for it to count down.
 
S

sirronoh

Member
Final Fantasy X
Radiant Historia
Pokemon
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Etrian Odyssey

And yeah, I'll echo what others have said, there is no general consensus, nor should there be. There are a wide variety of gameplay systems out there, many of which are special in their own right. If you truly care about JRPGs, experience as many of the good ones that people recommend, they are absolutely worth it.
 
C

Cloud7

Member
Final Fantasy X-2's battle system is the best turn-based (ATB) system in JRPG history, in my own opinion.

Fun, fast-paced, but yet deep and satisfying.

I also really enjoy the Final Fantasy VII ATB Materia system as well. Customizing with mix and matching materia was incredibly deep and satisfying. I loved playing around with different combinations. The unfortunate side to that is that once you figure out a really good combination, you can thrash the entire game pretty easily. However, it took me some time to get to that point so I felt like I earned it. Plus, I can use virtually any of the available characters I want with any Materia combination which felt awesome.
 
K

Kwame120

Banned
Gotta say Bravely Second. The Bravely series has a fantastic battle system, and the mere existence of Postscript in Bravely Second knocks it up a few notches.
 
A

AerialAir

Banned
I will have to say Persona 5. It's very smooth and intuitive. Battles are almost always blisteringly fast. The decision to assign an action to a button in a controller is simply genius.
 
D

Danneee

Member
PD Saga, most fun I've had with a JRPG battle system. Looks and plays great and I actually look forward to battles in that game.


The press turn system in SMT is pretty fun too because you really have to think everything through.
 
A

aravuus

Member
Hard to pick a single favorite since there are so many different ones. Tales of Graces f is, assuming we count all the character progression systems too, probably the best purely action-based one, along with KH2. FF XII is very high up there for me too, and probably my favorite faux real time system.

ATB/Turn-based is a harder pick. Bravely Default/Second are great. FF X-2 is great. Persona 5 was great too, by far the most fun I've had with SMT.
 
SolVanderlyn

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
I loved the older Tales games. It was with Eternia that they started to get really fun. Starting with Xillia 2, they began to get stale/WAY too complicated for me, though.

Grandia franchise is amazing. It's turn based, but feels active. Best of both worlds, and relatively simple to boot.

Persona 5 is fantastic. It takes the press turn system and tones down its power by a bit, making battle less Simon Says and more engaging. Weaknesses won't outright destroy you or your enemies, but there is still enough of an edge there that you strategically plan battles around taking advantage of them. They turn the tide of battle, but don't decide it, which I find vastly more enjoyable to the traditional SMT press turn implementation.
 
K

kurahador

Member
Final Fantasy X - I love being able to change party members during battle.

Shadow Hearts 2 - Judgement Grid is such a great risk-reward system and the way they expand it usage in 2 is just amazing.
 
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