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Best Action(non turn based) combat in a JRPG?

For some reason I really can't get into the Tales of or Kingdom Hearts combat. Always felt kinda clunky and unfinished to me, especially KH. As if it tried to be DMC but was too scared to take that last step. Maybe I'll give it another try 1.5 HD ReMix.
 
My favorites are Resonance of Fate, Type-0 (the little I played of it), and Valkyrie Profile 2. Tri-Ace might make questionable games but the battle systems are usually good.
 
jzbluz said:
My favorites are Resonance of Fate, Type-0 (the little I played of it), and Valkyrie Profile 2. Tri-Ace might make questionable games but the battle systems are usually good.
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While it's sorta turn based, I really like the combos you can pull off in Xenoblade Chronicles if you can keep the chain attack going for a long time
 
Lightning Returns. And before you bring up ATB, they function more like replenishing stamina meters than turns. In many ways it feels like what KH should have been in terms of pure mechanics.

Tales of Xillia also approached perfection; can't wait for Xillia 2 - heard nothing but good things on the evolution of that basic system.
 
Another vote for both the Tales of and Kingdom Hearts series.
Out of the Tales series, I'd say Graces f and Xillia are the best action(y) battle systems.
Out of the KH series, I feel like Birth by Sleep's battle system was just about perfect.

TWEWY is awesome, but it takes some getting used to, properly dividing your attention between the top and bottom screens at the same time. The combat was definitely fun, but in my opinion, not perfect.

I've been really hyped about FFXV's battle system for a while.
It looks like it could offer some amazing JRPG action-oriented gameplay.
So yeah, I'd definitely keep an eye on that one.
 
Tales series. It's the reason I play them. Graces f is probably the best.

If you count it as an Action RPG and not Action--it seems borderline to me--then Ys as well.

I can't get into Star Ocean at all. I played the first half of 2 and 3 and they were shallow and repetitive. Same with Kingdom Hearts.
 
Dungeon Fighter Online - Yes, I know it's more of an MMO, but the realtime fighting is badass when the PvE monsters aren't broken.

Xenoblade Chronicles - Toppling, comboing, status effects, destroying negative futures is fucking awesome when you know how to coordinate your Arts and characters. This game doesn't punish you for running away from battle, making it a more legitimate tactic.

The Last Story - Not as good as Xenoblade but it has blocking, countering, and the environment can play a factor (walljumping to escape/counter surrounding enemies).

Phantasy Star Online - The game that made me hate turn-based RPGs forever.

Super Mario RPG/Paper Mario/Mario & Luigi series - the exceptions because the action inputs for attacks replace luck with skillz.
 
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It doesn't have the best combat in an action JRPG, but it's one of my favorite action JRPGs ever. You spend a lot of time dungeon crawling, and the combat is pretty standard stuff. It's not very deep, no combos, etc. You have a gun and a wrench for short- and long-range combat. Where the game shines is that you not only gather materials to create new weapons (and a rideable robot!), but you also build entire towns. There's also a picture taking mechanic outside of combat, which I thought was really cool and adds to that japanese charm. The music and art are also both really great, and I seem to recall liking the story a lot, but my memory is pretty hazy because I played the game like a decade ago.
 
Star Ocean 3, and Valkyrie Profile 2. Pity triace is slowly sinking nowadays, they came up with fairly interesting and excellent combat systems.
 
I'm a fan of the combat in the Ys games, especially the last few - they're pretty much the only games that I'll put down whatever else I'm playing just to work on when a new one comes out. Personally, I think TWEWY is vastly overrated (and way, way too hard for its own good).
 
mrmickfran said:
2, 3, and 6 were by far the best ones.

Also:
Xenoblade
TWEWY

I've always wanted to play the Tales games. Where's the best place to start? I have a PS2, PS3, Wii, Wii U, and 3DS
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Tales of Symphonia Chronicles is coming out in like 2 weeks ($40), it's a bit more dated and simpler but more balanced battle system and great soundtrack. A lot of Tales fans in the West started with Symphonia. Or Xillia which has been out for about a half year, lacks any dungeons/puzzles and some of the area designs are recycled, but a much more complex battle system, better voice acting and a more coherent story.

I slightly lean toward recommending Symphonia Chronicles overall if you keep in mind it's like a decade old.
 
Dissidia if it counts, Crisis core if it doesn't. If you count Dark Souls as a JRPG though, neither of those come close.
 
PKrockin said:
Tales of Symphonia Chronicles is coming out in like 2 weeks ($40), it's a bit more dated and simpler but more balanced battle system and great soundtrack. A lot of Tales fans in the West started with Symphonia. Or Xillia which has been out for about a half year, lacks any dungeons/puzzles and some of the area designs are recycled, but a much more complex battle system, better voice acting and a more coherent story.

I slightly lean toward recommending Symphonia Chronicles overall if you keep in mind it's like a decade old.
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I thought the Chronicles version was based off the PS2 version? The one with the crappy framerate? Unless, Chronicles fixed the framerate.
 
The World End With You
Megaman battle network
Star Ocean 3
Tales of series (I enjoy the 2d one the most actually, seeing hi ougi is awesome)
Kingdom Heart series
 
Does Resonance of Fate count? Kinda real-time, kinda not. Same goes for Valkyria Chronicles series. Also, Dragon's Crown was a great RPG/beat 'em up hybrid

Also also, have Secret of Mana/Evermore and Terranigma been mentioned yet? I really liked those.
 
mrmickfran said:
I thought the Chronicles version was based off the PS2 version? The one with the crappy framerate? Unless, Chronicles fixed the framerate.
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Nah, it's 30FPS. The original GC version is a bit pricey at $30 used on Amazon though.

Abyss, Vesperia, Graces, Xillia, and Xillia 2 are all 60FPS for the record. the 3DS port of Abyss is 30FPS.
 
Man, I've tried out most of the JRPG's mentioned in here and wasn't really satisfied any of the action combat present in them. That's kind of depressing as I'm pretty thirsty for a good one right now.
 
Swarna said:
Man, I've tried out most of the JRPG's mentioned in here and wasn't really satisfied any of the action combat present in them. That's kind of depressing as I'm pretty thirsty for a good one right now.
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You weren't satisfied with Graces' battle system? Blasphemy.
 
HawthorneKitty said:
You weren't satisfied with Graces' battle system? Blasphemy.
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This is the only one I want to try right now. Heard good things. I only played Vesperia and Abyss out of the Tales series and found them pretty dull (making my interest in other titles disappear). I don't have a PS3, though, and don't fancy getting one so late into this gen just to try it out.
 
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