Yeah, as soon as I saw the thumbnail, I was all "Wait, I remember this... the whole left-right-up-down attack bar... and you could make awesome chains of special attacks by linking the end of one special with the start of another and... what was it CALLED?!" Legend of Legaia indeed. I never even knew it had a sequel, but from the sound of it, I didn't miss much. An HD remake would definitely be awesome - I'd love to replay it, but I don't even have a PS1 anymore...
My very first console was a playstation 2, so i never got to try Legend of Legaia. The console did cost a bit more than i expected so i couldn't buy any of the new and popular games, so i had to go through crate where they had a bunch of cheaper games and i picked Legend of Legaia 2, because i thought it had the coolest cover. Still my favourite turn-based game of all time. I'd give it a 9/10, but only because i thought the voice acting and dialogue was cringe and the combat would take a long time when you had unlocked a lot of art blocks. But the crafting and combining accessories part was really fucking good.
Legend of Legaia was my first RPG too! So many good memories of playing a demo from a PlayStation magazine over and over again… warms my heart to see someone else feels the same.. Manifesting a remake.
legend of legaia was far from mine, earliest I remember is phantasy star 4. but legaia, star ocean 2, legend of dragoon, and xenogears was my favorite alt combat.
it wasnt my first rpg but i did do the same, played a demo to no end till i finally got the game. glad someone agreed with my thought of the first being the better of the two.
BEST mechanic in an RPG where you have multiple team members is "Party Switching"! AMAZING idea that all the characters are still in the battle but some are in the back row either supporting or regaining health. FF10 did it well (aside from stoned or dead team mates), Atelier Iris 2 did it VERY well allowing you to revive characters after switching KO'ed members to the backrow and giving them time to heal AND allowing back row members to use attack or defensive skills FORM THE BACK ROW. Breath of Fire 4 did this mechamic very well too! It NEVER made sense to me to have multiple party members in a group but only 3 of them can fight at once time for some reason. At least with some games the party stays behind at an INN or someplace but if everyone is with you constantly then it makes no sense to not have the in battle in some way
Completely agree. Exactly why I included most games that feature a mid battle party switching mechanic, I really love it. But damn, you just reminded me about Atelier Iris! I loved those first two games and I do remember their battle systems being very fun. Definitely could have been fitting for an honorable mention spot
@@GamingBroductions Yeah Atelier Iris 1 was good, 2 was really good with the 2 main characters seperated and supporting one another, then 3 kinda dropped the ball with that weird timer dungeon mechanic and the weird cast of characters.
I had a big issue with FF7 because of this. I really never got to know Vincent, Cait Sith, Barret, or Red XIII because it really forces you to pick one team and stick with it.
I love the Switching mechanic in Fuga melodies of Steal. First of all the Taranis only has 3 Gun turrents so it makes sense that only 3 characters can attack at the same time. But each turrent has also a slot fore a support character that will give a buff to the attacker like reducing SP cost fore using skills, increasing critical hit rate ore increasing damage when using a skill. This leads to characters well synergicing with others. Boron has lots of attacks power and a powerfoul AoE attack but as a canon user he las low accuracy so giving him Kyle(who buffs accuracy) as a suport turns him in a wrecking maschine fore large groupes of smaller enemies. Now when you switch partymembers you dont use up a turn but after you did you need to wait 3 turns (one partymember action counts as 1 turn) before being able to do it again. The really cool thing is if you swap 2 activ characters they swap positions in the turn order timeline. So character A can take a turn, then character B swaps with character A so character A can take a turn again. Its kinda like Button passing but without power boost and knocking down emmies. This gives the player a ton of controll over the turn order and with how the combat is built it encourages to swap constantly to addapt to the situation. Every time I get in a new fight I need to swap to get the right partymembers fore the job. All Partymembers have there time to shine. I know the stradegy comes from me the player but in universe its there teamwork and stradegy and its really satisfaying watching the children work so well together taking down there foes in a methodical manner.
It isn't that good. The sphere grid system is great but the actual battle system sucks. Basically 90+% of encounters are swapping in each character so they get experience and then finishing the battle with the character that is needed for each enemy type. It's boring and the whole game feels like a palette swap. Basically after the first few hours you've fought every enemy you will fight for the rest of the game
@@AdamantiumDeposit no FFX hate is based in reality though, you HAVE to be delusional to hate... anything about the game other than the butterfly, chocobo, and lightning minigames 😅
Just seeing the thumbnail brings back so many memories playing Legend of Legaia. from playing it for years on an old Sony demo disc, to finally getting my own copy in 2015 and creating an entire magic guide/skill guide to refer to when going through the game.
absolutely LOVE Final Fantasy X. i loved it as a kid and was SHOCKED to find so many people online hated it haha me and all my friends were obsessed with it when it was brand new, and the battle system is a huge part of why. i love the story, characters, soundtrack, locations, etc, too, but man that combat is just absolutely perfect in my opinion. addicting.
I absolutely love ffx aswell, ignore those people who hate on the game as their ignorant to say that it’s the downfall of the series as it’s not, that would be ffXII
@@WinspearUltima We all have our own opinions on what the downfall of Final Fantasy was and i respect your opinion, though i heartily disagree. I love FFXII, though i didn't at first, it just took me time to explore the depth of the board system and come up with a system that worked flawlessly for each character so combat became fluid and functionally brilliant. I'm glad you enjoyed FFX, it's just not for me though. My personal favourite was FFVII's materia system, the functionality and limitless customisation options to set up any charcter whichever way you like has never been bettered in my opinion. Every single person had different combinations that worked for them rather than working for the game. This type of freedom to do as you please has sadly been lost from the franchise nowadays, and probably won't see a return to form any time soon. Personally i don't like FFX, as playing Blitzball put me right off the game, i found it tedious and time consuming to the point of despair. To this very day i still haven't played it since way back then. Just the thought of having to play Blitzball is soul destroying...
If you like having 8 playable characters which can be rotated on the fly, try Golden Sun: The Lost Age. You should play the 1st, but essentially this is a game where you summon and combine summons for magic/healing, and having different characters with different Dijin (summons) in your party unleashes different super attacks. Also the Golden Sun difficulty is spot on. I beat both games on literally my final move or two (ran out of summons, revives, heals, etc and used a normal attack that does ~100 damage on a boss with 30,000hp). BOTH games I beat like this, and I know you appreciate your Shining Force.
yup, it was my childhood, even my father and uncle played legend of legaia back in 90s! aside of final fantasy 7,8,9, none capture the same feeling as legaia does. p.s i am 26 now
I just started BoF4. Yes, the battle system is fun, but I'm still enamored with the sprite animation. Absolutely beautiful. Respect for the Grandia love as well!
Oh absolutely. The sprite work is easily some of the prettiest on the entire PS1, if not the prettiest. I would love it if we could get more modern RPGs done in that graphical style
Same, outside of FF/DQ I always thought Wild Arms was considered up there with other popular RPG series of the time like Breath of Fire, Suikoden, Grandia, etc. but over time it seems like it falls more and more under the radar compared to those series and not talked about nearly as much. The first 3 and especially 1-2 are some of my favorite RPGs ever that I have tons of nostalgia for
I have to agree with you that the Grandia series have some of the best combat mechanics in a JRPG. The cancelling system is always so addictive and even in normal encounters when you usually defeat the same mobs can't help but feel being engaged all the time like its a boss fight. IMO the Grandia series has found that sweet spot of mixing both Action and Turn based elements in a JRPG
Yeah too bad Square Enix leaves this series in a coffin and no other dev decided to kickstart a new game with a battle system like it. It's regarded as the best battle system ever by A LOT of people, me included, but it disappeared from the face of the earth since 2006 (release date of G3)... ...I really don't get it.
@@raveoreynolds6049 That’s how I feel about Octopath. It’s mediocre enough that I only play in little spurts, but I keep going back because those bosses WORK you.
@@Ponaru makes a pretty decent thief once you get a level 1 key sphere. You can get a headstart on ingredients for Rikku's Mix overdrive, well before you acquire her
YOOOO. This is the video i was waiting for. I’m doing a project for my Masters degree on ways to modernise turn based battle systems in JRPGs, and one of the biggest parts of the research is on previous examples in time of innovative or simply ‘good’ turn based battle systems. This video is great for research and discussion. Thank you bro. Also ps, love your taste and how much you appreciate FF9 and JRPGs. You’re a goat for this channel.
Oh damn! Never expected our videos to be used for research in academic papers lol but that’s really awesome to hear dude. Hope your project goes well and let us know how it goes. And hell yeah, FF9 fans unite! Gotta show it some love whenever we can
@@GamingBroductions Thank you bro, I appreciate the support. I'll definitely let you guys know in the comments how it goes. The title of my project is 'Exploring the differences between Turn-Based and Real-time Action Battle Systems in JRPGs', and as part of it I will be making my own little JRPG battle sequence that you can play either in Turn-based mode or Action mode. I'm still thinking on how exactly to create the battle system, but so far I'm thinking to take a few things from stuff like Grandia II, and essentially make it as enjoyable / engaging as possible. Then, when I test it with members of the public, I want the questionnaire to reflect whether people prefer an innovative turn based battle or a standard KH esque action battle. The aim is to basically prove that turn based JRPGs still have a future for the average gamer, not just the old school JRPG fan, and that they can compete with their (more successful) action JRPG counterparts if they innovate/modernise.
@@reefatbakht Don't forget to research the Bravely and SaGa series. Specifically, the Bravely Second and Legend of Legacy iterations. Both games reveal how to create engaging, modern turn-based combat systems. There is a lot going on for both but at their cores, Bravely does this by re-purposing the (generally) useless Defend command in most RPGS into a mechanic where the player can bank current turns into the future, then cash and execute them all together. Enemy and boss design fully accounts for this of course. SaGa series does it through the Spark system, the elemental field/weather tug war and, most specifically in Legend of Legacy, through potential Party Formation changes on every turn. By changing party formation, the player can manipulate turn order, chance of each party member being attacked, stat buffs, etc. Highly, highly strategic and tactical simultaneously.
FFX was dope. All the active switching was super effective...and def made me feel like all the characters serve a purpose. And the summoning change was #dope too.
I’m so glad to see Grandia in the number one spot. I have always bragged on its combat. So amazing to see it getting respect. Grandia II it’s my favorite of the series.
Really surprised to not see Bravely Default on the list, and another favourite of mine is Panzer Dragoon Saga, I love the idea that you move into a more dangerous position, where you can deal more damage, but have to gauge how long you dare to stay there before they hit back at you, so you are constantly moving in and out of the danger zone. It's a great system.
Good list. I mostly agree with the picks here. But I would have also ranked Valkyrie Profile somewhere in the top 5. For me that one qualifies as turn based. And that game was loads of fun
Problem with VK Pro 1 is the equipment durability + time limit system. It takes points away from the combat system even with the post-game added on the re-release. Plus, the novelty of comboing party member attacks together (the best part of VK Pro 1) was executed better by other games such as FF X-2 and of course the highly praised Grandia system.
Natural Doctrine has a unique tactical battle system. Party members (and enemies) could connect with nearby allies when taking actions granting them extra turns. This can easily result in one of you party members being attacked by the entire enemy team turn 1.
The REAL FUN in Legend of Legaia is KNOW all art button sequences, THEN use AS LESS AS buttons to CREATE AS MANY AS ARTs in ONE turn! For example: Art 1 is up-down-up, Art 2 is down-up-up, Art 3 is up-up-down-down. Then you can COMBO them all together as up-down-up-up-down-down. This ONLY costs 6 moves BUT create a super 3 arts COMBO for MAX damage!! I was midschool back then and able to FIND OUT all art moves, BRAINSTORM to combine them (every time characters level up they can do more moves which means we can fit more moves to create stronger combos) and WROTE DOWN EVERY POSSIBLE combos. It cost me A WHOLE NOTEBOOK LOL!
I really like Xenogears (is like one of my fav games ever), but one thing I can say is that aged the worst was the Battle System, is a fun system but theres almost no strategy to it, pretty much you keep spaning your stronger Deathblow to win, sometimes against some bosses you just charge and release a combo, Gears battle a better, but I feel that you only need to use some strategy in later bosses in Disc 2
22:50 Yep, Arc Rise Fantasia is one of the hardest JRPGs I've played. What I really liked is after a certain point in the game you need to race against another team to gather items (I'm not spoiling the specifics), and I did so poorly that the other team got everything first and even got better because of it. It was pretty neat, but at the same time it was crushing because it punished me more for doing poorly when it should be the other way around. Give the squeaky tire the oil!
From all you talked about it seems like you may not have played Xenogears. The battle system is similar to that game that had the left/right punch/kick system in that it has you input combos of triangle/square/X buttons. Pretty cool and rewarding combat
I did love me some Xenogears, but I will admit I also preferred the similar system in Legend of Legaia, probably has to do with the 3-D models and seeing the rack up all the combos seemed cooler to me at that time. I'd easily go back to either of them, though.
@@sarkaztik3228 Nah, the Legaia system is simply superior. Let's not forget that the learning process for a new Death Blow in Xenogears was a fucking random nightmare, NOBODY figures it out without a FAQ so most players just got them all randomly by trial and error. This takes away a lot of points form the system since you can't even have the joy of experimenting with it like you can in Legaia.
@@metastase895 It was very obscure, sure. But the fact that the game has a large cast of characters, many of which feature unique fighting styles and techniques, plus the giant mechs really set it apart from almost anything else. It was also quite interesting in that some characters suck fighting by themselves, but have awesome gears, and vice-versa, meaning most of them have a niche (except for Chu-Chu).
1. Megaman Battle Network 5-6 2. Golden Sun The Lost Age 3. SRW OG Endless Frontier: EXCEED 4. Panzer Dragoon Saga 5. Radiant Historia Sucks we dont see Battle Network and STarforce's battle systems represented when those series set out to create the BEST gameplay in a JRPG. And by the later entires they succeeded. Iteratively, like a Megaman game.
I don't thing either MMBN or MMSF counts as turn-based. Yes, they have turns, but those are more in "get more cards to use" than actual turns, just like Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. They both are a great version of a single-character battle system, though
The Trails games are my favorites and also a good example of how simple twists can make a traditional turn based game interesting and unique. Randomly, some of the turns get a special effect called AT (active turn) Bonus, like making your attack a guaranteed crit, healing a percentage of hp/mana/etc or, in some games, there are also negative effects too. This is valid for both allies and enemies. This means that you can plan ahead and try to manipulate the turn orders to get stuff you want or prevent the enemy from getting good ATs by waiting on purpose, using magic (that takes time to cast, also reconfiguring the turn order) or using attacks with smaller or greater delay (all moves have different delay values so your next turn might come up sooner or later depending on what you use). The ultimate special attacks in this game, called S-Crafts, can be used even if it's not the character's turn. This means you can steal the opponents turn directly with a button input, getting the AT bonus for yourself or delaying the enemy's turn so that they get a bad effect later on. It's so simple but so effective, I got so many crit healing turns (yes, healing can crit) to recover from a losing battle, instant death turns where I used an AoE attack on a sudden death turn that kills everything and makes some random encounters instant wins if you're quick, money up turns where my attacks make enemies drop bonus resources to get a ton of stuff to buy items and equips, which helps in reducing grinding with smart play, and so on and so forth. Every battle makes you think ahead and you're always at the edge of your seat observing how the flow of ATs turn out. Enemies might also use magic or delay your turn with special attacks, ruining your plans and forcing you to pay attention at all times so even when it's not your turn you are still actively playing the game as a well timed S-Craft can be the difference between victory and defeat. This battle system and franchise are my favorites to this day and I hope more people get to experience this great combat and also amazing story and world building that keeps increasing with every new title.
I just wanted to say thank you for not just phoning this list in with a video that's only long enough to make UA-cam's algorithms happy; like so many other gaming channels do. I appreciate the extra effort it takes to make videos this long. Good on you and great video.
No problem at all and thanks for watching. UA-cam seems to prefer longer content these days plus when I get to rambling about certain topics it’s hard for me to shut up lol so it’s a win win all around.
I actually just started playing Caligula Effect 2 and the timing turn based system is something I have never seen before and have had a lot of fun with. Mana Khemia is also one I thought was fantastic.
I recently came across this channel, not sure how. But it has quickly become a favorite of mine. As a struggling youtuber who loves him some old school 90's rpgs some of which stayed in japan, I love seeing such high quality and passionate content coming out about the subject. Also been playing vagrant story for the first time this past month and loving and hating it hahah. Mostly loving it. Keep up the great work guys.
Thanks for the such kind words, we appreciate that. It’s great to see there’s still so many passionate fans of 90s RPGs out there that want to see this type of content, it’s a facet of UA-cam gaming that deserves more love IMO in comparison to some other genres. We’ll check out some of your content as well 👍
Shoutout to one of my first RPGs with a truly underrated battle system: Legend of Dragoon. Each party member (sans the bow and arrow character) gain combos that use specific timing to complete. It adds a great challenge as you are getting into fights to master these combos that get longer and more challenging as you level up and learn new ones. I never get tired of replaying this game due to that fun combat system. Nothing I have played since has had anything like it. FFX is probably my second favorite. Turn-based and the turn order make it a much slower, more methodical style of fighting that I like a lot more than the hectic nature of ATB.
Who are you, ME?!?! I’m currently playing Legend of Dragoon on PSOne. One of my all time favorite video games I grew up playing. My 2nd favorite is also FFX. Such great memories with that game and the dialogue introduction was huge. Plus way more. I got all of their ultimate weapons and fully leveled up. One strike with Tidus would hit up to 57,000 to 62,000 points in damage.
Some of my favorites would be SMRPG, Grandia series, Shadow Hearts series, Legend of Dragoon and press turn battle system from SMT Nocturne. SMRPG I put over Paper Mario cause you get 3 party members and access to a lot more abilities.
I love how you played the victory theme at the end of each section. Nice touch. And yes I knew Grandia was coming first from the moment I saw the title 😄
Grandia 2 is amongst my favorite games of all time, but the Grandia turn based style is hands down my favorite. I really wish we could get a new entry in the Grandia series.
My top pick is Valkyrie Profile, having each parte member assinged to a button makes battles flow so smoothly, also, you can create amazing combos getting to know each Einherjar and their attacks P.S. for some reason i found Grandia 1 constantly moving camera in battles quite annoying... as if the whole game was filmed with an old iPhone constantly focusing
@@metastase895 really? I never tried X-2... sounds interesting, i would've assumed it used a turn based system like FFX i guess I'll add it to my backlog then, thanks for the tip buddy
I absolutely love Honkai: Star Rail. Honkai: Star Rail utilizes a JRPG style turn-based combat system. You build a team of up to 4 Characters. Before a battle, we can check the weaknesses and details of the monsters in advance. Adjust the lineup to match enemies’ Weakness to gain starting advantage.
It's tough to make a list of only 10 games with 30-years of RPGs to go through! Of course no one's ever going to fully agree, but I'd offer up that Rogue Galaxy, FFT, Xenogears, Front Mission 1, Valkyria Profile, Valkyria Chronicles, The Last Remnant and Wild Arms 2 (even though you had WA3) would all be great for the list, too! I guess some would be considered SRPGs though. EDIT: I had Grandia I/II on the above list, but realized WA3 was your #2 and I missed Grandia as #1. xD
Never expected Grandia as #1. I loved that game. I remember tearing up after finishing the game. Story was so good! A kid who just wanted an adventure ended up saving the world and Feena
For me DOS 2(Divinity original sin 2) is by far the best when it comes to turn based combat. -Its very complex, challenging and deep. -Every encounter is handcrafted making each encounter feel unique and it keeps it from being repetitive. -There is just so much crazy shit that you can pull off that makes experimenting very fun. -There is also a shit ton of ways you can build your characters and you can easily respec at any given moment if you want to try something new.
I had a lot of fun with a recent kickstarter game, Cosmic Star Heroine. Battle system is clearly inspired by old JRPGs, but has a very unique feel. You start fresh in each battle and each fight is kind of like a puzzle.
First thing I wanna say are people are crazy for giving you such flack for Final Fantasy X. That aged incredibly well. I think my only gripe is the combat is a little slow compared to nowadays standards but not deal breaking! Also great video! This included some of my favorite rpgs. Since Grandia was number one, what did you think of the HD remaster they came out with?
i like the original ffx but hated the remaster. in the remaster they changed the shape of the faces for the worse for no reason, and i got audio lines cutting out pretty frequently on the remaster that i don't remember ever happening in the original. and with ffxii, i liked it because it was the most challenging ff game i've played, but again they ruined the remaster for me by nerfing the difficulty to the extreme, it went from most challenging to most easy with no way of playing with the original challenge i enjoyed. i've given up on ff remasters, they always find a way to ruin them for me by making pointless, unnecessary changes. thankfully they didn't do the same with kingdom hearts, those are good remasters.
There's definitely a lot to dislike about FFX's combat system, it's still great, but it does have some notable flaws. Especially so if you're playing on the international/HD releases and want to do anything related to end game/post game content.
For me, I just really disliked the "gameplay". Walking through a zone having to fight a million random battles was definitely the worst and left a bad impression on me. On top of that, I don't think the sphere grid was all that impressive/interesting as everyone thought it was (might be the only person with this opinion though, I know a lot of people loved it).
@@steevieg The sphere grid in the original game with really just linear, but design to make you feel like it wasn't. You only got access to other grids very late in the game. The remaster fixed this
@@Jack_80 The remaster did ruin the faces and I wish I could play the old version on the PS4. The expert sphere grid in the remaster also made it a lot easier. Wakka one shots almost every boss in the game with Attack Reels in the remaster. You really just have to attack a couple of times, then use attack reels on every boss until Jecht
As someone whose only recently gotten into Grandia I can 100% agree with you on the number one. It's a crying shame this series hasn't inspired more developers since the combat system truly is the best mix of action and strategy i've ever played.
on legend of legaia , you also forgot one of the most cool hidden health indicator in games , when most full characters and monster after receiving an attack barelly feels it or if knocked down gets up very fast, when middle hp, they falls more easily and take some time to get back up, when on red they fall to almost anything and struggle to get back on their feet , sublime! i love mana khemia combat system , it is very deep in some regard , fun when you have all members . Arc the lad (1 and 2) despise being turn strategy , when you know what you wil be doing and the cpu dont waste time to move, it can feel more like an action rpg than strategy, but it is so damn hard! (2 in this case). I would add vanal heart in the mix, it is simple but extremely reliable , so much a lot of time i do some crazy stuff because i know the character will survive the massacre , and the most interesting "punishment" for over lvling or under lvling i saw on games .
The Mana Khemia games had an awesome combat system. It's too bad that pretty much all of the Atelier/Mana Khemia/Ar Tonelico games have such low difficulties, because their battle systems are lovingly crafted and allow for thousands of unique tactics and combinations.
We have quite a few overlaps for favorite systems, the ones we dont share I haven't played yet lol. My favorite not on this list is Disgaea series, it has the turn order system, it has a really fun combo system with melee attacks, combine monsters with humans, and my favorite part THROWING! Its one feature I wish was in every strategy RPG ever since I played the first on PS2. Also Saga Frontier. sparking new abilites in combat is always a ton of fun and combining team attacks is great. Yes I also need to play Radiant Historia...
It's common sense to discuss SRPGs separately from turn-based RPGs, lest we bloat the conversation across genres. Totally agree on Saga Frontier and the SaGa series in general, the most underrated JRPG franchise ever. Spark is addicting as fuck.
One of the best hidden gem RPGs of the Ps2 era has to be Rogue Galaxy great combat system and inventory/weapon systems with crafting. Its literally about space pirates and is awesome. Unsure if its combat system came from somewhere else but is great.
Rogue Galaxy is indeed pretty awesome! I don’t consider it turn based but still a solid game all around. We actually released a retrospective over the game awhile back if you’re ever interested to check that out
Man, Xenogears definately takes the cake over FFX. Should be high on this list, though in all fairness it really resembles Legaia's system. So its KINDA in there.
Every game/series on this list is a banger. If this list came out after the end of 2022, I think Chained Echoes definitely deserves a high spot for how it has set the bar for QoL improvements and class versatility.
I think Skies of Arcadia deserves at least an honorable mention for the one-two punch of the element/position-based combat with the shared pool of points that special attacks draw from, and the chef-kiss stellar ship combat. Another at least honorable mention would be Triangle Strategy, unless you count tactical RPGs as their own thing, which... I mean, fair.
The ‘true’ way to play DQXI in my opinion. I remember reading many comments from people about how the combat was too easy and simple only to find out they were playing on normal mode (which is totally understandable if you’re going in blind and don’t know what to expect) but that Draconian mode really makes a world of difference and ultimately makes the game a lot more fun in result
My favorite combat is from SaGa Scarlet Grace Ambitions. It uses a timeline system to help you choose moves that will counter opponents or interrupt them, or set up for another character to pull something off. Moves also “glimmer” in combat and you May randomly get a new skill that they’ll suddenly use during their turn as a feeebie. It’s much more complex than that but man it is addicting! Finishing most fights feels super rewarding as you don’t often intentionally go for easy fights if you want to maximize stat growth.
Final Fantasy X-2 has the very best Battle System ever, it's ATB (Active Time Battle) still it's so dynamic that it looks Real-Time, the characters attack simultaneously at the same time and I love the way how characters (Yuna, Rikku, Paine) return to a random place instead of their original position after attack, FFX-2 has the very best ATB Battle System ever while FFX has the best CTB Battle System ever, hands down
Just discovered your channel. Congrats, I have the same passion for the same games. And the ones shown here are simply amazing. It reminds me, of the days spent with my brother with Suikoden, Dragon quest, Xenogears....ahhh great times :)
Oh that is so interesting. One turn based game I am a huge fan of is Pokemon. I played it since I was a kid so I have a lot of nostalgia. There are a bunch of Pokemon species. Each species has a unique set of moves, stats and other features. Each one has one or two types, which are elements. There is a big and elaborate system of elemental paper-rock-scizzors. I have a lot of fun navigating around that. There is also more strategy with status effects, healing and that kind of thing. I don't use it that much. Hardcore players may use it for some situations like PVP. There isn't a specific Pokemon game I hugely recommend, because the battle system is very consistent with only minor tweaks. The closest to standong out to me is Sword and Shield. They have my favorite gimmick, dynamax. Dynamaxing is cool for the specticle. Both the Pokemon creatures and attacks are big. Sword and Shield are very underrated games. They are the games that have the worst backlash abd controversy from fans. However they are very fun and decent games. I recently bought Final Fantasy Ten. I am enjoying it so far. It is cool for it to be on the video list. This video shows more games with a similar system. That is great. Maybe I can check out the others.
If you like Pokémon you should definitely check out 'Fossil Fighters, Yokai-Watch’'Digimon Cyberslueth,' Monster Santuary Nexomon, Coromon, and 'Shin Megami Tensei, Monster Hunter Stories.
I loved the Legend of Legaia 1 battle system (& Xenogears to a lesser extent). Legaia 2 didn't flow as well since they weren't as acrobatic & IIRC there weren't as many moves. It should absolutely get used again for a turn-based RPG.
quick note: final fantasy 5 is the only game in the series that I'm aware of that makes full use of status effects in all of their fights - including boss battles it makes for a very interesting game that's very difficult if status effects aren't used and relatively easy when they're utilized just sayin'
Love that you put Grandia first. I have too much to say about how great the combat is in that game, and there needs to be a modern triple A RPG game that utilizes its battle system again. It’s engaging and fast paced, positioning matters, timing matters, all of your skills matter, buff/status effect spells matter, the canceling system is dynamic as hell, and the combos you could pull of are massive. What a great series.
I don't think a major company will use its battle system again, sadly. Their market studies showed a while back that most kids prefer action combat, and their parents' pockets are where most of their revenues are coming from sadly (which is the reason why Final Fantasy turned into Action RPGs btw). Our only hope is that some random indie dev would kickstart the project of a "game with Grandia's battle system"... ... Game companies should teach kids what is good instead of caving in to their desires for button mashers ("I want that when I press "A" my character swings his sword or uses his gun! I don't want to pick the option in a menu, that's stupid! And I want to use my analog stick to make him move and dodge attacks, not have him stand around and take hits like a idiot!"). Oh, sweet summer children, you ruined JRPGs (and it's also why major companies don't do Tactical RPGs anymore, most kids find them too slow, and the square grid is stupid, etc etc...).
Sadly, everything you say is true. There is no room for nuance anymore in modern gaming. The fastest, flashiest game will win out over the tactical games every time. There are ways to modernize the turn based genre, but people just want to mash A to win. Which is fine, I get it, not every game you play has to be tactical and require brain cells to manage, but don’t take that option away from me just because YOU don’t like it, you know? It’s upsetting. Lol.
The original innovator deserves extra points for coming up with the idea i the first place. Plus, it's not like S.Mario RPG executed the idea poorly or anything like that. Which is why he mentioned he chose it to represent timed button press on this list.
@@metastase895 I don’t think Super Mario RPG did anything wrong. I just found it odd that a more modern game that did turn based battles extremely well wasn’t on the list.
Great video! Turn-based is my favorite battle system too. But there Is one thing that is very important for me, which can make even a fun system not that fun anymore... THE BATTLE THEME (Looking at you Chrono Cross and Dragon Quest XI). It's going to be the one song you will be hearing the most during the game, so it better be awesome.
Thank you! And yeah absolutely, great point. I mentioned that in our Chrono Cross retrospective about how the battle theme is probably the worst track in the game, unfortunately. They really could have added like a disc 2 theme or something like many other RPGs did back in the day. DQXI’s battle theme admittedly isn’t the greatest either, not annoying IMO but just very basic
@@Averi0 When you have multiple battle themes, there is the risk that an awesome battle theme gets replaced by a crappy one later on, though... (I'm looking at you, Shadow Hearts From The New World. Since the game wasn't that good, "dead fingers talk" was the reason I was playing so when the theme gets shafted, I quit)
You mentioned how the system in Octopath can lead to regular battles being tedious. That is interesting because i think it makes it so that regular battles are far more interesting. They aren't just Mash button to win rinse and repeat. And if you are grinding, the game is super fast and the boost mechanic can come in handy to make short work of the enemies. I found that battle system to be very fun from start to finish.
Interesting, maybe it's cuz I'm spoiled for quality since my first ever RPG was Grandia 2 so I haven't been able to finish another JRPG since cuz the combat is just so boring. I tried octoopath traveler cuz I heard a lot of hype about it and it's combat being really good but didn't live up to my expectations and I just sorta stopped playing.
FFX is one of the best in the series. It has aged extremely well and I now hold it in higher regards, as I've gotten older and understand the themes that were presented a lot better. A truly, deeply sad story with a fantastic battle system.
Panzer Dragoon Sage is my favourite but playstation lovers won't know what it is. Basically all your usual RPG elements but you have 3 bars that charge over time, the more bars then the stronger your attack. But you can also be in 1 of 4 positions in the battle, moving position pauses your charging but the relative position affects the damage you do and receive. This leads to constant tension as you decide whether to stay in a bad position and wait a few seconds for the charging to complete and unleash a strong attack, or play it safe and move then attack less. Furthermore you can customise your dragon to charge quicker or take less damage etc.
IMO these are the big 3 when it comes to turn based battle systems Final Fantasy X for Traditional turn based systems Grandia 2 for Active time battle systems Mario RPGs (any of them) for Input based battle systems Persona/Shin Megami Tensei could also be there, but let's be honest that particular type of battle system involving monster collecting is monopolized by Pokémon.
i liked what they did with the combat in FFXII, its kind of like turn based and real time, and the boss fights in that game was amazing, storyline wasn't all that great though. But as far as a new take on the traditional turn base combat, i think it holds up pretty good.
Content idea; would love to see your favorite examples of "powering up." A few examples are ability points that can reused like FFIX. Bug killer for this dungeon, plant killer for the next, maybe mug later. Or FFXII's license board? X's sphere grid? VIII's draw / junction system? Heck, you could probably do a full FF one! SuperMsrio RPG and the level up bonuses you get to choose. Maybe it's job based like fell seal or ff tactics. Grandia? BoF 3's master / apprentice system Doing the actions powers up that skill / ability like FFII or disgaea. And, good Ole experience points and leving up. Would be an interesting look at some leveling systems out there!
I loved the equipment system from IX and the license board from XII was nice, too. The one dungeon in IX that made you use old equipment was a nice touch.
You recommended Yakusa: Like a Dragon in an older video and I can't get enough of the game. Very japanese, but the turn based system is awesome and lots of stuff too do. Great channel and again, keep up the great work.
I couldn't get in to Octopath Traveller. I really wanted to but the plot had nothing to really draw me in and the combat became tedious quickly fighting regular enemies. If there was an overarching plot to draw me in I could have pushed through but after getting the 4th character it just felt rinse and repeat. It had everything I wanted from a visual perspective but the rest didn't line up
FFX is and will always be one of the best JRPGs of all time. I know it's considered an "easier" game, but it's one of the only FF games that utilize mechanics in nearly every single boss fight, even the easier ones. This makes it so much fun to battle, instead of just blindly attacking, healing, attacking, healing.
Attack Reels overdrive one shots most of the bosses in the game, even without any grinding. It's still maybe my favorite game. I love Final Fantasy 6, 7, 9, and 10.
I have to imagine you just played the remakes of older Final Fantasy games. Or just never played V. V actually made you think about what you were doing way more than super easy braindead FFX ever did. Especially since FFX has WAY too many ways to exploit the game. Even the PS1 version of FF1 (all the remakes afterwords used the easy version of the game) I consider mechanically more in-depth than FFX.
@@ZerogunRivale lol I’ve literally just played ffi on psx and while it’s much harder, it’s literally just attacking and using spells when you can spare. Ffv is one of the most exploitable ff games btw
You still have to party build in FF1 and do a but of advanced planning to get there. FFV is only exploitable because we have had over 30 years to understand everything in the way the game works. Lets not pretend you somehow intuitively knew all the alchemist combinations or what the Hunter's and Red Mage's last skill was or how to attain the Mime and use it properly. If FFV is exploitable, then FFX is ULTRA exploitable. Once you get Riku, there are ways to litetally one shot certain bosses or make them absolutely irrelevent. Riku can take the final boss and basically make him no more dangerous than a trash mob. FFV at its most exploitable still makes you work for it. Riku in FFX just be sheer existing breaks an already super easy game.
So glad you included Octopath, the combat gets overlooked by the other criticisms the game gets. If you like that, you should check out Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE! It’s like a cross between Octopath and Shin Megami Tensei - but towards the game you pull off some incredible chain attacks involving every member of your team multiple times. Plus the equipment you get come with skills akin to Tales of Vesperia so you’re encouraged to max out every weapon to kit your character with passives and active skills. It’s a really creative way of building your character, as opposed to skill trees or natural level ups!
I think KOTOR has a great combat system that actually feels "real time" I always loved the jedi academy combat but unless u played a certain way it was always messy and didn't look cinematic, with the kotor series it made me feel like I was actually in a lightsaber duel and also looked good
From my my understanding (and my own circle of friends), a lot of people seemed to really enjoy Octopath's battle system. Many feel like the dialogue and overall story are what hold it back.
I don't understand this idea, which even this video seems to promote, that turn-based is "the original" and the proliferation of genres started in the late 90s or 2000s or something. You had games like Ys, Dragon Slayer/Legend of Heroes, and Crystalis right alongside turn-based RPGs. The way you frame it is harmlessly annoying, while the maliciously annoying opinion is when people say things like "FF7 Remake is an evolution, we don't need to move backwards to turn-based again." Like, as if turn-based and action aren't simply design choices instead of one of them being somehow outdated compared to the other.
I probably could have chose a different choice of words, but I put it like that because even though other types of RPGs did exist back in the day it seemed like the industry considered turn based RPGs as simply just ‘RPGs’ where games like Crystalis were often called action RPGs instead. Action RPG was a term thrown a lot at games back then but you never really heard the term turn-based RPG when referring to ones like final fantasy or dragon quest, most people just called them an RPG. At least this is how I remember. It wasn’t until later on that people started differentiating between the types of combat and realizing RPG was an umbrella term that could incorporate many different systems I didn’t mean to give off that vibe as I agree with you’re saying, they are definitely different design choices and not just an evolution or de-evolution of each other
Great list! I would also add as honorable mentions: Golden Sun Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga Radiant Historia SMT Nocturne Wild Arms 5 Xenogears Xenosaga Valkyrie Profile
Happy to see Suikoden get a mention! If you like status effects/debuff and visible turn order manipulation I would recommend checking out Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia's battle system. It's a mobile gacha, so definitely not everyone's cup of tea in terms of the overall game, but I find challenging fights in this game can be very fun.
I absolutely despise games that won't let me change my party members on the spot to an almost unreasonable degree. Like I dropped Persona 4 golden because in order to change your party around you had to return to the entrance of the dungeon (using a finite item btw) and I didn't want to deal with that, as good as the rest of the game was. Meanwhile SMT nocturne, FFX and others that came out way before P4G let you do that no problem, thank god they changed that in Persona 5 EDIT: the icing on the cake is that most of these games have the entire party appear during cutscenes and story moments but during combat they do nothing which is absurd imo
It's my fav SRPG series next to Fire Emblem.. I didn't think we could use it here tho.. Not really rpg but you could also get a sorta Valkyria fix with Xcom & Mario Rabbids
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Should we do a part 2?
Yes. Do a part 2.
Man. How nostalgic. Legend of Legaia was such an amazing game! Definitely one of the best classics.
Legend of legaia is definitely one of my first and favorite rpgs growing up
Yeah, as soon as I saw the thumbnail, I was all "Wait, I remember this... the whole left-right-up-down attack bar... and you could make awesome chains of special attacks by linking the end of one special with the start of another and... what was it CALLED?!" Legend of Legaia indeed. I never even knew it had a sequel, but from the sound of it, I didn't miss much. An HD remake would definitely be awesome - I'd love to replay it, but I don't even have a PS1 anymore...
My very first console was a playstation 2, so i never got to try Legend of Legaia. The console did cost a bit more than i expected so i couldn't buy any of the new and popular games, so i had to go through crate where they had a bunch of cheaper games and i picked Legend of Legaia 2, because i thought it had the coolest cover. Still my favourite turn-based game of all time. I'd give it a 9/10, but only because i thought the voice acting and dialogue was cringe and the combat would take a long time when you had unlocked a lot of art blocks. But the crafting and combining accessories part was really fucking good.
Definitely was anyone enjoy legend of dragoon took a backseat to ff7 but I definitely enjoyed it for not being nearly as well known.
Emulation, brudda. @@BlakeTheDrake
I absolutely love Shin Megmi Tensei IV and Apocalypse's combat, I think it's the best iteration of the press turn system.
Damn, still need to play this one. Making me even more curious now!
@@GamingBroductions it's great
I’d love to play a version of SMT IV that incorporates the battle system changes in Apocalypse
@@skeleton608 and adds the Destruction storyline. I desperately want that.
@@GamingBroductions it’s fantastic. I literally came here to comment that is blasphemy SMT isn’t represented on this list. Definitely play it.
Legend of Legaia was my first RPG too! So many good memories of playing a demo from a PlayStation magazine over and over again… warms my heart to see someone else feels the same.. Manifesting a remake.
I did the same thing, haha. Abused the demo for months til I eventually bought the game.
I loved that game part 2 was not as good I actually have this on disc still.
legend of legaia was far from mine, earliest I remember is phantasy star 4. but legaia, star ocean 2, legend of dragoon, and xenogears was my favorite alt combat.
@@DerfLlennod my first rpg was ff2/3 afte that phantasy star 2z
it wasnt my first rpg but i did do the same, played a demo to no end till i finally got the game. glad someone agreed with my thought of the first being the better of the two.
BEST mechanic in an RPG where you have multiple team members is "Party Switching"! AMAZING idea that all the characters are still in the battle but some are in the back row either supporting or regaining health. FF10 did it well (aside from stoned or dead team mates), Atelier Iris 2 did it VERY well allowing you to revive characters after switching KO'ed members to the backrow and giving them time to heal AND allowing back row members to use attack or defensive skills FORM THE BACK ROW. Breath of Fire 4 did this mechamic very well too! It NEVER made sense to me to have multiple party members in a group but only 3 of them can fight at once time for some reason. At least with some games the party stays behind at an INN or someplace but if everyone is with you constantly then it makes no sense to not have the in battle in some way
Completely agree. Exactly why I included most games that feature a mid battle party switching mechanic, I really love it. But damn, you just reminded me about Atelier Iris! I loved those first two games and I do remember their battle systems being very fun. Definitely could have been fitting for an honorable mention spot
@@GamingBroductions Yeah Atelier Iris 1 was good, 2 was really good with the 2 main characters seperated and supporting one another, then 3 kinda dropped the ball with that weird timer dungeon mechanic and the weird cast of characters.
I had a big issue with FF7 because of this. I really never got to know Vincent, Cait Sith, Barret, or Red XIII because it really forces you to pick one team and stick with it.
@@GamingBroductions What's the name of the first song that plays in this video?
I love the Switching mechanic in Fuga melodies of Steal. First of all the Taranis only has 3 Gun turrents so it makes sense that only 3 characters can attack at the same time. But each turrent has also a slot fore a support character that will give a buff to the attacker like reducing SP cost fore using skills, increasing critical hit rate ore increasing damage when using a skill. This leads to characters well synergicing with others. Boron has lots of attacks power and a powerfoul AoE attack but as a canon user he las low accuracy so giving him Kyle(who buffs accuracy) as a suport turns him in a wrecking maschine fore large groupes of smaller enemies.
Now when you switch partymembers you dont use up a turn but after you did you need to wait 3 turns (one partymember action counts as 1 turn) before being able to do it again. The really cool thing is if you swap 2 activ characters they swap positions in the turn order timeline. So character A can take a turn, then character B swaps with character A so character A can take a turn again. Its kinda like Button passing but without power boost and knocking down emmies.
This gives the player a ton of controll over the turn order and with how the combat is built it encourages to swap constantly to addapt to the situation. Every time I get in a new fight I need to swap to get the right partymembers fore the job. All Partymembers have there time to shine.
I know the stradegy comes from me the player but in universe its there teamwork and stradegy and its really satisfaying watching the children work so well together taking down there foes in a methodical manner.
FF10’s turn based system was phenomenal! I had no idea people hated on it!
It's so good. Ppl just hate
I believe most FFX hate is specifically aimed at story and character design. Music and gameplay wise it was indeed outstanding.
It isn't that good. The sphere grid system is great but the actual battle system sucks. Basically 90+% of encounters are swapping in each character so they get experience and then finishing the battle with the character that is needed for each enemy type. It's boring and the whole game feels like a palette swap. Basically after the first few hours you've fought every enemy you will fight for the rest of the game
@@AdamantiumDeposit no FFX hate is based in reality though, you HAVE to be delusional to hate... anything about the game other than the butterfly, chocobo, and lightning minigames 😅
@@virionspiraldelusional.
Just seeing the thumbnail brings back so many memories playing Legend of Legaia. from playing it for years on an old Sony demo disc, to finally getting my own copy in 2015 and creating an entire magic guide/skill guide to refer to when going through the game.
it was clickbait for me lol
absolutely LOVE Final Fantasy X. i loved it as a kid and was SHOCKED to find so many people online hated it haha me and all my friends were obsessed with it when it was brand new, and the battle system is a huge part of why. i love the story, characters, soundtrack, locations, etc, too, but man that combat is just absolutely perfect in my opinion. addicting.
You are not alone. FFX is an awesome game.
I absolutely love ffx aswell, ignore those people who hate on the game as their ignorant to say that it’s the downfall of the series as it’s not, that would be ffXII
@@WinspearUltima
We all have our own opinions on what the downfall of Final Fantasy was and i respect your opinion, though i heartily disagree.
I love FFXII, though i didn't at first, it just took me time to explore the depth of the board system and come up with a system that worked flawlessly for each character so combat became fluid and functionally brilliant.
I'm glad you enjoyed FFX, it's just not for me though.
My personal favourite was FFVII's materia system, the functionality and limitless customisation options to set up any charcter whichever way you like has never been bettered in my opinion.
Every single person had different combinations that worked for them rather than working for the game.
This type of freedom to do as you please has sadly been lost from the franchise nowadays, and probably won't see a return to form any time soon.
Personally i don't like FFX, as playing Blitzball put me right off the game, i found it tedious and time consuming to the point of despair.
To this very day i still haven't played it since way back then.
Just the thought of having to play Blitzball is soul destroying...
@@JD.78 I’m meaning to play XII since I’m playing through Xenoblade Chronicles. But I see what you mean
@@JD.78 I also see you dislike blitzball because I had right issues with ffxs mini games
If you like having 8 playable characters which can be rotated on the fly, try Golden Sun: The Lost Age. You should play the 1st, but essentially this is a game where you summon and combine summons for magic/healing, and having different characters with different Dijin (summons) in your party unleashes different super attacks.
Also the Golden Sun difficulty is spot on. I beat both games on literally my final move or two (ran out of summons, revives, heals, etc and used a normal attack that does ~100 damage on a boss with 30,000hp).
BOTH games I beat like this, and I know you appreciate your Shining Force.
Shotout to Legend of Legaia, my first rpg
yup, it was my childhood, even my father and uncle played legend of legaia back in 90s! aside of final fantasy 7,8,9, none capture the same feeling as legaia does. p.s i am 26 now
I just started BoF4. Yes, the battle system is fun, but I'm still enamored with the sprite animation. Absolutely beautiful. Respect for the Grandia love as well!
Bof4 is a visual feast. So beautiful.
One of, if not the best looking ps1 games imo.
Oh absolutely. The sprite work is easily some of the prettiest on the entire PS1, if not the prettiest. I would love it if we could get more modern RPGs done in that graphical style
That game is a treat for both eyes and ears.
BoF 3 still the best in the series.
Man, I really miss the Wild Arms series. Especially the first 3. Such an underrated series.
Same, outside of FF/DQ I always thought Wild Arms was considered up there with other popular RPG series of the time like Breath of Fire, Suikoden, Grandia, etc. but over time it seems like it falls more and more under the radar compared to those series and not talked about nearly as much. The first 3 and especially 1-2 are some of my favorite RPGs ever that I have tons of nostalgia for
@@GamingBroductions just love how they blended so many different elements within stories that featured characters I really like.
I have to agree with you that the Grandia series have some of the best combat mechanics in a JRPG. The cancelling system is always so addictive and even in normal encounters when you usually defeat the same mobs can't help but feel being engaged all the time like its a boss fight.
IMO the Grandia series has found that sweet spot of mixing both Action and Turn based elements in a JRPG
Yeah too bad Square Enix leaves this series in a coffin and no other dev decided to kickstart a new game with a battle system like it. It's regarded as the best battle system ever by A LOT of people, me included, but it disappeared from the face of the earth since 2006 (release date of G3)... ...I really don't get it.
Grandia's battle system CARRIES that franchise single-handedly. It's mediocre in every other regard, but my god are the battles fun.
@@raveoreynolds6049 Agreed about G2, 3 and Xtreme, but G1's cast is very endearing (
Yeah. When he was finishing #2 I thought “what’s 1 then… Oh duh Grandia”. As soon as I remembered it existed it was clearly #1 for me
@@raveoreynolds6049 That’s how I feel about Octopath. It’s mediocre enough that I only play in little spurts, but I keep going back because those bosses WORK you.
Glad you included FFX, I consider that games battle system perfect.
The only blemish is how useless Kimhari is.
@@Ponaru makes a pretty decent thief once you get a level 1 key sphere. You can get a headstart on ingredients for Rikku's Mix overdrive, well before you acquire her
@@Ponaru That's because you aren't using him right.
@@Razakage Sure bro...
It's meh
YOOOO. This is the video i was waiting for. I’m doing a project for my Masters degree on ways to modernise turn based battle systems in JRPGs, and one of the biggest parts of the research is on previous examples in time of innovative or simply ‘good’ turn based battle systems. This video is great for research and discussion. Thank you bro. Also ps, love your taste and how much you appreciate FF9 and JRPGs. You’re a goat for this channel.
Oh damn! Never expected our videos to be used for research in academic papers lol but that’s really awesome to hear dude. Hope your project goes well and let us know how it goes. And hell yeah, FF9 fans unite! Gotta show it some love whenever we can
Please take a look at the system found in the original Bravely Default
@@Highstar7331 Definitely! I haven't played them yet but I do think it was smart utilising Turns so differently. I'll likely mention it.
@@GamingBroductions Thank you bro, I appreciate the support. I'll definitely let you guys know in the comments how it goes. The title of my project is 'Exploring the differences between Turn-Based and Real-time Action Battle Systems in JRPGs', and as part of it I will be making my own little JRPG battle sequence that you can play either in Turn-based mode or Action mode. I'm still thinking on how exactly to create the battle system, but so far I'm thinking to take a few things from stuff like Grandia II, and essentially make it as enjoyable / engaging as possible.
Then, when I test it with members of the public, I want the questionnaire to reflect whether people prefer an innovative turn based battle or a standard KH esque action battle. The aim is to basically prove that turn based JRPGs still have a future for the average gamer, not just the old school JRPG fan, and that they can compete with their (more successful) action JRPG counterparts if they innovate/modernise.
@@reefatbakht Don't forget to research the Bravely and SaGa series. Specifically, the Bravely Second and Legend of Legacy iterations. Both games reveal how to create engaging, modern turn-based combat systems.
There is a lot going on for both but at their cores, Bravely does this by re-purposing the (generally) useless Defend command in most RPGS into a mechanic where the player can bank current turns into the future, then cash and execute them all together. Enemy and boss design fully accounts for this of course.
SaGa series does it through the Spark system, the elemental field/weather tug war and, most specifically in Legend of Legacy, through potential Party Formation changes on every turn. By changing party formation, the player can manipulate turn order, chance of each party member being attacked, stat buffs, etc. Highly, highly strategic and tactical simultaneously.
FFX was dope. All the active switching was super effective...and def made me feel like all the characters serve a purpose. And the summoning change was #dope too.
I’m so glad to see Grandia in the number one spot. I have always bragged on its combat. So amazing to see it getting respect. Grandia II it’s my favorite of the series.
Grandia 2 is the best game and Grandia Extreme has the best battle system.
Final Fantasy X has my favorite battle system ever and the reason I love turn-based! 💙
FINALLY LEGEND OF LEGAIA GETS APRECIATION
TRULY one of the absolute bangers that goes criminally unnoticed.
Your camera work in this one was simply inspiring. For sure checking out the Breathe of Fire Retrospective
Yo it’s johne?!
Breath of Fire 4 is the best ! You should try it !
Really surprised to not see Bravely Default on the list, and another favourite of mine is Panzer Dragoon Saga, I love the idea that you move into a more dangerous position, where you can deal more damage, but have to gauge how long you dare to stay there before they hit back at you, so you are constantly moving in and out of the danger zone. It's a great system.
One of the reasons i fell in love with rpgs is excitement of starting a new game and learning new battle systems.
Good list. I mostly agree with the picks here. But I would have also ranked Valkyrie Profile somewhere in the top 5. For me that one qualifies as turn based. And that game was loads of fun
THIS & Valkyrie Profile 2 > VP1
Problem with VK Pro 1 is the equipment durability + time limit system. It takes points away from the combat system even with the post-game added on the re-release. Plus, the novelty of comboing party member attacks together (the best part of VK Pro 1) was executed better by other games such as FF X-2 and of course the highly praised Grandia system.
Natural Doctrine has a unique tactical battle system. Party members (and enemies) could connect with nearby allies when taking actions granting them extra turns. This can easily result in one of you party members being attacked by the entire enemy team turn 1.
The REAL FUN in Legend of Legaia is KNOW all art button sequences, THEN use AS LESS AS buttons to CREATE AS MANY AS ARTs in ONE turn! For example: Art 1 is up-down-up, Art 2 is down-up-up, Art 3 is up-up-down-down. Then you can COMBO them all together as up-down-up-up-down-down. This ONLY costs 6 moves BUT create a super 3 arts COMBO for MAX damage!! I was midschool back then and able to FIND OUT all art moves, BRAINSTORM to combine them (every time characters level up they can do more moves which means we can fit more moves to create stronger combos) and WROTE DOWN EVERY POSSIBLE combos. It cost me A WHOLE NOTEBOOK LOL!
Genuinely surprised to see no mention of Xenogears. Really great list though, would also pitch for Radiant Historia
I really like Xenogears (is like one of my fav games ever), but one thing I can say is that aged the worst was the Battle System, is a fun system but theres almost no strategy to it, pretty much you keep spaning your stronger Deathblow to win, sometimes against some bosses you just charge and release a combo, Gears battle a better, but I feel that you only need to use some strategy in later bosses in Disc 2
Legend of Dragoon was still my favorite. Simple button timing when attacking but it was so fun.
Legend of Legaia 1 was one of the first jrpgs I ever played. I was introduced to it by my brother and the combat system was praiseworthy.
22:50 Yep, Arc Rise Fantasia is one of the hardest JRPGs I've played. What I really liked is after a certain point in the game you need to race against another team to gather items (I'm not spoiling the specifics), and I did so poorly that the other team got everything first and even got better because of it. It was pretty neat, but at the same time it was crushing because it punished me more for doing poorly when it should be the other way around. Give the squeaky tire the oil!
Yeah most games reward the good player and make the game harder for people who struggle, haha.
Agree. The 2nd time i played i couldn't beat one of the final boss and i had to watch UA-cam to beat it. Idk how i beat this game back then.
From all you talked about it seems like you may not have played Xenogears. The battle system is similar to that game that had the left/right punch/kick system in that it has you input combos of triangle/square/X buttons. Pretty cool and rewarding combat
I did love me some Xenogears, but I will admit I also preferred the similar system in Legend of Legaia, probably has to do with the 3-D models and seeing the rack up all the combos seemed cooler to me at that time. I'd easily go back to either of them, though.
@@sarkaztik3228 Nah, the Legaia system is simply superior. Let's not forget that the learning process for a new Death Blow in Xenogears was a fucking random nightmare, NOBODY figures it out without a FAQ so most players just got them all randomly by trial and error. This takes away a lot of points form the system since you can't even have the joy of experimenting with it like you can in Legaia.
@@metastase895
It was very obscure, sure. But the fact that the game has a large cast of characters, many of which feature unique fighting styles and techniques, plus the giant mechs really set it apart from almost anything else. It was also quite interesting in that some characters suck fighting by themselves, but have awesome gears, and vice-versa, meaning most of them have a niche (except for Chu-Chu).
1. Megaman Battle Network 5-6
2. Golden Sun The Lost Age
3. SRW OG Endless Frontier: EXCEED
4. Panzer Dragoon Saga
5. Radiant Historia
Sucks we dont see Battle Network and STarforce's battle systems represented when those series set out to create the BEST gameplay in a JRPG. And by the later entires they succeeded. Iteratively, like a Megaman game.
They aren’t turn based.
@@westonmeyer3110 They aren't action either then.
I don't thing either MMBN or MMSF counts as turn-based. Yes, they have turns, but those are more in "get more cards to use" than actual turns, just like Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.
They both are a great version of a single-character battle system, though
@@BinaryDood
They are action though.
You move in real time and use cards and combination attacks and shoot in real time.
The Trails games are my favorites and also a good example of how simple twists can make a traditional turn based game interesting and unique.
Randomly, some of the turns get a special effect called AT (active turn) Bonus, like making your attack a guaranteed crit, healing a percentage of hp/mana/etc or, in some games, there are also negative effects too. This is valid for both allies and enemies. This means that you can plan ahead and try to manipulate the turn orders to get stuff you want or prevent the enemy from getting good ATs by waiting on purpose, using magic (that takes time to cast, also reconfiguring the turn order) or using attacks with smaller or greater delay (all moves have different delay values so your next turn might come up sooner or later depending on what you use).
The ultimate special attacks in this game, called S-Crafts, can be used even if it's not the character's turn. This means you can steal the opponents turn directly with a button input, getting the AT bonus for yourself or delaying the enemy's turn so that they get a bad effect later on. It's so simple but so effective, I got so many crit healing turns (yes, healing can crit) to recover from a losing battle, instant death turns where I used an AoE attack on a sudden death turn that kills everything and makes some random encounters instant wins if you're quick, money up turns where my attacks make enemies drop bonus resources to get a ton of stuff to buy items and equips, which helps in reducing grinding with smart play, and so on and so forth.
Every battle makes you think ahead and you're always at the edge of your seat observing how the flow of ATs turn out. Enemies might also use magic or delay your turn with special attacks, ruining your plans and forcing you to pay attention at all times so even when it's not your turn you are still actively playing the game as a well timed S-Craft can be the difference between victory and defeat.
This battle system and franchise are my favorites to this day and I hope more people get to experience this great combat and also amazing story and world building that keeps increasing with every new title.
Mcburn: Nobody can defeat me
Laura about to 200 cp S-craft into a full cp recovery bonus: Are you sure about that?
I just wanted to say thank you for not just phoning this list in with a video that's only long enough to make UA-cam's algorithms happy; like so many other gaming channels do. I appreciate the extra effort it takes to make videos this long. Good on you and great video.
No problem at all and thanks for watching. UA-cam seems to prefer longer content these days plus when I get to rambling about certain topics it’s hard for me to shut up lol so it’s a win win all around.
I actually just started playing Caligula Effect 2 and the timing turn based system is something I have never seen before and have had a lot of fun with. Mana Khemia is also one I thought was fantastic.
Love how you talked about trails. Those games are heavily overlooked and really well done overall.
I recently came across this channel, not sure how. But it has quickly become a favorite of mine. As a struggling youtuber who loves him some old school 90's rpgs some of which stayed in japan, I love seeing such high quality and passionate content coming out about the subject. Also been playing vagrant story for the first time this past month and loving and hating it hahah. Mostly loving it. Keep up the great work guys.
Thanks for the such kind words, we appreciate that. It’s great to see there’s still so many passionate fans of 90s RPGs out there that want to see this type of content, it’s a facet of UA-cam gaming that deserves more love IMO in comparison to some other genres. We’ll check out some of your content as well 👍
@@GamingBroductions thank you for checking it out. Working on a Suikoden II video as we speak
Really looking forward to this video, finally came out!
Thanks guys
No problem, hope you enjoyed it!
Shoutout to one of my first RPGs with a truly underrated battle system: Legend of Dragoon. Each party member (sans the bow and arrow character) gain combos that use specific timing to complete. It adds a great challenge as you are getting into fights to master these combos that get longer and more challenging as you level up and learn new ones. I never get tired of replaying this game due to that fun combat system. Nothing I have played since has had anything like it.
FFX is probably my second favorite. Turn-based and the turn order make it a much slower, more methodical style of fighting that I like a lot more than the hectic nature of ATB.
Who are you, ME?!?!
I’m currently playing Legend of Dragoon on PSOne. One of my all time favorite video games I grew up playing. My 2nd favorite is also FFX. Such great memories with that game and the dialogue introduction was huge. Plus way more. I got all of their ultimate weapons and fully leveled up. One strike with Tidus would hit up to 57,000 to 62,000 points in damage.
You elected to include hecking *Octopath Traveller* without even putting the better system that came before it on the list at all; Bravely Default.
To be clear, P5R didn't give you unlimited ammo, it gave you a limit per battle, as opposed to per dungeon visit in the original.
Great video. Lots of awesome picks. I'd love to see a sequel to this video with 10 more games!
Some of my favorites would be SMRPG, Grandia series, Shadow Hearts series, Legend of Dragoon and press turn battle system from SMT Nocturne. SMRPG I put over Paper Mario cause you get 3 party members and access to a lot more abilities.
I love how you played the victory theme at the end of each section. Nice touch. And yes I knew Grandia was coming first from the moment I saw the title 😄
Turn based is so much fun. It’s my favorite try of game. I wish Final fantasy would go back to it.
Same my dude, same
Legend of Legia...now ur taking me back. Such a gem.
Always looking forward to your videos since I learned of your channel. Keep up the great content and keep up the awesomeness.
Really appreciate that and the kind words. Glad to hear you’re enjoying the content and thanks for watching 👍
Grandia 2 is amongst my favorite games of all time, but the Grandia turn based style is hands down my favorite. I really wish we could get a new entry in the Grandia series.
Chrono trigger and cross have always been my favorite
the intermissions were nice af
My top pick is Valkyrie Profile, having each parte member assinged to a button makes battles flow so smoothly, also, you can create amazing combos getting to know each Einherjar and their attacks
P.S. for some reason i found Grandia 1 constantly moving camera in battles quite annoying... as if the whole game was filmed with an old iPhone constantly focusing
Yeah G1 didn't age well. Better to experience the great battle system with G2 or G3.
I think timed combos was executed better in FF X-2, not to mention it being more impactful on ATB system.
@@metastase895 really? I never tried X-2... sounds interesting, i would've assumed it used a turn based system like FFX
i guess I'll add it to my backlog then, thanks for the tip buddy
I absolutely love Honkai: Star Rail. Honkai: Star Rail utilizes a JRPG style turn-based combat system. You build a team of up to 4 Characters. Before a battle, we can check the weaknesses and details of the monsters in advance. Adjust the lineup to match enemies’ Weakness to gain starting advantage.
It's tough to make a list of only 10 games with 30-years of RPGs to go through! Of course no one's ever going to fully agree, but I'd offer up that Rogue Galaxy, FFT, Xenogears, Front Mission 1, Valkyria Profile, Valkyria Chronicles, The Last Remnant and Wild Arms 2 (even though you had WA3) would all be great for the list, too! I guess some would be considered SRPGs though.
EDIT: I had Grandia I/II on the above list, but realized WA3 was your #2 and I missed Grandia as #1. xD
Rogue Galaxy YES! A true forgotten classic!
Rogue Galaxy isn't turn-based though...
Now you, sir, have good taste. Those all have killer battle systems.
Never expected Grandia as #1. I loved that game. I remember tearing up after finishing the game. Story was so good! A kid who just wanted an adventure ended up saving the world and Feena
For me DOS 2(Divinity original sin 2) is by far the best when it comes to turn based combat.
-Its very complex, challenging and deep.
-Every encounter is handcrafted making each encounter feel unique and it keeps it from being repetitive.
-There is just so much crazy shit that you can pull off that makes experimenting very fun.
-There is also a shit ton of ways you can build your characters and you can easily respec at any given moment if you want to try something new.
Dos2 is a crpg
This is a jrpg list
I had a lot of fun with a recent kickstarter game, Cosmic Star Heroine. Battle system is clearly inspired by old JRPGs, but has a very unique feel. You start fresh in each battle and each fight is kind of like a puzzle.
First thing I wanna say are people are crazy for giving you such flack for Final Fantasy X. That aged incredibly well. I think my only gripe is the combat is a little slow compared to nowadays standards but not deal breaking!
Also great video! This included some of my favorite rpgs. Since Grandia was number one, what did you think of the HD remaster they came out with?
i like the original ffx but hated the remaster. in the remaster they changed the shape of the faces for the worse for no reason, and i got audio lines cutting out pretty frequently on the remaster that i don't remember ever happening in the original. and with ffxii, i liked it because it was the most challenging ff game i've played, but again they ruined the remaster for me by nerfing the difficulty to the extreme, it went from most challenging to most easy with no way of playing with the original challenge i enjoyed. i've given up on ff remasters, they always find a way to ruin them for me by making pointless, unnecessary changes. thankfully they didn't do the same with kingdom hearts, those are good remasters.
There's definitely a lot to dislike about FFX's combat system, it's still great, but it does have some notable flaws. Especially so if you're playing on the international/HD releases and want to do anything related to end game/post game content.
For me, I just really disliked the "gameplay". Walking through a zone having to fight a million random battles was definitely the worst and left a bad impression on me. On top of that, I don't think the sphere grid was all that impressive/interesting as everyone thought it was (might be the only person with this opinion though, I know a lot of people loved it).
@@steevieg The sphere grid in the original game with really just linear, but design to make you feel like it wasn't. You only got access to other grids very late in the game. The remaster fixed this
@@Jack_80 The remaster did ruin the faces and I wish I could play the old version on the PS4. The expert sphere grid in the remaster also made it a lot easier. Wakka one shots almost every boss in the game with Attack Reels in the remaster. You really just have to attack a couple of times, then use attack reels on every boss until Jecht
As someone whose only recently gotten into Grandia I can 100% agree with you on the number one. It's a crying shame this series hasn't inspired more developers since the combat system truly is the best mix of action and strategy i've ever played.
on legend of legaia , you also forgot one of the most cool hidden health indicator in games , when most full characters and monster after receiving an attack barelly feels it or if knocked down gets up very fast, when middle hp, they falls more easily and take some time to get back up, when on red they fall to almost anything and struggle to get back on their feet , sublime!
i love mana khemia combat system , it is very deep in some regard , fun when you have all members .
Arc the lad (1 and 2) despise being turn strategy , when you know what you wil be doing and the cpu dont waste time to move, it can feel more like an action rpg than strategy, but it is so damn hard! (2 in this case).
I would add vanal heart in the mix, it is simple but extremely reliable , so much a lot of time i do some crazy stuff because i know the character will survive the massacre , and the most interesting "punishment" for over lvling or under lvling i saw on games .
The Mana Khemia games had an awesome combat system. It's too bad that pretty much all of the Atelier/Mana Khemia/Ar Tonelico games have such low difficulties, because their battle systems are lovingly crafted and allow for thousands of unique tactics and combinations.
LoL during the whole video I was internally saying "wait till video is over so I can type in "Grandia should be in this list"
We have quite a few overlaps for favorite systems, the ones we dont share I haven't played yet lol. My favorite not on this list is Disgaea series, it has the turn order system, it has a really fun combo system with melee attacks, combine monsters with humans, and my favorite part THROWING! Its one feature I wish was in every strategy RPG ever since I played the first on PS2. Also Saga Frontier. sparking new abilites in combat is always a ton of fun and combining team attacks is great. Yes I also need to play Radiant Historia...
It's common sense to discuss SRPGs separately from turn-based RPGs, lest we bloat the conversation across genres. Totally agree on Saga Frontier and the SaGa series in general, the most underrated JRPG franchise ever. Spark is addicting as fuck.
That dragon king slice at the end gave me the chills, so much good memories playing this game. Love your content by the way ;)
One of the best hidden gem RPGs of the Ps2 era has to be Rogue Galaxy great combat system and inventory/weapon systems with crafting. Its literally about space pirates and is awesome. Unsure if its combat system came from somewhere else but is great.
Rogue Galaxy is indeed pretty awesome! I don’t consider it turn based but still a solid game all around. We actually released a retrospective over the game awhile back if you’re ever interested to check that out
Someone recommended this channel in r/jrpg and man I already love what I'm seeing great video.
Two more games to check out are Final Fantasy Tactics and Xenogears! Lovely battle system 👍🏼
Man, Xenogears definately takes the cake over FFX. Should be high on this list, though in all fairness it really resembles Legaia's system. So its KINDA in there.
Good lord, it's a crime that Xenogears isn't here.
@@frozenaorta I agree with you 100% 🥺
Every game/series on this list is a banger. If this list came out after the end of 2022, I think Chained Echoes definitely deserves a high spot for how it has set the bar for QoL improvements and class versatility.
Persona 5 wasn't the first Persona game to have guns, Persona 1 was lol
I think Skies of Arcadia deserves at least an honorable mention for the one-two punch of the element/position-based combat with the shared pool of points that special attacks draw from, and the chef-kiss stellar ship combat. Another at least honorable mention would be Triangle Strategy, unless you count tactical RPGs as their own thing, which... I mean, fair.
I played DQ11 with some Draconian settings for the first run.
It was amazing.
The ‘true’ way to play DQXI in my opinion. I remember reading many comments from people about how the combat was too easy and simple only to find out they were playing on normal mode (which is totally understandable if you’re going in blind and don’t know what to expect) but that Draconian mode really makes a world of difference and ultimately makes the game a lot more fun in result
@@GamingBroductions yeah I wish someone had told me that beforehand. I would've enabled Stronger Monsters at least
My favorite combat is from SaGa Scarlet Grace Ambitions. It uses a timeline system to help you choose moves that will counter opponents or interrupt them, or set up for another character to pull something off. Moves also “glimmer” in combat and you May randomly get a new skill that they’ll suddenly use during their turn as a feeebie. It’s much more complex than that but man it is addicting! Finishing most fights feels super rewarding as you don’t often intentionally go for easy fights if you want to maximize stat growth.
I personally loved Shadow Hearts battle system. A truly underrated series.
I agree
Final Fantasy X-2 has the very best Battle System ever, it's ATB (Active Time Battle) still it's so dynamic that it looks Real-Time, the characters attack simultaneously at the same time and I love the way how characters (Yuna, Rikku, Paine) return to a random place instead of their original position after attack, FFX-2 has the very best ATB Battle System ever while FFX has the best CTB Battle System ever, hands down
Just discovered your channel. Congrats, I have the same passion for the same games. And the ones shown here are simply amazing. It reminds me, of the days spent with my brother with Suikoden, Dragon quest, Xenogears....ahhh great times :)
Thank you for watching and the support 🙌🏼 those were the days indeed 🤙🏼
Another amazing video! I'm so happy your channel is growing.
Ah yes Legend of Legia, where every random battle lasts 3+ minutes. Best remembered as a nostalgia trip and nothing more.
lol nah... that game is good, Legaia 2 on the otherhand.....
Oh that is so interesting. One turn based game I am a huge fan of is Pokemon. I played it since I was a kid so I have a lot of nostalgia. There are a bunch of Pokemon species. Each species has a unique set of moves, stats and other features. Each one has one or two types, which are elements. There is a big and elaborate system of elemental paper-rock-scizzors. I have a lot of fun navigating around that. There is also more strategy with status effects, healing and that kind of thing. I don't use it that much. Hardcore players may use it for some situations like PVP. There isn't a specific Pokemon game I hugely recommend, because the battle system is very consistent with only minor tweaks. The closest to standong out to me is Sword and Shield. They have my favorite gimmick, dynamax. Dynamaxing is cool for the specticle. Both the Pokemon creatures and attacks are big. Sword and Shield are very underrated games. They are the games that have the worst backlash abd controversy from fans. However they are very fun and decent games. I recently bought Final Fantasy Ten. I am enjoying it so far. It is cool for it to be on the video list. This video shows more games with a similar system. That is great. Maybe I can check out the others.
If you like Pokémon you should definitely check out 'Fossil Fighters, Yokai-Watch’'Digimon Cyberslueth,' Monster Santuary Nexomon, Coromon, and 'Shin Megami Tensei, Monster Hunter Stories.
I loved the Legend of Legaia 1 battle system (& Xenogears to a lesser extent).
Legaia 2 didn't flow as well since they weren't as acrobatic & IIRC there weren't as many moves.
It should absolutely get used again for a turn-based RPG.
quick note: final fantasy 5 is the only game in the series that I'm aware of that makes full use of status effects in all of their fights - including boss battles
it makes for a very interesting game that's very difficult if status effects aren't used and relatively easy when they're utilized
just sayin'
My favorite is definitely Legend of dragoon, and my second favorite is Xenogears. I'm sad Fei and Citan did make the cut.
Love that you put Grandia first. I have too much to say about how great the combat is in that game, and there needs to be a modern triple A RPG game that utilizes its battle system again. It’s engaging and fast paced, positioning matters, timing matters, all of your skills matter, buff/status effect spells matter, the canceling system is dynamic as hell, and the combos you could pull of are massive. What a great series.
I don't think a major company will use its battle system again, sadly. Their market studies showed a while back that most kids prefer action combat, and their parents' pockets are where most of their revenues are coming from sadly (which is the reason why Final Fantasy turned into Action RPGs btw). Our only hope is that some random indie dev would kickstart the project of a "game with Grandia's battle system"... ... Game companies should teach kids what is good instead of caving in to their desires for button mashers ("I want that when I press "A" my character swings his sword or uses his gun! I don't want to pick the option in a menu, that's stupid! And I want to use my analog stick to make him move and dodge attacks, not have him stand around and take hits like a idiot!"). Oh, sweet summer children, you ruined JRPGs (and it's also why major companies don't do Tactical RPGs anymore, most kids find them too slow, and the square grid is stupid, etc etc...).
Sadly, everything you say is true. There is no room for nuance anymore in modern gaming. The fastest, flashiest game will win out over the tactical games every time. There are ways to modernize the turn based genre, but people just want to mash A to win. Which is fine, I get it, not every game you play has to be tactical and require brain cells to manage, but don’t take that option away from me just because YOU don’t like it, you know? It’s upsetting. Lol.
Top 10 Action-Based Battle Systems In RPGs for next video maybe ?
I agree
I really enjoyed the system in Like A Dragon. Not sure why it’s not on the list cause it has the timed attacks and defense that he seems to favor.
The original innovator deserves extra points for coming up with the idea i the first place. Plus, it's not like S.Mario RPG executed the idea poorly or anything like that. Which is why he mentioned he chose it to represent timed button press on this list.
@@metastase895 I don’t think Super Mario RPG did anything wrong. I just found it odd that a more modern game that did turn based battles extremely well wasn’t on the list.
Great video! Turn-based is my favorite battle system too. But there Is one thing that is very important for me, which can make even a fun system not that fun anymore... THE BATTLE THEME (Looking at you Chrono Cross and Dragon Quest XI). It's going to be the one song you will be hearing the most during the game, so it better be awesome.
Massive points if you got multiple battle themes.
Thank you! And yeah absolutely, great point. I mentioned that in our Chrono Cross retrospective about how the battle theme is probably the worst track in the game, unfortunately. They really could have added like a disc 2 theme or something like many other RPGs did back in the day. DQXI’s battle theme admittedly isn’t the greatest either, not annoying IMO but just very basic
@@GamingBroductions Yeah I checked the crono cross video too were you mentioned it. I'm loving your content! Keep up the great work!
@@Averi0 When you have multiple battle themes, there is the risk that an awesome battle theme gets replaced by a crappy one later on, though... (I'm looking at you, Shadow Hearts From The New World. Since the game wasn't that good, "dead fingers talk" was the reason I was playing so when the theme gets shafted, I quit)
@@armorvil I would much rather that than listen to the same thing the entire game.
You mentioned how the system in Octopath can lead to regular battles being tedious. That is interesting because i think it makes it so that regular battles are far more interesting. They aren't just Mash button to win rinse and repeat. And if you are grinding, the game is super fast and the boost mechanic can come in handy to make short work of the enemies. I found that battle system to be very fun from start to finish.
Interesting, maybe it's cuz I'm spoiled for quality since my first ever RPG was Grandia 2 so I haven't been able to finish another JRPG since cuz the combat is just so boring. I tried octoopath traveler cuz I heard a lot of hype about it and it's combat being really good but didn't live up to my expectations and I just sorta stopped playing.
FFX is one of the best in the series. It has aged extremely well and I now hold it in higher regards, as I've gotten older and understand the themes that were presented a lot better. A truly, deeply sad story with a fantastic battle system.
Another person of culture I see.
FFX was the FF game I grew up with (I was born in 1992). It will always be my favourite FF game and turn based game.
ffx is the most deeper storyline in final fantasy!
Panzer Dragoon Sage is my favourite but playstation lovers won't know what it is. Basically all your usual RPG elements but you have 3 bars that charge over time, the more bars then the stronger your attack. But you can also be in 1 of 4 positions in the battle, moving position pauses your charging but the relative position affects the damage you do and receive. This leads to constant tension as you decide whether to stay in a bad position and wait a few seconds for the charging to complete and unleash a strong attack, or play it safe and move then attack less. Furthermore you can customise your dragon to charge quicker or take less damage etc.
IMO these are the big 3 when it comes to turn based battle systems
Final Fantasy X for Traditional turn based systems
Grandia 2 for Active time battle systems
Mario RPGs (any of them) for Input based battle systems
Persona/Shin Megami Tensei could also be there, but let's be honest that particular type of battle system involving monster collecting is monopolized by Pokémon.
Great breakdown, and now you’re making me have regrets about putting SMRPG so low on the list lol. That one definitely could have been higher
i liked what they did with the combat in FFXII, its kind of like turn based and real time, and the boss fights in that game was amazing, storyline wasn't all that great though. But as far as a new take on the traditional turn base combat, i think it holds up pretty good.
Content idea; would love to see your favorite examples of "powering up."
A few examples are ability points that can reused like FFIX. Bug killer for this dungeon, plant killer for the next, maybe mug later.
Or FFXII's license board? X's sphere grid? VIII's draw / junction system? Heck, you could probably do a full FF one!
SuperMsrio RPG and the level up bonuses you get to choose.
Maybe it's job based like fell seal or ff tactics.
Grandia?
BoF 3's master / apprentice system
Doing the actions powers up that skill / ability like FFII or disgaea.
And, good Ole experience points and leving up.
Would be an interesting look at some leveling systems out there!
I loved the equipment system from IX and the license board from XII was nice, too. The one dungeon in IX that made you use old equipment was a nice touch.
Ahh, so glad to see love for Shadow Hearts- I have such a soft spot for those games!
Great video!
You recommended Yakusa: Like a Dragon in an older video and I can't get enough of the game. Very japanese, but the turn based system is awesome and lots of stuff too do. Great channel and again, keep up the great work.
I couldn't get in to Octopath Traveller. I really wanted to but the plot had nothing to really draw me in and the combat became tedious quickly fighting regular enemies. If there was an overarching plot to draw me in I could have pushed through but after getting the 4th character it just felt rinse and repeat.
It had everything I wanted from a visual perspective but the rest didn't line up
Same, and you're way more patient than me haha. I couldn't play it more than one hour or two.
FFX is and will always be one of the best JRPGs of all time. I know it's considered an "easier" game, but it's one of the only FF games that utilize mechanics in nearly every single boss fight, even the easier ones. This makes it so much fun to battle, instead of just blindly attacking, healing, attacking, healing.
Attack Reels overdrive one shots most of the bosses in the game, even without any grinding. It's still maybe my favorite game. I love Final Fantasy 6, 7, 9, and 10.
I have to imagine you just played the remakes of older Final Fantasy games. Or just never played V. V actually made you think about what you were doing way more than super easy braindead FFX ever did. Especially since FFX has WAY too many ways to exploit the game. Even the PS1 version of FF1 (all the remakes afterwords used the easy version of the game) I consider mechanically more in-depth than FFX.
@@ZerogunRivale lol I’ve literally just played ffi on psx and while it’s much harder, it’s literally just attacking and using spells when you can spare.
Ffv is one of the most exploitable ff games btw
You still have to party build in FF1 and do a but of advanced planning to get there. FFV is only exploitable because we have had over 30 years to understand everything in the way the game works. Lets not pretend you somehow intuitively knew all the alchemist combinations or what the Hunter's and Red Mage's last skill was or how to attain the Mime and use it properly. If FFV is exploitable, then FFX is ULTRA exploitable. Once you get Riku, there are ways to litetally one shot certain bosses or make them absolutely irrelevent. Riku can take the final boss and basically make him no more dangerous than a trash mob. FFV at its most exploitable still makes you work for it. Riku in FFX just be sheer existing breaks an already super easy game.
So glad you included Octopath, the combat gets overlooked by the other criticisms the game gets.
If you like that, you should check out Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE! It’s like a cross between Octopath and Shin Megami Tensei - but towards the game you pull off some incredible chain attacks involving every member of your team multiple times. Plus the equipment you get come with skills akin to Tales of Vesperia so you’re encouraged to max out every weapon to kit your character with passives and active skills. It’s a really creative way of building your character, as opposed to skill trees or natural level ups!
I think KOTOR has a great combat system that actually feels "real time" I always loved the jedi academy combat but unless u played a certain way it was always messy and didn't look cinematic, with the kotor series it made me feel like I was actually in a lightsaber duel and also looked good
Man, I think the job system from FF5 at least deserves a mention. Loved this video though! Octopath is so underrated. Loved seeing it.
From my my understanding (and my own circle of friends), a lot of people seemed to really enjoy Octopath's battle system. Many feel like the dialogue and overall story are what hold it back.
I don't understand this idea, which even this video seems to promote, that turn-based is "the original" and the proliferation of genres started in the late 90s or 2000s or something. You had games like Ys, Dragon Slayer/Legend of Heroes, and Crystalis right alongside turn-based RPGs.
The way you frame it is harmlessly annoying, while the maliciously annoying opinion is when people say things like "FF7 Remake is an evolution, we don't need to move backwards to turn-based again." Like, as if turn-based and action aren't simply design choices instead of one of them being somehow outdated compared to the other.
I probably could have chose a different choice of words, but I put it like that because even though other types of RPGs did exist back in the day it seemed like the industry considered turn based RPGs as simply just ‘RPGs’ where games like Crystalis were often called action RPGs instead. Action RPG was a term thrown a lot at games back then but you never really heard the term turn-based RPG when referring to ones like final fantasy or dragon quest, most people just called them an RPG. At least this is how I remember. It wasn’t until later on that people started differentiating between the types of combat and realizing RPG was an umbrella term that could incorporate many different systems
I didn’t mean to give off that vibe as I agree with you’re saying, they are definitely different design choices and not just an evolution or de-evolution of each other
Great list! I would also add as honorable mentions:
Golden Sun
Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga
Radiant Historia
SMT Nocturne
Wild Arms 5
Xenogears
Xenosaga
Valkyrie Profile
Happy to see Suikoden get a mention! If you like status effects/debuff and visible turn order manipulation I would recommend checking out Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia's battle system. It's a mobile gacha, so definitely not everyone's cup of tea in terms of the overall game, but I find challenging fights in this game can be very fun.
I absolutely despise games that won't let me change my party members on the spot to an almost unreasonable degree. Like I dropped Persona 4 golden because in order to change your party around you had to return to the entrance of the dungeon (using a finite item btw) and I didn't want to deal with that, as good as the rest of the game was. Meanwhile SMT nocturne, FFX and others that came out way before P4G let you do that no problem, thank god they changed that in Persona 5
EDIT: the icing on the cake is that most of these games have the entire party appear during cutscenes and story moments but during combat they do nothing which is absurd imo
Really love the system in the Valkyria Chronicles games. I guess that's kind of a hybrid Turn-Based/Real-Time though.
It's my fav SRPG series next to Fire Emblem.. I didn't think we could use it here tho.. Not really rpg but you could also get a sorta Valkyria fix with Xcom & Mario Rabbids