Best Turn-Based Combat

[Smokej]

hell yeah the pinnacle of gameplay. Some good examples have already been named (like JA2, ToEE, XCom), so i want to name a few underrated ones: Dominions, Steel Panthers, Silen Storm, Front Mission

btw if you want to try a Squad Tactics game that gets Real Time right, try Brigade 7.62 High Calibre (with the Hard Life or Blue Sun mod)

 

[Ghengis John]

Well I've been playing alot of RPGs recently and I've grown tired of the dull simplistic combat all the ones I can find have. So I've decided to ask the fine members of theEscapist for their help. What game do you think has the best turn-based combat? It doesn't have to be an RPG all I need is that it's turn-based, I have next to no interest inreal-time combat unless it's truly exceptional.

Jagged Alliance 2

X-Com: UFO Defense. Finest turn based game ever made.

HM for Jagged Alliance 2, which is also freakin' fantastic, although the difficulty curve is vicious.

I second (or third) these men's recommendation. Jagged Alliance 2 is an RPG in the respect that you have stats which level up and characters have personalities and traits that effect their performance (You also make various decisions that alter events), it is a gun based tactical strategy game on the other hand where you take over a country using a big map grid of it where you direct your soldiers towards resources, towns and airports leading them into action/strategy turn-based battles.

 

[onewheeled]

Heroscape [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroscape], anyone? ...Anyone?

Fine, I'll go with Disgaea and its completely wacky, yet brilliant combat.

 

[Jandau]

Galactic Civilizations 2 is sorely underrepresented here.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Civilisation 5 i'm enjoying alot of atm and that turn based RTS. Also got Heros of Might and Magic 5 which has nice turn based combat, but its quite basic at the start.

Uhm... surely if it's turn based it's not real time?

Anyway, props for HoMM5, I love it and the rest of the series too! Probably the greatest turn based strategy games ever, I think. I know the threads asking for turn based RPGs, but you really can't beat HoMM for anything turn based.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga. The press turn system was a really good way of making elemental weaknesses and strengths boil down to more than a bit of extra damage, without it being totally game changing like Pokemon main games.

Pretty much this.
(though I don't like that people tend to call Pokémon into the equation, since the first Megami Tensei title came out 9 years before the first Pokémon game)

Also, I'd like to put in a good word for Shadow Hearts Covenant.
- It's turn-bassed and you can see the order of turns on the side.
- Up to four characters in a battle (as opposed to the three you see in most RPG's nowadays).
- The adaptable Judgement Ring adds an extra dimension of skill to the combat.
- It's possible to perform combo attacks with other team members.
- A rich variation of personal skills, fusions and adaptable magic from Crests.

Aaaand it also has a deep story with lots of funny undertones, awesome CG cut-scenes, a strong musical score courtesy of Yoshitaka Hirota and is set in 1915 - a WW I setting with monsters, magic and Gregory Rasputin!

 

[deshorty]

Either FF Tactics advance or Jeanne D'Arc. Not only do both have fantastic story, but the gameplay is fantastic.

 

[Vhite]

Heroes of Might and Magic. I have played it with my friend for days and it never stopped being fun.

 

[Alfador_VII]

I think pretty much all of the Final Fantasy games, or Chrono Trigger. I know some of them are "active", but still basically turn-based.

Also X-Com, and Front Mission

Mind you turn-based combat could only ever happen in games couldn't it ...

 

[Acaroid]

I still like the front mission series for tactic turn based rpg. Not the new 3rd person piece of crap but the old ones obviously.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

FF12.

I'm serious.

For all the bad mouthing that game gets thrown at it (for perfectly valid reasons IMO) the battle system was smooth and breezy if you were intelligent enough to set your Gambits up to cover all the bases, it made micromanaging your party a non-issue if you could do it right the first time.

 

[blokrokker]

I'd have to say the Advance Wars series. Some of the best games ever. Fire Emblem 6 -> 10. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and A2. Golden Sun 1,2, AND 3 (technically a JRPG, but turn-based combat all the way, and INSANELY fun).

 

[rednose1]

Breath of Fire 3. Pretty old now, but still badass. Thinking about it makes me want to play it now in fact.....be right back.

 

[Scarim Coral]

To me any of the Advance Wars and Fire Emblem series were the best at turn base games. Those games make you think and plan out your tatic.

 

[blokrokker]

I'd have to say the Advance Wars series. Some of the best games ever. Fire Emblem 6 -> 10. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and A2. Golden Sun 1,2, AND 3 (technically a JRPG, but turn-based combat all the way, and INSANELY fun).

Quoting myself, but I have to add some stuff. Everything I said is for the GBA, except FFTA2 and GS3 for the DS and Fire Emblem 9 & 10 for the Game Cube. Also, Disgaea 1 & 2 and Soul Nomad and the World Eaters for the PS2. Soul Nomad is probably one of the most fun games I've ever played. If you like paying out the ass, try BattleDex on the PC. It's free, unless you want to play full single-player or any multi-player. For Flash games, I'd recommend Sonny 1 & 2, as well as the Battalion series (on Armor Games and Kongregate, respectively). Sonny is an RPG, and Battalion is somebody's (very good) attempt to refine Advance Wars. Also, Campaign Game: General Election on Kongregate is very fun.

 

[CrankyStorming]

Dragon Quest 9 is pretty much the only example of a turn-based game, certainly that I'm familiar with, that actually needs to be turn-based and gives the player a reason to use all of the abilities that they are given. Finding an ideal class set-up, choosing the right weapons for each fighter and making judgements on which abilities to use and when, is often much more effective than just getting everyone to lv.99 and spamming the command button. And any abilities that you think you don't need generally show up in one of the more rewarding side quests, keeping everything balanced and deeply engaging.

 

[Thealchemistofwhite]

Fallout 1, 2, Tactics

Tactics is real time I hope you know.

 

[The Red Spy]

Well I've been playing alot of RPGs recently and I've grown tired of the dull simplistic combat all the ones I can find have. So I've decided to ask the fine members of theEscapist for their help. What game do you think has the best turn-based combat? It doesn't have to be an RPG all I need is that it's turn-based, I have next to no interest inreal-time combat unless it's truly exceptional.

Not that I've had chance to play any of them myself, but Extra Credits just did a new video on 'Games you might not have tried' [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3080-Games-You-Might-Not-Have-Tried-or-Heard-Of] with some turn based suggestions thrown into the mix, maybe give one or two of them a try?

Chess

Otherwise, this.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

Look at my avatar and take the hint!

 

[Smertnik]

Persona 4?