RPG Combat, what do you want?

[MeatMachine]

-Turn-based; don't punish me for taking time to navigate menus and read descriptions
-Party of 3-5, who can freely multiclass or otherwise take on more than 1 [scribed or chosen] single role
-Items, health, mana, and death-states that are reimbursed [partially or wholly] after every battle (to keep your party's livelihood from being 100% tied to your healer's mana pool)
-Every battle must be very challenging, so that you don't ever feel inclined to ration your strong items and abilities
-Bosses that aren't totally resistant to debuffs; debuffs are worthless against weak enemies, and don't work against most strong enemies, so what's the point of ever using them?
-If basic attack commands are present, then implement some kind of engaging trial for each command to keep battles from simply being ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Real time combat, alone instead of party based. Minimal automation; I wanna play the game myself. Responsive controls and weighty but efficient animations. A small number of weapons with versatility, including temporary pickups, instead of upgradable loot that clutters your inventory. Basically, a lot of what RPG isn't.

This. Also, the Diablo-style loot system just ruins an RPG for me quicker than you can say, "bland." Basically, I want Neverwinter Nights' spells, Ninja Gaiden Black's melee combat (Within reason of course. Obviously as a metal-plated warrior, I'm not going to be jumping off walls.) And Thief's stealth with, if I get into a fight, advantage over 1-on-1 fights.

Potions should be very rare and always powerful. And they should stack. HOWEVER, they should definitely have addiction potential and will also have pretty bad side effects if you take too many.

And finally, make the Speech skill/tree/whatever actually USEFUL. Like really useful. As in, if high enough, able to talk almost anyone into following you and even being able to talk enemies into committing suicide, assuming you're able to have a dialogue with them. If suicide is too much of a stretch, just at very least be able to pacify them.

I have nooo problem with classes whatsoever. HOWEVER, if it is a class-based system, give me a lot of classes to choose from! Again, Neverwinter Nights had an awesome number of classes. But kick out the Bard and put in Necromancer class. And the Druid shouldn't just have power over nature but earth, water, lighting, and wind as well to varying degrees depending, of course, on how powerful they are.

 

[MerlinCross]

-Turn-based; don't punish me for taking time to navigate menus and read descriptions
-Party of 3-5, who can freely multiclass or otherwise take on more than 1 [scribed or chosen] single role
-Items, health, mana, and death-states that are reimbursed [partially or wholly] after every battle (to keep your party's livelihood from being 100% tied to your healer's mana pool)
-Every battle must be very challenging, so that you don't ever feel inclined to ration your strong items and abilities
-Bosses that aren't totally resistant to debuffs; debuffs are worthless against weak enemies, and don't work against most strong enemies, so what's the point of ever using them?
-If basic attack commands are present, then implement some kind of engaging trial for each command to keep battles from simply being ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK

Etrian Odessy. Outside of the healing bits, sounds like it'd be right up your alley. And even then you can get skills to heal after battle and healing points in dungeons.

Really that's what I would like from a turn based game myself

 

[chrissx2]

Turn-based like in Divinity:Original Sin or actiony like in Diablo 2 (slightly more tactical)

 

[Amigastar]

Turn-based like in Divinity:Original Sin or actiony like in Diablo 2 (slightly more tactical)

Add Pillars of Eternity or Baldurs Gate to that.

OT:Not much posting since the dead of GT,i see ? Me too, man. I just thought i'm the only one.

 

[chrissx2]

Turn-based like in Divinity:Original Sin or actiony like in Diablo 2 (slightly more tactical)

Add Pillars of Eternity or Baldurs Gate to that.

OT:Not much posting since the dead of GT,i see ? Me too, man. I just thought i'm the only one.

This place lacks something. Never though I'll say it, but I miss GT trolls and platform fights. This place also feels less active than GT ever was.

 

[chrissx2]

Turn-based like in Divinity:Original Sin or actiony like in Diablo 2 (slightly more tactical)

Add Pillars of Eternity or Baldurs Gate to that.

OT:Not much posting since the dead of GT,i see ? Me too, man. I just thought i'm the only one.

This place lacks something. Never though I'll say it, but I miss GT trolls and platform fights. This place also feels less active than GT ever was.

I miss Subjectless. Sometimes I wanna just talk about random stuff that doesn't deserve a thread.

That's also true. I also wish the screenshot thread was more active. I love to look at nice pictures : >

 

[Captain Marvelous_v1legacy]

Action RPGs

Something along the lines of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning or Kingdom Hearts 1/2. KoA has a lot of problems, but it's combat is one of the best I've ever played. The game has a nice variety of weapons to choose from, most of which are satisfying to use, and it allows the player to mix and match classes, to find what speaks to you. And the mage class is just so satisfying. Summoning skeletons, blizzards, meteors, and shooting lightning are all so visually pleasing. After playing KoA, Skyrim was rather... underwhelming. Especially the magic.

Kingdom Hearts also has nice, albeit very flashy, combat. It can get very challenging, especially on the harder difficulties (I will never do a Level 1 run), but the games combat is put together very well. It punishes mistakes made by the player, especially button mashing, but also allows the player to do the same to bosses who expose themselves, usually after a very flashy attack. It's actually very Dark Souls like when I think about it, but with more dodging and Reflagas and less blocking. Kingdom Hearts 2 does particularly well when it comes to blending close quarters attacks with magic so that it appears very fluid. Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 definitely have the best combat of the series, and I hope Nomura takes more from them than he does the handheld games.

Anyway, to sum it up, I want combat to be flashy and fun, but challenging. I don't want button mashing to be the key to success. I want combat to be a combination of taking advantage of opportunity and well timed blocks and dodges. But I don't want it to be frustrating. I want to have fun. I also want mages to be bad ass. More summing meteors! More Blizzards! More Lightning Storms! Mages are gods, dammit! Stop nerfing them!

I don't want
Active Time Battle. That system is terrible and should die in the grandest of fires.

 

[aozgolo]

I have played many different RPG combat systems I've enjoyed, and I think the running theme isn't so much whether it's real time or turn based but more-so if it requires strategic thinking. I enjoy the simplicity of controls where I don't have to memorize an entire keyboard's worth of hotkeys or go 5 menus deep into something to perform an action, but where complexity is still present. I'll list a few RPGs where the battle system really stood out for me and why I liked it:

Final Fantasy XII This was an evolution of the active-time battle system. You could move around the map, switch between party members, automate everyone's actions through simple AI called "Gambits", and was quite enjoyable because with proper Gambit set-up you could make most casual enemy encounters automated and just watch your party work, but leaving boss fights up to AI was a death sentence, you really had to knuckle down, learn weaknesses, and counter all kinds of debilitating moves they would conjure up. Add in to the mix a license board, technicks, summonable espers, quickening attacks, chain kills, and the complexity really piled up in a good way that gave you a lot of choices to make in battle.

Dragon Quest VIII Simplicity perfected. A 100% turn-based combat game that nonetheless retained challenge and interesting mechanics. It really put a lot of effort into making challenge about properly making the most of each action rather than twitch mechanics. Everything is very easily explained and straight forward, hitting the attack button attacks, hitting the magic button uses magic, and so on. It also had some unique additions such as using a turn to raise tension to release a more powerful attack, summoning a monster party you had captured for a few turns, and a lot of unique special moves that give a new spin on the classic formulas.

Baldur's Gate Basically a turn-based RPG disguised as real-time. If you attempt to play through the whole game without ever pausing to give commands... you're gonna have a bad time. Every action in the game revolves around turns, and it's up to you how frequently you choose to stop and plan out your next move. Add in the complexity of AD&D 2e and you have a huge variety of classes, races, equipment, skills, magic, and game mechanics that really layer in a well designed party-based RPG

Mount & Blad WarbandA game that's heavily action oriented without once sacrificing it's dedication to statistical complexity. Each soldier has their own innate stats based off their unit type, which also is complimented by their gear, and morale. Your own character as well as special companions can even be individually geared up and have their stats raised as you deem fit, and in battle you never have direct control over anyone but your one character but can issue commands at your leisure. It's the perfect marriage of action-based gameplay and stat-and-skill based gameplay.

 

[bjj hero]

We will have to disagree over combos. If Ive risked closing to the point where I can strike you then it makes perfect sense to throw multiple strikes. Following strikes have a better chance of landing as the opening strike compromises your defence and I want to cause as much damage as possible to end the fight and to avoid retaliation.

Except from the enemies you aren't fighting with who are now sending sharp objects in your direction because you're sure as hell not avoiding that.

Again you keep using references to unarmed combat. Unarmed combat is for people who get their head split open, or their torsos impaled, because despite what media would have you believe large weapons are not clumsy and slow. It's more effective in a modern setting where not every is welding weapons specially made for melee combat.

I mentioned kali and escrima, both specialise in fighting with weapons... mostly blades and sticks.

Lots of people survive being attacked with a weapon, and that is without historical armour designed for just that situation.

 

[WolfThomas]

For those who have said they like turn based squad rpgs and/or Fallout. Dead State : Reanimated is quite fun. The original release of the game had a lot of problems (bugs, early access/unfinished). But the updated edition is quite polished and fun. 4 person squad based with combat like Fallout.