Western RPG (Think Baldur's Gate) comes from an attempt to translate tabletop RPG into video game (either directly, like Baldur's gate using DnD ruleset or indirectly). One really strange quirk of history is that they decided to make that transition by switching from turn based system to real time system.
So enter two of the most recent western real time RPG, pathfinder:kingmaker and pillar of eternity 2. Both are still heavily inspired by tabletop RPG (pathfinder literally use the pathfinder system, down to some ability/feat description being literally lifted straight from the book, with some still being written as if the game was turn based) but still decided to continue the transition of real time gameplay. Except not anymore, they both ended up releasing update that allow the game to be played in turn based mode, although quite a long time after release in both cases.
The results is some weird hybrid. The basic mechanic of the gameplay were clearly designed for turn base system. You'd think the UI would be made for real time gameplay, but if that was the cases they both did a horrendous job at it, with incredibly poor UI in both case (for example, if you're character has a lot of buff/debuff on them the UI literally cannot display all of them at once and so you're missing information). But the encounter and difficulty were clearly made for real time combat. This translate into much easier encounter in turn base mode. I played trough PoE2 twice, once in real time and once in turn base, the experience was... disappointing both time (highest difficulty setting in both case). Real time was an exercise in frustration, the character path finding was atrocious, if I didn't hold their hand the entire time they'd willingly walk right next to enemy (trigger an enemy free attack) for no reason and would often take the longest path possible for no reason. Knowing what character were doing at any point was hard as they wouldn't have any clear indicator of their current action, especially when 10+ characters were all acting at once. In turn base mode these problems were much easier to deal with. But on the flip side the game was far too easy, with fight that were frustrating on my first play trough being little more than annoyance. The system also suffered with some stats and item clearly being better in one mode or the other, for example, in real time heavy weapon would cause your character to act less often, in turn base these would only make your character act later in initiative, something that didn't really matter for most build, similarly one of the best stats in real time was a complete waste of point in turn base.
I just find this strange transition really weird and I can't think of any other case where you have this sort of large shift in basic gameplay mechanic happening across a game lifespan (maybe Halo, apparently starting as an RTS). I am really glad that it seems like after 20+ years the industry finally realize that system that were built around turn base mechanic should be played turn base with BG3 being built for turn base combat from the ground up.
So enter two of the most recent western real time RPG, pathfinder:kingmaker and pillar of eternity 2. Both are still heavily inspired by tabletop RPG (pathfinder literally use the pathfinder system, down to some ability/feat description being literally lifted straight from the book, with some still being written as if the game was turn based) but still decided to continue the transition of real time gameplay. Except not anymore, they both ended up releasing update that allow the game to be played in turn based mode, although quite a long time after release in both cases.
The results is some weird hybrid. The basic mechanic of the gameplay were clearly designed for turn base system. You'd think the UI would be made for real time gameplay, but if that was the cases they both did a horrendous job at it, with incredibly poor UI in both case (for example, if you're character has a lot of buff/debuff on them the UI literally cannot display all of them at once and so you're missing information). But the encounter and difficulty were clearly made for real time combat. This translate into much easier encounter in turn base mode. I played trough PoE2 twice, once in real time and once in turn base, the experience was... disappointing both time (highest difficulty setting in both case). Real time was an exercise in frustration, the character path finding was atrocious, if I didn't hold their hand the entire time they'd willingly walk right next to enemy (trigger an enemy free attack) for no reason and would often take the longest path possible for no reason. Knowing what character were doing at any point was hard as they wouldn't have any clear indicator of their current action, especially when 10+ characters were all acting at once. In turn base mode these problems were much easier to deal with. But on the flip side the game was far too easy, with fight that were frustrating on my first play trough being little more than annoyance. The system also suffered with some stats and item clearly being better in one mode or the other, for example, in real time heavy weapon would cause your character to act less often, in turn base these would only make your character act later in initiative, something that didn't really matter for most build, similarly one of the best stats in real time was a complete waste of point in turn base.
I just find this strange transition really weird and I can't think of any other case where you have this sort of large shift in basic gameplay mechanic happening across a game lifespan (maybe Halo, apparently starting as an RTS). I am really glad that it seems like after 20+ years the industry finally realize that system that were built around turn base mechanic should be played turn base with BG3 being built for turn base combat from the ground up.
