Where have all the Turn Based RPGs gone

[Jodah]

Let me first say I enjoy action adventure RPGs like Nevewinter Nights and Oblivion. However, at times I feel like I am the only one that misses the good old turn based RPGs like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 1-10. It seems like this type of game is another casualty in the bigger and better graphics war.

I am not ashamed to admit I still play Pokemon games be they on DS or Gameboy. Childishness of the story aside they are still among the best TBRPGs around. They take (some) thought to understand game mechanics, and this applies to all TBRPGs, but do not take the rapid reflexes necessary for a action rpg. This allows them to be far more relaxing and allow players to focus more on the storyline than what button they need to press next.

I guess the point of my rant is two-fold. First, am I really the only one that misses this type of game? Secondly, are there any hidden gems (preferably for PC, PSP, DS, or PS3) that I am missing? Something new of this game type that is not over-hyped like the big names.

 

[mjhhiv]

No, you definitely aren't the only one who misses them. I'd be interested in hearing some "hidden gems" also...

 

[TomNook]

Fire Emblem is your friend.

 

[Saevus]

Lessee.

Fallout series; all Infinity Engine games are RTWP and have options to automatically pause for each round; Arcanum runs a real-time or turn-based combat system; Temple of Elemental Evil; Avernum and GeneForge series if you actually mean what you imply that good graphics don't mean everything.

This isn't a casualty of the 'bigger and better graphics war', it's a casualty of consumerism. You may absolutely love TBRPGs and a hundred people on this forum will say the same, but the vast majority of the market does not give a shit about a game that isn't FASTPACED BOOM BANG CHAINSAW TANKS EXPLODING FUCK YEAHHH SHOOTAN GAEMS. Because some turn-based games? They gots pretty damn spiffy graphics.

 

[BogeymanX]

In case anyone didn't already know, Final Fantasy XII is going into turn-based again. Not like XI and XII. Even though, I also heard Final Fantasy XII is going to be turn-based where you actually see the character attack the enemy. *cough cough* other RPGs *cough cough*.

 

[mark_n_b]

the reason you don't see much turn based rpg games is for the primary reason that the turned based mechanic sucks monkey ... bananas (let's say so that I don't get myself banned). If you are seriously interested in turn based mechanics, the tactics genre is the one to get involved in. They do everything that turn based RPG's do but with so much more depth and intelligence.

Disgaea for instance has enough stat and troop customization and mechanisms (through which to achieve this customization) to keep you playing for hours, all within a wacky anime cartoon talking head story.

I've played atelier iris, shin megumi tensu (or whatever), Final Fantasy, Wild Arms, Xenosaga, Rogue Galaxy (PS3 crowd is gonna have to wait, there aren't very many games for the system and this generation's Game Cube is probably not going to serve up many options). And I have come to the conclusion there is really only so much you can do with three characters who all take turns doing stuff. And turned based games have been doing everything they can to make every turn look really cool and throw in enough unknowns to keep it interesting.

Turn based mechanics rank up there with random encounters, they came about as a necessity of limited technology and people forget that they are not as awesome as all that because of nostalgia. If you are so keen on turned based gaming, my advice is Backgammon or Chess or Uno. If the JRPG types could successfully integrate that level of strategy and depth into turn based mechanics there may be potential for a resurgence of the mechanic

 

[Signa]

Chrono Trigger is being re-released for the DS. I'm playing it now via emulators, and it hasn't lost much in 13 years. I just hope they add some Squaresoft quality CG cut-scenes to it. I just watched the fall of Zeal, and it looked damn good for an SNES cut-scene. It was pretty easy to picture what a CG version would look like.

 

[ryustar427]

I like turn based RPGs, but with most RPGs, turn based combat usually goes hand-in-hand with random enemy encounters which is what everyone got tired of. That's why free-roaming RPGs have gotten to be so popular. Walking around the open world while playing the old Final Fantasy games and running into an enemy every five steps was frustrating to the point of self-mutilation. Bring back the TBRPGs, but leave REEs in the past.

 

[Rob Sharona]

Buy a DS my friend.

 

[kyekye]

Now i'm all pumped up to get the dust off my snes and play earthbound
You cannot grasp my need for a coke and some chips

 

[geldonyetich]

Turn based RPGs are around, but for the most part they've gone the way of adventure games. For the same reason: too many badly designed ones ruined the market appeal. Just as a point-and-click adventure game shouldn't be about pixel hunting and pixels that make no intuitive sense, a turn based RPG needs to be expertly balanced in such a way as to provide some compelling choices to the player. Too few did, and that's why you don't see many these days.

I recommend Spiderweb Software [http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/] to get your turn-based fix. Those are turn-based games that are entertaining as turn based games.

Another aspect to consider is that computer technology has sort of evolved past the point where turn-based games are necessary. The reason why old-fashioned RPGs were turn-based wasn't so much because that was the best way to execute the game so much as turn-based execution was a whole lot easier to code. These days, in MMORPGs and other C (computer) RPGs, the turns are still there, but they're being fired rapidly in micro-turns.

Now, even real-time RPGs aren't fast enough for me. I wrote up something on my blog today [http://geldonsgaming.blogspot.com/2008/08/final-rpg-play-strategy-let-computer.html] which sort of reflects how CRPGs, in general, are pretty braindead affairs and we might as well just automate things once decisions have been made. I'm loving Final Fantasy XII's gambit system for this reason.

[edit: Radical revision due to poorly stated, badly formatted points]

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

I wasn't aware the TBRPG had ever left. In fairly recent history we've had Blue Dragon(360), Lost Odyssey (360), Final Fantasy IV (DS), Final Fantasy Tactics (DS), Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn (Wii)... I mean, damn girlfriend, what more do you want?

 

[zen5887]

FASTPACED BOOM BANG CHAINSAW TANKS EXPLODING FUCK YEAHHH SHOOTAN GAEMS.

Damn I was gonna make the same joke..

Ah well

 

[Exosus]

Wow

I wasn't aware the TBRPG had ever left. In fairly recent history we've had Blue Dragon(360), Lost Odyssey (360), Final Fantasy IV (DS), Final Fantasy Tactics (DS), Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn (Wii)... I mean, damn girlfriend, what more do you want?

Yea seriously, I was just wondering not long ago if there was any chance of their ever leaving and here we are worrying about what happened to them.

 

[fat american]

I don't really like the TBRPG's because I think taking turns attacking is a little ridiculous myself. Also it's okay to spout profanity on this forum as long as it isn't every other word Mark n b.

 

[Cab00se206]

My main beef with TBRPG's is that you don't play an active role in them. Pokemon was the only turn-based game I ever really liked, but there was too much grind for me. My complaint is the normally you are controlling 3 people indirectly, and in some of the boss battles the camera zooms out so far you can barely see them. When playing them I always felt more like an adviser in an FPS or "tactical espionage action" game. I gave them instructions but, as Yahtzee so perfectly put it in his TWEWY review, I didn't feel like I was contributing directly in the action. I felt like I was playing an RTS with only 3 units and all strategy removed

 

[BlueMage]

I would just like to point out that, technically, Neverwinter Nights was a quasi-turn-based RPG.

That said, I miss them too. Bring back the Planescapes and Baldur's Gates of the world!

 

[peterwolfe]

turn based RPG's were fun, but there were soooo damned many of them that everyone began associating them with a creative lag in the industry. "turn-based" became synonymous with "old", and when games began to shift away from the hardcore gamer, anything associated with the old fanboy side of video games had to go.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

There are a few for the DS and classic Nintendo systems. Some newer ones on the 360, although I'm personally holding out for the PS3 ports (Later releases generally mean less bugs and more content.)

 

[Woe Is You]

Let me first say I enjoy action adventure RPGs like Nevewinter Nights and Oblivion. However, at times I feel like I am the only one that misses the good old turn based RPGs like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 1-10. It seems like this type of game is another casualty in the bigger and better graphics war.

Well...NWN isn't really that much of an action RPG. And besides it is turn-based, just that it doesn't pause between those turns by default and you're the one doing the pausing. You can set configure that from the settings, though, if I remember correct.

But seriously, the turn-based RPG is not dead. Get a DS if you have a hankering for turn-based RPGs. It has a boatload of them, from Final Fantasy IV DS and Tactics A2 to Lunar: Dragon Song to Front Mission DS and Luminous Arc to the upcoming Valkyrie Profile sequel, Dragon Quest IX and Disgaea. It also has pokemenz if you like them.

Currently out of the next-gen devices, the 360 has the biggest crop at current, though admittedly not much: Lost Odyssey, Enchant Arms, Eternal Sonata and Blue Dragon.

Another aspect to consider is that computer technology has sort of evolved past the point where turn-based games are necessary.

Games have been real-time since their dawn. Tech really hasn't got much to do with it.

My main beef with TBRPG's is that you don't play an active role in them.

My guess is you don't like strategy games in general.