What's your favourite type of combat in RPGs?

Rik_Kirtaniya

DJKajuru

Just like in pnp , turn based combat can be fun at difficult fights but it gets kinda boring when a level 5 party faces a group of 10 level 1 kobolds and everybody needs to wait for each one's turn.
Real time with pause (my vote) is better 90% of the time when the game allows you to manage your party well (IE Games s2) ,but I don't think it helped much in NWN2 because you couldn't really protect your archers and mages .

semiticgoddess

I think we've got a sampling bias here. This is a forum dedicated to "real time with pause" games.

ThacoBell

I don't think anyone is surprised at the clear bias here. I will say though, that traditional, JRPG, turn based combat is my second favorite. I know, I'm weird.

FinneousPJ

It depends. Proper design and balancing is more important than the type of combat.

Kamigoroshi

Sometimes, game developers are able to deliver enjoyable fights no matter which "combat-genre" they pick. And... then there are those cases in which game titles either completely neglet combat... or tackle it from such an twisted ankle that it's just a pain in the nucleus to play through...

I personally regard Turn-Based combat as an valid option for a) hand-held console/smartphone tiltes, both of which must battle with tiny display screens. Or b) 1-on-1 battles a' la early Pokémon games. In my experience, the larger your controlled group is and the more enemies per battle you face, the more it feels like wading through an endless quagmire of wasted time and nerves. And to me... that's not fun. At all.

"Isometric" Real Time with Pause feels more like a compromise to me. Is it practical for taking full control of a large party? Definitely! But is it immersive to me? No, I feel rather detached from watching everything from high above through a bird's eye perspective. Kind of feels like Chess: The RPG to be honest.

The here so-called "Full" Real Time would probably be my favourite combat take. Although plenty of them do have a pause function as well. I just feel more connected to both the game world and my player character when viewing everything through third-person. And especially if there is a first-person view as well to round things up. Everything feels just more alive when you can feel the heat of the battle through your character's eyes. Well, to me anyway.

Out of all the RPG's I've played, I found that Kindoms of Amalur: Reckoning did it the best. No matter which class, weapon or magic path you've chosen, everything felt just incredibly FUN. Archer in melee? No problem here! Hand-to-Hand Mage? We've got you covered!

ThacoBell

Amalur is SO MUCH FUN. Best action RPG out there.

Ammar

You missed phase-based combat, one of my favorite systems. It is similar to turn-based (e.g. not real time), but you have to decide the action for you all your characters at the same time and then they execute them without you being able to intervene. Wizardry used this system.

It is more realistic as in when you have two fighters attack the same monster and the first one kills it, the second one is only able to attack another monster in the next phase. It also feels more like everyone acting at the same time, with some characters being slightly faster.

Real-time combat with pausing and a delay for characters to execute orders would feel similar.

deltago

Turn base is for tactical games.

Real time with pause is for fully party control games.

Fully timed is for single character control games.

There are exceptions such as some single character control games with a protagonist with a lot of special abilities that need its own menu but it all depends on what type of game a person prefers.

themazingness

As @FinneousPJ says it depends on the design. My favorite combat systems are the Infinite Engine games, Dungeons and Dragons Online (minus the lag failures), and Active Time Battle from Square games (notably, old Final Fantasy games).

Neverwinter Nights is on the low end for me, which stinks because I really want to get into it more with all the endless games I can play in it. But that whole dance and wait while your character changes strategical position without you is frustrating.

DrakeICN

Yeah, no offense, but I disagree with the merits of this poll. You can make any kind of combat system as long as it is varied, balanced and challenging. Compare BG with NWN; BG is fun, NWN is BOOORING!!! Likewise, FFI, FFII and FFIII SUUUUUUUCKS!!! while FFIV to ten (haven't played anything past FF lesbian dress u... sorry X2) are fun.

It applies to all manner of computer games; compare Doom with Doom 3; basically the same thing, right? You run around with a gun killing things. WRONG!!! Doom is fun, Doom 3 is boring. Or Worms with any of the worms 3D games. Basically the same thing, right? No, because worms is fast paced, while worms 3D makes you fall asleep before it becomes your turn again.

It's not design, it's execution.

ThacoBell

@DrakeICN Not always. There are systems that I don't enjoy, and it doesn't matter how well they are done. I simply don't enjoy the system. I can tell when they are done better than others, but that doesn't mean I enjoy them.

Its like eating ham for me. It makes me sick, but I can tell the difference between low and high quality ham. It all makes me sick just the same, however.

scriver

Turnbased, of course, but not turn based like Divinity: OS 2, which has a shitty tb system (haven't gotten around to playing Tides of Numenera yet, so I can't comment on that).

No, give me turn based like Temple of Elemental Evil or Jagged Alliance 2. That's the good stuff.