Favorite JRPG battle system(s)

[FoxwolfJackson]

So, as the title implies, post what your favorite battle system is. I always have had a soft side for good JRPG's and their battle systems, so I'm rather curious what kind of systems you all like and why. Doesn't necessarily have to be your favorite game, but if you really found the gameplay and mechanics and the like to be really fun, just give it a shout out!

[secondworld]

Turn based

Bravely Default takes the cake and takes it far. The job system always gets thumbs up from me(execpt FFIII), the amount of options and customization is amazing. The Brave/Default system and its risk/reward just fits turns better than any battle system that isn't from a SRPG.

EDIT: oh shoutout to Radiant Historia which I very unfortunately still haven't played yet but its battle system looks top-tier for turn based

Real time

It can be debated whether Kingdom Hearts II is more RPG or hack n' slash, but that game is just so much fun I'm going with it anyway. I haven't played many action JRPGs. If I had to pick a battle system from a game that's more clearly a RPG, that just leaves Tales of the Abyss, which I do like.

There were other games I was going to mention but then I realized op clearly states JRPG so some other time I guess.

Edited February 2, 2016 by DavidSW

[Nobody]

I really, really like the main shin megami tensei battle system, particularly Nocturne's and IV's. There's a lot of fun into press turns and fusing demons to get good skills in them IMO

Edited February 3, 2016 by Perfect Nobody

[NinjaMonkey]

Paper Mario/PM: The Thousand Year Door's battle system.

[Konnor97]

Yggdra Union sorta counts, right? Setting up unions, linking unions, and managing the passive/aggressive bar during battle is pretty neat.

[secondworld]

Yggdra Union sorta counts, right? Setting up unions, linking unions, and managing the passive/aggressive bar during battle is pretty neat.

I'd categorize that as a SRPG personally.

Edited February 2, 2016 by DavidSW

[Ambulz]

I'm not a huge fan of turn-based battling, so I guess my favorite would be the Tales series combat system. It has had plenty of iterations and tweaks throughout the series, but my favorite version is probably the Symphonia battle system. I feel it had the most freedom in the way of customization.

[OakTree]

Radiant Historia. With a good strategy, you can defeat enemies that would require your party to be ten levels higher if you fought them with a normal strategy.

Also shout-out to Etrian Odyssey, which doesn't really have a creative or complex battle system, but due to excellent design is still able to create a lot of fun battles.

Edited February 2, 2016 by OakTree

[Xaos Steel Wing]

I really like the battle system of the GBA Mega Man Battle Network series.

It had this interesting combination of real time, grid based combat where both you and your enemy had 9 tiles each you can move about on, and there was a meter, every time it filled up you could select a few of several abilities ("chips") you could equip in a certain order, then the meter reset and fills up again. You would prepare your "deck" of chips beforehand. You could move about freely on your side, you could always use your basic attack and a charged basic attack, and whatever chips you had equipped, but only in the order you equipped them. Hits and misses were entirely determined by whether you actually aimed your attacks correctly.

It really was quite unique, the only think that comes close to it is Radiant Historia, and that one's actually turn based. There's an incredibly combination of skill, strategy, and a unique flow and feel to the battles that no other game really has matched.

It's hard to find a representative video as most youtube vids are min-maxed and highly advanced strategies for clearing bosses as fast as possible, which is a bit different than more natural gameplay, but it still shows what its like.

I really like the Tales of series for the battle systems as well.

Edited February 2, 2016 by XaosLogos

[Michelaar]

I prefer turn based gameplay, its more clear and more handy in my opinion :)

[DodgeDusk]

To describe the gameplay for RoF as a "turn-based strategy RPG" would just be scratching its surface. It's incredibly hard to explain, but I'll give it a shot:

So, there's two types of damage in this game: scratch damage and direct damage. The former is achieved through sub-machine guns, and the latter can be achieved using both pistols and thrown projectiles (molotovs, grenades, the such). Scratch damage deals the most damage, but you can't kill an enemy by depleting their health with scratch damage; it'll always stay at one. Damage dealt from scratch damage with also replenish as you move. Direct damage, for the most part, deals very small damage, but damage dealt from direct damage cannot be recovered naturally--you'll have to use a healing item. Direct damage can also kill. So the general game plan is to do as much scratch damage as you can with the SMGs, then finish off the enemy/body part using direct damage. All weapons in this game also have a charging system that deals more damage/grants additional effects the more you charge up said weapon before using it. The amount of times you can charge a weapon is dependent on the character's level with that weapon. In fact, that's how characters level up in this game--through their weapons. There's no experience in this game; instead, a character's weapon level is dependent on how much overall damage they've dealt with said weapon during the course of the game. The speed at which a weapon can charge is dependent on how far away the target is from the character

Now, player movements options, again, boil down to two choices: move in real-time and perform a single act (heal or attack), or use what's known as a Hero action. Before I explain what a Hero action is, I'll touch on this important note about the former: as you're moving and acting, you can be shot at. I should also mention that both scratch and direct damage apply to you too. Now, Hero actions--they are the main meat of the gameplay: you have what's known as Bezel in RoF, and over the course of the game you gain access to more and more Bezels. A Bezel is used up when you perform a Hero action, but they allow you to do all of the following: run in a straight line (you can jump at any point during this, and you'll land at the line's end point). Hero actions are generally the best way to attack someone, since enemies can't heal up scratch damage or move during it, and you can attack more than once during a Hero action. This means more charges per character act, which can be extremely useful for sub-machine guns. And further exploring Hero actions are the Tri attacks, which have the three characters perform Hero actions in a triangle shape in a single turn, which again uses Bezels. Juggling the two movement options is important since, if you run out of Bezels (via Hero actions or having a character's HP reach zero), you enter Critical Mode, where all taken damage is direct damage, movement is generally slower, and if a character dies it's game over. Bezel Shards can be collected if a character's health reaches zero and you have Bezels left, which, after collecting four, can replenish a broken Bezel. Bezels can be replenished if you kill an enemy or break specific body parts

It's a game I'd really recommend just for its gameplay alone. It's not expensive either, so if you can, I'd give it a try

tl;dr:

Edited February 2, 2016 by DodgeDusk

[maybe]

Paper Mario/PM: The Thousand Year Door's battle system.

yeah

[Magical Glace]

Dragon Quest VI/VII, favored over other DQ's for their vocation system.

Honorable mentions to Mario and Luigi and Pokémon

[Masked And Dangerous]

Shin Megami Tensei IV is probably the best of the Atlus games battle system wise. The battles are fast and strategic, fusion feels good to do, the conversation system gives you all sorts of options, and barring a few of the designs the monsters all are classic yet distinct. Pity nowhere near as much love is given to the map design, which was created for people who live in Tokyo, or story, which is a bit of a mess.

Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky has a pretty distinct turn based system combined with a FF7 style "not-materia" system which makes the game really fun to customize and play.

Radiant Historia is just as good as you've heard battle wise. Setting up combos and muttering Hannibal Smith quotes when the plan comes together feels so satisfying.

The Mario and Luigi series has such a good flow to play.

[Jedi]

Lets see here...

FFX-2's take on the ATB system was super satsfying and the best ATB system in the FF franchise, shame they haven't used it since.

I like the Tales Of battle system alot too, 2nding Trails here, Also Star Ocean has a really fun battle system, SMT has a dire super fast combat system, etc.

[Jose_Darkeye]

Golden Sun for life man.

[Gemma]

Tales of, hands down. In particular Destiny 2 and Hearts R.

[Anacybele]

Mario and Luigi

Of what I've played of the series, anyway. Between Paper Mario: TTYD and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, I find the latter's gameplay to be superior. I don't have nearly as much trouble timing my button presses in Paper Jam as I do in TTYD.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Anacybele

[blyegg]

ToS's battle system is great!

[Quintessence]

I've gotten into JRPGs just in the past two or three years, and the only ones that I've played are Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story (if it applies). I really do enjoy both systems, but I prefer Xenoblade's.

[Leif]

Shin Megami Tensei IV is probably the best of the Atlus games battle system wise. The battles are fast and strategic, fusion feels good to do, the conversation system gives you all sorts of options, and barring a few of the designs the monsters all are classic yet distinct. Pity nowhere near as much love is given to the map design, which was created for people who live in Tokyo, or story, which is a bit of a mess.

Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky has a pretty distinct turn based system combined with a FF7 style "not-materia" system which makes the game really fun to customize and play.

Radiant Historia is just as good as you've heard battle wise. Setting up combos and muttering Hannibal Smith quotes when the plan comes together feels so satisfying.

The Mario and Luigi series has such a good flow to play.

Yeah, I love the press turn system too. It always keeps you on your toes, because anything can go horribly wrong no matter how powerful you are.

SMTIV did it best, but I wish it had fully 3D battles like Nocturne.

It's the only JRPG (non SRPG) system I like since so much strategy and thought has to go in.

[Ciarre]

any of the Tales of series for real time action

most smts (especially nocturne) for turn based. i really like the press turn system

Edited February 3, 2016 by Ciarre

[Lord Glenn]

The Grandia series, bar none.

It plays like an ATB system (most similar to X-2, to be honest, though it pauses when you select your move), but it factors everyone's placement in battle into your actions. When you attack, you have to run over to who you attack. You can even prevent enemies (and they to you) from acting by cancelling their moves. Attacking someone that's in the process of winding up to strike stuns them and deals extra damage. You can avoid regular attacks by moving to a different location on the field. Different actions take different amounts of time to trigger (not factoring in movement).

You have to be aware of how long your actions and those of the opponents will take to strategically plan out what to do with each character's turn (and who to attack based on distance and what the enemies are doing). Unfortunately, each game in the series tweaks a few things here and there, so there's no real definitive version of the battle system to pick from. (I wish there was.)

[SirRob]

I haven't played it in a pretty long time, but Arc Rise Fantasia had an interesting system. Turn based, where you put in the orders for your entire party before the turn starts. You sorta have to predict what the opponent's going to do and when they're going to attack during the turn, so you can use your actions effectively. Battles were on a sorta open field, where the characters could reposition themselves. You could split your party up to keep area of effect attacks from dealing a ton of damage, but at the same time you wouldn't be able to heal your entire party. Defending is also really critical in this game too; I know in a lot of RPGs the command is just there to be there.

[Radiant head]

The systems in SMT games are awesome. Devil Survivor mixes press turn with tactical grids. Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga are probably cream of the crop for me (SMTIV might have it even better, but everything else about that game couldn't hold my interest). Surprisingly, even though people don't seem to play Persona for combat, the boss battles can be incredibly difficult and fun. Referring the latter two - I tried Innocent Sin, and the mechanics are horrible.