In your opinion, which is the best RPG or JRPG battle system?

[Lightcosmo]

15 hours ago, Jotari said:

but they just aren't, they're tedious and rely on simple tactics that must be repeated over and over again for up to an hour.

*Uses Quick Trick*

*One hour later: still using Quick Trick* Yep this about sums it up!

15 hours ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

Hold up are you telling me I'll be able to PLAY as the other members of my boy band? I was having enough fun just ordering them around.

You can only switch to them during battle, and not run around on the map as any of them, sadly.

[ciphertul]

So for me it's split into a few groups First is Action RPGs: It's gotta be Infinite Undiscovery, I know it wasn't well received, but I loved the combat in it. The link systems was fun, and it made you really think if getting it to fights are worth it as running can be really problematic.

Second is Persona 3, while P5 polished a lot in the combat it got rid of a some things that made it more fun such as the fact P3 was more strategic. You couldn't control your allies so you really need to put more thought in who you take and how much more important hitting weaknesses where in P3.

Lastly is a certain RPGM game that I won't name but has such insane customization freedom. It has some crazy builds that can break everything or while you can ignore it and still manage. I do like having some class that are the same role but use different methods, like Priest vs Nurse while the Priest uses mana the Nurse uses SP which you start each battle with a set amount. The Nurse can heal more often to keep the team going but is far weaker in drawn out battles.

[Dark Holy Elf]

I love RPG battle systems. Obviously including SRPGs, but this thread isn't about those. To go into some non-strategy RPGs:

Probably my single favourite belongs to a relatively obscure Playstation 2 title, Wild Arms 4. The central conceit of the game is that battles take place on a 7-space hexagonal grid. Multiple characters can occupy the same space, but if so, they all get targeted by the same attacks, and receive the same positive effects and healing. So there's a bit of a choice of whether to cluster up or not, on top of the positioning elements of combat you'd expect. Additionally, all four playable characters are very distinct stat- and ability-wise, and each gets different ways to interact with the grid system. Extremely fun. Its sequel, Wild Arms 5 has another spin on the system, though it's not as compelling for a few reasons IMO (still good). The rest of the mainline Wild Arms games use a much more traditional battle system.

Final Fantasy X has already been brought up and it's already been eloquently stated why that system is good, I won't repeat it here. I'll also mention Final Fantasy XIII; I feel that game had some great battle design which really make you use the paradigm system (mid-battle class changing for your entire party, essentially) to govern your party. One of the few non-action RPGs I've played where you can only control one person and this feels like a necessity given the pace of the battles, but with the paradigm system you're kinda secretly controlling everyone anyway.

Still on the subject of Final Fantasy, I have to mention Final Fantasy 5 as well. The battle system is merely decent, the standard ATB fare of FF4 through FF9 - though I'll give a shout-out to the fact that each boss feels very individually designed to be vulnerable to a host of different tricks - but what really sets the game apart is the class system. It's not the first RPG with a class system, but it was, to my knowledge, the first that emphasized building skills from different classes and combining them in interesting ways. The core idea is so good that it's been ripped off wholesale from a whole gaggle of different RPGs: the three Bravely games, Blue Dragon, Final Fantasy Dimensions, and Octopath Traveler, not to mention several quality strategy RPGs. The Bravely games probably have the strongest overall battle systems of this set but I enjoy them all because of how fun the class systems are to play around with.

The Grandia series and its spiritual successor Child of Light have already been mentioned. Definitely enjoyable, I like how the games emphasize watching what the enemies are doing so you can decide whether to interrupt them. Unfortunately the first two Grandia games suffer from being incredibly easy so I had trouble enjoying the system, but the third game is one of the all-time greats for RPG gameplay in my books. (Unfortunately I'm not a fan of the games for writing - very childish IMO - but them's the breaks.)

Shadow Hearts: Covenent and From the New World are cool if you like some timed hits for your battle systems, and also like to set up elaborate combos. Covenant suffers from the early Grandia thing of the game largely being too easy to appreciate the system, but it actually has good writing so I'm forgiving of it. From the New World improves the combo system (you have to consider how your attacks will move your enemy so that the followups connect while racking up hit count) and also shows some teeth because the enemies start making use of the combo system too (and solo bosses will happily combo with themselves to make your life miserable), so you really need to stay on top of them.

On the note of timed hits, the first two Paper Mario games are great too (I haven't played the rest). As others have already mentioned, I love the small numbers and lack of randomness, leading to combat which feels quite tactical. It's no surprise the games share some pedigree with Fire Emblem.

I could list many more, really. Valkyrie Profile, Mega Man X Command Mission, Chrono Trigger, Xenosaga 2, Saga Frontier, Radiant Historia, Lunar, Breath of Fire, Zeboyd games, Legend of Dragoon, etc. But the ones above are my favourites where battle systems are concerned.

I'm less a fan of action RPGs generally, since I find them an unhappy medium between pure action games which do that sort of combat very well, and proper RPGs which emphasize strategy and party dynamics. But I did quite like the recent remake of Trials of Mana which does the party dynamic quite well, has very snappy pacing, and is an enjoyable popcorn game.

[Perkilator]

For me, Kingdom Hearts. It may look like another buttoned masher, but when you take time to learn the ins and outs of the gameplay, it comes to you as naturally as breathing.