Which (single player) JRPG has the best battle system of all-time?

NiceOne · Mar 13, 2019

The choices I have in mind aren't even in the list lol.

If I had to pick a vote, it'll be one of these: Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6: Brave New World, Breath of Fire 5: Dragon Quarter and Cosmic Star Heroine. But as I have at least 6 potential picks, I choose not partake into this poll (sorry OP).

EarthPainting · Mar 13, 2019

Mega Man Battle Network's is the peak of the genre for me. It's a beautiful implementation of a "card" battle system. You create a deck of chips that store all sorts of offensive, defensive and support abilities that you find, earn and buy, and you're given a random assortment of them each turn. As soon as the turn starts, you can move freely on your side of the board, while the enemies can move on their side. You start out with a 3x3 grid on each side, but there are plenty of moves allow you to steal extra columns from your opponent, or damage or change the properties of their tiles. Some attacks are short range, some long range, and some attack only areas that are a specific distance away from you. This grid-based system allows for engaging combat reaction is as important as your planned actions. It's a type of battle system where you don't need to just take token damage, and turning the whole thing into a slow war of attrition. The cherry on top is that the wealth of options just increases with each iteration too.

7thFloor · Mar 13, 2019

PeakPointMatrix said:
Oops, my bad. I suppose I inferred the "active" in ATB meant a battle system where you actively move around in real time with light turn-based elements, but looks like I've had it switched around all this time. What would FF15's combat be identified? A-JRPG? ARPG?

Basically every FF combat system gets it's own name, XV is the "Active X Battle (AXB)" system

Panda Andino · Mar 13, 2019

I have been playing JRPG for over 20 years of my life, IMO the answer is Torna.

Cactuar · Mar 13, 2019

PeakPointMatrix said:
Oops, my bad. I suppose I inferred the "active" in ATB meant a battle system where you actively move around in real time with light turn-based elements, but looks like I've had it switched around all this time. What would FF15's combat be identified? A-JRPG? ARPG?

They officially refer to it as Active X Battle (AXB), but most people will just say ARPG or action/real time battle. Coincidentally there is a mode where you can make it more traditional, but it never felt right to me.

Tailzo · Mar 13, 2019

Grandia 2 was pretty awesome. I am eager to buy that remaster for switch.

ImNotAFroot · Mar 13, 2019

Valkyrie Profile 1 or Ar Tonelico 2

Hu3 · Mar 13, 2019

Valkyrie profile or grandia.

Dreamboum · Mar 13, 2019

My two personal favourites outside the list would be Valkyrie Profile or Resonance of Fate

RicJFNas · Mar 13, 2019

Not seeing Panzer Dragoon Saga there bums me out, but of those ones there my vote goes to Shadow Hearts Covenant.

Boddy · Mar 13, 2019

For action combat it got to KH2FM, followed by FF13-3.

For turn based its hard to say, since there are so many amazing ones out there,so I'm just going to name a few that come to mind right now:
Bravely default/second
Octopath Traveler
Paper Mario TTYD
The last Remnant
FF12

Timeaisis · Mar 13, 2019

Cosmic Star Heroine and I'm not even joking.

If we're talking classic, it's probably Chrono Trigger. Simple but fun. Star Ocean 3 has a really fun combat, but it gets old after a while. Valkyrie Profile, TTYD, and FFVII are all great as well.

Deleted member 17210 · Mar 13, 2019

Krejlooc said:
Panzer dragoon saga, easily

edit: lmao not even on the poll, what a joke

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking when I saw the poll.

Deleted member 36622 · Mar 13, 2019

Other. The options in the poll are really odd.

SMT, Pokémon and Octopath Traveler are my go to when it comes to most enjoyable battle systems in JRPG. I usually don't like long battles, although there are some exceptions (like Xenoblade Chronicles 2/Torna that past the initial confusion on what to do, it gets addictive)

Worth mentioning Persona 5 battle system is entirely taken from previous SMT games.

Shibi · Mar 13, 2019

While the game left a bit to be desired elsewhere, I was always very fond of Lightning Returns's battle system.

Linde · Mar 13, 2019

Where's Pokemon? The most popular jrpg series of all time with the best battle system

skeezx · Mar 13, 2019

i want to pick FFXII based on its concept alone but playing Zodiac Age i felt it was more the beginning of something great rather than outright great. ideally we'd be playing FFXVIII with by now with some super refined variation of it but they took a different direction obvs

i'd say X-2 was pretty amazing and refined if i have to go on battle system alone.

archreaper93 · Mar 13, 2019

Voted other, Press Turn from SMT Nocturne and 4.

MilkBeard · Mar 13, 2019

I voted other. It's hard for me to decide, and I'm not really feeling the options.

As for what's listed, I would probably go with Grandia II or FF XII. And instead of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, I think Last Hope actually has a better battle system, and is one of the redeeming qualities of the game.

But really, this is too hard for me to decide, as there isn't a clear winner for me, but rather a lot of different systems that do some things really well.

Zephy · Mar 13, 2019

dharmapolice said:
I think it's well known that Final Fantasy X's fast paced, swap focused and weakness diametric system is "one of the best" Any straw poll without it is faulty data.

Agreed but what does "weakness diamtric system" even mean ?

Also my answer is KH2 Final Mix and FF XIII.

Majik13 · Mar 13, 2019

Mr.Deadshot said:
How is Dragon's Dogma not even in that list? And don't tell me "it's no JRPG" :P

surprised it took till the second page for this game to be mentioned. Unless somehow it doesn't qualify?

Boddy · Mar 13, 2019

Shibi said:
While the game left a bit to be desired elsewhere, I was always very fond of Lightning Returns's battle system.

The game was way more fun the second time around on hard mode when I skipped like all the cut scenes.

Mezentine · Mar 13, 2019

The correct answer is Mega Man Battle Network, a system that somehow is not wildly influential for reasons that escape me

Kewlmyc · Mar 13, 2019

Graces F is probably my favorite.

The combat is the only good thing about it.

Pooh · Mar 13, 2019

Looking at the results it is clear not enough of you have played Grandia 2

Sumio Mondo · Mar 13, 2019

Shin Megami Tensei 3 (press turn, baby), Digital Devil Saga 1 and Digital Devil Saga 2 (press turn again), SMTIV: Apocalypse (which is basically SMT4's battle system, but better), Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story are my favourites. So addictive and add so much to their boss battles because their systems are so well implemented.

EDIT: Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter's was fun too.

EmptyWarren · Mar 13, 2019

Zacmortar said:
Yes, I played both.

Both involve limp autoattacking between skills which aren't reliant on actually controlling said characters and have no impact outside Limit Breaks.

Whole quote is truth. Miss me with that weak MMO nonsense.

Dogui · Mar 13, 2019

Mr.Deadshot said:
How is Dragon's Dogma not even in that list? And don't tell me "it's no JRPG" :P

There's like 15 games on the list, meaning another hundreds of games aren't :p

Deleted member 34949 · Mar 13, 2019

Out of that list, Grandia II easily.

EmptyWarren said:
Whole quote is truth. Miss me with that weak MMO nonsense.

Preach.

werezompire · Mar 13, 2019

Smiled to see our game mentioned a couple times.

The poll doesn't have a great list. FF7 might be one of the most popular games of all-time, but it has a bog-standard combat system. Series like Shadow Hearts & Grandia, the most popular game is listed, not the game in the series with the best version of the battle system.

DiipuSurotu · Mar 13, 2019

werezompire said:
Smiled to see our game mentioned a couple times.

The poll doesn't have a great list. FF7 might be one of the most popular games of all-time, but it has a bog-standard combat system. Series like Shadow Hearts & Grandia, the most popular game is listed, not the game in the series with the best version of the battle system.

It depends if you count the Materia system as part of the battle system or not

Taruranto · Mar 13, 2019

Mana Khemia 1, but it's not there.

Also Persona 5's battle system over SMTIII or IV's battle systems is a really weird choice.

archreaper93 · Mar 13, 2019

DiipuSurotu said:
It depends if you count the Materia system as part of the battle system or not

I would count it as part of the character progression system, but not the battle system.

dharmapolice · Mar 13, 2019

Zephyriel said:
Agreed but what does "weakness diamtric system" even mean ?

Also my answer is KH2 Final Mix and FF XIII.

I struggled to find a way to explain it- basically the system in X where enemy types have a weakness corresponding to various characters, thus forcing the player to constantly swap- Auron can only hurt armored enemies, Tidus takes the fleshy ones, Wakka does flying things, Lulu attacks creatures with elemental defence. Yuna cures or nukes and Khimari is your dog.

MetalBoi · Mar 13, 2019

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

electroaffe · Mar 13, 2019

Grandia 2 and the Legend of Heroes games.

Hella · Mar 13, 2019

Of turn-based JRPGs, The Last Remnant is the best IMO. It has a grand scale that I love in JRPGs, and is basically Final Fantasy 1's combat system brought to life. It's superb.

Of real-time ones, hrm... I don't genuinely love any of them, but Xenoblade Chronicles (or X) is closest. It turns an MMO-style trinity system into something surprisingly fun given the limitations of the platforms it's on.

zoku88 · Mar 13, 2019

I personally prefer the original VP's battle system over the sequel.

My favorite turn based might be SMT4:A though. I like the addition of the whole smirk thing.

Infernostew · Mar 13, 2019

Grandia
Shadow Hearts Covenant
Tales of Graces f

dedacc · Mar 14, 2019

Ouf. I'm honestly a bit torn here, but I generally prefer turn-based systems, especially when playing a party. Final Fantasy XII and Xenoblade are great hybrid systems (yes those can be good), but action is best left to games where you just play a single character (unless Ys).

Picks are a bit odd though, no mention of grid-oriented turn-based systems like in SRPG is baffling to me.

EarthPainting · Mar 14, 2019

Timeaisis said:
Cosmic Star Heroine and I'm not even joking.

Good pull. It took me the entirety of the first planet to warm up to it, but once it clicked, it became the star of the game. The reason I was a little hesitant early on, was because the battle system treated attacks like resources, and you had to waste a turn to recharge them. I feared that it would be a constant thing I'd have to carefully baby-sit and break my head over, but that worry went away as soon as I unlocked more abilities. Speaking of which, the rate you learned new abilities at, was pleasantly high. The abilities themselves were also pretty unique, which I appreciate immensely. The cast itself is rather large for the game's length too, and every party member worked very differently from the rest. Usually when you see this wealth of bespoke options, you can strap yourself in for a long, drawn-out game, but instead CSH takes the Chrono Trigger approach and shows restraint.

gigaslash · Mar 14, 2019

Lightning Returns. Perfect blend of fast pacing, complexity (esp on Hard), customization and familiarity.

smoothj · Mar 14, 2019

Loudninja said:
Legend of Legaia for me.

Preach

Kromeo · Mar 14, 2019

Why are FFVII and Valkyrie Profile 2 in there? Also Star Ocean 3 probably has the worst combat in the Star Ocean games

I might be tempted to say Grandia 2

GroovySnake · Mar 14, 2019

I'm gonna go with Final Fantasy XV at the moment, though I do still love turn-based stuff like DQ XI, and dig the Tales combat like in my ol' fav Symphonia. It's an especially subjective thing, since a lot of it is style, and really just whatever you still find fun after hundreds of battles. Since JRPGs are for me more about the journey, characters, story, and vibe, combat is just one of the pieces.

Blade24070 · Mar 14, 2019

requiem said:
FFX-2's ATB battle system is about as close to perfect as you can get.

Too bad it's attached to such an incredibly easy game. And no I don't count Via Infinito although it does shine through more there.

Out of recent games I've played, I loved Torna (more fun than base game imo).

Elephant · Mar 14, 2019

I'm not surprised that the poll is being used as a popularity contest. Even though I agree P5 is a great game, it's not top.

And FFXII doesn't belong anywhere near the top if you've played any of the other games.

dedacc · Mar 14, 2019

Elephant said:
And FFXII doesn't belong anywhere near the top if you've played any of the other games.

It's about the combat though and XII belongs in the upper echelon of JRPG combat without a shadow of doubt.

Loneck · Mar 14, 2019

Panzer Dragoon Saga

mrmickfran · Mar 14, 2019

I'm glad Persona 5 is leading the single votes, but no SMT is blasphemy.

Which (single player) JRPG has the best battle system of all-time?

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