Why Turn-Based Combat Has Stood the Test of Time
Why Turn-Based Combat Has Stood the Test of Time
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Why Turn-Based Combat Has Stood the Test of Time
17 comments
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I'm always the minority on this, but I don't really like turn based strategy video games. Taking turns belongs on the tabletop. I just don't get the appeal. I love rts games though.
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Personally, I prefer turn-based because I have literally all the time I want to make decisions. I mostly play strategy games regardless (and against an AI at that), but something like XCOM is a lot less stressful than Age of Empires because I don't constantly feel like I'm falling behind if I take an extra few seconds to check something
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This profile is oriented towards the simpler style of combat in Japanese-style role-playing games (though they do have their own subgenre of strategy/tactical games). Fewer factors in making decisions can allow for quick pacing, not something one can get on the tabletop. Katsura Hashino, the director of the latter Persona games, once described it as akin to composing manga on-the-fly.
I understand the feeling, though. I think something with like Baldur's Gate 3, one has to be excited by the visual and audio presentations to drop something much more similar to tabletop into a video game.
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In theory, any turn based strategy game could be a tabletop game. The problem is that these games can be VERY complex, thus pretty much impossible as physical games. Imagine doing all the calculations of a late game Civ5 end of turn on tabletop. Culture, science, food and gold gains from each city, gold expenses from city buildings, gold expenses from army units, unit health recovery, checking which tiles' improvements have finished...
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Like I saw on some tweet I think:
It's poetic justice that Square dropped turn based from final fantasy, only to lose GOTY to a turn based rpg.
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I love turn based. Games like XCOM, Marvel's midnight Sun, or Baldur's Gate 3 could only be turn based.
While it's not all 'action' games, I've found many distill down too some very basic mechanics because of it gets to complex no one would play in today's world. Anyone else remember MechWarrior 2, and every key in the keyboard was bound to something... and how you absolutely didn't use even half of it. Less tactics, more button mashing. Don't get me wrong, that is fun sometimes.
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Before reading the article, my mental reply: "Because chess and go have existed for centuries, duh"
After reading: The planning part can be true when the system isn't just a simple math of bigger number better
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A lot of times the system is "you can learn how it works or grind until you can have no strategy and still win", and unfortunately people tend to just take the latter option when given the choice.
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17 comments
Something about turn based combat always makes me immediately turn a game off. I can do a turn based strategy with an entire board like BG3 but what Pokemon or most JRPGs do is simply unplayable to me.
I understand I'm not in the majority here but I just genuinely don't understand the appeal.
I used to avoid turn based for the same sentiment, but have found some really compelling games that change the formula that have changed my mind. Not every game will be a winner, but there are still some good ones out there.
Strict turn based used to always seem simple to me, and I don't find it appealing all the time. Pokemon has unit variety, but the strictness of each turn can get really stale.
Games that improve turn based combat are my preference in this category. Persona 5 changes the flow of combat depending on how each unit/character performs and exploits type weaknesses (chain/group attacks). It also takes Pokemon typing and unit diversity and makes a cool fusion/inheritance system out of it.
Older Final Fantasy games with Active Time Battle also scratch this itch where the timing of using skills and specific character order still somewhat matters, you don't always mash A and spam abilities. FF also does really well with unit customization - materia, GFs, Sphere Grid, etc. mean consecutive playthroughs won't always feel the same.
Chrono Trigger takes ATB and adds geometry in a physical dimension to attacks which is really unique, but still feels turn based at its core.
Like you said, full tactical games are fine because the quantity of units or structure of the arena make the turn based mode interesting. BG3/Divinity, Fire Emblem, Triangle Strategy/FF Tactics, and Gloomhaven fall in this category and I love games like these.
I realize now I kinda hit the points in the article, oops. Sorry if this was repetitive lol
Lol you're all good. I do enjoy a good read.
Admittedly, I don't have much to add but if you'd like to keep talking I have a LOT of opinions on Persona 5 because it's probably my least favorite game to come out in the last 10 years.
I kinda get it, but I do like games like Persona and Trails. My gripe is with the chess nature of SRPGs, they can't hook me at all even though I love all the other strategy games like stellaris, civilization, total war, etc.