RPGs: Which Battle System is your Favorite?

[Tommy]

I have to go with Grandia II. That has gotta be the most fun battle system of any RPG. It creams real-time. Best turnbased performance ever.

[Debitt]

Casting a second vote for Grandia II. There was nothing about it that I didn't like. Now I kinda wish all RPGs had the same system as it did.

[Tommy]

There is one problum i had about Grandia II`s battle system:

Bosses.

it slightly ticks me off how every boss had more than one part and the core had an immense amount of health. Even Melfice, when you fought him (not much of a spoiler) he was one being so his sword and armour had HP and MP.

Star Ocean and Granstream Saga are tied for second.

[Myoti]

Mario and Luigi or the Paper Mario ones. Simple, yet fun everytime.

[Tommy]

Pretty fun Myoti, but Grandia II still takes the the cake IMO.

[Debitt]

Bosses.

it slightly ticks me off how every boss had more than one part and the core had an immense amount of health. Even Melfice, when you fought him (not much of a spoiler) he was one being so his sword and armour had HP and MP.

Well Grandia II isn't the only one to do this - granted, they do seem to do it more, but I've fought a good chunk of Final Fantasy bosses that have multiple "parts" as well.

<_<; and I think a boss with multiple parts is definitely a bit more forgiving than multiple bosses at once. SO3 and the elemental trio come to mind. *sobs* Robin Wind was bad enough by himself, thank-you. >O

[Nate]

Probably the battle system from FFX. It showed you exactly when your attacks would land, so you could plan ahead and form a strategy based around that.

I'm actually not too fond of the Star Ocean battle system, as much as I like the first two games. Mostly because of the AI controlled characters...I absolutely despise AI controlled characters. >< Also, boss fights in the first two Star Ocean games seemed to be "Mash the R button as fast as you can." No real strategy involved...if I wanted to play a button masher, I'd play Soul Calibur. XD

But yeah, FFX's battle system. Dragon Quest's battle system comes in a close second. It's not revolutionary or different, but it's solid, and it works, which is the most important thing.

[Tommy]

Grandia II does that as well and it tells you what move the bosses will do next.

Granstream Saga is like Star Ocean except the battles are one-on-one for the most part.

[Arnobius]

There is one problum i had about Grandia II`s battle system:

Bosses.

it slightly ticks me off how every boss had more than one part and the core had an immense amount of health. Even Melfice, when you fought him (not much of a spoiler) he was one being so his sword and armour had HP and MP.

Star Ocean and Granstream Saga are tied for second.

I voted for Grandia II as well, as you had to use more strategy than "bash the enemy till he fell down. Who to attack, which powers to use and when to use your healing items/spells

As for the bosses,
[spoiler]I didn't have any issue with it: I had everyone target the core with every hit. I also maxed out the chaos egg and had Millenia/Elena have the skills maxed with fire/lightning spells... using the area effect spells/powers.

The others had Demons Tears/Tears of Asura to boost their attacks and whatever warp items I could find.

And I find if you deliberately go the other way every time, you get lots of extras.

Doing that, I played through three times and lost to one boss the entire time (Second body of Valmar)

High Priestess Selene was right: Purging the world with fire was an excellent idea ]

[Tommy]

Yes, it was. Last boss was a dissapointment though.

It seems to me like Grandia II is basically FFX`s battle system with a lot more stuff added on to it like say......You can use combo moves and you have SP which was my favorite feature.

For Grandia fans, which Special Move system did you like better?
Grandia I: Level up your moves.
Grandia II: Using money to strengthen your moves (BTW, the money used to build up moves is a seperate curreny then what you use to buy items, weapons, and accessories.

Either way, Grandia`s battle system definately takes the cake. The music reminded me of the Chronicles of Narnia in the 2nd and in Xtreme (the music when you stay at an inn).

[Arnobius]

Yes, it was. Last boss was a dissapointment though.

It seems to me like Grandia II is basically FFX`s battle system with a lot more stuff added on to it like say......You can use combo moves and you have SP which was my favorite feature.

For Grandia fans, which Special Move system did you like better?
Grandia I: Level up your moves.
Grandia II: Using money to strengthen your moves (BTW, the money used to build up moves is a seperate curreny then what you use to buy items, weapons, and accessories.

Either way, Grandia`s battle system definately takes the cake. The music reminded me of the Chronicles of Narnia in the 2nd and in Xtreme (the music when you stay at an inn).

I agree on the last boss. Never was any danger. Probably Melfice was most dangerous proportionally to where the characters were in power.

Loved the music. Tracked down soundtrack 1.

...but the Battle music still makes me think of the music they play on TV for NFL games... kept expecting to hear an announcer say: "Today on NBC Sports: The Packers take on the Braves in heavy regional rivalry!"

[Tommy]

Amen to that. The music for the battle system was good nonethless.

The music for Grandia I sounds like the opening for sports as well.

[Debitt]

I personally liked Grandia II's skills system best. Though I bought my copy used without a manual, so I didn't know about it until I reached the Eye of Valmar...

I liked Grandia EX's idea of combining Mana eggs, though. >.> That was kinda cool...

[Tommy]

StarOcean 3 did have multiplayer cabibility but it was only 1P vs. 2P but no Co-Op.

Never played Tales of Symphonia since all of my GameCube friends don`t like RPGs other than Monkey J. Luffy. He says he`ll "Get around to it."

[Arnobius]

Amen to that. The music for the battle system was good nonethless.

The music for Grandia I sounds like the opening for sports as well.

Never tried Grandia I. I imagine I'd have to dig up a Dreamcast or something? (Played II on PC)

[Azier the Swordsman]

I haven't played Grandia II, so I'll have to go with Chrono Trigger. I particularly appreciated the fact that the battles took place on the actual game area as apposed to a seperate battle screen.

[uc pseudonym]

Let me see. I doubt I have one favorite battle system, because different systems have their own good points and don't necessarily compete directly with one another.

Never the less, I think the battle system of FFX was very enjoyable. My only real complaints are that at later stages damage gets far out of hand and that it is so easy for one enemy with Stone Breath to take out an entire party.

Chrono Trigger was also enjoyable. I was never very fond of Double or Triple Techs, but you can ignore them, so that left the battle system rather fun.

I also liked Paper Mario's battle system. Though it isn't complex, it did require strategy and also a significant element of skill. Paper Mario 2 I enjoyed much less, for a variety of small reasons.

[termyt]

I haven't played Grandia II, so my vote goes to FFX. I've liked and disliked aspects of every battle system, but FFX had a nice blending of features - the best of which was knowing who had actions coming up so you could plan the fight accordingly.

I was also fond of the Xenosaga fighting system. It allowed you to look ahead somewhat and it also had a concept of movement. You could save up movement points and use them in a later action to do bigger and better combos. It worked fairly well and added a dimension to the combat.

[Tommy]

Grandia I can be found on the Sega Saturn and on the PS1.

If you like the FFX battle system, then you will absolutey adore Grandia II`s unless you don`t like the ability of being to see what moves the enimies will be doing on their next turn, and being able to interupt their moves, and being able to do special techniques without waiting for your overdrive bar to fill.

[Bobtheduck]

I liked Chrono Cross's battle system, though I don't quite remember how it works... Man, I wish I hadn't gotten rid of that game... Oh, right, I just borrowed it for like 6 months... *sigh* Now I don't even have a PS...

[Mithrandir]

I'm going to have to say FFX too (too meaning as well, not FFX-2). You could pretty much to anything you needed to from within the battle system (change armor/weapons/people) which I found very useful.

[Tommy]

Yes, I know I sound like a major Grandia freak, but you can also do that in Grandia II without taking up a turn. Final Fantasy and Grandia to me are tied for the best RPG series ever.

As for Chrono Cross, that was a nice system but I STILL have trouble using the Element system.

[Joshua Christopher]

Probably Paper Mario.

Of course, I still can't wrap my brain out of the complexity of Pokemon's battle system.