Article - Turn Based Combat RPGs Aren't Outdated

 

Welcome to a new installment of the articles / studies of this page.

Now with Sea Of Stars shinning (I had a blast).

The remake / remaster of Paper Mario - The Thousand Year Door (check it out), the absolute success that Baldur's Gate 3 was or how Divinity 2 established a new standard, an idea molded in me.

The turn based combat isn't outdated as the industry on recent years took for granted.

And that's what we will be exploring today, some arguments and games that serve as example for good turn based videogames that worth the try.

The Origins:

Well we have two paths, the origins can relate all the way to chess, the strategy game of our era or board games like D&D but in this page we talk about videogames so that's were are we going.

When you think about it is logic that the turn based games started as visual novels or text adventures for that era, interactions in a turn based way that slowly evolved all the way through videogames.

We can't talk about turn based combat without speaking about RPGs and to that end we have to talk about Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.

Probably one of the last remnants of videogames sagas that stayed in the same gameplay and is almost a religion

We can speak a lot about the origins, by genres or dates.

On the tactical approach we can thank Fire Emblem for the popularity on that day.

What about strategy games? Civilization is the answer, a giant up to this day and age.

The popularity of Rpgs made the appearance of Western (Like Baldur's Gate) and Jrpgs (Like Chrono Trigger)

With their respective differences, mostly on tone and ambience, one more fantastic with an epic tale and the other more near to a run of D&D than a videogame.

To this day we have a lot of subgenres and with highs and lows in the popularity but up to this day on 2023, I can firmly say that turn based games are on a firm and stellar stand.

It's Own Charm:

Let's start with a recent genre benchmark Divinity : Original Sin 2.

Comes without saying but I highly recommend it (maybe a review is necessary)

Obviously a Rpg has a giant list of characteristics and sometimes mechanics but let's start with the most important for this article.

Pretty hard to work with an unique point like gameplay but with Divinity 2 as an example is a little easier but don't worry, no spoilers will be here.

Consider the diversity of factors in the process of a fight:

Your own party

The enemy army

Positioning 

Weakness & strengths of everyone

Just to summarize every battle seems like a mental puzzle, creativity is the key.

The combat and narrative are strongly intertwined.

The HUD can be intimidating but trust me, a while in and feels natural

Just like dialogues and interactions between characters, the turn based style offers a depth perception but to be honest feels more like a tactical approach than a classic turn based combat.

The environment interactions and pause in action feels just right and I couldn't have it another way (a more fast paced combat could work with the universe too).

The Strength Of Turn Based Gameplay:

The tactical depth that a game can offer, wins a lot by the turn based combat.

Stick with Fire Emblem for a while

The more tactical approach of this saga continues helping the point.

For example the complexity that you can get is awesome and without the turn based combat that wouldn't work as well.

From the skill set, the army of your choice and the diverse paths that you can get, converge in the battlefield.

As I said, from skills to classes all the way to armies fighting in the same battlefield and you as the leader of one of them.

This shows the potential of turns combat, you can control a whole lot of diverse characters through different terrains, enemies with their respective strategies and you must consider everything.

A giant army and still you can control everything in a comfortable pace, that's the charm of this genre

This game goes as far as you can develop relationship or better teamwork between your soldiers with the pure use of strategy and planning ahead.

Turn Based Combat Formed Legends:

Let's end with one of my favorite videogames and to a lot of people the best of the story.

I believe this one doesn't need any presentation so let's get straight to the point.

It's pretty old but was one of the first games with a turn based combat/active in it's own way.

Where positioning mattered a lot more for certain attacks and the enemies were active in the world, not a black screen and then battle time, you could see them and actively dodge or engage them.

Also the bond of the team improves with the battles as Chrono slowly gets to know better his companions for the sake of the "Tech" skills.

This affects some changes through the story but the fundamentals of combat stays the same, only with more techs & various paths or sidequests to expand but not exactly change the story.

I can hear the soundtrack just by looking at this

In Conclusion :

To wrap this up let's be real, all the info above are facts, yeah but they are the way they are because the design dictated it that way.

The industry is constantly evolving and active combats are way better than twenty years ago and the genre is slowly becoming more as a niche than a mainstream media.

The problem that I have with this is that the press and in general the media of the industry never achieves how the turn based combat is evolving and getting better too, we can get the best of both worlds.

Sadly a great part of the players (I did the numbers) at the first glance of turn based gameplay, immediately address it as boring.

It's a problem because they are underestimating a whole lot of great games.

Just look at the success of Sea Of Stars, a window to how classic Paper Mario and Chrono Trigger used to work, with little tweaks here and there, the game is awesome and fun, with a classic turn combat.

Thanks for reaching the end!

I have a lot to say about this topic and a whole lot of games that I also want to write about but we are on a process of upgrades and I have little to no time forward so I hope that I can continue the chat another day.

Thanks again and we see you on the next one!

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