rpg battle systems

Those are fine for newbies but eventually they get BORING and put you to sleep.   My poor little brain needs to be engaged and active if im gonna play a game so I prefer games that have zelda controls (block, jump, slash, lock on?).  Those kind of games make your brain work.   The problem is those types of games are usually more shallow and not as deep as your menu driven games.  (Dark Cloud 2, Rogue Galaxy, Okami, .Hack are some zelda control games.)

I also enjoy strategy rpg's like Disgaea and front mission.   They are menu driven BUT your brain still has to work thanx to the strategy element where you have to worry about where you put your people and what not. 

I play menu driven games to beat the game and see the story but i sure as hell wouldnt play one of those kind of games again for fun like i would an action based rpg or a strategy rpg. 

I prefer Star Ocean Type of battle system, it has both elements of strategy that you can cancel opponents attacks and more engaging than turn-based.  Besides it feels that you have to pay attention during combat which makes me focus more on the game.

I think FFVIII is probably my favorite battle system. It's basically the same as the other FF games but it just seems like its done better to me.
I also like the Star Ocean battle system a lot.

My least favorite battle system would be from Xenosaga. That gets boring after the first two battles. I'd rather have them steal from an FF than make something that bad.

I'm kind of surprised no one has mentioned Grandia III's battle system.  I thought it was pretty good.

I'm kind of surprised no one has mentioned Grandia III's battle system.  I thought it was pretty good.

Terami

[QUOTE="Terami"]

I'm kind of surprised no one has mentioned Grandia III's battle system.  I thought it was pretty good.

AtelierFan

My favourite battle system with no doubt is the tales series battle system. Its fun and fast.rpgmadboy

[QUOTE="rpgmadboy"]My favourite battle system with no doubt is the tales series battle system. Its fun and fast.Aztlan_920228

[QUOTE="Aztlan_920228"][QUOTE="rpgmadboy"]My favourite battle system with no doubt is the tales series battle system. Its fun and fast.AtelierFan

Oh yeah, probably lots of us Tales and Shadow Hearts fans here, they're excellent games after all. I finally managed to find a nice new copy of the first Shadow Hearts game a couple of weeks ago. Haven't done anything with it yet, but I absolutely loved Covenant and also enjoyed From the New World (more than most people, apparently), so it'll be interesting to finally try the first one when I get time.

My preferences for battle systems really vary depending on my mood, I guess. I would have said that I favor turn-based ones mainly, since my all-time favorite RPGs tend to be that kind. I still really like SMT's Press-Turn turn-based system a lot, and it's very old-school at its roots. Thinking about it though, I do really like ones that are "turn-based with a twist", like the Judgement Ring, or various aspects that simulate initiative, attack timing, multiple attacks and combos, etc. to spice it up a little.

But some of the real-time ones are an awful lot of fun too, when you're up for that kind of gameplay. Even though a few of them sometimes swing more towards the twitch side instead of more deliberate strategy, some balance it pretty well. There have been some really fun hybrid systems that people have innovated too, like Grandia's IP gauge that Terami mentioned, a kind of phased initiative thing with a bit of Press-Turn's strategy also. And the real-time and hybrid games that are implementing the teamwork and feedback from the AI on the fly now are really cute, from calling out suggestions to setting up combo and multi-attacks. Some of that is really well done, and adds a lot to the real-time systems for me.

I guess I basically like just about all of them, if I'm in the right frame of mind at the time... that's probably my real problem, I just tend to like way,way too many RPGs. :P

I'm a sucker for the classic turn based RPG battle system but the lack of intensity and surprise after it's mastered can make it tiring, it starts to look more like a puzzle system; Attack with this guy, Use this guys special spell, have her heal the party. If the enemy uses his awesome attack, everyone heals, rinse and repeat. One RPG Battle system I enjoyed is the combination of turn based and live action Star Wars KOTOR had to offer. I do enjoy live action battles too though.