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How do you feel about turn-based combat? Should more modern games adopt it, or is it best left as a thing of the past?
(media.piefed.social)
I enjoy both turn-based and action combat. I like how turn-based combat allows for some strategies without being overly complex like in most TRPG.
I was a big fan of Final Fantasy 7 OG, but I can't get into FF7 remake mainly because of the hybrid combat. I would rather have it turn-based like in the original.
Turn-based games I like:
Final Fantasy 5,6,7,9,10. Dragon Quest series, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG
Action-based RPG I like:
Fallout 3, Mass Effect, Skyrim
I think the reason turn-based combat gets a bad rap is because a lot of older JRPGs didn't do a great job of making you explore all your tools. If you can get by with clicking basic Attack most turns, if you feel the need to do so in order to hoard your precious MP, that gets stale. But modern titles have done a fantastic job avoiding that pitfall, and it saddens me when people write off an entire genre as 'antiquated' because they seem to be stuck on that bad first impression. Why would any entire genre be a thing of the past?
You could also say similar things about a lot of real-time games. Like when I played the original God of War trilogy I felt like I was just mashing Square for all 3 games because the heavy attacks and grabs just weren't worth bothering with. A lot of mediocre shooters have one good gun that you use for the whole game. So while I do agree that is a problem with a lot of turn-based games and the stigma may be impacting public opinion today, I think it's a problem with general combat (or even more broadly just game design) rather than something specific to turn-based.
Assassin's Creed: Wait for swing, counter. Wait for swing, counter. Wait for swing, counter.
I think a lot of games still struggle with this, and it's not unique to turn based combat or jrpgs.
One of the worst things you can do to a new player is dump way too many different types of tools and customization options on them all at once. The improvement many games made was to keep the player in a limited box for a tutorial phase, and then open up Pandora's box and give them oodles of new stuff to consider all at once.
A good middle ground is silently doing that (for subsequent playthroughs) while offering a more incremental introduction for new players. But any mechanics should get immediate reinforcement. My biggest nerd rage instance this year was Clair Obscur teaching you how to jump, and then almost immediately giving you an enemy that looks like it does a jump attack but really requires a normal dodge.