I agree, I feel like there needs to be a perfect balance when it comes to turn based combat. Different enough to feel new and exciting but not too complicated or else it’s just too intimidating to get into
By the way you talked about Octopath Traveler's combat I think you're gonna love mainline Shin Megami Tensei. It has by far the most complex and rewarding turn based battle system ever made. Persona is like the free trial version of press turn from SMT
I mean, if you haven't heard of it, you might like Bug Fables. It was inspired by the Paper Mario series, and it seems to really nail the original style of those games.
I've been playing Octopath Traveler recently too. So far, I have over 40 hours, I got all the party members, I'm grinding levels, doing side quests, and using Therion to rob candy from children.
I agree. I love Xenoblade, and based on what he said here I think he would love it. You have to be engaged at all times in battle. It’s what keeps it fresh.
I appreciate this video. I don't completely agree with your whole take but I get the point. I like the strategy element in most turn-based systems but the interactivity within them also have me coming back for more. Some other games that have interactivity within their turn-based system that you should try or check out videos since they are older games are: -Legend of Legaia (PSX) -Xenogears (PSX) -The Legend of Dragoon (PSX, PS4, PS5) These are turn-based but combo based combat. People might have already mentioned these but thought I would also mention it.
The Xenoblade series is the best series I've ever played. Avoid spoilers at all costs, they take a while to get good but once they're good, they're EXTREMELY good. 1 and 2 can be played in any order, 3 has a lot of references so it's best playing it last and play future redeemed after all 3.
Bravely Default has a great combat system where you can "save" turns to do more or better actions, and it even let's you go into "debt" with your turns... Legend of Dragoon has a combat system like paper mario, but with a kind of final fantasy aesthetic and at high levels the times inputs get kinda hard. Legend of Legaia has a combo system. You have attack inputs, you can do longer strings at higher levels, and certain combos unlock special moves.
For Jrpgs with turn manipulation, the obvious would be Bravely Default, which is basically a precursor to Octopath. Buuuuut the one I recommend more, for having a different and very engaging twist is Radiant Historia Please give it a try, or just watch some gameplay to get a feel for the combat.
I reccomend the Grandia series, especially Grandia 2. Its more on the tactical side and It has turn manipulation. It has a line showing the turn order and charge up time for attacks, where if you hit the enemy with a critical attack while they are charging theirs, they get stunned and their turn resets. The world exploration and dungeon design is lacking tho.
Dude, Sea of Stars is the next game you need to play. Like now. The producers of that game literally based their turn based system of Mario RPG ( with an added Chrono Trigger aesthetic). Trust me... you'll love that game!
I got a similar game to octopath traveler, although its not *exactly* an jrpg, but it has somewhat similar combat mechanics, its called library of ruina
You should play radiant historia, it has turn manipulation and a small grid when emphasis on pushing the enemies together to hit them all at once. Great game but you'll likely have to emulate it since it's a DS game that can be hard to get a hold of.
Great video, as always! If you want a dynamic combat system in a rpg I would HIGHLY suggest the legend of dragoon. It has an imput system for each characters attacks and the more you do them successfully the better combos you get. Super cool world and great story.
We need more JRPGs like NieR: Automata and Dark Souls/Elden Ring. And if there's going to be turn-based JRPGs, they should take notes from Divinity Original Sin 2.
Sea of stars goes for a similar system with button presses for each attack. I personally didn’t really connect with it since I think it lacks a bit of variety on skills but it’s pretty well crafted in general.
Idk if somebody has already written it, so i do. Valkyrie Chronicles Covenant of the plum is maybe that trpg you're looking for. Unique part is plum mechanic and the thing that you have to press button to make combo in your attack phase
Bro try some indies like Chained Echoes, Sea of Stars, and Bug Fables. They all have combat that is more than just picking the strongest attack and healing when you're low.
I want to say that to this day this game confuses me a LOT,sometimes it is the moat genius art piece know to man and other it's some grind your life away bullshit with no point and light at the end of the tunnel, i respect taro for his dedication to implement ideas and whole philosophy behind the niers about the players experience about the game being the point of making the whole game,even if i don't agree with some stuff he does like putting vital story points outside of the game and on godammed plays of all places,cool game cool guy :) (Sorry about the baby English , it's not my first tongue and all that)
Homie have you played Octopath Traveler 2 yet? It basically improves any possible problem that existed in the original, at least for me and my friends. Also, Indivisible is a cross between the Mario RPG action commands and a Metroidvania. BIG recommend!
The Xenoblade series. Gameplay isn't strictly turn based, it's not strictly action, there is always something to be engaged with or thinking about during the combat, the gameplay is changed in each game and a lot of way to change up the gameplay in each game, the games have very good stories and music, and the games are made by a Nintendo studio.
Xenoblade's problem is the combat which is basically an MMORPG game. FFXII did it better by starting with lower numbers, much more customization, wider variety of biomes, compared to Xenoblade.
@@Luso1221 I'm sorry, but no. While there are similarities to FF12 combat, Xenoblade combat started as an evolved and improved version, and only improved from there. With a far more interesting story, characters, and lore than FF12. And even the original Xenoblade has a large amount of customization in your gear setup and with gemcrafting, with later entries having vastly more with essentially job systems. As for biomes, even the original first game has plains, snowy mountains, seas, jungle, floating sky islands, woods, lakes, sandy tropical islands, a vast marshland, the interior of a gigantic living organism, vast mechanical regions...what are you talking about there?
Just finished sea of stars. And it had active combat, like timing for a double attack or guarding. But nothing like mario.. Imo it was just a great comfort food, rather then a great game
another game with a similar turn based system to octopath traveler is child of light. I played it off a recommendation from protonjon and thought it was different and cool enough to finish in one weekend. def give it a try. plus, if you dont like it in the first hour or so, you can just drop it since every new ability is derivative of the core gameplay mechanic.
I would recommend Final Fantasy V. It focuses on changing classes and multiclassing. It’s also not as slow as the 3D games as the animations are snappy. It’s really fun
If you’re still looking, you can try the Tales of series. It’s not turn-based, but an action rpg. I recommend Tales of Vesperia or Symphonia as they’re the most accessible games.
When it comes to rpg's to me turn based is fine, only so long as you do something with those turns. High level pokemon is effectively high stakes poker, except you come in with a set hand, the only thing stopping the games from being that normally is the AI being pretty dense, and the fact they refuse to switch out. My favorite evolution of the turn based jrpg is Megaman Battlenetwork. You build a deck, and each turn you get a hand of abilities you can pick from. Some abilities can be played together, others can't, then you have like five seconds of real time combat to use up your abilities, then pause to draw your new hand.
I mean surely its been mentioned here already but Bug fables: Everlasting sapling is pretty good replicating the og paper mario feel + its just good in general
I mean, the MegaMan battle network series has... Turns... And stats.... Haha... I find it interesting that anytime anyone ever makes a game with a similar design in combat (fighting on a 'grid' casting collectable cards/spells/whathaveyou) it is referred to as 'being like MegaMan battle network' ^^
4:48 OOOoOo really well Pokemon legends at ways does this the graphics may be pathetic the art style might be limited and u already don’t like Pokemon but you’ll love this (Satire 😂)Jk I honestly would like to know to I used to be a Pokemon fan but when I played the new game every time I was having fun I remembered how ass the battles where
Xenoblade 3 has an amazing story amazing graphics, and enough cool new mechanics that will keep you thinking for the entire game. And the combat style is actually brilliant It just has 1 giant issue tho…the battels are WAAAAAY TOO LOOOOONG, like every single battle is the length of a boss fight in other games, that is just so stupid, and makes you lose interest in the game very quickly
I would recommend The legend of heroes: Trails of series. Not completely certain the gameplay would be your thing but I think you might like the story and world building which I consider some of the best out there in JRPG’s. Also is a very niche series so wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t heard if it. It has like 12 all interconnected games so if you get hooked you are gonna be for an awesome ride.
I think its wild you didn't like the story of Path of Radiance. Its the best story in the Fire Emblem series imo so if you actually think another one is better id be surprised
I swear we have the same opinion on everything lol. A lot in this video I agree heavily with. I haven't played Octopath Traveler yet but it's on my radar of turn based games to try out. You should check out the demo of Sea of Stars cause it just does everything right. Timed-button inputs, a stacked turn/combo system that feels like using supers in a fighting game, and the way mana is used doesn't make it feel like you're "wasting" a turn when you use items. Highly, highly recommend checking out that demo.
Bug Fables the Everlasting Sapling is a love letter of a game to the Paper Mario series, and it's got that classic Nintendo feeling and engaging turn based combat you're looking for. Great vid, love the content! Keep it up!
If I could recommend just one good rpg series from one fan to another it'd have to be SMT. Persona is definitely good, but smt 4 and nocturne are some of my favorite games of all time. Strongly recommend trying them out if you haven't bro, they both heavy hitters.
I really like rpgs. But I also struggle with them a lot. It doesn't have anything to do with the game itself it's more of a me problem and that is that I am ass at actually knowing the game I'm playing. I missed so many different aspects of Persona 5 Royal until it was too late into the game. Like card duplication, or darts, or actually getting the 3rd semester because I never bother to actually read the text I'm given or actually engage with the different facets of the games. Lol It's an issue I've had with a ton of rpg's Fire Emblem Three houses, P5R, and Pokemon (which my friends still make fun of me for lmao). I usually want to just play more of the game and want to see more of a story, so what happens is I end up just trying to get to that next hit of gameplay or story as fast as I can without spending the proper time to understand the systems of a game. It's totally as you said, I always feel engaged with most Mario rpg's. Simple systems that kids can understand that don't require a lot of studying and gameplay that gives the player a lot of agency. I like that. Anyways, great video Synergy 👍
I did the same thing when I played persona 5 for the first time. Since I've been making youtube videos tho I find myself paying attention to every possible detail
I recently played through persona 4 golden (my first persona game) and it has become probably my favourite game of all time. Although I have to admit that the combat/dungeon crawling wasnt always fun or difficult (as in requiring a smart strategy), however the music and special attacks improved it a lot. I am currently 20 hours into persona 3 and while I think the core aspects of combat are A LOT better than in p4 it does lack in the aspects of music and special attacks. I have not played persona 5 yet but from what I have heard it is supposed to be the best of both worlds but I doubt that it will be better than what octopath traveler has done in terms of core aspects, music/sound and special attacks. Speaking of, I have not played octopath traveler 2 but I probably wanna finish the persona series first.
Since you like more interactive rpgs I definitely recommend indivisible The combat is like combo-ing your enemy in a fighting game, but not nearly as hard to execute. Plus the animation and character designs are amazing
Yakuza like a dragon has a similar mechanic and is my favorite jrpg I’ve played. Definitely worth checking out.
I agree, I feel like there needs to be a perfect balance when it comes to turn based combat. Different enough to feel new and exciting but not too complicated or else it’s just too intimidating to get into
By the way you talked about Octopath Traveler's combat I think you're gonna love mainline Shin Megami Tensei. It has by far the most complex and rewarding turn based battle system ever made.
Persona is like the free trial version of press turn from SMT
After watching the video I was going to comment something similar to what you've said here.
SMT 5 or 3 specially.
@@Visionsofmortality 4 is my favorite
"Since I was a young loser..."
oh damn, you don't mess around.
Bug Fables my guy
I mean, if you haven't heard of it, you might like Bug Fables. It was inspired by the Paper Mario series, and it seems to really nail the original style of those games.
I've been playing Octopath Traveler recently too.
So far, I have over 40 hours, I got all the party members, I'm grinding levels, doing side quests, and using Therion to rob candy from children.
i love xenoblade, that game has an insane story and cool gameplay
I agree. I love Xenoblade, and based on what he said here I think he would love it. You have to be engaged at all times in battle. It’s what keeps it fresh.
I appreciate this video. I don't completely agree with your whole take but I get the point. I like the strategy element in most turn-based systems but the interactivity within them also have me coming back for more. Some other games that have interactivity within their turn-based system that you should try or check out videos since they are older games are:
-Legend of Legaia (PSX)
-Xenogears (PSX)
-The Legend of Dragoon (PSX, PS4, PS5)
These are turn-based but combo based combat. People might have already mentioned these but thought I would also mention it.
The Xenoblade series is the best series I've ever played. Avoid spoilers at all costs, they take a while to get good but once they're good, they're EXTREMELY good. 1 and 2 can be played in any order, 3 has a lot of references so it's best playing it last and play future redeemed after all 3.
Bravely Default has a great combat system where you can "save" turns to do more or better actions, and it even let's you go into "debt" with your turns...
Legend of Dragoon has a combat system like paper mario, but with a kind of final fantasy aesthetic and at high levels the times inputs get kinda hard.
Legend of Legaia has a combo system. You have attack inputs, you can do longer strings at higher levels, and certain combos unlock special moves.
For Jrpgs with turn manipulation, the obvious would be Bravely Default, which is basically a precursor to Octopath.
Buuuuut the one I recommend more, for having a different and very engaging twist is Radiant Historia
Please give it a try, or just watch some gameplay to get a feel for the combat.
Thumbs up for Radiant Historia mention.
Great video! Good quality. And funny! Loved your intro: "now with my new found wisdom" 😂 i say that too. Subd
I reccomend the Grandia series, especially Grandia 2. Its more on the tactical side and It has turn manipulation. It has a line showing the turn order and charge up time for attacks, where if you hit the enemy with a critical attack while they are charging theirs, they get stunned and their turn resets. The world exploration and dungeon design is lacking tho.
Bravely Default
Dude, Sea of Stars is the next game you need to play. Like now. The producers of that game literally based their turn based system of Mario RPG ( with an added Chrono Trigger aesthetic). Trust me... you'll love that game!
I got a similar game to octopath traveler, although its not *exactly* an jrpg, but it has somewhat similar combat mechanics, its called library of ruina
You should play radiant historia, it has turn manipulation and a small grid when emphasis on pushing the enemies together to hit them all at once. Great game but you'll likely have to emulate it since it's a DS game that can be hard to get a hold of.
Great video, as always! If you want a dynamic combat system in a rpg I would HIGHLY suggest the legend of dragoon. It has an imput system for each characters attacks and the more you do them successfully the better combos you get. Super cool world and great story.
Please Try Shin Megami Tensei nocturne i would love to hear your opinion
We need more JRPGs like NieR: Automata and Dark Souls/Elden Ring.
And if there's going to be turn-based JRPGs, they should take notes from Divinity Original Sin 2.
I agree entirely.
Man, imagine Final Fantasy Tactics but with Divinity Original Sin 2's combat system.
Hell yes.
and dragon's dogma. don't forget about dragon's dogma.
darksouls isnt a RPG right? it is more like an open world adventure game
no, I'm pretty sure it is, elden ring falls under that a little more
Play Bug Fable!
It's the sequel to ttyd that I always wanted.
Sea of stars goes for a similar system with button presses for each attack. I personally didn’t really connect with it since I think it lacks a bit of variety on skills but it’s pretty well crafted in general.
Even though Super Paper Mario isn't an RPG, you should still totally play it if you really like story.
Idk if somebody has already written it, so i do. Valkyrie Chronicles Covenant of the plum is maybe that trpg you're looking for. Unique part is plum mechanic and the thing that you have to press button to make combo in your attack phase
Bro try some indies like Chained Echoes, Sea of Stars, and Bug Fables. They all have combat that is more than just picking the strongest attack and healing when you're low.
I want more jrpgs like nier. :(
I want to say that to this day this game confuses me a LOT,sometimes it is the moat genius art piece know to man and other it's some grind your life away bullshit with no point and light at the end of the tunnel, i respect taro for his dedication to implement ideas and whole philosophy behind the niers about the players experience about the game being the point of making the whole game,even if i don't agree with some stuff he does like putting vital story points outside of the game and on godammed plays of all places,cool game cool guy :)
(Sorry about the baby English , it's not my first tongue and all that)
w video
My first RPG was Final Fantasy 8. I really enjoyed the Draw-Junction Mechanic.
Homie have you played Octopath Traveler 2 yet? It basically improves any possible problem that existed in the original, at least for me and my friends.
Also, Indivisible is a cross between the Mario RPG action commands and a Metroidvania. BIG recommend!
The Xenoblade series. Gameplay isn't strictly turn based, it's not strictly action, there is always something to be engaged with or thinking about during the combat, the gameplay is changed in each game and a lot of way to change up the gameplay in each game, the games have very good stories and music, and the games are made by a Nintendo studio.
You make a good point, and I can confirm everything you say is true. Only problem is I hate Xenoblade. No disrespect to what you like tho
Xenoblade's problem is the combat which is basically an MMORPG game.
FFXII did it better by starting with lower numbers, much more customization, wider variety of biomes, compared to Xenoblade.
@@Luso1221 I'm sorry, but no. While there are similarities to FF12 combat, Xenoblade combat started as an evolved and improved version, and only improved from there. With a far more interesting story, characters, and lore than FF12. And even the original Xenoblade has a large amount of customization in your gear setup and with gemcrafting, with later entries having vastly more with essentially job systems.
As for biomes, even the original first game has plains, snowy mountains, seas, jungle, floating sky islands, woods, lakes, sandy tropical islands, a vast marshland, the interior of a gigantic living organism, vast mechanical regions...what are you talking about there?
Just finished sea of stars. And it had active combat, like timing for a double attack or guarding. But nothing like mario.. Imo it was just a great comfort food, rather then a great game
another game with a similar turn based system to octopath traveler is child of light. I played it off a recommendation from protonjon and thought it was different and cool enough to finish in one weekend. def give it a try. plus, if you dont like it in the first hour or so, you can just drop it since every new ability is derivative of the core gameplay mechanic.
I would recommend Final Fantasy V. It focuses on changing classes and multiclassing. It’s also not as slow as the 3D games as the animations are snappy. It’s really fun
If you’re still looking, you can try the Tales of series. It’s not turn-based, but an action rpg. I recommend Tales of Vesperia or Symphonia as they’re the most accessible games.
If you're interested in tactical turn-based RPGs, give Shining Force (1 & 2) a try.
not exactly a jrpg but undertale/deltarune does interactive turn-based combat well
When it comes to rpg's to me turn based is fine, only so long as you do something with those turns. High level pokemon is effectively high stakes poker, except you come in with a set hand, the only thing stopping the games from being that normally is the AI being pretty dense, and the fact they refuse to switch out.
My favorite evolution of the turn based jrpg is Megaman Battlenetwork. You build a deck, and each turn you get a hand of abilities you can pick from. Some abilities can be played together, others can't, then you have like five seconds of real time combat to use up your abilities, then pause to draw your new hand.
I mean surely its been mentioned here already but Bug fables: Everlasting sapling is pretty good replicating the og paper mario feel + its just good in general
What about action rpgs like kingdom hearts, tales of franchise, and the mana games
id like to suggest radiant historia, it has a very interesting turn manipulation system
i am leaving a comment cuz u made me go haha hehe
if you like the paper mario games, youre gonna love Bug Fables. it just flat out improves the paper mario gameplay in everyway
Another game with turn manipulation is bravely default and I believe it was made by the same studio as octopath
Octopath Traveler's battle system sounds a lot like Limbus Company's! I also think you'd like Underhero and Bug Fables
Have you tried octopath traveler 2
I mean, the MegaMan battle network series has... Turns... And stats.... Haha...
I find it interesting that anytime anyone ever makes a game with a similar design in combat (fighting on a 'grid' casting collectable cards/spells/whathaveyou) it is referred to as 'being like MegaMan battle network' ^^
Try Trails in the sky :P
Bravely Default has a similar system to Octopath
4:48 OOOoOo really well Pokemon legends at ways does this the graphics may be pathetic the art style might be limited and u already don’t like Pokemon but you’ll love this
(Satire 😂)Jk I honestly would like to know to I used to be a Pokemon fan but when I played the new game every time I was having fun I remembered how ass the battles where
Xenoblade 3 has an amazing story amazing graphics, and enough cool new mechanics that will keep you thinking for the entire game. And the combat style is actually brilliant
It just has 1 giant issue tho…the battels are WAAAAAY TOO LOOOOONG, like every single battle is the length of a boss fight in other games, that is just so stupid, and makes you lose interest in the game very quickly
I would recommend The legend of heroes: Trails of series. Not completely certain the gameplay would be your thing but I think you might like the story and world building which I consider some of the best out there in JRPG’s. Also is a very niche series so wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t heard if it. It has like 12 all interconnected games so if you get hooked you are gonna be for an awesome ride.
I think its wild you didn't like the story of Path of Radiance. Its the best story in the Fire Emblem series imo so if you actually think another one is better id be surprised
Play pokemon run&bun.
I swear we have the same opinion on everything lol. A lot in this video I agree heavily with. I haven't played Octopath Traveler yet but it's on my radar of turn based games to try out. You should check out the demo of Sea of Stars cause it just does everything right. Timed-button inputs, a stacked turn/combo system that feels like using supers in a fighting game, and the way mana is used doesn't make it feel like you're "wasting" a turn when you use items. Highly, highly recommend checking out that demo.
Bug Fables the Everlasting Sapling is a love letter of a game to the Paper Mario series, and it's got that classic Nintendo feeling and engaging turn based combat you're looking for. Great vid, love the content! Keep it up!
I agree
This is a very interesting take on JRPGs Synergy96! 👍
I feel the same way you do towards pokemon, even though i like most turn based jrpgs. PMD explorers of sky is just too good
Steven universes light series actually uses interactive turn based combat
If I could recommend just one good rpg series from one fan to another it'd have to be SMT. Persona is definitely good, but smt 4 and nocturne are some of my favorite games of all time. Strongly recommend trying them out if you haven't bro, they both heavy hitters.
already on my to play list
Like another comment suggested, Bug Fables is a really good game based on Paper Mario's style of combat, and it gets pretty challenging
you should try out mother 3
step 1: add the 1 more feature
step 2: add the baton pass feature
baton pass is actually a broken move in Pokémon that it Got banned
I really like rpgs. But I also struggle with them a lot. It doesn't have anything to do with the game itself it's more of a me problem and that is that I am ass at actually knowing the game I'm playing. I missed so many different aspects of Persona 5 Royal until it was too late into the game. Like card duplication, or darts, or actually getting the 3rd semester because I never bother to actually read the text I'm given or actually engage with the different facets of the games. Lol
It's an issue I've had with a ton of rpg's Fire Emblem Three houses, P5R, and Pokemon (which my friends still make fun of me for lmao).
I usually want to just play more of the game and want to see more of a story, so what happens is I end up just trying to get to that next hit of gameplay or story as fast as I can without spending the proper time to understand the systems of a game.
It's totally as you said, I always feel engaged with most Mario rpg's. Simple systems that kids can understand that don't require a lot of studying and gameplay that gives the player a lot of agency. I like that.
Anyways, great video Synergy 👍
I did the same thing when I played persona 5 for the first time. Since I've been making youtube videos tho I find myself paying attention to every possible detail
@@synergy96 game is definitely a lot more fun in New Game Plus. Lol
Mario RPGs are cool, but Sticker Star sucks actual ass. I wish I could burn it out of my memory
Thanks, I will most certainly use this in the RPG maker game I will never finish because I am lazy :D
If you finish it lemme play it
@@synergy96 alr, lol
I recently played through persona 4 golden (my first persona game) and it has become probably my favourite game of all time. Although I have to admit that the combat/dungeon crawling wasnt always fun or difficult (as in requiring a smart strategy), however the music and special attacks improved it a lot.
I am currently 20 hours into persona 3 and while I think the core aspects of combat are A LOT better than in p4 it does lack in the aspects of music and special attacks.
I have not played persona 5 yet but from what I have heard it is supposed to be the best of both worlds but I doubt that it will be better than what octopath traveler has done in terms of core aspects, music/sound and special attacks. Speaking of, I have not played octopath traveler 2 but I probably wanna finish the persona series first.
Since you like more interactive rpgs I definitely recommend indivisible
The combat is like combo-ing your enemy in a fighting game, but not nearly as hard to execute.
Plus the animation and character designs are amazing
bad takes all around
first🤓
🤓
Pokémon can’t delay their games if they do that than the anime won’t come out
pas ouf pdv