Favorite Battle System

[Cyric]

Final Fantasy has had a handful of different battles systems: Traditional Turn-Based (based on AGL or SPD), ATB, CTB (FFTactics), Conditonal CTB (FFX), RTB (FFXI), ADB (FFXII), or CSB (FFXIII).

Which one is your favorite?

I'm stuck between ATB and Conditional CTB. I like knowing whose turn is next (CCTB), but I also like wondering if my turn will come in time for me to win a battle. The one I definitely didn't like ws the CSB from FFXIII. I did not like having direct control of only one of my characters.

[Heartless Angel]

I liked X's combat system best by quite a bit. I'm a strategic player in that kind of game, so being able to see turn order that far out gives me a lot of control over the flow of a battle. It lets me make sure I'm not wasting time an energy on small moves, because I know exactly when my heavy hitter is going to be up. It makes it easier to plan out kill orders to minimize the number of attacks the enemy can get off. XII's was my least favorite by far, I absolutely could not stand the way that game played, and to date, it is the only Final Fantasy I haven't played through more than once.

[loaf]

FFX's battle system but not actually FFX's.

I like the version Lost Odyssey has.

ATB though in FFVI is amazing.

[Kurt Zisa]

X's is great becuase when you cast a spell, it happens right then and there, there's no waiting for it to charge up etc. It definately put an emphisis on strategy, rather than praying you've gotten your timing right.

Not really a fan of the battles pre-IV becuase everyone takes their turns almost randomly. Like you'll anticipate a Boss's attack and cast Cure, only for your mage to cast it before you're attacked. And then more often than not, the Boss will attack first on the next turn etc etc.

[loaf]

Not really a fan of the battles pre-IV becuase everyone takes their turns almost randomly. Like you'll anticipate a Boss's attack and cast Cure, only for your mage to cast it before you're attacked. And then more often than not, the Boss will attack first on the next turn etc etc.

So much more strategy involved in Traditional Turn Based though and it's so fun. It's based on the speed stat, for most of them I believe.

[Kurt Zisa]

Yeah now that I think about it's only III's remake that would give you the situation I mentioned, because Bosses get two hits in per turn. Sala,ander using its fire breath twice in one turn is a good example.

I and II and aren't so much of a problem cos you can just stack buffs for 5 or 6 turns at that start of a fight (Protect, Shell, Aura, Haste, Berserk, Blood Sword) and then nothing can hit you.

[Rowan]

I would say X's battle system was fantastic. Although I would love to include ff8 in here as well.

[loaf]

I would say X's battle system was fantastic. Although I would love to include ff8 in here as well.

Junction is not a battle system. FF8 is ATB.

[Michael Swayne]

I prefer the ATB system. When I first became interested in Final Fantasy games, I like how you can see the effect status conditions like Haste and Slow had on the ATB Gauge. And then the hope that you get to make your next attack in time because two Carve Spiders inflicted Zidane, Vivi, Dagger, and Steiner with Slow and they seem to be unrelenting with their physical attacks.

I also like how in Final Fantasy VIII, not only is there an ATB Guage, but when you are summoning there is also a Charge Gauge. And how it is affected by the compatibility between the GF and the party member. That may be what Rowan was referring to.

[markandrewkinzett]

I have gone for FFX for a couple of reasons firstly enemies can't attack while you are finding the command you want to choose which if you are having trouble finding it is good otherwise you still get attacked as for the other reason you can change characters during battle so you can use the best characters for the job.

[Kurt Zisa]

I like X for that reason too ^

After playing some of the older titles it takes me a while to get used to the fact that nobody moves until you enter a command, and it's great that you can plan ahead for the next few turns like knowing when to summon an aeon to take Yunalesca's Mega Death attack.

[T.G. Oskar]

I wouldn't include FF Tactics in comparison, because FFT and its sequels are an entirely different genre.

If I must say a system I like, quite probably FFX. As Heartless says, it adds a bit of strategic elements to a traditional system. Games such as FFX, Lost Odyssey and Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 apply new traits to a well-known system, each making it unique: FFX and PA: OtR-SPoD3 allow you to play with the concept of turns (and PA: OtR-SPoD3 is based in part on the Grandia battle system, so I'd include it as well), while Lost Odyssey makes you take out the Defenders before taking the most dangerous opponents, which makes some battles considerably hard.

I can't say much about Command Synergy Battle, Real Time Battle, or Active Dimension Battle (which draws things from RTB), as I've been unable to play those games, but from what I've seen...

RTB is nice, but it's much like FFT; it's an entirely different genre. Its application in a single-player game (ADB), on the other hand, I find it applied better in other games. Try comparing ADB with a similar application on Dragon Age: Origins, and you can notice the difference. DA's battle system, at least in consoles, is pretty fast-paced and allows you to move and interact with the opponent directly rather than indirectly. Not sure about the PS3 version, but the 360 version of DA: Origins is pretty sweet to play with.

As for CSB, what really ruins it for me is that I'm a sucker for class-based systems, and the whole concept of CSB is to change classes on the fly; this concept kills character building as you eventually end up with the same builds for just about everybody, depending more on the character than on the class. I feel like the Stagger mechanic was tacked in to add another layer of strategy to a battle system that's seemingly bland; this mechanic feels right at home on games such as Monster Hunter, where your focus is on beating BIG monsters. Not controlling your allies is necessary on games that attempt to resemble real-time combat (see DA: Origins or Mass Effect), but aside from changing paradigms, there's no meat to it.

Finally: I like CTB, because it's to tactical RPGs what ATB was for normal RPGs and traditional turn-based gameplay. It makes the system a bit more active, making you rely on speed stats rather than simply on damage.