honestly if your standard for "the last good turn based RPG" is Final Fantasy X, a game that released nearly 25 years ago, it might be time to consider that you don't actually like turn based RPGs
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12 lets you create your own AI, but it's one of the hardest FF games so you can't really rely on that, 13's nothing like 8 in any regard, and 7R is absolutely an action game
Yeah, there are LOTS of great ones after FFX. Even if one thinks that Final Fantasy stopped being good after FFX, there are plenty of other turn-based games to play. Yazuka, Dragon Quest, Persona 3-5, Pokemon (pre-Switch), and much more.
But you can't deny FF 10 had a level of AAA Presentation that we've never really seen again in the turn based rpg space. Those people want a jrpg that looks like Spider-man 2.
Also, if you just like old shit, SNES and PS1 alone have hundreds of turn based RPGs. Just play those, no shame in liking what you like, doesn't mean everything else sucks.
There are SO many good ones. Persona, Like a Dragon, Baldur's Gate 3, Solasta, Darkest Dungeon, Divinity, Deltarune... Just to name a few.
Final Fantasy X was the last good one, my eye
it's just that they also stopped playing new RPGs around that time. they aged out or got other hobbies. maybe they played Skyrim for a few hundred hours between then and now, but nothing else
I haven't played a lot of recent turn based RPGs because I decided to replay all of the FF/DQ games I own but I often point at Mana Khemia from the PS2, which effectively uses FFX's turn system but has spells and stuff that insert themselves in the turn order.
Meaning you gotta time things out a bit and can see stuff coming down the turn order at you.
It's sequel doubled down on it. One of my favorite combat systems in a turn based game. Shame about the game breaking bug and rough translation though.
literally all of Trails is like this, from Sky to Daybreak
each action has their own weight in the turn order (visible at all times), there's action that modify it, limit breaks can be used to steal an upcoming turn bonus like a guaranteed crit, a debilitating status or steal a heal from the boss
there's a build in certain Cold Steel games that are literally "this character has a skill that adds delay to the target(s) turn (meaning they get their turn later), if you stack it this way you may stunlock them forever waiting on their turn"
I'd agree with you in everything aside from its actual combat system. Square was really onto something and its a shame they abandoned it after just one game. While I dislike almost everything about X, I think it has some of the best combat and puzzle bosses of the whole series. Its a shame.
Yeah its not a bad game, but it just has a lot of deep seated flaws. I dont find the characters to be sympathetic, the story is needlessly complicated, and the themes are muddled. I think the progression systems are pretty awful too. And i doubt anyone actually likes the mini-games.
Like with 8, I don't like any of the characters.
I don't like the voice acting.
The music isn't up to series par.
I don't like the loss of ATB or navigable world map.
The dungeons aren't interesting.
The ultimate weapons and their associated minigames are uniquely awful.
Hopefully he enjoys the 1-9 playthrough though! It culminates in what I think is by far the best in the series so he has that to look forward to.
Do you have a favorite title (titles?) in the series. I'm def a 4,5,6 and 9 guy. That being said I think all of first 10 offer something interesting.
I am loving it so far. I'm of the opinion that with the exception of 8 (and 10), every one is better than the last.
He's been enjoying them and I think he agrees, but he's currently on FF6 burnout mode since he played them back-to-back. 7 is my favorite so I'm trying to nudge him to get back in it.
Yeah everything except FFXs combat sucks to me. I really do think they could have explored the system further in subsequent games, and it is such a shame that it was discarded for the truly awful systems that followed it.
FF fans are all nostalgia blind, anyway. No shade to the FF7 remakes so far, but they're continually accompanied by fans crying about them not being GOTY simply because they're FF7 games.
I’m often happy to just let people have their opinions. Sometimes a genre moved away from elements or a simplicity that really landed for them, which is fine.
I think my genre of choice peaked almost a decade ago, and it’s not like I stopped playing or liking those games. Not all change is good.
I don't believe the newer Final Fantasy games are bad, but I'm disappointed how they forgoe older games that used fira, firaga, etc. They co-invented turn based combat, I wouldn't fault current or future games for continuing the example, I fault Final Fantasy games for forgetting their roots.
Let's not talk about how the same people that rally behind FFX are the people who will tell you FFXIII is trash because it's just running down hallways.
X was the first one to do that. And they loved it.
It's fair not to like it. It didn't really click for me until the beginning of Act 3, some 70 hours in. It's great now but if I wasn't playing with a friend there's no way I would have played an entire other video games's worth of game to get to the good part.
Wait. Infinite Wealth. Wait. Metaphor. Shit there's actually a lot of good turn based games. I just want there to be like ten times more because I am a fiend.
That being said, I do wish Square had taken the time to explore the combat system of X (and X2 for that matter) more in the following years. They were really on to something with both and instead we got a string of bad gimmicky systems from 12 to 16. Its odd given how long ATB was a thing
Sort of? Not exactly? 12 is trying to be a single player MMO with ATB slapped on top of it.
13 uses a modified ATB system, but its issues stem from a lack of depth to its combat and taking the control out of the players hands. Yes its ATB for 12 and 13, but it's def not the same combat as 4 thru 9
Sure you can exclude 8 (to a degree), but I'd say the similarities between 4-9s combat system are close enough to be called mild variations on the same combat system. 12 and 13 are both clearly their own systems by comparison. Its broad strokes, but accurate imo.
FF's always been about changing things up though, FF4 had a rigid class based system, FF5 had a mostly static party with extreme customization, FF6 let anyone learn magic, FF7 had barely defined characters due to the materia system, FF8 is FF8, and then FF9 was FF4 again
I actually never have. Combat looks interesting! How is the rest of the game though? I usually need more than just a good combat system, hence why I'm not really a fan of FFX overall.
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But I also don't know if those would be "JRPG" fans so much as they are "Final Fantasy" fans
They just want a turn based mainline FF title
Infinite Wealth probably scratches the AAA itch more than 7 but they both whip
capcom, come on
Final Fantasy X was the last good one, my eye
Shit, there have been games that iterated on and improved X's turn system even
It's sequel doubled down on it. One of my favorite combat systems in a turn based game. Shame about the game breaking bug and rough translation though.
each action has their own weight in the turn order (visible at all times), there's action that modify it, limit breaks can be used to steal an upcoming turn bonus like a guaranteed crit, a debilitating status or steal a heal from the boss
That’s a LONG list.
I got overwhelmed and started playing one instead.
Better use of my time.
But he wanted to play the first nine in order, which has been awesome so far. Maybe he'll understand my perspective once he wraps up FF9.
I don't like the voice acting.
The music isn't up to series par.
I don't like the loss of ATB or navigable world map.
The dungeons aren't interesting.
The ultimate weapons and their associated minigames are uniquely awful.
Sphere grid is cool though.
Do you have a favorite title (titles?) in the series. I'm def a 4,5,6 and 9 guy. That being said I think all of first 10 offer something interesting.
He's been enjoying them and I think he agrees, but he's currently on FF6 burnout mode since he played them back-to-back. 7 is my favorite so I'm trying to nudge him to get back in it.
The very first thing I noticed about FF10 was how it no longer used active-time combat, and that there was no way to enable it.
Combining this with the lack of a freely navigable world map, and no likeable characters, FF10 felt like a real regression.
The pressure to make a decision quickly is part of what I loved about FF4 through 9.
I think my genre of choice peaked almost a decade ago, and it’s not like I stopped playing or liking those games. Not all change is good.
lol
but i also havent played smt5 or metaphor at all yet
so i hope im not a jrpg boomer
X was the first one to do that. And they loved it.
i have yet to meet someone who disliked BG3
the game is so fun
If I spend and entire turn moving across the battlefield I feel like my time is being wasted.
That's like 20m movement per turn without adding any equipment.
(don't actually come at me this way a joke)
13 uses a modified ATB system, but its issues stem from a lack of depth to its combat and taking the control out of the players hands. Yes its ATB for 12 and 13, but it's def not the same combat as 4 thru 9