Summary

• JRPGs distinguish themselves via unique combat mechanics, making each title entertaining, engaging, and unexpected.
• Classic, strategic, and reactive turn-based systems offer diverse gameplay experiences, from slow-paced to chaotic and strategic.
• Differentiating systems like card-based, free-form leader, and turn-based dueling add depth and variety to JRPG combat mechanics.

The JRPG genre has a very distinct feel to i🌞t, but that doesn't stop it from being popula𓆏r all across the world. You've got well-known series like Final Fantasy and Persona, but you can tell at a glance that they're very different from each other. An important way that JRPGs distinguish themselves is via their gameplay mechanics, specifically in combat.

Some estab🍌lished systems in play are shared among multiple titles, sometimes putting their twist on them, while others are more niche. Looking through so many combat systems, they can be entertaining, engaging, interesting, or unexpected, and these work the best.

Updated on May 10, 2024: We've added our video summary of this list for your viewing leisure, so you can see some of the best JRPG combat systems in action.

8 🅠 ♐ Classic Turn-Based

Everybody Gets A Turn

This system ha☂s been around for a while and still gets a lot of criticism for not being realistic enough. However, if you want realism, then playing a game abou🌺t a group of stylish teenagers fighting a reality-breaking entity of pure evil is not a choice.

That being said, it's a great choice if you want to experience this old-school combat, then the older 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy entries and Breath of Fire series are perfect examples. It has a slow pace so that you have more time to con🍒sider your decisions, what your characters are capable of, and what you can do to f𓄧ind out more about the enemy so that you can plan a strong counterattack.

7 Strategic Turn-Based 💧

Move All The Units Into Place

If a classic turn-based system is like a Chess game, strategic variants seen in games like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Fire Emblem are𝕴 more like Risk. You have a whole field to work with and individual units that need to be moved so that they can do everything from engaging the enemy to healing their allies.

This style allows for more solutions to different situations and the games that they use tend to give you a huge roster of characters for you to try out on the field. Of course, it raises the stakes by making it so that whenever one of them falls in battle, they're ✱out and sometimes permanently, which means that one wrong decision can cost you one of your most powerful fighters.

6 ♏ 🙈 Reactive Turn-Based

Don't Just Stand There And Take It

When people started saying that the classic turn-based wasn't realistic enough, it was seemingly the Mario Bros. that came to its rescue. Going back to the N64, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Paper Mario showed that we could respond to enemy attacks with good timing and diffe⛎rent inputs to re🍸duce, negate, and even counterattack enemy moves.

This was refined into the Game Boy Advance Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga,💎 where the Bros. were able to jump, block, and reflect 🌌attacks on the defensive and then use different inputs to empower their moves on the offensive. All of this created a more dynamic and engaging battle system while still letting you control the pace.

5 ܫ ATB, Active Time Battle 🗹

Bad Guys Won't Wait Politely

When Final Fantasy started to get into its groove, it was Final Fantasy 4 that decided t꧅o add a bit more realism to the combat system. Your characters could still take as much time as they wanted to take their turns, but the enemies are no longer expected to just let you.

This isn't 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dragon Ball Z; enemies and bosses will pelt your p🐷arty with attacks and tech﷽niques while you're setting up your best spells and more. To add more tension, each character gets a little bar that needs time to fill up before they can act, and it gets intense when you find yourself willing the bar to fill up faster.

4 𝓰 Card-Based ♊

Playing Cards To Play Moves

The trend of creating video games based on card games or that use card-game mechanics doesn't seem to be slowing down andꩲ credit should be given to Baten Kaitos. This lesser-known JRPG may have not rocked the wor♋ld stage, but it incorporated a battle system that no one expected from the genre.

Instead of characters leveling up, learning new skills, and equipping new gear, each one had all of those represented as cards in a personal deck. It became about 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:deck-building, where you neededᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ to look through what shared cards you have and what each character's specific deck is tailored to do and essentially build them how you want them.

3 Free Form - Set Leader 🦄

Take The Lead, Direct Your Allies

When 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Kingdom Hearts first appeared, I don't think any of us thought it would end up being more difficult to follow than Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy combined. Looking past the story, there's a lot of exploration and combat going on at theꦛ same time.

As the🐈 magical teenager Sora, you're leading a team with free-form movement, but still having action to a prompt menu for magic, items, and other skills; you're also aided by two other party members💞 who look to you for instructions and whose main goal is to keep you alive. Yet, instead of direct commands, you have to assign them specific behaviors and set what skills they have access to, as well as what's in their inventories.

2 ꦿ Free Form - Flu𓆉id Leader

Swap The Leader Role Around

Alongside Kingdom Hearts, there was another series that was growing alongside and playing with their free-form style called the Tales Of series, with Tales Of Symphonia being one of the more well-known entries. With a story less complex than Kingdom ꦜHearts and an arguably more anime style, you have to gather a larger team of characters and be able to have a party of four.

When it came to battle, the characters and the enemies would 🔥end up in a contained piece of the battlefield where they would clash against each other. You could switch between the characters to take the lead as needed and assign different behaviors to set up various strategies; it's chaotic, flashy, and more challenging than it looks.

1 Turn-Based Dueling ꦕ

One On One Fighting

The purest form of turn-based combat goes to the RPG series that has maintained a consistent formula throughout its continuous run: Pokemon. Since it's set up as an official competition between monster trainers, the combat system can use the reasoning of rules to explain its functionality. Though cert💧ain elements of the combat have changed, at its core it's about a creature you choose against the creature your opponent chooses, and you take turns using techniques.

Despite how simple it may look, there are so many numbers and calculations happening behind the scenes that have created a truly competitive game with an equally competitive coꦇmmunity. Just the act of swapping Pokemon in and out repeatedly can complete🅰ly change the tide of battle.