VXIII said:
We can make every system sounds oversimplified if we choose to to describe them the way you did. Which is not fair at all. The Souls strategic depth comes from two elements. the necessity of stamina management and the best response to enemy behavior. As for the stamina management, everything you do consume the stamina bar, beside magic. There is always a best time for everything to keep your stamina in-check or you will be punished. Enemies with long combos and/or heavy weapons can not be blocked unless you are a heavy shield user yourself, it is always best to dodge them or your run out of stamina. Of course, using heavy shield has its disadvantages like slow movement and heavy rolling animation. For enemies with fast attacks, the best you could do is to block or parry and be close to them when they run out if stamina themselves. That leads me to the second element. Understanding the enemy behavior is always the key. when is the best time to attack. Being aggressive with heavy shielded enemies is a suicide, being over defensive with aggressive enemies will be punished. You always have to find the right balance of things. All of that happens while you are in full control over your character. Although, spell casting does take away from the strategic depth imo. Now, I ask, what are these strategic elements that can only be implied in turn-based systems and can not be there if we simply remove the time that limits your action? Also, have you played Lightning Returns? the battle system is a great balance between turn-based and action based. |
Maybe I've played too many games in my time, but a stamina meter is the standard for real-time RPG's. And its management is also a standard. It is pretty much the core feature of any melee class in an MMORPG/Western RPG. Enemies in souls games are pretty scripted, so the response to behavior isn't that tough. After fighting the boss five times it is quite easy to predict the chain of actions they'll perform. While this is a fun mechanic, I wouldn't really call the most strategic element I've experienced in a game. And it certainly isn't a feature exclusive to this game either. Monster Hunter is a series that has a very similar "strategy" system, but it is enhanced by having up to four playable characters - each with a role to perform (tank, support, etc, etc.) I've yet to play Co-op in Dark Souls, so I won't comment on how it works there.
I mostly play a pyromancer in Dark Souls by the way.
With turn-based games you have more control. Not just over one character, but over four (or more) characters. Not only do you have to perfect the stats of your main character, but you also make sure the party is balanced. That you have enough magical and physical offense and defense, that your skills won't negate each-other, and the same things that you need to consider in dark soul also apply in turn-based games. You can't be so overtly offensive with a defensive boss. You must first remove their extra defense, somehow. But you aren't precluded to just that. The games with the best strategic systems give you multiple means of doing things. Dark souls is a game in which you have one way depending on your class and pretty much only one way. That is why I don't really consider it that strategic. Now not all party-based games need to be turn-based, but then there is a problem of a working system to control the characters which arises. Games like Dragon Age allow you to pause the game and control as much or as little of your party as you'd like. When fighting hard bosses on max difficulty, this usually means you have to pause every party member on every single cool-down. You need to micro-mangage and use your attacks as efficiently as possible based on the party combination you created. Now some RPG's, like tactical RPG's go even further and you have dozens of characters to control based of placement and turn-based combat. They add the element of "war" strategy to the gameplay. Overall, with a turn-based game you not only have strategy on the how can I approach this enemy level, but also on how can I synchronize my party and how can I utilize my limited turns. How can I control all members of my party to maximize my damage output on the enemy and defeat him. The only way a real-time game can emulate this is by being multiplayer.
