Shadow1980 said:
The genre has, at least with higher-profile titles, become predominately action RPGs which I'm generally not a fan of. I prefer turn-based/ATB-based systems, which are a distinct minority these days. To throw out some examples, I never even finished FF15 because I didn't like the combat system, and I tried playing a Tales game (Vesperia, IIRC) and couldn't get the hang of it. There's something about the combat (felt too button-mash-y) and the inability to control other party members that just bugs me. About the only ARPGs I've played that clicked with me were FF7 Remake and Demon's Souls. I think what helped FF7R was that it wasn't a pure ARPG but more of a hybrid between action and ATB, and you could toggle between party members. As for Demon's Souls, its combat has an old-school "pattern recognition and timing" aspect so it doesn't feel like I'm just mashing buttons, and there being only the sole protagonist and no party members running around on their own gives it more focus. Meanwhile, the 16-bit era had classics like FF4, FF6, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, and Lunar. I just really like those old-school RPGs. I liked the pacing of selecting specific commands for specific characters. You could tell that old-school turn-based games were influenced by D&D and the like. There are a few newer RPGs I like, but were nowhere near as enjoyable as my favorites from the 16-bit days. If there's some modern RPGs that are more old-school in nature that you'd recommend, let me know. |
Dragon Quest XI S is old-school with some pretty modern refinements. Shin Megami Tensei V and Tokyo Mirage Sessions (available on both Wii U and Switch) might scratch the itch as well. Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. Wasteland 2 hearkens back to the era of isometric CRPGs, and the original game was a sort of precursor to Fallout.
