Lately I have been really enjoying mewgenics. Very deep game
Hogs of War
Chess
Divinity Original Sin. Old 80s RPGs
Worms. Literally any Worms title.
Additionally: Transistor
So I’ve only seen a couple hours of gameplay (watching a friend stream it). But Jeanne d’Arc seems pretty interesting. More of a tactical turn-based RPG.
NetHack
I’ve been playing Disgaea which is really solid.
Golden Sun is my favorite turn-based system of all time. It gets really deep without being too complex to understand. You can get really creative, I always respecced Mia to be a DPS with volcano attacks instead of a water healer like she’s supposed to be. And once you know what you’re doing, you can change character class in the middle of battle.
The original Persona 3 combat system was also really good. If you played P3P or P3Re, it’s not the same. P3 and P3FES are the only ones with the original “one more” system. They ruined it in 4, bloated it in 5, and bloated it beyond recognition in P5R.
Seriously, nobody plays Dragonquest here? Not even 11?
I generally prefer turn based, so no specific game
What do you find engaging about it?
There’s no pressure to act fast
I want to think about my moves. It’s deeply rewarding to puzzle your way out of a pickle in FTL, just to make one small example
XCOM (most enjoyed Enemy Within, with Long War, other versions also generally good), just a masterpiece.
Into the Breach, probably the cleanest, and a great theme.
Lots of deck-ish based battlers: Slay the Spire (1 and 2), Backpack Hero, Monster Train
The Last Spell, Battle Brothers
Lots of D&D or adjacent stuff that board/tabletop-like: Balder’s Gate 3, Gloomhaven/Frosthaven.
Edit: Wasteland series and Shadowrun series also great.
Backpack hero doesn’t get enough love. I love to see it!
Right now, I guess Pokémon counts?
I used to enjoy an Angry Birds spin-off called “Epic”, that was one of the better ones.
Yes, I’m a huge Final Fantasy fan and turn-based is what I started out with when I first started gaming. My favorite FF game (and video game of all time) is Final Fantasy X, and I remember playing late one night and falling asleep mid-boss battle. Waking up two hours later for the boss patiently waiting for me to kill it was quite nice, ngl.
Also Clair Obscur. I didn’t shut up about that game all last year. It’s just so good, especially for those who prioritize story in video games!
Brogue, Hoplite, Stone Soup and other roguelikes
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Battle for Wesnoth
Heroes of Might and Magic
various card games
basically, any game with significant tactical depth can benefit from well-done turn-based timing
I came here to say Battle for Wesnoth. Something about the game has kept me hooked for like a decade
Baldur’s Gate 3 and Expedition 33
First one is a great game, but combat is not the most important feature of the game IMHO.
The other is very good, and the combat is more relevant.
I think that the engagement is being able to build a strategy on how to win, instead of rely more on reaction.
Expedition 33 was so good. The way they updated turn based combat really modernized it imo.
You mean the parrying which they borrowed from Super Mario RPG / Paper Mario?
The order of events depends on the characters’ status and attributes, and the player can change it using specific actions
I interpreted those as buffs, but didn’t play nearly enough JRPGs to judge the novelty of this mechanic.
I embarrassingly haven’t played either of those. I’m guessing that E33 is quite a bit more robust. Different attacks or skills require different timings or number of clicks and similarly on defense an enemy may attack multiple times and the timing of the clicks changes the parry vs defend.
Paper Mario has those mechanics too. Status and buff applications and the interactions between character abilities put E33’s combat above PM’s, but the attack and dodge/parry system comes directly from the Mario games.
Well the original simplicity certainly has its charme. E33 leans a bit too much into git-gud-territory for my taste (cheers for the patched easy mode).
For sure. I do still have a soft spot for the classic turn based, but also and appreciate for what E33 has done. I will say that it’s not the most forgiving mechanic, but the masochist in me finds the punishment and hopefully later reward worth it. Similar to games like Elden Ring, where there aren’t many shortcuts to success.
Looking at the end game design of E33 I believe that the devs also thought combat would be more relevant, but in the end I only stayed for the plot (and looked up plot threads hidden behind hours of end game grind in longplays). I enjoyed BG3’s grounded approach more.
