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You and a group of friends are walking through the woods. I don't know why. Maybe you're just taking a shortcut to get home from school. Maybe you're lost. Or maybe you're on a quest to save the world from an evil sorcerer who has kidnapped the princess and intends to enslave humanity. Whatever the case, you're wandering through some woods. Out of nowhere (literally), some random hyena or re-animated skeleton attacks you. Now, you and all your friends happen to be carrying weapons and wearing armor, so what do you do? Do you all charge at the foe, hoping your speed, prowess, and reflexes will allow you to slay your opponent? No, silly, this isn't an action game, it's an RPG, and your enemy has higher agility than you, so it gets the first turn.
The admittedly absurd nature of turn-based battles has often been mocked, sometimes viciously, by many webcomics. In an industry obsessed with head shots (complete with misting effects for the blood), explosions, and "fragging" opponents (whatever the heck that means), the idea of turn-based battles seems downright archaic, something video games outgrew soon after the release of Doom. Video games now are all about speed and graphics. For a game to be successful, it had better have a high framerate, photorealistic graphics, particle effects, and a way to kill your friends online. No one wants to sit around and watch a bunch of 2D sprites trade blows, right? Right?
Think what you will about random battles, status effects, and nameless heroes with amnesia; those things are all up for negotiation. Not turn-based battles, though. They are my preferred method to vanquish monsters and save the world. You can just keep your silly ATB, thanks; I'll take turn-based battles. There are some traditions that continue to stand on their own, year after year, in multiple games on multiple platforms. This is one of them.
Skeptical? That's fine. But RPGs have long been the domain of the discerning, intelligent gamer. We seek something less visceral than frenzied multiplayer sessions of the latest FPS, something a bit more cerebral than button-mashing fighters. And, when it comes right down to it, anything turn-based is the thinking man's game. Turn-based battles allow you to ponder the ramifications of your actions. Should I use my Sage to hit the enemy with a lightning bolt in the hopes of ending the battle, or should I heal one of my weakened characters? You can weigh your options, decide on a course of action, and implement it, all without having to worry about whether your careful planning will be nullified by an enemy whose action bar happens to fill up faster than yours. In an ATB system, I find myself focused on that little bar, often missing the fact that one of my characters is nearing death.
Am I calling action-RPGs rubbish? No, far from it. In fact, Kingdom Hearts happens to be my favorite RPG. But KH is truly an action-RPG, not some mish-mash of turn-based and action. I plowed through Final Fantasy XII because the gambit system was truly incredible and took some of my focus away from the action bar, allowing me to focus instead on HP, MP, and status effects. Would I have completed the game if they had removed the gambit system and made it ATB? Yes, but I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much. Would I have played it if they had made it turn-based? Absolutely, and I would have loved it. As it was, by the time I was done with Final Fantasy XII, I was sick of action bars. Final Fantasy VI is going to have to wait until I recover from ATB sickness.
And, if recent and upcoming releases are any indication, I have plenty of options. Final Fantasy III DS, Ar Tonelico, Valkyrie Profile, and Dragon Quest VIII all come to mind. The Pokémon franchise has revised or tweaked just about every aspect of the battle system, but it has stayed turn-based. Even Puzzle Quest, which I raved about last week, is a turn-based affair, though your enemy seems to get significantly more turns than you. And, to my knowledge, we've yet to see a strategy RPG in North America that doesn't employ a turn-based battle system of some kind. The turn-based battle references the very root of the games we play today: the tabletop, pencil and paper RPG. It's a battle system that has spanned decades, and doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.
The ATB system doesn't ruin games, but it certainly doesn't enhance them, either. I just don't see the benefit it brings to the table, and I frankly don't understand the insistence on using ATB. If developers want to make an RPG based on speed and reflexes, they should go the distance and make it a full-fledged action RPG. Don't insult my patience with some mish-mash affair. "But," you may say, "ATB adds excitement to an RPG's battle system." That's not true. What's exciting about watching a little bar fill up before you can attack? ATB actually drags out battles, forcing you to wait to act until your character regains some mysterious "energy." In turn-based battles, I can fire off a string of attacks at my own pace. And right there is one of the key draws of turn-based: you can go at your own pace. The game doesn't shove you forward faster than you want to go.
To be brutally honest, the introduction of the ATB was completely unnecessary. Sure, no one had thought of placing a charge bar on actions in an RPG before, so in that sense, I guess it was "revolutionary." That doesn't make it good, though. Turn-based is an efficient system wherein you can progress through a battle as quickly or as slowly as you'd like; ATB turns that into a system where you have to perform actions at a certain time. You no longer have the luxury of planning an attack sequence and implementing it. Under the ATB system, when that bar fills up, you'd better know what you're going to do, or you risk getting slain before you land a hit. That's the con side of ATB. The pro side? Uh, I can't think of any.
In the realm of crappy battle systems, Rogue Galaxy is one of the biggest offenders; I'm pretty sure I'm not going to finish it for that reason alone. The battle system can't figure out exactly what it's supposed to be. Is it action? Sometimes. Is it ATB? That too. Is it game-breaking? For me, yes. For those unfamiliar with the awfulness of Rogue Galaxy's battle system, I'll describe it. You and two very unintelligent party members run around hitting enemies. Then, when your energy bar runs out (which will happen at least once per battle), you stop, and all you can do is guard. You can't hit things. You can't use items. You can't even pick anything up. Then your bar recharges, and you're suddenly able to do all those things again. And this adds what to the battle system, exactly? Pardon me if I pass on this one.
I do intend to finish Final Fantasy VI, because I already know it's a great game in every other area. Still, I can't help wishing its battles were turn-based.
If you've not had your fill of old-school sentimentality, be sure to check back next week for the second part of this editorial, when I talk about the wonder of job classes.
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