Good Turn Based Games

I don’t really know if I like turn based games.

Because it was the first one I played, what most signifies the genre to me is Pokemon, and that is not the style’s most flattering example. With incredibly slow battle transitions, text boxes constantly having to be spammed through, and mashing A combat, it gives a very negative view of the system. Where I got enjoyment from Pokemon was in the Pokemon themselves. Collecting a bunch of unique creatures with fun designs is like the best thing in the world. I couldn’t care less about the fighting. (which is why I liked Pokemon Snap so much) But I blamed this on the system and not the game.

But then I actually played other turn based games and found out that it was Pokemon’s fault. So here I will be recommending some turn based games for people who don’t like turn based combat. That’s the premise. Begin!

Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door -

Everyone always talks about how this is the best game ever, and in this case they are entirely correct. Firstly, it’s a comedy, so you aren’t going to have to read through long character backstories. You just get to go out and experience the world and start actually playing the game. Secondly, it doesn’t have any random encounters which is so much nicer.

A key difference between TTYD and other turn based RPGs (even in the same series) is that it keeps its numbers small. You aren’t going to be at the end of the game doing 19842 damage in a simple attack versus the enemies 100000000 HP. Double digit attacks are basically never seen and a simple jump attack will be doing 8 damage at the end of the game, so you always know exactly how many more hits you need to do, and each upgrade you get feels significant. Getting a new Hammer isn’t just your ATK stat going from 34->36 and vaguely increasing damage. You know that know your Hammer attack does 3 damage instead of 2, so now you can take out enemies in 2 turns instead of 3. It feels like an upgrade.

So it simplifies the combat, but it also simplifies leveling. Every level needs 100 EXP orbs to level up. Every single one! So you always know exactly how worthwhile every battle is. You can feel the progression of every battle since it doesn’t feel like an arbitrary amount of experience every time. And most crucially it tells you when to move on. For each enemy, getting to a certain level makes them drop 1 EXP, so you know exactly when you are overleveled, and can start avoiding enemies. I wish more games would adopt this system.

Paper Mario TTYD sands off the more frustrating parts of turn based games to those with GGGB (goopy-goblin-gamer-brain), and just pulls it off with that Nintendo polish.

Undertale -

Everyone knows Undertale, but honestly people don’t give enough credit to the combat. Everyone talks about the writing and characters, but the actual combat bones they put in place are so solid that they support it (much more than Earthbound…). It simplifies the combat to “Fight” being very literally a single basic attack without other options, which is very easy to spam through, but it’s showcase idea was to make dodging attacks into a bullet hell minigame. This obviously helps give the brain some goop by making it reaction based, but it also allows each enemy to showcase its own personality not just writing wise, but also combat wise. So often in turn based RPGs, enemies don’t get to have their own personalities because all of their attacks are just damage numbers of different amounts that get applied to the party. But in Undertale, each enemy has its own specific attacks that you need to dodge and learn, and also combine when fighting multiple enemies at once. It makes all the fights much more engaging.

In addition, Undertale is a very short game, with it just taking around 5 hours per playthrough which doesn’t give enough time for it to get stale. Even though it also has each boss have its own fight gimmick that changes how the bullet hell minigame is played. It just keeps adding variety to its turn based combat which helps you never “solve” it. You are always kept on your toes by the shifting gameplay styles, which just makes it so much more entertaining, even on smaller enemies.

Dicey Dungeons -

This one is in a bit of a different category because it is a roguelike (another genre that I don’t particularly connect with) but this one is special! It differentiates itself by having explicit scenarios to complete and almost RNG based turn based combat.

Dicey Dungeons almost feels like a board game in the best way possible. Each turn, you must figure out what to do with the 1-6 dice you roll, which you then can apply to each piece of equipment you have. For example, if you have a 6 and a 3 dice then you can use the 6 on the Sword to do 6 damage and the 3 on the Shield to give yourself 3 shield, or you could reverse it for 3 damage and 6 shield. But the dice being rolled every turn makes sure you always have a new situation that you must strategize for each turn, and as you go forward with your run then you will better understand what formulas to use for your equipment.

This is where being a roguelike helps this format. You can eventually solve your equipment loadout on a single run, but the next run is going to have a completely different situation to contend with. Not just with different equipment, but the different scenario and character that each run has. Dicey Dungeons keeps up the variety that is needed to keep the goopy goblin gamer brain covered in goop. (it also keeps its numbers small). And it is usually only $3, so even more reason to check it out.