The Videogame Battle System Trinity

From my experiences in videogames, there are 3 different kinds of battle systems. There may be more, and if you want to correct me, that is what the comments section is for. But I can basically round up all the gaming battle systems into one of three catigories:

• Turn-based
• Tactical, or
• Hack-and-slash

I'll start off with my favorite. Hack-and-slash! I love games in where you can charge right into a battle and deal massive damage. Also, jumping, running, slashing, shooting, etc makes these kinds of games highly action packed, and makes them incredibly fun and adrenaline pumping. Games like Zelda, Castlevania, and Devil-May-Cry, fit into this category. I love these games because you are constantly in movement, you don't just sit there and wait for the next move. There is always somewhere to go, and some enemy to try new maneuvers on. 

I guess the downside to this is that if you blindly just hack and slash without any method, you could just kill yourself numerous times and make you want to toss the controller away. 

Next is Turn-based, this is a system I was raised on. Final Fantasy, Atelier Iris, and Breath of Fire, all incorporate a turn-based battle system. It is be highly repetitive after awhile, to the point where you just press the same button over and over to beat the battle quicker. Once you have gone into 1 battle, you have basically been in them all, but the wide array on badguys and skills are what keeps you pushing through the game. Not a bad system in my opinion, but not for people who enjoy more active gaming. 

Now to the greatest demise in gaming (in my opinion), the Tactical Combat System. Any Advance War-esque game where you can only proceed in combat via a select number of squares, is just frustrating for me to play. Games like Eternal Poison, Agarest War Zero, Phantom Brave, etc, fall into this category. The fact that I have to spend the first 4 turns just getting to the enemy in the battle field automatically turns me away from this battle style. 

It's very slow, very repetitive, and usually comes with the most idiotic of battle rules (Eternal Poison gives you a game over if you run out of MP, other games give you a certain number of turns to finish the battle before game over). It's like they tried to make a board game and turn it into a videogame, and I think that is dumb. It may just be my bias, but I really don't see a redeeming factor in tactical battle systems. It's good for for certain people who enjoy them, but it has gotten to the point where I just start refusing to play games outright if they have this battle system.

But that is just my opinion, I am sure there are people out there who enjoy it, and I'd like to hear reasons why down in the comments section.

FAQ

What about FPS's and Fighting games?

FPS games like Call of Duty, fighting games like Skull Girls and Mortal Combat, and other games which require high amounts of action falls into the Hack-and-Slash category. The weapon of choice may be different, but the result and way it goes about is still the same. (Basically any game where one can button mash could be considered a hack-and-slash)

Dust an Elysian Tale, First Thoughts

Dust is pretty awesome game... it has FURRIES! :-D  It is also pretty kick ass, has a good storyline, and an epic battle system.

You start off as a furry... something... that has lost it's memories, but is chosen by a magical sword to change the fate of the world. You're sidekick is another furry... animal... with wings, who was the original guardian of the sword, and follows you to get it back.

The storyline from there on is pretty epic, and includes many side quests and such. It is a very interesting game, full of mystery and excitement, and makes you want to play just to find out WTF happened!

I like the battle system a lot. I am a pretty big fan of games that have a hack and slash battle system. It gets the adrenalin pumping. Healing, and combo's are easy enough as well.

I have not yet found anything that I don't like about this game. I'll write more on it when I beat it

Ys Game Review

This game is actually rather fascinating. I bought it on Steam, hoping that it'd be a rather fascinating game, and I must admit, I was not disappointed. Yes, it did have some irks, but the fascinating storyline and battle system it came up made up for that in my opinion.

You start out as this guy who was passed found out and was taken care of by some people from the village. You later meet up with this fortune teller, and you promise to collect these books for her, because, you know, you have nothing else to do with your life.

The battle feature of this game is what I loved the most. All you have to do to to damage an enemy is run into them. If you run into them at an angle, you don't hurt yourself in the process! At first the enemies are hard, and no one ever seems to tell you that you should buy armor or weapons, so you have to find that out yourself, or else die because you can only harm 1 enemy without weapons, and you die rather quickly.

Which brings me to the first irk: NO ONE TELLS YOU WHAT TO DO! You literally have to talk to everyone, and explore every nook and crevice to find out what the hell you're supposed to be doing! Sometimes even that can leave you confused. Sometimes, the storyline can also be a little cliche', but if you can get over that, the game isn't that bad.

I liked the storyline, and the exploration wasn't all that horrible, although there is never much to find in this game. Altogether, I give it a 8 out of 10. Not bad. I'd recommend it.