Turn based RPG vs Action RPG?

[Lazerface]

Which do you like better and why? And what would you suggest for a game that has the option of using squads and tactics for taking out enemies in built up places like warehouses?

[Randy]

Turn based if it's done well. Action RPGs make it almost impossible to control a party and generally imply you'll only control 1 character. Controlling a party is better for fitting in with a story, in my view. If you've come to value them as a valuable fighter, I think it does add to your connection with them as a character. Which is why I always loved Yuna and Celes but didn't care when Aeris died.

[Sephex]

They both have their advantages, but I like turn based better because there are plenty of other genres that can make an action game that much better. I like to be all strategic and stuff. Makes me feel all smart and stuff. Oreos have white stuff.

[Bolivar]

Turn based if it's done well. Action RPGs make it almost impossible to control a party and generally imply you'll only control 1 character. Controlling a party is better for fitting in with a story, in my view. If you've come to value them as a valuable fighter, I think it does add to your connection with them as a character. Which is why I always loved Yuna and Celes but didn't care when Aeris died.

^ definitely. Having a party is endemic to RPGs for me, one of the things it borrows from its tabletop roots.

The WRPG action RPG I really get behind is The Elder Scrolls but the game is more about discovery than its RPG elements. Hence why it didn't get nearly as much flak as it should have for eliminating so many of its RPG elements.

I did like Deus Ex Human Revolution though and thought it worked pretty well for a shooter.

[LunarWeaver]

At some point I made the switch to action-RPG. It just happened. I think I was born with it. I told my friends and family. Some disowned me.

[Pike]

Depends on the definition of action RPG being used here.

If you mean as in Diablo, then hell yes, that's one of the greatest genres ever.

If you mean as in TES/Deus Ex, then I have no preference really. (TES and Deus Ex are two of my favorite series of all time but it's because of the lore, not the game genre.)

Probably of greater importance to me overall is whether or not the main character is a "blank slate" that I can mold and shape to my liking. I tend to prefer those types of characters over ones with pre-set personalities.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

As much as I like a good turn-based RPG, I do prefer aRPGs. They're so much fun!

[NeoCracker]

Turn Based ones tend to be a lot more methodical, I think would be a good term to use here. I tend to prefer that over the more action oriented. I do love both though.

[Pheesh]

KH, Diablo and Bioware games like KotOR and Mass Effect are my favourites, so action RPG it is I guess. I also think games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age let you control a party just fine, and the combat is still more exciting than a turn based system imo.

[Skyblade]

KH, Diablo and Bioware games like KotOR and Mass Effect are my favourites, so action RPG it is I guess. I also think games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age let you control a party just fine, and the combat is still more exciting than a turn based system imo.

See, I'm sort of on the opposite side here. KotOR and Dragon Age had combat so abysmal that I had to cheat in order to get through it and enjoy the storyline. Dragon Age II improved on the combat quite a bit, but it still wasn't good, and Inquisition has gone right back to being a genuinely awful combat experience. BioWare did have fun gameplay with the Mass Effect franchise, though. I'll give them that.

Diablo can be fun in short bursts, but it gets pretty mind-numbing if you go at it too long (not to mention flat-out unplayable when Blizzard decides to make melee classes worthless every new patch).


I definitely prefer turn based or ATB.

[Del Murder]

I prefer turn based because I like having time to devise my next move and some relative predictability of when my action and the enemy's action will occur.

I also like complexity in the battles and that is more easily accomplished in a turn-based system. When things happen in real time then there is either a) less stuff available for you to do, or b) too much that it is so complicated that you get frustrated and give up only to keep mashing the attack button.

[BlackFire]

I have always liked action RPG games, role playing shooters and real-time RPGs.
I like the extra challenge that comes with "thinking on your toes" and with managing your squad (if you have one) in real time. Mass Effect 1-3 and RTS games like Command & Conquer have made me a stategist and a damn good one too. I don't fret when my real-time attack plans go south, I always have a back-up plan and think every encounter through.

[Ayen]

Turn based, but only if it's something along the lines of FFXII because I hate random encounters with a passion.

[Pumpkin]

Turn based usually, but it depends

[Wolf Kanno]

Turn-Based is my favorite, I actually don't care much for Action-RPG style battle systems.