Quote Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno View Post
FFX's combat was also criticized for being slow, which is why X-2 brought back ATB and sped it up to make it faster.
Yes but now, FFXV and VII:R's real-time systems are being criticised for being too fast and not tactical enough. So does that mean actually, action RPG mechanics are out of date and need to be phased out?

I fully understand all the arguments about why turn based is not a popular system anymore, I just don't see much in the way of corroborating evidence for it. It's not like SE kept making turn based Final Fantasies until the sales started to plummet and then tried something new, they just tried something new anyway and since then the series has struggled (relatively speaking). On home console alone, Persona 4 sold almost twice what Persona 3 did in all its releases. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is turn based on PC and consoles and sold upwards of 4 million copies. Valkyria Chronicles sold more than twice as well on the PS3 than its sequel did on the PSP. Then you look at the modern handhelds and see huge success for... Persona 4 Golden. Pokemon. Fire Emblem. Bravely Default. Lots and lots of very successful turn based games. And these wouldn't work on console because...?

This looks to me like one of those cases where the cause is being assumed from the effect. "These popular games tend to be on handheld, therefore these games can only work on handheld". Well, I don't see any reason to think that. Show me cases where these games didn't work on consoles, and I'll reconsider. But the few examples we do have to look at so far point to the opposite - there is nothing wrong with turn based systems, and they can work and be successful if and when developers choose to make them.