Turn-Based Combat in Western RPGs: A Eulogy

A new editorial entitled “Turn-Based Combat in Western RPGs: A Eulogy” on The Final Dungeon covers the original design choices that led to turn-based combat in role-playing games, as well as the reasons why real-time has become the pace of choice by most modern day RPG developers.

There have been turn-based combat holdouts. Fallout 1 and 2, which released around the same time as Baldur’s Gate and its expansion, hewed to a traditional turn-based combat mechanic. Troika Games developed the excellent Temple of Elemental Evil in 2003, which also employed pure turn-based combat. But in recent years, the subgenre has all but died in the west. (I’m not counting games like the recent King’s Bounty and its sequels, which I consider to be strategy games more akin to Heroes Of Might & Magic than the main, RPG entries in the Might & Magic series.)

We could argue endlessly about how to define the RPG genre, but in my opinion, one of its key identifying characteristics is the separation between player skill and character skill. If my desert ranger in Wasteland is an awesome marksman, then he is likely to hit his target, regardless of my mouse and keyboard skills. In an action RPG, though, this distinction is minimized. My Infiltrator in Mass Effect 2 may have great stats, and those stats will definitely help his aim. But no matter how high his level, he will always be a better shot if controlled by a veteran FPS gamer.

Don’t misunderstand. I enjoy pausable combat and real-time combat. Some of my absolute favorite RPGs, such as Dungeon Master, Ultima Underworld 1 and 2, and The ElderScrolls series, demonstrate how fun real-time combat can be. All I’m saying is that I like turn-based combat, too, and I miss it. One play-through of EA3D’s excellent (and free) browser-based RPG Dragon Age: Journeys reminded me how much I miss this game mechanic.

Reading through this just makes me want to install the old SSI titles again.