When I find I can't enjoy something after giving it a earnest effort I just don't seek out those play styles anymore. I also am not a huge fan of turn based RPGs so I play action or story driven...
When I find I can't enjoy something after giving it a earnest effort I just don't seek out those play styles anymore. I also am not a huge fan of turn based RPGs so I play action or story driven ones. Nier: Automata, Cyberpunk 2077, Jade Empire (an old one but a favorite of mine), Fallout 3/NV, The Outer Worlds (I know controversial but I enjoyed it).
When I see a game that looks fun but doesn't match my playstyle (Turn based, Horror games, Action Clicker RPGs, etc) I will often just find someone that streams it on Youtube and watch them play. I treat it like I did when I was young watching a friend on sibling play a game.
There's always something to be said for a more kinetic gameplay session. Here's a stupid thought, where are you gaming? When I'm at my desk, over my mouse and keyboard, I don't really often want a...
There's always something to be said for a more kinetic gameplay session. Here's a stupid thought, where are you gaming? When I'm at my desk, over my mouse and keyboard, I don't really often want a slow-turn based game. I want Doom or Squad or something where my exact inputs result in my life or death. If I'm lounging on the couch though, I can get more into slower, methodical games.
Also, since I just finished Xenoblade 3 I feel inclined to shout out Monolithsoft and older Tri-Ace RPGs - positioning and timing play a big part in Xenoblade's combat system. That might break up the monotony of "I hit you, you hit me".
Or, maybe try playing them on an emulator set to 1.5x speed? A lot of time turn based battling can feel like a chore for me because everything has a three second animation attached to it. Like looting in Red Dead 2, it was cool the first few times but just cast fireball dammit.
For me this is pretty obvious .. my headcanon is like this .. : It takes time for our feeble human brains to understand what's going on, the dice rolls, which attack was chosen etc, it's slow so...
Every other aspect of those games I could enjoy, but combat reliant on a roll of the dice or each side taking turns politely standing still while they’re being pummeled is proving difficult for my immersion.
For me this is pretty obvious .. my headcanon is like this .. :
It takes time for our feeble human brains to understand what's going on, the dice rolls, which attack was chosen etc, it's slow so that we can understand it... but THINK of it happening much faster, there is no "time standing there idle between attacks " - that's the time YOU'RE taking to chose your move or wait for the computer to calculate its next moves ... but in the game world itself, there is no idle space, everything happens like a fight scene in an action movie. (think of the cinematics in DOS2 or BG3)
They just slow everything down so that we can actually play the game and understand it. Imagine if the game could somehow interface directly with your mind ... you wouldn't need it to be "turn based", turns would happen almost instantaneously and it'd play out like an action game or film.
If you can change your headcanon to match this, all of a sudden everything makes sense and the characters aren't just standing there idle being beaten on.
Yeah, same. I enkoy RPGs but found out over the years that "open world" usually means it's a hard nope from me as I find those to be soulless slogs compared to more focused endeavours because I...
Yeah, same. I enkoy RPGs but found out over the years that "open world" usually means it's a hard nope from me as I find those to be soulless slogs compared to more focused endeavours because I lack the game time to be able to enjoy the scale of open world games anyways.
And that's fine. Not every genre has to work for me. There's tons of games I like, I don't need CP2077 or Starfield to fill my game time.
That's definitely the case for a lot of open world games for me, but CP2077 was captivating to me, I felt like doing every single major side quest I could before doing the main one... I never felt...
That's definitely the case for a lot of open world games for me, but CP2077 was captivating to me, I felt like doing every single major side quest I could before doing the main one... I never felt like I was aimlessly grinding, I barely even used the crafting system mostly out of curiosity.
I can't solve the rest of it, but I can explain the d10 (or whatever number) thing. A d10 is a 10 sided (d)ie. It's essentially a physical random number generator that will pick a number between 1...
I can't solve the rest of it, but I can explain the d10 (or whatever number) thing.
A d10 is a 10 sided (d)ie. It's essentially a physical random number generator that will pick a number between 1 and 10, evenly weighted for all options. While there are no actual dice in computer games, it's hearkening back to the table top nature of cRPGs. So if a sword said 1d10+3, you would get a number between 1 and 10, and then add 3 to the result to get your resulting damage, which would end up somewhere between 4 and 14, inclusive. This can be extended to all sorts of scenarios and gets into probabilities. A 1d12 doesn't get you the same distribution as 2d6, for instance, even setting aside the fact that you can never get 1 on a 2d6. So it's exactly the sort of complex system for generating results that it seems you might like?
When you think of it like a board game like chess, then the turn based actions become more understandable. You usually know that the enemy is going to hit back, and when they do, can you take it?...
When you think of it like a board game like chess, then the turn based actions become more understandable. You usually know that the enemy is going to hit back, and when they do, can you take it? Are your support characters going to be okay or are you going to have to keep scraping them off the ground because they are so squishy?
I would recommend to try Persona 5. You don't need to have played the prior games. It has the turn based play, but plenty of action and stimulation to make it not feel like the game drags on slowly. Tons of narrative as well, where it feels more social than your average rpg. The music is also S Tier
I would stay away from Octopath Traveler. It is a top tier product, but it is the exact opposite of what you are looking for. It is a slow grind and in your current state, you would bounce off of it 100%.
I would also stay away from Pokemon. It would likely be under stimulating for you, as it tends to play on the easier side.
I encourage others in this thread to contribute their recommendations.
It isn't just you OP. I desperately want to play Pillars of Eternity, Tyranny, Divinity, and plenty of other Western RPGs because I'm absolutely burnt out on JRPG tropes. I've tried I think 4...
It isn't just you OP. I desperately want to play Pillars of Eternity, Tyranny, Divinity, and plenty of other Western RPGs because I'm absolutely burnt out on JRPG tropes. I've tried I think 4 times now to play Pillars of Eternity. I can almost recite the Prologue and 1st chapter from memory but damn does the combat suck. I'm also big on controllers for comfortable couch play but the only option for me is to bind keys to the controller, which I'm not above doing and have successfully done for World of Warcraft and Diablo 2 all the way to Hell, or play the switch version. Controls aside, the combat just completely deflates me.
It shouldn't be rocket science to kill wolves and spiders. Before the end of the first chapter I have more skills than I know what to do with and yet somehow, still get my ass kicked by a pack of wolves. And that's with like a party of 4. The screen pauses on combat but by that point I fucked up. What I've learned is I should be scouting and detecting traps and or setting traps up. So there's a whole pre combat stage to this. Then I initiate combat and...the enemies just kind of do whatever. I tell each of my party members where to stand and what to attack and then they get ganged up on, die, miss their attacks, or any number of things. It's grueling. And I can't even understand what's happenings to cause that because the text just scrolls so fast. The story is so good, the voice acting, the set pieces, the music, I want it so bad, but just can't because of the damn combat and I'm on normal!
The Witcher 2 was kind of like that too. The combat was absolutely brutal and I had a rough time even on easy and I play so many rpgs. I just got done playing Wo Long and that game is an excel sheet of numbers and stats before each battlefield! And I'm cool with it! Casually beat it, I love planning my builds and gear, combat is brutal but very enjoyable. Mass Effect was another fun one got through that no problem.
I've even played Eve Online! It's not the numbers that scare me, it's how they're delivered to me. SWKoTOR 1 and 2. Also brutal and unforgiving and yet I got through that multiple times. So it's not the DnD system that bothers me, I've played d
DnD, I get the dice giveth and the dice taketh and everything is about multipliers, the more dice you roll, the better you're doing, that and how many modifiers you have. Ideally, you want skills that synergize with your highest stats because then you roll tons of dice and add to the total and that's how you control the effect of randomness.
But holy shit pillars of eternity kills me. I just got Baldurs Gate 3 and I'm going in blind. It takes a controller out the gate which is nice so I'm going to give it my best effort and see how it goes.
I grew up on MUDs. Love them. Did very well in them and yet some of these RPGs just rub me the wrong way.
Maybe it's if I don't detect a trap and roll up with my squad and then everyone dies while the screen pauses and unpauses and I can't do anything about it? Idk.
I know this isn't really the advice you're looking for, but there are a lot of games I'm interested in for the story, the ideas, or the aesthetic, but that I find very boring to actually play, or...
I know this isn't really the advice you're looking for, but there are a lot of games I'm interested in for the story, the ideas, or the aesthetic, but that I find very boring to actually play, or too difficult to play. So I watch playthroughs of those games instead, or watch videos that explain the story and themes in depth.
Now that I think of it, I used to do a similar thing when I was a kid - I loved X-Men but I never liked reading comic books (plus it's pretty intimidating to approach the giant collections of X-Men comics at this point) so I got a big book that was just profiles of every X-Men character ever, with details about their background, their powers, which comics they appeared in, and what other characters they were connected to. To this day, I know some extremely weird, niche facts about X-Men and the many storylines, that I probably never would've known had I just tried reading the comics from the start. Sometimes summaries/alternative formats are great!
Anyway, turn-based games and anything resembling DnD are mind-numbingly boring to me as well. I'm all about being open-minded and trying new things, but once I've given something a good shot and it's just not right, I find there is little point in trying to force it.
Being ADHD, I have some specific difficulties with turn based games. The main ones are the (for me) enormous, repeated transitions and/or dead time in combat. Here's how JRPG combat usually goes:...
Being ADHD, I have some specific difficulties with turn based games.
The main ones are the (for me) enormous, repeated transitions and/or dead time in combat.
Here's how JRPG combat usually goes:
Approach enemy NPC or get a random encounter (dead time).
Animation to enter battle mode (dead time).
Animation to hit enemy (dead time).
Animation of enemy taking damage (dead time).
Animation of the enemy hitting you (dead time).
Animation of you taking damage (dead time).
Little report showing XP gain, items gained, and misc information (dead time).
Animation to exit battle mode (dead time).
Multiplied by the number of people in your party and the amount of enemies, with plenty of repetition. And there's usually a lot of combat.
In comparison, even MUDs (text MMOs) are way more dynamic.
It's rough.
I can understand combat. I just wish there was an option to play these games at a faster pace without transitions and animations. Just give me the fluff on critical hits or something.
I love reading this viewpoint. As a (terrible) gamer that was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, I found the opposite to be true for me. I used to play a lot of turn-based games in my youth, but...
I love reading this viewpoint. As a (terrible) gamer that was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, I found the opposite to be true for me. I used to play a lot of turn-based games in my youth, but realize when I picked up Baldurs Gate 3 that it’d probably been at least 15 years since I’d last played one. I quickly realized why I loved them as the formulaic battle structure calms my brain a lot.
I completely understand your point and it could just as easily have had the same impact on me, but something about requiring the focus to think of battles in terms of being rube goldberg machine of IFTTT cause and effect hits all the right buttons for me. The “downside” is that in turn-based games, I’m 100% thinking about the game and story mechanics behind-the-scenes from start to finish whereas anything not turn-based, I’m more in the story or role-playing seat. All enjoyable to me, but I can imagine that’s would be a detractor for some.
I find that a lot of the "new retro" style games (think Octopath Traveller) tend to only feature short animations. You might like those kinds of games a bit more.
I find that a lot of the "new retro" style games (think Octopath Traveller) tend to only feature short animations. You might like those kinds of games a bit more.
Japanese games are the worst for this. I absolutely loathe when their spoken sentences have a second pause every time. Western games tend to fix those dead air problems.
Japanese games are the worst for this. I absolutely loathe when their spoken sentences have a second pause every time.
Western games tend to fix those dead air problems.
A lot of turn based games have buffed out the scuffs. For example Final Fantasy has gone full action gameplay at this point but before it did it had already moved away further and further from...
A lot of turn based games have buffed out the scuffs. For example Final Fantasy has gone full action gameplay at this point but before it did it had already moved away further and further from pure turn-based combat for many many years, and many remasters come with fast forward buttons to rip through slow combat (Dragon Quest XI S included this for example).
Might help if you have something to watch/listen to in the background? I have ADHD, and basically need to have something to do while watching videos on YouTube. Turn-based game are good for that...
Might help if you have something to watch/listen to in the background? I have ADHD, and basically need to have something to do while watching videos on YouTube. Turn-based game are good for that since you can let your attention drift back to the screen while doing battles without worrying about getting killed while distracted.
I was about to suggest that, I play mainly JRPGs(not always turn based though) and generally have a video playing while playing. I find the genre great for multitasking in general.
I was about to suggest that, I play mainly JRPGs(not always turn based though) and generally have a video playing while playing. I find the genre great for multitasking in general.
I can assure you that I don't think that will happen. At least not from me. I've got an ADHD diagnosis and I love turn based games for the tactical gameplay. I can let the brain run free on the...
I was going to include that in the post, but figured most people reading would just stop there and say something along the lines of, “Well, there is your problem so there’s no reason to keep trying.
I can assure you that I don't think that will happen. At least not from me. I've got an ADHD diagnosis and I love turn based games for the tactical gameplay. I can let the brain run free on the possible steps I can take and options I have to my disposal. ADHD manifests different enough for everyone that such labels are frustrating at best and harmful at worst.
Also ADHD. I used to love turn-based RPGs because even though the combat is starting and stopping, you're constantly adapting to changing circumstances and need to keep planning your next set of...
Also ADHD. I used to love turn-based RPGs because even though the combat is starting and stopping, you're constantly adapting to changing circumstances and need to keep planning your next set of moves. Even though there's not a lot of urgency with reacting to what's going on, there's still stimulation in figuring out what you're going to do.
At least there used to be for me. The last couple turn-based games I played left me feeling pretty hollow with the repetition of either grinding out the same handful of mobs in an area or spending forever on a boss fight where you figure out the solution but it takes forever due to HP size.
Yeah, games like Bravely Default let you turn up (or down) experience gain and random encounters, so you can grind levels for a bit and then go turn off the random encounters and get on with the...
Yeah, games like Bravely Default let you turn up (or down) experience gain and random encounters, so you can grind levels for a bit and then go turn off the random encounters and get on with the story.
That or emulators (or the modern FFVII port) have speed up built in. Just hold a button and all those animations are three times faster.
Some games do thankfully give you the option to remove these. The only one that is easily coming to mind is Advance Wars, which I guess falls under the Strategy Role Playing Games category.
Some games do thankfully give you the option to remove these. The only one that is easily coming to mind is Advance Wars, which I guess falls under the Strategy Role Playing Games category.
Admittedly I only have the information you’ve provided us, but from your post alone I would suggest that maybe they aren’t actually up your alley? There’s a wide variety of RPGs with rich...
In theory, turn-based games should be right up my alley
Admittedly I only have the information you’ve provided us, but from your post alone I would suggest that maybe they aren’t actually up your alley? There’s a wide variety of RPGs with rich narratives that aren’t turn-based so it may just be this play style just isn’t for you. And that’s ok! I love narrative driven games, but I also know that visual novel type games are not for me, for example.
Turn-based games are a different type of strategy than real-time. Instead of developing the skills to block an attack in real time, for example, you have to plan for the fact that your enemy will have the turn to damage you every time. One might make an argument that real-time is boring because once you know dodge, there’s no challenge. It’s also possible that if you find yourself quitting within a few hours, maybe you’re not progressing past the “tutorial” encounters that are more geared towards introducing the player to the concept turn-based battles and haven’t reached more strategic encounters that will stimulate you more and appear less boring.
That said, I feel that if you’ve tried that many games and still find yourself not feeling engaged, life’s too short to force enjoyment when there’s so many other options that can tick the boxes of what already know you like. Or maybe your brain really is trying to get you into woodworking in which case, we welcome you to come join the fun!
EDIT: I could have sworn when I first read your post that you mentioned you found your mind wandering to “Should I pick up woodworking?” instead of focusing on the game because you kept getting too bored.
Ha, no worries at all. Worst case scenario is that if I was crazy, my crazy mind was thinking about my workshop and that doesn’t sound too terrible to me.
Ha, no worries at all. Worst case scenario is that if I was crazy, my crazy mind was thinking about my workshop and that doesn’t sound too terrible to me.
For those really interesting RPGs with turn-based combat, I honestly just cheat. Pillars of Eternity (1 and 2), Tyranny, Divinity, etc. I generally really get into the settings and storytelling of...
For those really interesting RPGs with turn-based combat, I honestly just cheat. Pillars of Eternity (1 and 2), Tyranny, Divinity, etc.
I generally really get into the settings and storytelling of games, and combat mechanics can sometimes add to that, but it can often detract just as easily. I'm in my late 30s, have a kid and a mortgage, and time is limited, so I'm not ashamed to cheat.
If it's combat with a random mob, I'll shamelessly turn on one-hit kill and max initiative, clear the fight, and get on with the game.
That's honestly not a bad idea. There are some games where you have to be clever about how you cheat though, because some can get you trapped into bad situations - FF8, for instance, has enemies...
That's honestly not a bad idea.
There are some games where you have to be clever about how you cheat though, because some can get you trapped into bad situations - FF8, for instance, has enemies that scale in difficulty as you level up, so you can't just cheat your way into level 99 and breeze through it.
It also will make dungeons boring at best, which could make the game less fun to you. Depends on how you view it, I suppose.
I like how Chrono Trigger handled turn based combat. Each party member has a progress bar that must fill before they take an action. So one party member can be ready to attack or use a spell or...
I like how Chrono Trigger handled turn based combat.
Each party member has a progress bar that must fill before they take an action. So one party member can be ready to attack or use a spell or item while others might still be charging. And if you have multiple party members ready, they can team up with one another for combination attacks.
If you don't like turn based combat there is nothing anyone can say to change that. My advice is to play on easiest mode and straight up install cheats/trainers when possible so you can skip...
If you don't like turn based combat there is nothing anyone can say to change that.
My advice is to play on easiest mode and straight up install cheats/trainers when possible so you can skip combat as much as you can and just enjoy the story.
I don't like action combat, so that's exactly what I did, for example for Witcher 3. I enjoyed the story, the exploration, the characters progression.... And just cheated my way through combat. No...
I don't like action combat, so that's exactly what I did, for example for Witcher 3. I enjoyed the story, the exploration, the characters progression.... And just cheated my way through combat. No regrets.
The number before the D is the number of dices thrown. The number after the D is how many sides the dices have. So 2D6 is throwing two normal dices (with six sides) resulting in a value from 2 to...
The number before the D is the number of dices thrown. The number after the D is how many sides the dices have. So 2D6 is throwing two normal dices (with six sides) resulting in a value from 2 to 12. Here is a photo of the dices available, with 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 20 sides. It's sort of a weird system, which is pretty much kept around for tabletop nostalgia.
Anyway, here's four turnbased I personally liked:
Jupiter Hell is a simplified traditional roguelike, with heavy inspiration from Doom. (it couldn't call itself Doom because, you know, copyright) it got the random hit chance, but still, this is one of the most badass turnbased out there.
Inscryption is a card game / board game with fair but brutal rules and an extremly creepy feel.
Spacechem Insanely deep chemistry-themed puzzle game where you must invent your own solutions. Crazy hard and crazy immersive.
Into the Breach Turn-based strategy simplified down to a playfield at the size of a chess board and no random hit chance. You're able to see how your enemy is going to counter-attack, something which grants quite a bit of depth. A lot of times, the turns feels like a hard but moderately fair puzzle.
I'd actually consider Into the Breach more of a puzzle game than a strategy game, since it's pretty insistent on you achieving an optimal run. It's fun, though, so it's still a good recommendation.
I'd actually consider Into the Breach more of a puzzle game than a strategy game, since it's pretty insistent on you achieving an optimal run.
It's fun, though, so it's still a good recommendation.
Into the breech was the first thing I thought of since it solves most of OPs problems with turn based games. Enemy moves are telegraphed so you don't have that helpless feeling of just watching...
Into the breech was the first thing I thought of since it solves most of OPs problems with turn based games.
Enemy moves are telegraphed so you don't have that helpless feeling of just watching them do something. Plus there's very little randomness. You pretty much always know exactly what will happen and why.
Well, all games have their abstractions in service of the overarching goals of their systems. It's ridiculous in a cover shooter, for instance, that your damage will heal over time if you go for...
One of the issues I’m trying to get past is the fact that my character has to just stand there and take it when an enemy is hitting them, then said enemy politely informs me they are finished and will stand in place while I retaliate. It’s like a violent game of HORSE, except with weaponry instead of a basketball and I find it difficult to remain immersed.
Well, all games have their abstractions in service of the overarching goals of their systems. It's ridiculous in a cover shooter, for instance, that your damage will heal over time if you go for long enough without getting shot, and that you can tank so many more bullets than the NPC baddies. But the cover shooter game wants you to have fun shooting, the intent is to challenge your aim and your reflexes in short bursts without bogging you down with managing an inventory of healing items or whatever. So regenerating health it is!
Same for turn-based games. The character isn't REALLY sitting there waiting to get whaled on (though I'm sure this is obvious to you, haha), it's an abstraction of the action because the system intentionally removes reflexes as a factor. This allows for potentially complex systems, and for me that's the fun part: at the core of it most turn-based games are basically big logic engines of interacting rules, and the test is choosing the right action to make the most progress towards winning. You have to see how the rules to resolve around your choice and how the opponents make their choices in order to understand the state of the battle - that's the key to predicting what choice will lead to the best outcome.
On writing this I've realised it might be a bit like reading a book versus watching a movie in a theatre. With a book you can stop whenever you want to look something up, and you have to fill in the actiony gaps a bit with your imagination.
First of all d10 is literally calling out a dice roll of a 10 sided die. A lot of times you will see two numbers around the "d" for instance 3d4, 3d6 or 2d10 each of those represent rolling 3 four...
First of all d10 is literally calling out a dice roll of a 10 sided die. A lot of times you will see two numbers around the "d" for instance 3d4, 3d6 or 2d10 each of those represent rolling 3 four side dice, 3 six sided dice, or 2 ten sided dice respectively.
Now to actually getting in to turn based games. Sarting out with a game that is psuedo turn based might ease you in to the genre. Maybe a game that uses an ATB (active time battle) system would help with the feeling of just waiting for the enemy to do their thing then responding. In an ATB system there is a time bar which progresses and actions can be made after a certain amount of time. That's not a great description but it will probably be easier to understand if you just watch a video about it. Several of the final fantasy games use this system. They tend to be quite long though so I would recommend starting out with something like "Child of Light". While you are still ultimately just waiting for your turn there is a bit more nuance to it.
You could also try something like "Dragon Age: Inquisition" which can be played in real time or paused and played more as a turn based game. You can start out playing it more as an action game but when things start to get a little crazy you can pause the game and play it almost as a turn based game where it will be easier to set up something a bit more tactical.
Hopefully you can find something that will make it click for you because there are awesome stories in some turn based games. Like you mentioned though it might just not be for you. There's plenty of other games and media out there and it's not worth spending your time on something you just dont enjoy. Good luck.
I will say, as someone who struggled to get into JRPGs for many years, I actually blame the ATB type system which I did and still do think is absolutely horrible. One of the first JRPGs I tried to...
I will say, as someone who struggled to get into JRPGs for many years, I actually blame the ATB type system which I did and still do think is absolutely horrible. One of the first JRPGs I tried to play was Final Fantasy VII and it put such a bad taste in my mouth that I didn't play another "real" JRPG (not counting something like Paper Mario) for almost another decade when I finally played Chrono Trigger in the mid 2000s. Which funny enough still isn't really turn based.
Going back to play the purely turn based stuff I enjoyed it a lot more. If you're going to make me screw around with a menu and all its intricacies give me time to do it rather than rushing to hit the next command when my meter is full.
I realized a while back that I’m kind of in the same boat. I don’t hate turn based combat, though, I’m just indifferent to it. I have never bought a game because it has turn based combat but have...
I realized a while back that I’m kind of in the same boat. I don’t hate turn based combat, though, I’m just indifferent to it. I have never bought a game because it has turn based combat but have turned many down because of it - though to be fair it’s more because of the assumption that they are time sinks rather than bad gameplay.
My solution was to start looking for the things that I did like about those games and scrutinizing them based on those. The biggest thing for me is story, and that’s honestly a hard thing because it’s hard to judge ahead of time if a story is going to be something you would enjoy. Final Fantasy used to be a pretty good source but the last decade or so has been full of disappointments. This is one of the biggest reasons why I don’t buy games when they are new: I need to see what people are saying about it first.
There are also games where the normal turn based gameplay has been tweaked enough to make it more engaging that I can enjoy for at least half the game, but they have never managed to carry me through the whole thing, and I don’t think from your descriptions that you would find them even that interesting.
You might want to take a 45 degree turn from turn based RPGs to turn based strategy games. I find them much more engaging. Some of them are pure strategy and have little to no story, but I like the strategy RPG genre, where story gets a front seat. Try Shining Force; it’s more RPG-like, and it’s fairly easy and forgiving so it shouldn’t be too frustrating.
Maybe you could try this mobile game I've been getting really into. Its called Slice and Dice. It's a simple turn based battle game. There is no story for the turns to feel like they are keeping...
Maybe you could try this mobile game I've been getting really into. Its called Slice and Dice. It's a simple turn based battle game. There is no story for the turns to feel like they are keeping you from. It's just pure turn based strategy. 20 battles with some random changes each game so you can play it over and over like a rogue-like.
Somehow it's just really well balanced. It has simple low numbers. Like most swords start at 1 damage. Most of your characters have 4-8 hit points. But there are items and modifiers that can stack and make interesting and powerful combinations.
The game tells you exactly what is going to happen each turn. You know what each enemy attack will be before they do it and you can plan your turn to shield their attacks or kill the enemy who is going to do the most damage first. It's similar to "Into the breach" if you know that game, which is a great game as well. But "slice and dice" is even simpler, and so I think plays better on mobile.
It makes turn based combat seem more like a puzzle, and less like just taking turns bludgeoning each other. I found I really started enjoying the game when I stopped trying to kill the enemies ASAP and Instead just took my time looking at all my options and doing whatever felt most clever or efficient. It really rewards patience, I find if I'm playing and feeling frustrated I just put it away and play or do something else. Then come back to the game when I'm calmer and not in a hurry.
Maybe something simple like that could help you find enjoyment in turn based stuff?
I play strategy games more often than RPG's, but in general, pacing can be difficult in turn-based games because the more decisions you have to make, the longer each turn takes. If there are 4...
I play strategy games more often than RPG's, but in general, pacing can be difficult in turn-based games because the more decisions you have to make, the longer each turn takes. If there are 4 characters in your party, there are more decisions to make for them than if there were only one character.
Also, these games tend to assume you want to know what every opposing character did and they use animations to show that. Often, only one action gets shown at a time even though there's a lot of things going on.
To get a faster pace, there need to be fewer decisions. I've played a lot of Compact Combat, which is a simple strategy game with a limited number of moves per turn. More recently I'm getting into Ozymandias, which is somewhat streamlined because it has a "simultaneous moves" dynamic. You schedule what you want to do on your next turn and so does everyone else, and then they all happen at once.
By contrast, Civilization has extraordinarily bad pacing, because you get more units and have to make more decisions per turn as the game progresses, and so does everyone else.
I'm in a similar boat but I got a steam deck and I finally beat a RPG with it because even though it was boring at times I could play at my own speed and leisure and it made it worth my while....
I'm in a similar boat but I got a steam deck and I finally beat a RPG with it because even though it was boring at times I could play at my own speed and leisure and it made it worth my while. Disco elysium and Octopath traveler were the perfect games for me.
I used to imagine it from the perspective of my 10yr old self thinking my chess board pieces have come to life on a game board or if I am playing with action figures, I only have two hands, so I...
I used to imagine it from the perspective of my 10yr old self thinking my chess board pieces have come to life on a game board or if I am playing with action figures, I only have two hands, so I can’t make everyone attack at the same time.
Some Options:
Child of Light - A few have mentioned Chrono Trigger. If you do get around to playing it and enjoy it, or want a shorter game with a similar style combat, then Child of Light could be a game you enjoy. This game is all about trying to manipulate the ATB type system of turn base fighting, to get certain things to happen in certain orders.
Kingdom Hearts - While it does have a story, it’s pretty crazy, but if you really want to break free of the turn base formula, then there’s always Kingdom Hearts if you like Disney or Final Fantasy.
The Banner Saga - This one also adds the top down grid aspect of it. You don’t get a game over if you lose a battle, but instead there can be consequences for failing that will effect the story moving forward.
The World Ends with You - I played this back on the DS, so I am not sure how the ports work. It’s a turn based game where you have two characters fighting at the same time on two screens. You focus is split between both characters during the fights.
Maybe it's just the turn-based RPGs you can't get into, OP. They are a different beast anyway due to the complexity from the RPG layer. If you're talking about turn-based in general, the gateway...
Maybe it's just the turn-based RPGs you can't get into, OP. They are a different beast anyway due to the complexity from the RPG layer.
If you're talking about turn-based in general, the gateway for me was Kikoskia's XCOM playthroughs. Specifically, I think it was one of the Antarctic challenge ones. He played XCOM in a decidedly un-XCOM way that did not look tedious, and that made me want to try it out. Then after XCOM, I had to try other flavors of course, e.g., Civilization-style, Into the Breach, Invisible Inc.
If your issue really is with the turn-based mechanics, maybe a perspective from a different playstyle or different type of turn-based game might help get you into them more?
That's an alarmingly accurate description of turn based strategy and RPG games. I wonder how you feel about turn based board games, since there's not really a way beyond storytelling/imagination...
It’s like a violent game of HORSE, except with weaponry instead of a basketball and I find it difficult to remain immersed.
That's an alarmingly accurate description of turn based strategy and RPG games.
I wonder how you feel about turn based board games, since there's not really a way beyond storytelling/imagination to make them more immersive.
I don't like turn based games. But two things get me into the genre (for some games at least): First is Shadowrun Returns. It has a good detective story that kept me hooked (although most people...
I don't like turn based games. But two things get me into the genre (for some games at least):
First is Shadowrun Returns. It has a good detective story that kept me hooked (although most people would say Dragonfall have the best story in the series) and XCom style combat. I played on the lower difficulty and it'll skew the RNG chance in your favor a lot. Like a 10% sniper chance that I can rely on 50% of the time to be a crit. It doesn't feel good when your 99% attack chance in XCom misses, while in this game's difficulty you would never miss the 99% shot. I still don't like the hacking sections though, and the last game make it a realtime stealth.
Another game I like is the Trails series. It has a series-wide story that span over 10 games now, which is unheard of. The world building is cool - town NPC have their own life story and all of them move around with new dialogue after every major cutscenes. It's full of anime tropes and subversions, including fanservices that get worse in later games (although the last game now make those scenes optional). The JRPG comes with long animation (>20s) for magic spells and ultimates, but the English release adds turbo and skip animation which I always use. The game eliminates grind with catch up system where you'll get large amount of XP if you're behind, and 1 XP if you're far ahead. I think the easy difficulty is perfect for me. Not hand holding or cheat like Shadowrun, while still be challenging.
It sounds like the core combat is your biggest block here, so longer and more in depth stories may not be what you need to start getting into the genre. So instead, I'm gonna turn the focus away...
It sounds like the core combat is your biggest block here, so longer and more in depth stories may not be what you need to start getting into the genre. So instead, I'm gonna turn the focus away from story heavy games to an older game that's almost fully focused on gameplay. In fact, this is the game that got me into turn based RPGs as a kid, and what I think might be worth a try if you haven't already, is the original Paper Mario. I don't know if you have any Nintendo systems or means to play it, but I found the design so fun back then, and so fascinating now.
Yes, it is turn based. The numbers in combat are small and rarely go over 10. The premise is simple and the story is predictable. But it is still one of my favorite RPGs to date. It takes the basics of turn based combat and layers many systems over it to keep players engaged.
The biggest thing is that it implements a system called action commands, so while you are still going to take turns attacking and taking damage, you have agency every time something happens. If you press the A button right before you land a jump attack, you get a second jump attack for free. If you press the A button right before you take damage, you can lower the damage taken by 1. And as you keep playing, new timings and commands are introduced, and enemies will start mixing things up to keep you on your toes.
Since you're having a hard time being engaged with the core combat of modern turn based RPGs, I think Paper Mario can offer a different perspective and show these same basic mechanics in a different light, and maybe you could walk away with a new appreciation for turn based games in general. And while the story may not draw you in like Divinity, it still offers a charming look at a world you may be familiar with, but may not have engaged with.
Of course, there is no true simple solution here, and if the game doesn't sound interesting to you either, well that's fine too, but if you're open and able to I think it's well worth the time.
Maybe you should try some turn-based games where just standing there taking hits is something you must avoid at all costs and not just a regular part of battle, and games where there are no dice...
Maybe you should try some turn-based games where just standing there taking hits is something you must avoid at all costs and not just a regular part of battle, and games where there are no dice rolls.
As for divinity original sin, I highly recommend you play it with a friend or two, bantering and talking about the lore and the moral dilemmas makes it souch more fun. It also adds another...
As for divinity original sin, I highly recommend you play it with a friend or two, bantering and talking about the lore and the moral dilemmas makes it souch more fun.
It also adds another dimension of decision making and nit having all the control in your hands that's more fun IMO
Try some of the older Final Fantasies with the active time battle system, maybe. While it's in normal gameplay effectively turn based, it does add a little bit of pressure and heat that might help...
Try some of the older Final Fantasies with the active time battle system, maybe. While it's in normal gameplay effectively turn based, it does add a little bit of pressure and heat that might help you find it more interesting.
When I find I can't enjoy something after giving it a earnest effort I just don't seek out those play styles anymore. I also am not a huge fan of turn based RPGs so I play action or story driven ones. Nier: Automata, Cyberpunk 2077, Jade Empire (an old one but a favorite of mine), Fallout 3/NV, The Outer Worlds (I know controversial but I enjoyed it).
When I see a game that looks fun but doesn't match my playstyle (Turn based, Horror games, Action Clicker RPGs, etc) I will often just find someone that streams it on Youtube and watch them play. I treat it like I did when I was young watching a friend on sibling play a game.
There's always something to be said for a more kinetic gameplay session. Here's a stupid thought, where are you gaming? When I'm at my desk, over my mouse and keyboard, I don't really often want a slow-turn based game. I want Doom or Squad or something where my exact inputs result in my life or death. If I'm lounging on the couch though, I can get more into slower, methodical games.
Also, since I just finished Xenoblade 3 I feel inclined to shout out Monolithsoft and older Tri-Ace RPGs - positioning and timing play a big part in Xenoblade's combat system. That might break up the monotony of "I hit you, you hit me".
Or, maybe try playing them on an emulator set to 1.5x speed? A lot of time turn based battling can feel like a chore for me because everything has a three second animation attached to it. Like looting in Red Dead 2, it was cool the first few times but just cast fireball dammit.
I've put dozens of hours into Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2, and even I could not get into Pillars. It just doesn't push the same buttons for me.
For me this is pretty obvious .. my headcanon is like this .. :
It takes time for our feeble human brains to understand what's going on, the dice rolls, which attack was chosen etc, it's slow so that we can understand it... but THINK of it happening much faster, there is no "time standing there idle between attacks " - that's the time YOU'RE taking to chose your move or wait for the computer to calculate its next moves ... but in the game world itself, there is no idle space, everything happens like a fight scene in an action movie. (think of the cinematics in DOS2 or BG3)
They just slow everything down so that we can actually play the game and understand it. Imagine if the game could somehow interface directly with your mind ... you wouldn't need it to be "turn based", turns would happen almost instantaneously and it'd play out like an action game or film.
If you can change your headcanon to match this, all of a sudden everything makes sense and the characters aren't just standing there idle being beaten on.
Jade empire was a good one.
"Thousand cuts!"
Yeah, same. I enkoy RPGs but found out over the years that "open world" usually means it's a hard nope from me as I find those to be soulless slogs compared to more focused endeavours because I lack the game time to be able to enjoy the scale of open world games anyways.
And that's fine. Not every genre has to work for me. There's tons of games I like, I don't need CP2077 or Starfield to fill my game time.
That's definitely the case for a lot of open world games for me, but CP2077 was captivating to me, I felt like doing every single major side quest I could before doing the main one... I never felt like I was aimlessly grinding, I barely even used the crafting system mostly out of curiosity.
I can't solve the rest of it, but I can explain the d10 (or whatever number) thing.
A d10 is a 10 sided (d)ie. It's essentially a physical random number generator that will pick a number between 1 and 10, evenly weighted for all options. While there are no actual dice in computer games, it's hearkening back to the table top nature of cRPGs. So if a sword said 1d10+3, you would get a number between 1 and 10, and then add 3 to the result to get your resulting damage, which would end up somewhere between 4 and 14, inclusive. This can be extended to all sorts of scenarios and gets into probabilities. A 1d12 doesn't get you the same distribution as 2d6, for instance, even setting aside the fact that you can never get 1 on a 2d6. So it's exactly the sort of complex system for generating results that it seems you might like?
When you think of it like a board game like chess, then the turn based actions become more understandable. You usually know that the enemy is going to hit back, and when they do, can you take it? Are your support characters going to be okay or are you going to have to keep scraping them off the ground because they are so squishy?
I would recommend to try Persona 5. You don't need to have played the prior games. It has the turn based play, but plenty of action and stimulation to make it not feel like the game drags on slowly. Tons of narrative as well, where it feels more social than your average rpg. The music is also S Tier
I would stay away from Octopath Traveler. It is a top tier product, but it is the exact opposite of what you are looking for. It is a slow grind and in your current state, you would bounce off of it 100%.
I would also stay away from Pokemon. It would likely be under stimulating for you, as it tends to play on the easier side.
I encourage others in this thread to contribute their recommendations.
It isn't just you OP. I desperately want to play Pillars of Eternity, Tyranny, Divinity, and plenty of other Western RPGs because I'm absolutely burnt out on JRPG tropes. I've tried I think 4 times now to play Pillars of Eternity. I can almost recite the Prologue and 1st chapter from memory but damn does the combat suck. I'm also big on controllers for comfortable couch play but the only option for me is to bind keys to the controller, which I'm not above doing and have successfully done for World of Warcraft and Diablo 2 all the way to Hell, or play the switch version. Controls aside, the combat just completely deflates me.
It shouldn't be rocket science to kill wolves and spiders. Before the end of the first chapter I have more skills than I know what to do with and yet somehow, still get my ass kicked by a pack of wolves. And that's with like a party of 4. The screen pauses on combat but by that point I fucked up. What I've learned is I should be scouting and detecting traps and or setting traps up. So there's a whole pre combat stage to this. Then I initiate combat and...the enemies just kind of do whatever. I tell each of my party members where to stand and what to attack and then they get ganged up on, die, miss their attacks, or any number of things. It's grueling. And I can't even understand what's happenings to cause that because the text just scrolls so fast. The story is so good, the voice acting, the set pieces, the music, I want it so bad, but just can't because of the damn combat and I'm on normal!
The Witcher 2 was kind of like that too. The combat was absolutely brutal and I had a rough time even on easy and I play so many rpgs. I just got done playing Wo Long and that game is an excel sheet of numbers and stats before each battlefield! And I'm cool with it! Casually beat it, I love planning my builds and gear, combat is brutal but very enjoyable. Mass Effect was another fun one got through that no problem.
I've even played Eve Online! It's not the numbers that scare me, it's how they're delivered to me. SWKoTOR 1 and 2. Also brutal and unforgiving and yet I got through that multiple times. So it's not the DnD system that bothers me, I've played d
DnD, I get the dice giveth and the dice taketh and everything is about multipliers, the more dice you roll, the better you're doing, that and how many modifiers you have. Ideally, you want skills that synergize with your highest stats because then you roll tons of dice and add to the total and that's how you control the effect of randomness.
But holy shit pillars of eternity kills me. I just got Baldurs Gate 3 and I'm going in blind. It takes a controller out the gate which is nice so I'm going to give it my best effort and see how it goes.
I grew up on MUDs. Love them. Did very well in them and yet some of these RPGs just rub me the wrong way.
Maybe it's if I don't detect a trap and roll up with my squad and then everyone dies while the screen pauses and unpauses and I can't do anything about it? Idk.
I know this isn't really the advice you're looking for, but there are a lot of games I'm interested in for the story, the ideas, or the aesthetic, but that I find very boring to actually play, or too difficult to play. So I watch playthroughs of those games instead, or watch videos that explain the story and themes in depth.
Now that I think of it, I used to do a similar thing when I was a kid - I loved X-Men but I never liked reading comic books (plus it's pretty intimidating to approach the giant collections of X-Men comics at this point) so I got a big book that was just profiles of every X-Men character ever, with details about their background, their powers, which comics they appeared in, and what other characters they were connected to. To this day, I know some extremely weird, niche facts about X-Men and the many storylines, that I probably never would've known had I just tried reading the comics from the start. Sometimes summaries/alternative formats are great!
Anyway, turn-based games and anything resembling DnD are mind-numbingly boring to me as well. I'm all about being open-minded and trying new things, but once I've given something a good shot and it's just not right, I find there is little point in trying to force it.
Being ADHD, I have some specific difficulties with turn based games.
The main ones are the (for me) enormous, repeated transitions and/or dead time in combat.
Here's how JRPG combat usually goes:
Multiplied by the number of people in your party and the amount of enemies, with plenty of repetition. And there's usually a lot of combat.
In comparison, even MUDs (text MMOs) are way more dynamic.
It's rough.
I can understand combat. I just wish there was an option to play these games at a faster pace without transitions and animations. Just give me the fluff on critical hits or something.
I love reading this viewpoint. As a (terrible) gamer that was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, I found the opposite to be true for me. I used to play a lot of turn-based games in my youth, but realize when I picked up Baldurs Gate 3 that it’d probably been at least 15 years since I’d last played one. I quickly realized why I loved them as the formulaic battle structure calms my brain a lot.
I completely understand your point and it could just as easily have had the same impact on me, but something about requiring the focus to think of battles in terms of being rube goldberg machine of IFTTT cause and effect hits all the right buttons for me. The “downside” is that in turn-based games, I’m 100% thinking about the game and story mechanics behind-the-scenes from start to finish whereas anything not turn-based, I’m more in the story or role-playing seat. All enjoyable to me, but I can imagine that’s would be a detractor for some.
I really don't mind the mechanics, but rather the fluff -- needless animations and transitions that repeat hundreds of times throughout the game.
I find that a lot of the "new retro" style games (think Octopath Traveller) tend to only feature short animations. You might like those kinds of games a bit more.
Japanese games are the worst for this. I absolutely loathe when their spoken sentences have a second pause every time.
Western games tend to fix those dead air problems.
A lot of turn based games have buffed out the scuffs. For example Final Fantasy has gone full action gameplay at this point but before it did it had already moved away further and further from pure turn-based combat for many many years, and many remasters come with fast forward buttons to rip through slow combat (Dragon Quest XI S included this for example).
Might help if you have something to watch/listen to in the background? I have ADHD, and basically need to have something to do while watching videos on YouTube. Turn-based game are good for that since you can let your attention drift back to the screen while doing battles without worrying about getting killed while distracted.
I was about to suggest that, I play mainly JRPGs(not always turn based though) and generally have a video playing while playing. I find the genre great for multitasking in general.
I can assure you that I don't think that will happen. At least not from me. I've got an ADHD diagnosis and I love turn based games for the tactical gameplay. I can let the brain run free on the possible steps I can take and options I have to my disposal. ADHD manifests different enough for everyone that such labels are frustrating at best and harmful at worst.
Also ADHD. I used to love turn-based RPGs because even though the combat is starting and stopping, you're constantly adapting to changing circumstances and need to keep planning your next set of moves. Even though there's not a lot of urgency with reacting to what's going on, there's still stimulation in figuring out what you're going to do.
At least there used to be for me. The last couple turn-based games I played left me feeling pretty hollow with the repetition of either grinding out the same handful of mobs in an area or spending forever on a boss fight where you figure out the solution but it takes forever due to HP size.
Yeah, games like Bravely Default let you turn up (or down) experience gain and random encounters, so you can grind levels for a bit and then go turn off the random encounters and get on with the story.
That or emulators (or the modern FFVII port) have speed up built in. Just hold a button and all those animations are three times faster.
Some games do thankfully give you the option to remove these. The only one that is easily coming to mind is Advance Wars, which I guess falls under the Strategy Role Playing Games category.
Admittedly I only have the information you’ve provided us, but from your post alone I would suggest that maybe they aren’t actually up your alley? There’s a wide variety of RPGs with rich narratives that aren’t turn-based so it may just be this play style just isn’t for you. And that’s ok! I love narrative driven games, but I also know that visual novel type games are not for me, for example.
Turn-based games are a different type of strategy than real-time. Instead of developing the skills to block an attack in real time, for example, you have to plan for the fact that your enemy will have the turn to damage you every time. One might make an argument that real-time is boring because once you know dodge, there’s no challenge. It’s also possible that if you find yourself quitting within a few hours, maybe you’re not progressing past the “tutorial” encounters that are more geared towards introducing the player to the concept turn-based battles and haven’t reached more strategic encounters that will stimulate you more and appear less boring.
That said, I feel that if you’ve tried that many games and still find yourself not feeling engaged, life’s too short to force enjoyment when there’s so many other options that can tick the boxes of what already know you like. Or maybe your brain really is trying to get you into woodworking in which case, we welcome you to come join the fun!
EDIT: I could have sworn when I first read your post that you mentioned you found your mind wandering to “Should I pick up woodworking?” instead of focusing on the game because you kept getting too bored.
Ha, no worries at all. Worst case scenario is that if I was crazy, my crazy mind was thinking about my workshop and that doesn’t sound too terrible to me.
For those really interesting RPGs with turn-based combat, I honestly just cheat. Pillars of Eternity (1 and 2), Tyranny, Divinity, etc.
I generally really get into the settings and storytelling of games, and combat mechanics can sometimes add to that, but it can often detract just as easily. I'm in my late 30s, have a kid and a mortgage, and time is limited, so I'm not ashamed to cheat.
If it's combat with a random mob, I'll shamelessly turn on one-hit kill and max initiative, clear the fight, and get on with the game.
That's honestly not a bad idea.
There are some games where you have to be clever about how you cheat though, because some can get you trapped into bad situations - FF8, for instance, has enemies that scale in difficulty as you level up, so you can't just cheat your way into level 99 and breeze through it.
It also will make dungeons boring at best, which could make the game less fun to you. Depends on how you view it, I suppose.
I like how Chrono Trigger handled turn based combat.
Each party member has a progress bar that must fill before they take an action. So one party member can be ready to attack or use a spell or item while others might still be charging. And if you have multiple party members ready, they can team up with one another for combination attacks.
Definitely my favorite RPG of the 16-bit era.
If you don't like turn based combat there is nothing anyone can say to change that.
My advice is to play on easiest mode and straight up install cheats/trainers when possible so you can skip combat as much as you can and just enjoy the story.
I don't like action combat, so that's exactly what I did, for example for Witcher 3. I enjoyed the story, the exploration, the characters progression.... And just cheated my way through combat. No regrets.
The number before the D is the number of dices thrown. The number after the D is how many sides the dices have. So 2D6 is throwing two normal dices (with six sides) resulting in a value from 2 to 12.
Here is a photo of the dices available, with 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 20 sides. It's sort of a weird system, which is pretty much kept around for tabletop nostalgia.
Anyway, here's four turnbased I personally liked:
Jupiter Hell is a simplified traditional roguelike, with heavy inspiration from Doom. (it couldn't call itself Doom because, you know, copyright) it got the random hit chance, but still, this is one of the most badass turnbased out there.
Inscryption is a card game / board game with fair but brutal rules and an extremly creepy feel.
Spacechem Insanely deep chemistry-themed puzzle game where you must invent your own solutions. Crazy hard and crazy immersive.
Into the Breach Turn-based strategy simplified down to a playfield at the size of a chess board and no random hit chance. You're able to see how your enemy is going to counter-attack, something which grants quite a bit of depth. A lot of times, the turns feels like a hard but moderately fair puzzle.
I'd actually consider Into the Breach more of a puzzle game than a strategy game, since it's pretty insistent on you achieving an optimal run.
It's fun, though, so it's still a good recommendation.
Into the breech was the first thing I thought of since it solves most of OPs problems with turn based games.
Enemy moves are telegraphed so you don't have that helpless feeling of just watching them do something. Plus there's very little randomness. You pretty much always know exactly what will happen and why.
Well, all games have their abstractions in service of the overarching goals of their systems. It's ridiculous in a cover shooter, for instance, that your damage will heal over time if you go for long enough without getting shot, and that you can tank so many more bullets than the NPC baddies. But the cover shooter game wants you to have fun shooting, the intent is to challenge your aim and your reflexes in short bursts without bogging you down with managing an inventory of healing items or whatever. So regenerating health it is!
Same for turn-based games. The character isn't REALLY sitting there waiting to get whaled on (though I'm sure this is obvious to you, haha), it's an abstraction of the action because the system intentionally removes reflexes as a factor. This allows for potentially complex systems, and for me that's the fun part: at the core of it most turn-based games are basically big logic engines of interacting rules, and the test is choosing the right action to make the most progress towards winning. You have to see how the rules to resolve around your choice and how the opponents make their choices in order to understand the state of the battle - that's the key to predicting what choice will lead to the best outcome.
On writing this I've realised it might be a bit like reading a book versus watching a movie in a theatre. With a book you can stop whenever you want to look something up, and you have to fill in the actiony gaps a bit with your imagination.
First of all d10 is literally calling out a dice roll of a 10 sided die. A lot of times you will see two numbers around the "d" for instance 3d4, 3d6 or 2d10 each of those represent rolling 3 four side dice, 3 six sided dice, or 2 ten sided dice respectively.
Now to actually getting in to turn based games. Sarting out with a game that is psuedo turn based might ease you in to the genre. Maybe a game that uses an ATB (active time battle) system would help with the feeling of just waiting for the enemy to do their thing then responding. In an ATB system there is a time bar which progresses and actions can be made after a certain amount of time. That's not a great description but it will probably be easier to understand if you just watch a video about it. Several of the final fantasy games use this system. They tend to be quite long though so I would recommend starting out with something like "Child of Light". While you are still ultimately just waiting for your turn there is a bit more nuance to it.
You could also try something like "Dragon Age: Inquisition" which can be played in real time or paused and played more as a turn based game. You can start out playing it more as an action game but when things start to get a little crazy you can pause the game and play it almost as a turn based game where it will be easier to set up something a bit more tactical.
Hopefully you can find something that will make it click for you because there are awesome stories in some turn based games. Like you mentioned though it might just not be for you. There's plenty of other games and media out there and it's not worth spending your time on something you just dont enjoy. Good luck.
I will say, as someone who struggled to get into JRPGs for many years, I actually blame the ATB type system which I did and still do think is absolutely horrible. One of the first JRPGs I tried to play was Final Fantasy VII and it put such a bad taste in my mouth that I didn't play another "real" JRPG (not counting something like Paper Mario) for almost another decade when I finally played Chrono Trigger in the mid 2000s. Which funny enough still isn't really turn based.
Going back to play the purely turn based stuff I enjoyed it a lot more. If you're going to make me screw around with a menu and all its intricacies give me time to do it rather than rushing to hit the next command when my meter is full.
I realized a while back that I’m kind of in the same boat. I don’t hate turn based combat, though, I’m just indifferent to it. I have never bought a game because it has turn based combat but have turned many down because of it - though to be fair it’s more because of the assumption that they are time sinks rather than bad gameplay.
My solution was to start looking for the things that I did like about those games and scrutinizing them based on those. The biggest thing for me is story, and that’s honestly a hard thing because it’s hard to judge ahead of time if a story is going to be something you would enjoy. Final Fantasy used to be a pretty good source but the last decade or so has been full of disappointments. This is one of the biggest reasons why I don’t buy games when they are new: I need to see what people are saying about it first.
There are also games where the normal turn based gameplay has been tweaked enough to make it more engaging that I can enjoy for at least half the game, but they have never managed to carry me through the whole thing, and I don’t think from your descriptions that you would find them even that interesting.
You might want to take a 45 degree turn from turn based RPGs to turn based strategy games. I find them much more engaging. Some of them are pure strategy and have little to no story, but I like the strategy RPG genre, where story gets a front seat. Try Shining Force; it’s more RPG-like, and it’s fairly easy and forgiving so it shouldn’t be too frustrating.
Maybe you could try this mobile game I've been getting really into. Its called Slice and Dice. It's a simple turn based battle game. There is no story for the turns to feel like they are keeping you from. It's just pure turn based strategy. 20 battles with some random changes each game so you can play it over and over like a rogue-like.
Somehow it's just really well balanced. It has simple low numbers. Like most swords start at 1 damage. Most of your characters have 4-8 hit points. But there are items and modifiers that can stack and make interesting and powerful combinations.
The game tells you exactly what is going to happen each turn. You know what each enemy attack will be before they do it and you can plan your turn to shield their attacks or kill the enemy who is going to do the most damage first. It's similar to "Into the breach" if you know that game, which is a great game as well. But "slice and dice" is even simpler, and so I think plays better on mobile.
It makes turn based combat seem more like a puzzle, and less like just taking turns bludgeoning each other. I found I really started enjoying the game when I stopped trying to kill the enemies ASAP and Instead just took my time looking at all my options and doing whatever felt most clever or efficient. It really rewards patience, I find if I'm playing and feeling frustrated I just put it away and play or do something else. Then come back to the game when I'm calmer and not in a hurry.
Maybe something simple like that could help you find enjoyment in turn based stuff?
I play strategy games more often than RPG's, but in general, pacing can be difficult in turn-based games because the more decisions you have to make, the longer each turn takes. If there are 4 characters in your party, there are more decisions to make for them than if there were only one character.
Also, these games tend to assume you want to know what every opposing character did and they use animations to show that. Often, only one action gets shown at a time even though there's a lot of things going on.
To get a faster pace, there need to be fewer decisions. I've played a lot of Compact Combat, which is a simple strategy game with a limited number of moves per turn. More recently I'm getting into Ozymandias, which is somewhat streamlined because it has a "simultaneous moves" dynamic. You schedule what you want to do on your next turn and so does everyone else, and then they all happen at once.
By contrast, Civilization has extraordinarily bad pacing, because you get more units and have to make more decisions per turn as the game progresses, and so does everyone else.
I'm in a similar boat but I got a steam deck and I finally beat a RPG with it because even though it was boring at times I could play at my own speed and leisure and it made it worth my while. Disco elysium and Octopath traveler were the perfect games for me.
I used to imagine it from the perspective of my 10yr old self thinking my chess board pieces have come to life on a game board or if I am playing with action figures, I only have two hands, so I can’t make everyone attack at the same time.
Some Options:
Child of Light - A few have mentioned Chrono Trigger. If you do get around to playing it and enjoy it, or want a shorter game with a similar style combat, then Child of Light could be a game you enjoy. This game is all about trying to manipulate the ATB type system of turn base fighting, to get certain things to happen in certain orders.
Kingdom Hearts - While it does have a story, it’s pretty crazy, but if you really want to break free of the turn base formula, then there’s always Kingdom Hearts if you like Disney or Final Fantasy.
The Banner Saga - This one also adds the top down grid aspect of it. You don’t get a game over if you lose a battle, but instead there can be consequences for failing that will effect the story moving forward.
The World Ends with You - I played this back on the DS, so I am not sure how the ports work. It’s a turn based game where you have two characters fighting at the same time on two screens. You focus is split between both characters during the fights.
Maybe it's just the turn-based RPGs you can't get into, OP. They are a different beast anyway due to the complexity from the RPG layer.
If you're talking about turn-based in general, the gateway for me was Kikoskia's XCOM playthroughs. Specifically, I think it was one of the Antarctic challenge ones. He played XCOM in a decidedly un-XCOM way that did not look tedious, and that made me want to try it out. Then after XCOM, I had to try other flavors of course, e.g., Civilization-style, Into the Breach, Invisible Inc.
If your issue really is with the turn-based mechanics, maybe a perspective from a different playstyle or different type of turn-based game might help get you into them more?
That's an alarmingly accurate description of turn based strategy and RPG games.
I wonder how you feel about turn based board games, since there's not really a way beyond storytelling/imagination to make them more immersive.
I don't like turn based games. But two things get me into the genre (for some games at least):
First is Shadowrun Returns. It has a good detective story that kept me hooked (although most people would say Dragonfall have the best story in the series) and XCom style combat. I played on the lower difficulty and it'll skew the RNG chance in your favor a lot. Like a 10% sniper chance that I can rely on 50% of the time to be a crit. It doesn't feel good when your 99% attack chance in XCom misses, while in this game's difficulty you would never miss the 99% shot. I still don't like the hacking sections though, and the last game make it a realtime stealth.
Another game I like is the Trails series. It has a series-wide story that span over 10 games now, which is unheard of. The world building is cool - town NPC have their own life story and all of them move around with new dialogue after every major cutscenes. It's full of anime tropes and subversions, including fanservices that get worse in later games (although the last game now make those scenes optional). The JRPG comes with long animation (>20s) for magic spells and ultimates, but the English release adds turbo and skip animation which I always use. The game eliminates grind with catch up system where you'll get large amount of XP if you're behind, and 1 XP if you're far ahead. I think the easy difficulty is perfect for me. Not hand holding or cheat like Shadowrun, while still be challenging.
It sounds like the core combat is your biggest block here, so longer and more in depth stories may not be what you need to start getting into the genre. So instead, I'm gonna turn the focus away from story heavy games to an older game that's almost fully focused on gameplay. In fact, this is the game that got me into turn based RPGs as a kid, and what I think might be worth a try if you haven't already, is the original Paper Mario. I don't know if you have any Nintendo systems or means to play it, but I found the design so fun back then, and so fascinating now.
Yes, it is turn based. The numbers in combat are small and rarely go over 10. The premise is simple and the story is predictable. But it is still one of my favorite RPGs to date. It takes the basics of turn based combat and layers many systems over it to keep players engaged.
The biggest thing is that it implements a system called action commands, so while you are still going to take turns attacking and taking damage, you have agency every time something happens. If you press the A button right before you land a jump attack, you get a second jump attack for free. If you press the A button right before you take damage, you can lower the damage taken by 1. And as you keep playing, new timings and commands are introduced, and enemies will start mixing things up to keep you on your toes.
Since you're having a hard time being engaged with the core combat of modern turn based RPGs, I think Paper Mario can offer a different perspective and show these same basic mechanics in a different light, and maybe you could walk away with a new appreciation for turn based games in general. And while the story may not draw you in like Divinity, it still offers a charming look at a world you may be familiar with, but may not have engaged with.
Of course, there is no true simple solution here, and if the game doesn't sound interesting to you either, well that's fine too, but if you're open and able to I think it's well worth the time.
Maybe you should try some turn-based games where just standing there taking hits is something you must avoid at all costs and not just a regular part of battle, and games where there are no dice rolls.
Vactics and Into the Breach are two of my favorite such games.
As for divinity original sin, I highly recommend you play it with a friend or two, bantering and talking about the lore and the moral dilemmas makes it souch more fun.
It also adds another dimension of decision making and nit having all the control in your hands that's more fun IMO
Try some of the older Final Fantasies with the active time battle system, maybe. While it's in normal gameplay effectively turn based, it does add a little bit of pressure and heat that might help you find it more interesting.