So Which Battle System is really the best?

[Jecht]

I wasn't quite sure where to put this but what the hell. Out of every single final fantasy (not including kingdom hearts) which had the better battle system? FFX-2's ATB? FFX's Strict turn system? FF7's...um...well you remember ff7's battle sytem. :D

[Aeris_Fan]

I personally preffered the likes of FF7 and FFX-2 where every character had acess to every spell/move (or nearly every one) whether it be through materia or Dressspheres etc. In others games like FF9 and FFX, where characters played specific roles (white mage, summoner, black amge, etc) you became reliant on certain characters more than others, making it a bit monotonous, and sometimes forcing you to use characters you dont like.

[Dragon]

I found FFVII and FFX the best because you could make any character into anything really. I thought that the sphere grid was the best way of leveling up if only it had been mixed with levels so that characters had stat improvements no matter what.

I thought however that the FFVIII GF system for summoning was very clever with the way you had skills from your guardian forces although it irritated me that the monsters increased in level with you.

I think that a combination of several types would be the best however with job systems and stat increments summons etc.

A very interesting thread though. Suprised it doesn't already exist though.

[Snuzzguzler]

I like the way the ATB is in FFX-2, beucase its less turn-based style, and I like it in FFIX that certain characters can only have certain abilities, becuase in FFX now I NEVER use Lulu because Yuna knows all her spells and shes stronger....

[Spikey-Haired-Lad]

I liked the way the ATB worked in FFX-2, I thought that it made battles and the game alot more interesting. The chain damage was a brilliant idea! The only thing I didn't like was the Limit Breaks I thought they were a bit lame.

I would like to see what FFVII or FFVIII would be like with a battle system like that. Anyone else think it would be good?

Also to anybody who's played on them, but do's anyone think that the FFX-2 ATB is similar to the Grandia series ATB?

[Exodus]

I liked FF8's battle system. The way you could set up abilities, draw magic, and the junction system were all very impressive. Limits were also a lot easier to get in FF8 and were very powerful (relied on Renzokuken a lot). I also like how you never run out of MP, even though your spells are still based on quanity, it does give you a bit of an edge. Also the fact enemies level up with you makes it a bit more difficult and therefore more fun, of course if you're low level and have powerful spells junction, you pretty much own.

[Jecht]

My personal favourite is FFX. It just seems a lot simpler than that of FFVII or especially VIII. When I started playing FFVIII it just overwhelmed me. Thats why I never got further than the 1st disc.

[Serpentine]

Final fantasy VIII has my favorite junction system. I lke it cause since you can customize the characters pretty much equally it doesn/t really matter who you have in your party for how strong you are. Also the summoning system is my favorite it makes you actually use the the summons in some way. In most of the other games you could go through the game without even getting a summon except FFX of course.

[Iselyn]

I'm going to go against the fan favorite and say IX. I loved the battle and level system in that game. I enjoy when the characters can only learn certain abilities; it makes it more fun when you can't power up your characters to ungodly proportions and have them learn every ability.

Plus, I really loved learning abilities in that game. i would go out of my way to buy and synth every item I could just to learn new abiliities.

[V_Translanka]

Tactics, duh. That game was all about it's awesome battle system...as SRPGs should be, of course! Most of the main series was more of the same w/little tweaks here and there...

[Enemy Airship]

I really liked FFVII and FFX's respective battle systems.

For some reason the utmost simplicity of the materia system was great. I think there's a lot of room for strategy in there if you really care about your materia. You can't always equip your best weapons straight away if you are interested in levelling it up. It might also affect your choice of which weapon to use later on if it doesn't have enough slots. There was room for some highly interesting combinations too. How I wished there was just one weapon with a triple joined slot!

As for Final Fantasy X, I loved the fact that you could switch party members in battle. I think that's been sorely missed from most FF games. The list on the side of the screen that told you whose turn it was in battle also really helped you come up with strategies to beat certain enemies. It sort of disguised the fact that it was still a turn based system. (Sort of)

One criticism of both is that all characters have the potential to become homogenised and use the same attacks. But so what?

I enjoyed FFVIII and I think it meant you couldn't be an absolute powerhouse who was immune to everything by the end of the game, but with a little bit of drawing at the beginning, you could turn your characters into really powerful killing machines pretty early on. As for FFIX, I think that's the worst battle system I've ever seen.

[Quina]

I'm going to go against the fan favorite and say IX. I loved the battle and level system in that game. I enjoy when the characters can only learn certain abilities; it makes it more fun when you can't power up your characters to ungodly proportions and have them learn every ability.

Plus, I really loved learning abilities in that game. i would go out of my way to buy and synth every item I could just to learn new abiliities.
Fo Sho

[wareye]

i realy liked FFX-2 job system you can use the one patch garment grid and use the special sphere at the next turn. peace of cake!

[Tine]

Hmm, I like all the battle systems. They all have their posotive and negative points. Except FF IX, that just let the game down for me.

FF VII had the Materia system, which I do enjoy. It gives a feeling of customisation that other games just can't dish out. FF VIII had the brilliant but "complicated-looking" junction system, which I found enjoyable but VII still tops it. FF IX was bad, the ATB in battles was unbeleivably slow at first. The character's ability system is what I find most annoying; I found it too constrictive in the fact that you had to use certain players for certain abilities etc. FF X had the sphere grid which I found almost limitless, although your characters would start to learn the same moves and attacks so using different teams of characters after a heavy amount of training would prove pointless. FF X-2 I really enjoyed, as it returned to FF's job/class routes, and gave a feeling of varitey and fun. I thought that X-2 was simpler to use that previous FF instalments. Why I don't know.

[Quina]

Hmm, I like all the battle systems. They all have their posotive and negative points. Except FF IX, that just let the game down for me.

FF VII had the Materia system, which I do enjoy. It gives a feeling of customisation that other games just can't dish out. FF VIII had the brilliant but "complicated-looking" junction system, which I found enjoyable but VII still tops it. FF IX was bad, the ATB in battles was unbeleivably slow at first. The character's ability system is what I find most annoying; I found it too constrictive in the fact that you had to use certain players for certain abilities etc. FF X had the sphere grid which I found almost limitless, although your characters would start to learn the same moves and attacks so using different teams of characters after a heavy amount of training would prove pointless. FF X-2 I really enjoyed, as it returned to FF's job/class routes, and gave a feeling of varitey and fun. I thought that X-2 was simpler to use that previous FF instalments. Why I don't know.
So you don't like FFIX's system because each character is original? :confused:

[NMK]

FFIX , dont know why but I liked it, looks like im the only one who thinks that :D

[V_Translanka]

What sets FFIX's battle system apart from, say, FFVI? FFVII? Just that your characters are limited to one specific ability set? Then is it different from FFIV? Oh, it has the limit breaks from FFVI & FFVII, right...>_> It's obviously the best...

AVERAGE'D

[Azu's Shadow]

I liked FFX's battle system because you know when your oppenents turn is and when to heal and/or overdrive.

[Lina]

I loved VII. Materia was awesome and fun. It was pretty easy to get an idea of how to use it, and once you did, you could create extremely effective characters.

I'm really liking XII a lot too. You can have anyone do anything, it's more engaging, and you can switch party members.