Opinion Fest 2009: Best Battle System

Though it is rare for an RPG to be remembered for its battle system only, a good battle system can push a good game into greatness, while a poor battle system can drive away fans. This year’s Best Battle System award recognizes those games that made monster killing both fun and interesting.

Honorable Mention: Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier – Banpresto, Atlus – Nintendo DS

Besides the copious fanservice, Endless Frontier is really only notable for its battle system. Giving players the opportunity to unleash a flurry of gravity defying attacks, and encouraging them to prevent their enemies from ever being able to touch the ground again is surprisingly entertaining. With wonderfully animated sprites and cool-looking attacks, Endless Saga’s battle system never got old for me, though almost everything else eventually wore out its welcome.

3rd: Magna Carta II – Softmax, Namco Bandai – Xbox 360

As I previously mentioned, Magna Carta II has made a huge effort to correct the issues of its previous title, the main problem being its battle system. Unlike Tears of Blood, Magna Carta II leans more on the side of an action-RPG, giving the player full control of all party members. However, unlike most action-RPGs, characters cannot attack indefinitely, forcing the player to either wait for their character to “cool down” or, ideally, chain attacks with other party members.

Magna Carta II succeeds at creating a battle system that is both dynamic and strategic, adding plenty of variety for players who prefer to change things up with multiple fighting styles, special attacks, and magic spells. The only thing that holds it back is the sometimes “clunky” feeling that comes with the turn-based elements.

2nd: Muramasa: The Demon Blade – Vanillaware, Ignition – Nintendo Wii

Unlike Vanillaware’s previous action-RPG, Odin Sphere, Muramasa is distinctly focused on combat over story, and it shows. Even with no experience going into the game, the player will be able to easily pull off elaborate combos and special moves, sending enemies flying in all directions.

Muramasa does an impeccable job of making the player feel awesome about his or her skills (or even lack thereof). With multiple weapons, tons of different combo variations, and over-the-top awesome special moves, Muramasa’s battle system continues to be fun, even once you realize there’s not much story to back it up.

1st: Star Ocean: The Last Hope – tri-Ace, Square Enix – Xbox 360

While tri-Ace may not always tell the best story in the business, they have proven many times over that they know how to make RPG combat (typically remembered for its monotony) fresh, fast, and fun. Star Ocean 4, while perhaps not their most innovative battle system, gives the player so much variety and strategy, while simultaneously cranking up the speed, it’s hard to really hold anything else up in comparison this year.

If jumping behind a giant dragon robot, pummeling it with a sword, punching it up into the air, shooting it millions of times over, blowing it up with an eruption of fire, then sending a flaming hell beast to rip its face off is wrong, frankly, I don’t want to be right.