Chess
Worms. Literally any Worms title.
Additionally: Transistor
Hogs of War
Turn based is almost exclusively what I enjoy. I don’t need high octane action. I prefer to drink my coffee and solve the combat puzzle
Hell yes. Final Fantasy 6. Fallout 1 & 2. Just a couple off the top of my head. This question is weird.
Yes, I’m a huge Final Fantasy fan and turn-based is what I started out with when I first started gaming. My favorite FF game (and video game of all time) is Final Fantasy X, and I remember playing late one night and falling asleep mid-boss battle. Waking up two hours later for the boss patiently waiting for me to kill it was quite nice, ngl.
Also Clair Obscur. I didn’t shut up about that game all last year. It’s just so good, especially for those who prioritize story in video games!
Right now, I guess Pokémon counts?
I used to enjoy an Angry Birds spin-off called “Epic”, that was one of the better ones.
Divinity Original Sin. Old 80s RPGs
wizardry on the apple II
Divinity: Original Sin 2. Combat system isn’t perfect (my main criticism is that you can unchain your characters to set your party members up in advantageous positions and then trigger combat, which feels cheaty) but it has some cool mechanics. A lot of elemental interactions, interactions with and creation of different surfaces, factoring in high ground for an advantage, etc. I know BG3 is highly acclaimed also by Larian but I haven’t played it so can’t attest to that combat system.
Lately I have been really enjoying mewgenics. Very deep game
Transistor has an interesting real-time/turn based combat system. You move around in real time, the set your attacks and movement for the attack phase, then back to realtime controls again while the meter for your next turn charges up.
Not to mention the depth of weapon combinations you can put together; it’s one of my favorite games. Might be time for another playthrough.
Oh, forgot about that one! It’s so worth it, even if only for the story. The combat is also super well done.
With the exception of MMOs, I very nearly play exclusively turn-based games.
The Xcom is the obvious answer, but also a big fan of the card games Slay the Spire/Monster Train. I’ve loved all of the older final fantasy games but found the action based newer ones like 15 grating.
I’m not usually a fan of turn based combat, but some games that stuck with me from the design point were Mechabellum (if that counts as turn based? It is a (really cool) autobattler), and Into The Breach.
Mechabellum is such a fun game to learn and figure out, and then you watch the battle unfold while thinking about the next steps.
Into The Breach because it tells you what will exactly happen, so it’s more of a puzzle - you don’t have to learn the enemy to know what they can do, and can just play it reactively. And that’s a cool twist. Perspnally not a fan of gating strategy behing a wall of knowledge (i.e TCGs, or Pokemon - if you don’t know the enemy cards/moves, you’re basically playing blind).
I usually don’t like turn-based combat at all, but I still enjoyed Clair Obscur, simply because it’s an amazing game otherwise. I found the battles to be a bit repetitive after a while, but it was still kinda fun.
