Mine would either be Tales of Vesperia or The World Ends With You. I’m more of an ARPG kinda guy.
Honorable Mention: Baten Kaitos/Baten Kaitos Origins. An often overlooked gem
Thus far, I think the best system I’ve seen has been the Growlanser system. It’s more of an SRPG than anything, and the different objectives you have throughout the game reflect that quite well(some missions have you run from a level 40 enemy when you’re probably level 15 or so). The only time I felt it got annoying, admittedly, was when you tried to attack a soldier who was attacking someone else who was trying to run away(ex: A –> B –> C –>). So many things I think they did right in that…I’d love to see it implemented more often, honestly.
Record of Agarest War seems to be another interesting gem…but I have to give it more playtime to confirm that.
For Party… FFXII…
They are the first ones that came to my mind. xD
but i’m lazy
i also liked zone of the enders: fist of mars. it’s turn based strategy with something of a ‘locator’ system in battles to get good hits.
Sakura Wars – So long my love (ps2) (I freakin’ love this system)
Shadow Hearts
Luminous Arc 1 + 2
The story… isn’t all that good but the battle system kept me playing. That combo system and everything? Man, that was fun.
I like SRPGs, but there aren’t really any in particular that stand out for combat system… Anyone know of a good one that isn’t too same-ish?
I’m playing through DQIX right now and I think the coup de graces and the coop de graces are really cool. I think that that kind of addition really makes it stand out among turn-based rpgs.
Star Ocean- The Second Story, Grandia, Evolution Worlds and Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom.
Seriously though, the Tales series have awesome battle systems. Eternal Sonata is neat too for something different. Then there are the Final Fantasy series of which X is the standout for me. Liked that you could switch party members in and out during the battle. The Sphere Grid probably made it better too as you were constantly unlocking new options to use in battles.
Getting monsters/demons to JOIN YOU?
Fuck-Yeah!
1. No random encounter, you can see the enemy and battle takes place IN the field. Some enemy can be avoided, but some can’t – it’s really a balanced encounter, I guess 😛
2. Single, Double & Triple tech!
3. Also use ATB (Active Time Battle system) – You can even choose active or wait battle system 😀