Best Turn-Based RPGs With Action Mechanics

Summary

• Action prompts in turn-based RPGs add real-time elements, keeping players engaged and on their toes.
• Games like Lost Odyssey and Sea of Stars blend timing-based action commands to enhance combat experiences.
• Unique combat mechanics like reflex-based dodging and timing inputs make games like Clair Obscur stand out in the genre.

Typically, turn-based RPGs are a somewhat slow affair. The engagement comes not from fast-paced action and quick reflexes, but from careful strategic planning, finding enemy weaknesses to exploit and synergizing the abilities of different party members. It can be quite thrilling when done well, but it's rarely as intense as a good Dark Souls boss or a high-stakes Mario Kart race.

Some RPGs take strides to prevent this, however. For many years, a select subgenre of turn-based RPGs has slipped action prompts and real-time combat elements into the combat to keep things a bit more engaging. The tactical considerations of the genre remain, but now fans also must stay on their toes to potentially parry an attack or hit a timing-based prompt for extra damage. These RPGs do the best job at keeping players engaged even after they've chosen their move for the turn.

9 Super Mario RPG: Legend Of The Seven Stars

A Change In Venue

Mario's first appearance in the RPG genre was also a trailblazer in the field of active turn-based combat. As Mario and his allies battle the sinister Smithy and his cronies, they'll do so through strategic turn-based combat. Timed button presses appear whenever a character attacks or uses an item or special move, and executing these button presses properly enhances their effectiveness.

Mario would go on to have a long and illustrious history in the turn-based RPG genre, and this added action flourish would persist in a wide variety of forms. Paper Mario and the Mario & Luigi games have their own takes on this mechanic, but many other RPGs have picked up the tradition as well.

8 Lost Odyssey

Claiming The Brass Ring

This 2008 RPG used the gameplay conventions of the turn-based RPG genre to experiment with the kinds of stories such a game could tell. Along the way, however, the developers also made some striking changes to the turn-based formula. Actions in Lost Odyssey each have their own timing to them; there's a delay between when the character chooses to attack and when the attack lands.

Once an attack or ability does occur, Lost Odyssey features timing-based inputs to keep players on their toes. Fans must line up some concentric circles in order to enhance the effectiveness of their actions in combat. These two systems together keep players invested in their decisions in combat, and make fights that much more engaging.

7 Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Adventures Through Inner Space

Bowser's Inside Story is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the Mario & Luigi franchise, and its premise certainly stands out. This game sees the heroic plumbers get inhaled by Bowser, only to aid him in secret from within as he challenges the sinister Fawful for control of the Mushroom Kingdom.

In combat, players control Mario, Luigi, and Bowser all together. During his fights, Bowser can inhale enemies and send them down to Mario and Luigi, who must battle them inside Bowser while he contends with other foes using his trademark fire breath. In true Mario & Luigi fashion, timing challenges accentuate every action in combat, causing additional utility and damage for fans who can master them.

6 Sea Of Stars

A Love Letter

Much like The Messenger was an homage to classic metroidvanias, its successor Sea of Stars takes inspiration from classic turn-based RPGs, while modernizing them in several key ways in order to tell an irreverent, self-referential tale of divinity and alchemy. One of the adjustments it makes to the formula is through timing-based action commands; players can use these to enhance their attacks or mitigate damage from enemies.

An added form of strategy in combat comes from breaking enemy locks to weaken their attacks. Since most of these powerful moves are executed on a countdown, players have limited time in which they can deal enough damage to break the locks. Players will have to stay on their toes to get the most out of each fight.

5 Metaphor: ReFantazio

Cut Them Down

While the actual combat in Metaphor: ReFantazio is very straightforward as turn-based RPGs go, there's a lot of action taking place around each fight. When players aren't in combat, they're in a traditional action RPG. Fans can freely attack and dodge enemies in real-time as they navigate the game's various dungeons, and getting the upper hand in these active confrontations can shift the tide of battle in a major way once things get turn-based.

As players advance in level, they'll be able to get even more value out of these active confrontations, using them to restore MP or even fully slaying lower-level enemies without even bothering with a formal confrontation. This unique blend of action and turn-based combat is a rarity in the JRPG genre, but it makes a real difference.

4 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Chasing Paper

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door leans heavily on timed action commands. Each attack and special move has its distinct action input to unleash its true effectiveness. Some of the more powerful abilities require whole minigames; the support move Sweet Treat, for example, is executed through a virtual shooting gallery, where Mario must shoot down healing items while avoiding debilitating poison mushrooms.

This emphasis on action extends beyond combat as well. Mario has a variety of traversal abilities inspired by the medium of the game, such as gliding as a paper airplane or folding into a paper boat in order to sail through water. This makes the game feel like more of an action-adventure title with a turn-based twist, which is fitting for the worldwide expedition Mario has to take in order to rescue Princess Peach.

3 Undertale

Kill Or Spare

Undertale is certainly best known for its intricate and engaging story, which uses players' save data to merge disparate playthroughs into a larger, fourth-wall-breaking narrative. This story is influenced primarily by which characters and enemies players choose to kill and which they decide to spare; every single fight in the game can end peacefully if players let it.

The actual combat required to make this choice, however, is also extremely unique. Each enemy attack requires players to navigate a small action minigame, steering their heart around an enclosed space and dodging attacks which are unique to each creature and boss. Some of the most difficult enemies in the game have attacks that turn the game into a veritable bullet hell, and dodging these will require players to be at the height of their reflexes.

2 Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Infinite Wealth, Infinite Attacks

Yakuza: Like A Dragon introduced turn-based combat to the Yakuza franchise, and Infinite Wealth took that concept and ran with it. Player characters can now move freely in combat, within a defined zone, and positioning is key to victory. Players can move next to a piece of the environment to use it as an improvised weapon, or move close to a party member to gang up on someone.

The franchise's wide range of playable jobs returns as well; each comes with a wide array of special moves, and, like in its predecessor, each move has timing-based inputs to maximize its effectiveness. Between navigating the battlefield, positioning characters for maximum effectiveness, and finding the right timing for moves, players will be engaged throughout even the most minor fights in Infinite Wealth.

1 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

It's All In The Timing

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 takes the idea of action prompts in turn-based combat and runs with it. Not only must players act fast to hit action commands on each of their special moves, but they must also stay on their toes during enemy turns. Players can parry or dodge almost every attack that comes at them, fully negating any incoming damage on a success.

In practice, Clair Obscur is almost more like a rhythm game than a turn-based RPG. Enemy attack patterns can be deeply challenging to navigate, but the upshot is that players can take on some truly overwhelming challenges, even ones they're underleveled for, and still have a chance at success if their reflexes are fast enough. Between high-stakes parries and devastating special moves that can completely turn the tide of battle, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is truly the best of both worlds.