Turn-based RPGs where turns use time

[rusty_shackleford]

I'm surprised at how rare this is

Hero's Adventure: Road to Passion uses a time-based scale for combat, at 1 second(? I assume it's 1000ms?) you get to act. Every move has a time cost you "spend", and it means you can go negative.

[rusty_shackleford]

Hellslave


The turn counter is at the top, all actions use time and advance your place on the counter.
It was decent until it ends very early and restarts because it's some ******** ""roguelite"" ******** that made me quit. You're expected to replay the same game over and over to get the REAL™ ending.

[WhiteShark]

I'd call this a "tick" system. @ArcaneLurker mentioned a game he likes that uses it in my thread about turn systems a while back.

[Kalarion]

Arc the Lad. The Grandias.

[PixiGreen]

Broken Ranks do it, I believe. https://brokenranks.com/en/
It's MMO but isometric and turn-based (with timing).

[rusty_shackleford]

Broken Ranks do it, I believe. https://brokenranks.com/en/
It's MMO but isometric and turn-based (with timing).

This would be rather difficult to pull off in a multiplayer game if we assume some players are not in the battle.

So I think broken ranks is actually more like ATB combat, which is a bit of a hybrid, but not actually tied to a game clock.

[PixiGreen]

Broken Ranks do it, I believe. https://brokenranks.com/en/
It's MMO but isometric and turn-based (with timing).

This would be rather difficult to pull off in a multiplayer game if we assume some players are not in the battle.

So I think broken ranks is actually more like ATB combat, which is a bit of a hybrid, but not actually tied to a game clock.

Well can be. I only remember that you have a few seconds to react on each turn. You can set autoactions, too, but the idea is you should reallocate action points while the timer is ticking.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Broken Ranks do it, I believe. https://brokenranks.com/en/
It's MMO but isometric and turn-based (with timing).

There was also Atlantica Online. Everyone has 30 seconds to input their turn.

[Poityu]

Can I interest you and anyone who came across this thread with Helen's Mysterious Castle?


Take note of the "Wait" displayed for actions, when it reaches 0, that action happens, and you get to pick the next move.
(The shield bends this slightly, the wait is the time you stay in defense)
Enemy's actions works the same and counts down simultaneously with yours, shown at the top.
In traditional turn-based ATB, your turn costs time, and actions are instant, here, your turn is instant, and actions costs time.
It won 1st place in VIPRPG紅白 in 2011, an annual community hosted RPGMaker contest in Japan. 5 years later It was released on Steam.


There is another Japanese mobile MMO that ran from 2017 to 2022. that expands upon this idea into realtime 4 player coop, dividing party into 4 roles, warrior, mage, hunter, healer, where you need to pay attention to enemy's countdowns (literally named "Wait") and react accordingly, also taking account of your own and party member's countdowns (guard, buff/debuff, interrupt, healing...etc).
Moves need cooldown after use. Enemy's side is also no longer limited to one member, usually have 1~2 sidekicks.
You are encouraged to do your homework (party role filled in by default AI) before seeking a full party to start an instance, since there's no pause once battle begins, and miscalculations can be disasterous.

After that, traditional turn-based RPGs no longer interest me, it's too slow, and lacks the tight tactical element.

[Demonic Fate]

Othercide uses this system, actually a bit further because you can manipulate the "clock" by e.g. stunning enemies to delay their turn by X ticks, etc.

The developer's next game is in EA and will also use the and system.