The future of JRPGs means leaving the genre’s classic combat design behind

Two years before Metaphor: ReFantazio, Nihon Falcom released the 11th game in the Trails series, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak. Up until the previous entry, Trails into Reverie, combat had always been turn-based, much like the Persona series. That changed with Daybreak. It broke with a 17-year design tradition by presenting a hybrid system.

Falcom’s iteration of the hybrid combat is a core part of the game’s mechanics. Transitioning from one mode to another is seamless and fundamental to activating many abilities characters obtain through the quartz system. Enemies are either weak to physical or magical damage, which requires you to change characters on the field for more effective damage output. Moreover, stunning them allows you to unleash a powerful first attack when deploying the turn-based mode. Since Trails Through Daybreak, the hybrid combat system has been present in all new Trails games — even in the remake of the first one, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter.

Image: Nihon Falcom/NIS America via Polygon

There is, however, another important detail in how these two games use the hybrid combat system. Swapping from one mode to the other is only possible when fighting regular enemies: when the battle is of critical importance to the story, turn-based is the only option.

Throughout the years, JRPGs have done little to distinguish climatic encounters from day-to-day fights. There have always been visual and textual elements supporting the role of a fight within the narrative, but for far too long, JRPGs have relied on high-end cinematic cutscenes and Homeric plots to affect players’ experiences. However, when games like Metaphor: ReFantazio and Trails Through Daybreak establish that an important — and usually challenging — encounter must be faced through turn-based combat, we can mechanically experience the flow of the narrative.

In both games, when battling common enemies on the world map or while exploring sewers and caves, you stay in real-time mode, slashing enemies without any sort of system holding you back and not caring too much about who or what you are fighting. It is exactly the kind of combat we need when dealing with enemies whose purpose is only to feed your character with experience points and help them grow stronger. This creates an effective contrast with turn-based combat, which is the only mode available in most boss fights. The moments where the stakes are higher are when we, as players, must ponder our decisions and evoke the characters’ strongest abilities. Turn-based becomes the crescendo in the epic symphonies developers create.

This design philosophy takes other forms too, not always relying on a hybrid combat system. Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, for instance, shows enemies on the field, allowing you to decide whether you want to fight them or not. At the same time, once you are strong enough, you can defeat enemies on the map with a single hit. Similarly, in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, when facing weak enemies you have already killed before, you can choose to “speed up” the encounter by pressing both analog sticks and defeating them instantaneously.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

A constant critique of the genre focuses on the slow rhythm of turn-based combat, which is often highlighted by the grindy nature of many titles. The future of the genre does not lie in abandoning this type of combat design. It lies in creating more meaningful experiences with it. Instead of monotonous sequences of battles against low-level enemies in what feels like endless turns, these new games are designed in a way so we can dedicate our attention and time to moments that matter in the broader scope of the narrative.

Whether the fundamental change in the genre will come from the work of any of these established studios remains to be seen. Last year, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 shook the industry with its hybrid turn-based, real-time combat system. What we can know for sure is that the creative minds behind these games are pushing JRPGs forward — and it’s up to us to observe what could be the beginning of a cultural shift in one of the oldest video game genres.