games like chess is what JRPGs should strive to be:
simple gameplay, no extra systems, very deep decision making and no moves without cost.
instead of adding more mechanics and systems outside and inside combat, more variables are preferrable, since they make it harder to deduce the optimal play.

having the option to grind in RPGs has forever casualised the genre and it is quite literally impossible to design a difficult game if you can just grind to defeat every encounter.
even when games have level caps, there's usually ways to grind in adjacent systems like equipment/skills/stats

fix your game asslus #MetaphorReFantazio

More JRPG game devs should really internalise that structure is far more important than its systems.
Balanced encounters, removing easy ways to break the game, adding ambiguity into decision making by having enemies you HAVE to respond and adapt to..
Systems are nothing if you don't have to engage

The action part of Metaphor ReFantazio completely negating the need to ever engage in turn-based combat outside of bosses is insane design.
Feels like the game was designed so you need to spend mana to progress through dungeons, but random encounters can be beaten quick&easy without ever using any

RNG aside, the Etrian Odyssey Nexus Abyssal Princess fight has been the single most enjoyable fight in any JRPG I've played. Took out notepad to keep track of turns, knew all her moves, kept track of buffs&debuffs and STILL made fight-losing mistakes because I lost track of what move comes next

Finished SaGa Ambitions. The final boss was like a culmination of everything I didn't like about the game. A spammable 95% stunning AoE attack that 2 shot my entire party while outspeeding all of my characters meaning I couldn't stun.

Once I slowed it down, I just spammed stuns until they worked.

SaGa Scarlet Grace somehow managed to emphasize the worst part of JRPGs.
anytime i lose a fight, i just restart and win without changing strategy. your attacks/status hitting, enemies' attacks/status hitting, randomly using new moves that often win fights, special moves that randomly trigger...

just fully finished Darkest Dungeon 2.
it's always great when developers take what they learned from the first game and just improve on it massively.
less rng, way less progression, more decision making, comeback mechanics..
unfortunately easier than DD1 but still, try it if you like turn-based RPGs

5x5 list of my current games i love. tried to include only one game per franchise (no clue what DeFrag is on this list, but i meant the Quake 3 mod)

hardcore nuzlockes of pokemon romhacks might just be the only turn-based RPGs out there with gameplay that properly forces you to engage

played tons of JRPGs and none of them really have that element that forces you to develop consistency and game knowldedge in a way that encourages decision making

Tried playing Expedition 33 without using any parry/dodge real time elements. It feels like an actual game now, who woulda thought.

artcueid.wordpress.com/2025/12/21/g...

Wrote thoughts on the combat system of Expedition 33.