Best Combat In Indie Role-Playing Games

Role-playing games are fun for many reasons, from their satisfying sense of character progression, to their often deep and captivating narratives, there are plenty of reasons to love the RPG genre. However, RPGs — especially strategy RPGs and ARPGs — can also be extremely combat heavy. As a result, many tropes have formed over the years to form a standardized structure for RPG combat of all kinds.

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Some games adhere to the tropes set by influential pioneers of the genre, providing modernized, well-crafted systems that offer satisfying combat that rewards strategy and/or skill. The RPG mechanics themselves also tend to play a part, with the player's meta decisions often feeding into their success in combat. These are just a few examples of modern indie RPGs that feature engaging combat systems of all shapes and sizes.

6 CrossCode

A Retro RPG With Fast-Paced, Skill-Based Action

CrossCode features a wonderfully retro visual style and a combat system that contradicts it, with fast-paced, skill-based action that's full of interesting decisions. CrossCode features a satisfying parry system that adds a level of complexity to each encounter, allowing the player to attack with both ranged and melee attacks.

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Furthermore, CrossCode also allows players to avoid attacks with a well-timed dodge. The variety of options in combat, mixed with the massive cast of enemy types and gripping boss fights, makes for a satisfying combat system that rewards players that pay attention to the game's moving parts.

5 Undertale

A Unique System That Allows For Pacifism

Undertale's unique selling point is, in fact, its combat system. More specifically, the ability to play through the game without physically killing enemies. However, it's usually more time-consuming to beat these combat encounters passively, resulting in an experience that makes sparing the lives of characters a challenging one.

Every time an enemy attacks in Undertale, players are forced to contend with a unique Bullet Hell mini-game. Here, the player controls their miniature heart, avoiding the bullet patterns and projectiles that represent each enemy character. When combined with a handful of unique twists that add variety and personality to each encounter, Undertale's combat system, while minimal, is a frequently rewarding one.

4 Darkest Dungeon

A Rogue-Like RPG Dungeon Crawler

This party-based RPG tasks players with managing a rag-tag roster of customizable heroes, crawling through dark dungeons packed with Lovecraft-inspired monsters. Darkest Dungeon has a distinct, stark art-style and engaging management mechanics, but combat is what players will spend most of their time doing, and it's the game's most engaging activity. Combat in Darkest Dungeon is turn-based and tactical, with players managing a party of four members at once.

Each party member not only has physical health, but mental stress as well, providing two constantly decreasing states for the player to worry about. Furthermore, players must also be concerned with the positioning of their party, despite the 2D perspective. This is due to the fact that the abilities of each class are dependent on their position in the party. Coupled with the fact that certain abilities in the game, even those of the enemy, can change the position of units in battle, Darkest Dungeon's combat is a consistently strategic experience that frequently forces the player to think on their feet.

3 Battle Brothers

A Tactical Sandbox RPG

Battle Brothers is a turn-based RPG with deep, tactical combat that has players managing an entire company of mercenaries in a low-fantasy world. What makes the combat of Battle Brothers so engaging is its systems for morale and wounds, as well as its RPG mechanics, such as perks/abilities, stats, and equipment.

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There are a variety of ways to build each individual character in Battle Brothers, allowing players to develop their own unique strategies. The game's turn-based system uses initiative and action points, with a focus on flanking, surrounding, and threat assessment. The game's hexagonal battlefields also simulate terrain such as high ground and swamp, adding more variance to each battle.

2 SteamWorld Heist

A Unique Combination Of Skill-Based Combat And Turn-Based Tactics

Although its quirky steam-powered characters and steampunk world make it a unique game on the surface, the combat of SteamWorld Heist is where the game truly shines. Despite being a turn-based RPG, combat in SteamWorld Heist allows players to manually aim and line up killer shots, allowing for some dynamic and exciting shootouts.

Because bullets can bounce off of walls, SteamWorld Heist allows players to trick-shot their enemies, offering a satisfying experience that grants players the opportunity to express their skill. Combined with the pulp science-fiction atmosphere and the unique visuals of the SteamWorld franchise, SteamWorld Heist makes for a consistently engaging, combat-focused RPG.

1 Sea Of Stars

An RPG Inspired By Chrono Trigger

This turn-based RPG features detailed pixel art and a heartfelt story, but Sea Of Stars' combat system is arguably what keeps it an engaging game throughout its relatively lengthy narrative. Sea Of Stars features turn-based combat with a variety of twists, most notably of which are its combo attacks and timed hits in the style of Paper Mario.

The timed-hit system alone allows the combat in Sea Of Stars to be fast-paced and engaging, and the player's prowess with this system will determine how frequently they are able to boost their damage output and reduce incoming damage. Each enemy displays how many actions must pass before they can activate their abilities, and the game allows players to prevent them from acting by hitting them with a variety of damage types.

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