With so many video games out there, we don’t get to see titles with truly unique combat systems. But there are a lot of them from multiple genres that try to do things differently than chasing the regular norm.
In the list below, we shall be looking at some of the games throughout history that have really unique combat systems.
Unique Combat Systems in Games
Parasyte Eve
Square Enix’s Parasyte Eve is a game that needs to make a comeback because it had one of the most unique combat systems in existence. Sure, the game studio is known for popularizing the turn-based RPG genre all over the world.
But they had really invented something special with Parasyte Eve’s turn-based survival horror combat. The game sought to bridge the gap between the then-popular survival horror genre and Square’s own style of RPGs.
Parasyte Eve follows the adventures of Aya Brea, a police officer who finds out that her fate is interlinked with a bio-terrorism event that may bring death and destruction.
The World Ends With You
Square Enix was really out there inventing some incredible and unique games back in the day, and we are just dipping our toes into some of them. This list would be incomplete if we never talked about the Nintendo DS classic The World Ends With You.
The game utilized the handheld console’s unique hardware peripherals for its combat design, making players pay attention to both the screens and then using the stylus to draw out command spells.
Unfortunately, the franchise had to pivot to a new style of game design because the DS was not going to stay forever.
Undertale
Toby Fox changed the landscape of RPG maker games, and that led to a new generation of solo indie developers. But what makes Undertale special? You may ask, because from the outside it looks like just another indie RPG inspired by Nintendo’s Earthbound games.
You are half correct for guessing that, but it’s not simply another Earthbound-like RPG. It carries the game’s goofiness for world-building and combat encounters. But that’s also where it diverges quite a bit.
Undertale is supposed to be played by pacifying your encounters, thus avoiding combat, which makes it unique from other RPGs. But of course, most can choose a genocidal approach and destroy every character they come across their way.
Resonance Of Fate
Resonance of Fate definitely looks like a game that old Square Enix would come up with, but to everyone’s surprise, it’s a game that SEGA published. The game was developed and published on PC by tri-Ace.
The unique combat system of this game also makes it one of the most complicated turn-based games, which makes a lot of people not sit through it fully. Resonance Of Fate’s combat is like gunplay with turn-based combat, but unlike Parasyte Eve, it’s closer to a gun-fu film.
Lethal League Blaze
We have been talking about unique turn-based combat games a lot in this list, so it’s time to switch things up. Let’s talk about a fighting game that is the most unique of them all. Sure, you are fighting against another player, but it’s not about directly throwing hands at each other.
Lethal League Blaze is a game created by Team Reptile. Players have to beat each other using a ball inside an enclosed space that they can hit and bounce back using a bat. Whoever controls the trajectory in fights will be the winner.
Astral Chain
It’s a shame that Astral Chain is a game that is stuck on the original Nintendo Switch and very few people still know about it, just like many other amazing Platinum Games titles. This is another one of the studio’s signature hack-and-slash games, but the mechanics involved are what make it unique.
In Astral Chain, players step into the shoes of a special type of cops in a dystopian sci-fi future where they fight to fend against extraterrestrial creatures. Players get to use the astral chains to bind and take control of these beings called Legions, and control them while in combat.
It’s almost as if you are playing a monster collector like Pokémon, but with real-time combat that makes impressive use of the Joy-Cons to control both the monster and the player.
Wonderful 101
We are going to follow up the previous game with another Platinum Games title. This time it is a classic that has been remastered for the modern game consoles. Wonderful 101 will be your kind of game if you really love the tokusatsu genre and superheroes in general.
In this title, players get to control hordes of superheroes who can team up to morph into various objects in order to progress through the game. This is a very fun system that makes the game so unique compared to other titles by the studio.
Wonderful 101 was directed by the legendary Hideki Kamiya, and later on, the remastered title was developed by Takanori Sato.
Fear & Hunger
Indie RPG maker developers are finding some creative ways to bring games to life that have completely unique underlying combat systems. Miro Haverinen’s Fear & Hunger is one of the prime examples of such types of games.
At first glance, it looks like a regular RPG maker medieval game with dungeon crawling and turn-based combat. But as soon as you start moving forward in the game’s world, you start to figure out that it’s more like an immersive sim experience.
In combat, players are encouraged to utilize all sorts of underhanded tactics at their disposal, including targeting and severing the body parts of the enemies.
Fatal Frame
At first glance, Fatal Frame may look like just another horror game, but it actually does something different from the usual ones. Just like Parasyte Eve, Fatal Frame is one of Koei Tecmo’s unique horror IPs that has been dormant for a while but has an avid cult following.
In Fatal Frame, players step into the shoes of characters who go to haunted settings for investigations related to the game’s story. When faced against a hostile entity, players have to make use of the camera obscure, which can actually hurt ghosts.
This unique combat system makes engaging with the game’s environments more interesting and encourages players to take risks instead of avoiding enemies.
Rollerdrome
The story behind the development of Rollerdrome is an interesting one. It was originally a concept conceived by Rabbitte for a game jam project, which the developer Roll7 really liked and decided to put together into a full experience.
Rollerdrome is set in a world where the dangerous sport of the same name is a regular affair. Players going into this world get to experience its unique combat mechanics, where they are constantly moving in the heat of battle.
Players drop into a rollerblading arena where they have to progress and dodge through obstacles, all the while aiming to defeat others.
