The A,B,C’s and 1,2,3’s of ATB’s in RPG’s

The prospect of ATB (Active Time Battle) in most Role Playing Games in the modern era of gaming is slowly becoming a rarity. In the olden days of role playing (think SNES people), games like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and The Legend of Gaia were all ATB, no questions asked. The fact that ATB could become as extinct as the dinosaurs (or kindness) is a sad thing to think about. I’m going to do a rundown of why ATB is so entertaining and why, in some instances, it takes more skill than a normal free range RPG
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For all of you that don’t know what ATB is, shame on you, because you’ve never played Final Fantasy before, or any other game with a good storyline and great character art. Active Time Battle is a little weird to explain without you really experiencing it but I will try anyway. When an ATB is initiated you are brought to a screen with your characters on one side and the enemy on another, think in terms of a Chess match. The fight is played by taking turns, determining who goes when by how full your action gauge is. When it is full, your character has his or her chance to participate in the battle. You are given “menus” to choose from, like attack, item, magic, run, etc. Basically what will happen is you will attack a monster, the monster will attack back and then you go back and forth until the battle is over, either by the monster dying or in a lot of cases, yourself dying.

The true strategy of ATB comes into play later in the game when you are forced to fight monsters MUCH stronger than you and that can eliminate you in literally a single blow. It is up to you to balance your level, magic, items, and strengths and weaknesses to come out victorious. Although the buttons are simple and its pretty much a two button interface of “moving” and “accepting different menus” there is still a massive amount of strategy involved in most of these games. Knowing what types of monsters are vulnerable to what types of spells and attacks can really help you succeed in an ATB situation and this forces you to pay attention to the game, what is happening in it, and who you need to talk to in order to better strategize.

A lot of ATB haters would throw out “it’s just a button masher, all you do is press a button” and you know what, that’s true. But, I really think the reason people hate ATB is because, unlike some games, the use of ATB actually requires you to use your brain. And everyone knows that most of the people in the world hate using their brains. ATB has become scarce and even the new Final Fantasy games are making use of a modified version of it where the character can move in 360 degrees and attack. Don’t get me wrong, I like being able to hack and slash but I miss the real strategy and challenge that came with ATB. The point is, ATB puts you in a stationary position, forces you to fight, and makes you solve puzzles and use your brains ,instead of brawn, all the time. Personally, I hope that ATB’s in games come back into style because I miss the olden days.

What do you guys think, do you love or hate ATB’s. Go ahead ATB loathers, get your knocks in now, I can take it!