Handling Initiative:
There are a lot of common elements in RPG systems. Most have HP, some form of MP or consumable skill points, stats such as speed, strength, charisma, etc. to determine how proficient a character is in battle or how likely they will succeed in performing skill X. Where most RPG systems wildly diverge, is determining the simple problem of who goes first. Turn-based RPGs handle this before a battle by looking at speed or other stats to determine turn order, and it doesn't change much during battle. Others like FF7 have a timeline that progresses steadily as a character or enemy idles. In most RPG systems, there isn't much a player or enemy can do apart from casting a slowing spell to affect a character's initiative. This is where Grandia wins.
Game: Grandia series
Gameplay element: Timeline
Grandia handles initiative by using a timeline. All player characters and enemies can be seen on this timeline, and they are all progressing along it based on their init stat. The timeline is divided into "wait" "com" and "act." When a character is on "wait" they are idle, when they get to com, either the player enters a command, or the enemy does some AI to determine their action. Then, based on this action, they progress at a different rate towards "act," which is when the character performs their action. More powerful moves take longer to execute. There's a twist though, if a character is attacked between com and act, it can delay or cancel (depending on the strength of the attack) their current action. This means you have to plan ahead, anticipate, and react to enemy attacks as well as take a gamble on attacks that you perform as well.
How I can make it better:
In Grandia, the positions of wait, com, and act were static. They didn't take into account that in different situations, perhaps characters were more susceptible to counter-attacks, or perhaps they could be invulnerable. By making the positions of wait, com, and act dynamic it can add another layer of depth to the system.
Combo Attacks
A really interesting mechanic that I've seen work in some games is cooperative combo attacks. Chrono Trigger used this pretty well. If two characters had compatible skills, and they were going at the same time, you could execute a more powerful combo attack. They implemented this to some extent in Grandia 3 with the aerial attack, which could only be executed if an enemy was attacked while in the air. This is also more recently seen in Magicka, but it's more of a primary mechanic in that game than in the other examples.
Game: Chrono Trigger
Gameplay Element: Combo Attacks
How I can make it better:
Combo attacks in Chrono Trigger only worked with special attacks in very specific situations.
By associating every single attack with an attack type, or a combination of attack types, every attack, special move, defense, and magic spell can potentially be combined with any other. Moreover, it's possible to have more than two characters cooperate to unleash an attack with more types. To combine this with the timeline, each character can be set into "combo" mode, which means they will wait to execute their move at "act" when they get there. When a character not in combo mode reaches act, the attack types are combined and a more powerful and snazzy-looking combo attack is unleashed. For example, mage casts fire (type fire) on warrior in combo mode, warrior performs uppercut (type elevate) on combo mode, and fighter performs slam (type slam) in normal mode. When fighter reaches act, an attack which sets the enemy on fire (or the warrior's weapon on fire, adding fire damage), sends the enemy into the air, then slams them back to the ground is executed. The advantage to doing a combo attack over doing these separately is timing. If fire only lasts so long, same with an aerial enemy, so executing these in combo mode ensures the maximum damage and maximum hit count. There is still a risk of these character's moves being cancelled while they are waiting, but the payoff is worth it.
Shared SP
A pretty unique take on SP (any resource that a character can use to perform special attacks or skills) comes from Skies of Arcadia. In SoA, SP is shared between all party members in battle, and is determined by the summation of all characters' spirit stat. If a character doesn't take an action, and just focuses on raising the morale of the party, the SP meter goes up more than usual, enabling their teammates to perform more powerful skills. This means if you're in a party with low spirit, you won't be able to execute special moves as well and vice versa if you're in a party with high spirit. I really like this because it gives a more cooperative feel to the combat, like every member is important, every member of the party is fighting together and cheering each other on.
Game: Skies of Arcadia
Gameplay element: Shared SP
How I can make it better:
This system is pretty simple, and it's hard to improve upon it, but that doesn't mean I can't try. One way to make this better is to use it to enforce the previously mentioned mechanics. When the party executes a really sweet combo move, SP goes up. If the combo doesn't work because the types aren't compatible, SP goes down. If an enemy's move is countered between com and act on the timeline, SP goes up. If one of your moves gets cancelled, SP goes down. This adds to the momentum of either side, which is kind of what morale does anyway. You see this in sports all the time. If one team is doing really well, they continue to do so. On the other hand, if they're getting beaten to a pulp, they tend to give up unless the game is really important. Creating this momentum and making it affected by combo attacks and timeline cancels adds to the gambling stakes of either action. High risk, high reward, and lots of satisfaction when you win.
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