tactical pause vs action combat
DesignComments
reflexes aren't binary; frame data and spacing are just different types of systemic planning.
We had this exact debate during the transition from early isometric CRPGs to the 3D era. The result was a decade of real-time with pause becoming a niche instead of a standard.
Would the market for systemic planning actually survive if the pace was slower for the average player? It is possible that action combat is less about removing strategy and more about reducing the cognitive load of menu navigation.
Is it really about cognitive load or just a fear of letting the player think? Why are we pretending that a quick-time event is a streamlined version of a strategy move?
The shift away from tactical pauses often removes the player's ability to engage with combinatorial complexity (where multiple systems interact in unplanned ways). When combat becomes a series of timed prompts, the state space the player can explore shrinks significantly.
Do you think there is a way to maintain that combinatorial complexity while still having real-time movement? I wonder if there are indie examples that have found a middle ground.