I suppose there are three battle systems of RPG variety that have appealed to me:
Xenoblade Chronicles: The real-time combat of this game is a breath of fresh air, and sort of reminds me of how WoW operates, especially in regards to arte selection. The combat allows for the game pace to be relatively seamless (with the unfortunate exception of encountering a hoss of an enemy and being forced to flee)! It also forces the player to think on the fly, leaving the room for error much narrower.
Tales of Vesperia: The Tales games' semi turn-based combat is also somewhat refreshing. The pace does break, but there is a ton of movement involved in the combat, which occurs in real time although the movements are somewhat limited. I liked that this title in particular allowed for more free movement, which is especially useful in evasion. I did not like the Limit Break concept as much in this game. It was not necessarily bad, and it was useful, but I preferred the combination attacks from Tales of Symphonia since they paved the way for large and spectacular damage (not to mention the attacks looked cool)!
Legend of Dragoon: The PS1 title was an interesting game, and also very long. I never quite finished it since I never actually owned the game myself, but the combat was very interesting. It is turn-based, but inflicting attacks involved pressing buttons at the right time to inflict combinations, or what the game calls "additions." There were more traditional abilities as well, but the addition system added a layer of skill required to fight effectively in light of the traditional turn-based action.
