Thanks, will check these out. What I really am looking for is just a straight forward turn based game (not tactical or strategy) where the characters take turns and cast spells etc. But looking at Slay, wow, 10/10 as rating is very impressive, very few games have received the highest rating

I did decide to check out the final boss of a FF7 speedrun, and what I noticed is this:
* Tifa is the main damage dealer, with Deathblow and what appears to be Added Cut (she was hitting twice, the second attack for only around half what the first did).
* She was doing a lot of damage, including 9999 on the first hit on the last real fight.
* The player deliberately kept her below 25% health. Anyone familiar with the game know why that would be important?
* The final boss didn't have a chance to use Supernova. (That's very important, as that would be a 2 minute time loss if that did get used.)

FF 7 is the absolute BEST rpg I have ever played. I have NEVER been able to find a game that matched it. The game wasn't perfect. I don't look for perfection: I doubt there's a perfect game anywhere. But I look for greatness, and FF 7 is packed with greatness, for the reasons I have explained ;)

And many others support this view. Some people didn't like it, like you. But that doesn't prove it wasn't a great game, just that not every single gamer liked it :)

Anyways, we both went off topic here.

I would compare the 3D presentation in Albion and Realms of Arkania with the earlier first person shooters and could imagine someone getting motion sickness from them. You can move at your own pace and down have to make quick turns, but it isn't all that smooth. Then again, these games are probably too old for what you're looking for anyway.

(See here
or here)

If you played FF games and want some DivOS experience then why no try its spinoff - FF Tactics (one for PSX/PSP and sequel on NDS called Grimoire of the Rift)?

There were more of these kind of games on handhelds, like Jeanne D'Arc, Tactical Ogre - LuCT, WH40k Squad Command, Etrian Mystery Dungeon...

On PC - you can't go wrong with Spiderweb's games - line Avadon and others.

How about Darkest Dungeon

Thanks my friend, I appreciate all the info, will check it out.
Thanks, will check them out. I never understood why 'turn based' is seen as 'tactical rpg' by most people, though. I always saw 'turn based' exactly like FF VII. Never played FF Tactics, precisely because it's tactical, i.e. you have to first move your characters in squares, etc, much like chess or something.

The turn based style I like is just like the one in FF VII or Persona 4 :)

seems interesting :) The multi award thing always makes a positive impression. Thanks

Personally, I see turn based as being more like Wizardry or Dragon Quest. Many FF games (including those from FF4 to FF9, FF7 included) use a system where time passes continuously (maybe stopping during animations), each character has a meter (hidden in FF4), and when it fills up, you get to enter a command for the character (but time still continues on). This is not technically turn based because, if you put down the controller during battle (without pausing), the fight will continue and (typically) you'll eventually lose the fight.

Of course, there *are* some differences in the behavior of ATB between the ganes:

FF4: Time pauses during animations, I believe the queue may be missing (it definitely is in the GBA 1.0 version) so that, if multiple characters have ATB fill up, the first one to act is not necessarily the first one to have full ATB (which can lead to characters being starved of turns). (Note that the 3D remakes are different; for example, time pauses during party member attacks, but not during enemy attacks.)

FF5: Time pauses during animations. Also, time will briefly pause (depending on the battle speed setting) when the game prompts you to enter a command.

FF6: Time does not ever pause. Animations will prevent anything else from happening (though effects like Poison and HP regen will trigger, though the effects will be stored until after the animation, and only one tick per character/status can be stored at a time). (I really don't like the implementation here, as it leads to the queue being too full.)

FF7: IIRC, if playing on Active or Recommended, time only pauses during summon animations, but on Wait (which is the setting I prefer), it pauses during all animations.

FF8: Time always pauses during animations.

FF9: Like FF6, time continues, even during the long versions of summon animations. Unlike in FF6, effects like HP regen continue during animations (which leads to absurd situations where often you can heal just by using long-animation summons (and also get the enemy's Shell to wear off before the animation finishes), and it make the Auto-Regen passive overpowered. It also has the same full queue issue that FF6 has.

I was just about to suggest Final Fantasy Tactics - but evidently was beaten to the punch. :) I wasn't aware of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance or it's sequel Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, however - so thanks for the suggestion of that one.

For a little further elaboration, there are numerous FFT titles - and they're not all the same. Here's a few snippets from Wiki:

1. Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, PlayStation)
2. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (2007, PlayStation Portable)
"[Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions] features an updated version of Final Fantasy Tactics, along with new features including in-game cutscenes, new characters, and multiplayer capability. The updated mechanics contain a 16:9 widescreen support, new items, new jobs, and cel-shaded full motion videos. The English version contains full voice acting during the cinematic cut scenes, whereas the Japanese version does not."
3. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (2003, Nintendo Game Boy Advance)
"Square released Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance in 2003. The game setting and engine are similar to the ones of its predecessor, however the characters and plot are notably different; the cast of characters is considerably smaller, and the plot is considerably simpler. Additionally, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance has a shorter main campaign, but more side missions and a secret campaign at the end of the game."
4. Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (2007, Nintendo DS)
"A sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and forms part of the Ivalice Alliance, a group of games set in the titular fictional universe. The game features cameo appearances from central and supporting characters from Final Fantasy XII, a title set in Ivalice."

... so Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions might be a particularly good one to dig up, if you're able!

Another game that might be worth a dabble is Expeditions: Conquistador. The quality of the writing is surprisingly good, even if it doesn't drive you forward in quite the same way as some other titles.

You might also consider looking at Valkyria Chronicles and Valkyria Chronicles 4 - both available on PC.

I've lots of other suggestions for turn-based games in general, but am trying to stick to ones that either haven't already been mentioned and also include a fairly distinct narrative/plot.

One controversial aspect of this particular game (which I own but have not played): the law system.

Basically, during each battle there are laws, which can change based on when you fight the battle (so travelling extra before fighting a difficult battle to get more favorable laws can be a good idea sometimes). These laws typically forbid certain types of actions. If a unit violates the law, that unit gets a yellow card; two yellow cards is a red card, which will get that unit ejected from the battle.

Thanks. Yeah, I tried all the FF games, except the very first 2 or 3, which were too old even then. Again, by 'turn based', I don't mean tactical or strategy, and never understood why people box all these in, but thanks for your suggestions. I did try Valkyria Chronicles and didn't like it....using rifles instead of casting magic seemed a lot less appealing. Unfortunately, this pattern repeated for many games. I basically try a game for an hour or two and most often than not, I'll just forget about it. There just aren't enough truly great games; the only ones I really liked have been the ones I mentioned before.....just 3 or 4 of them really. After playing FF 7 and 8, I became really fussy about games :)

I've heard Tyranny and ATOM RPG are good as well.

yes these seem very interesting. Thanks :)