And I really wish more games used this sort of feature.

I actually consider Final Fantasy 2 to be my second favorite FF game (despite the many obvious flaws in the game, some of which really do make the game more frustrating (especially for first time players) or repetitive than it needs to be). This is also why I would be more interested in replaying Secret of Mana than trying Trials of Mana. It's also like I love the SaGa games that I've played, even though the experimental design of these games brings with it numerous issues.

It's also why I'd rather replay Wasteland than play Wasteland 2 for the first time.

(Also, I would like to see more unconventional growth systems in general; the level/XP system gets old after all these years.)

Another old game I played when I was young with a first person perspective and a four person party was Dragon Age. I really enjoyed it when I was young. The combat was turn based only, more like Bard's Tale and with ranges.

Mordor: The Depths of Dejnol, but good luck running it.

Are you sure you don't mean Dragon Wars?

Dragon Wars was actually originally meant to be Bard's Tale 4, and was even developed by the same people who made Bard's Tale 3, but I find that the game feels quite different. You don't advance tp such powerful levels, but instead your advancement comes through the equipment and spells you find exploring this nonlinear world. (You could consider it to be open world once you escape the starting town, but then again Bard's Tale 2 would be open world, with no fixed order in which to do the dungeons.) Dragon Wars is also not dungeon-focused; while there are dungeons, you won't find any multi-level dungeons here. (Also, according to Rebecca Heineman, they had to add dragons at the last minute, as there were no dragons in the game at the moment the developers were chosen about the game's new title.)

Dragon Wars uses a system with levels and skill points, but no classes. It unfortunately lacks some of the strategic options that the Bard's Tale games had (no bard songs or hiding during combat, even though there's a skill for hiding), but it has its own options, like strong or disarming blows and having individual characters advance/retreat/run away.

Yes, you are correct of course. I meant Dragon Wars. I derped as I was quite tired last night and it was warm and everything was off due to a local brown out so it was on my phone.

Glad to see this post still going i picked up quite a few of the suggestions on various storefronts although im on a PS1 kick right now for some reason I did actually finally manage to afford a new pc its not sup[er amazing but its quite beefy nonetheless.

Radeon RX 570 4GB
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six-Core Processor 3.9 GHz
16 GB Ram

Any chance this opens up any options my poor laptop cant handle (i still use it but just for its portability and often as a second screen)

Oh and since i was here last operencia has come out, im considering picking it up but i wanted to try the demo but it seems to have ceased to exist anyone know where i can find it (you can find it in steam but it links to the full game instead)

Note: I found games like elminage, strangers to sword city, mark skelter, paper sorceror, etc. to not have the right feel to them for some reason not sure why. Felt more like Etrian Odyssey which i loved btw nice suggestion (i know its a series im just referring to it generally i got alot of them to work through it seems :P) but definitely felt different than wizardy, Albion, might and magic X, etc.

nvm i found the demo im just blind.

that said its PERFECT!!! i also found bard tales 4 and thats an awesome one as well. I especially like in operencia that you can respec pretty much at-will outside of combat so you can experiment (i wish it would let you switch class or not have classes though cause you cant rechoose that at least in the demo but minor complaint)

Easy respec is really the way to go. It's part of the reason I love Final Fantasy 5 so much. (FF5, notably, *does* let you switch class anytime you can access the menu outside of combat; FF3 does as well, but there's a cost for doing so and the game suffers from dull random encounter design.)

(These games aren't first person, and FF5 is ATB rather than true turn-based, but they do both allow class (or, rather, "job" is the term used in both games) anywhere.)

Can't forget Final Fantasy Tactics :D Otherwise agreed, it'ss also the main reason I actually enjoy FFX-2

One thing that bothers me about Final Fantasy Tactics is how your stat gain at level up is dependent on your current job at the time.

Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark (highly recommended if you like FFT, as it's quite similar) also has this issue, but at least you can reset a character's level to 1. (Also, there is one special character, one who has access to a completely different list of classes, whose stats do actually change when choosing class (as the game, for whatever reason, uses the term "class" rather than "job").)