Examples of blobbers where party positioning matters?

[rusty_shackleford]

I know Wizardry 8 has this, do any others have it? Preferably more than just front/back row positioning.

 

[Alchemist]

I haven't played it yet, but Bard's Tale 4 seems to take lateral positioning into account, in addition to front / back rows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH2ZwDKWZ2M

Curious if there are any others out there.

 

[moraes]

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk has an elaborate formation system where stats of the characters and other party bonus like HP and MP recovery depend on the formation chosen.

 

[Dorateen]

Legends of Amberland has party position determine attack order and also frequency of being targeted.

The first two Might & Magics made front and back row positioning very important, as enemies could only be attacked in melee by the first few characters. Others would need weapons with longer reach, or else fight with missile weapons or spells. When a character was knocked unconscious, the player had to switch the order mid battle to protect those party members from dying as well as to move into fighting range.

Of course the best use of positioning and formation is from a top down perspective with mobile units, which is why the Gold Box games stand out for adding this mode of combat to the first person exploration.

 

[V_K]

I know Wizardry 8 has this, do any others have it?

Lots and lots of them:
In Lords of Xulima, horizontal positioning matters in addition to front/back row - you can only attack immediately adjacent targets, so a character on the right side can't hit a monster on the left side.
In the original Dungeon Master, facing of the characters and monsters matters. So while your party always moves as a 2x2 square, if you're attacked e.g. by a monster on your right, it's the right two characters that are in melee range, not the front two.
In 7 Mages characters can split up in combat, so it essentially has a tactical AP-based combat system, just in first-person view.
Amberstar and its sequels are in may ways blobber/isometric hybrids, including combat. There you get a 6x5 combat grid where your characters can move around in the bottow two rows, while enemies, in the top three. Like in Xulima, you can only hit adjacent targets.
In Ishar you set your party formation on a IIRC 6x6 grid.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I haven't played it yet, but Bard's Tale 4 seems to take lateral positioning into account, in addition to front / back rows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH2ZwDKWZ2M

Bard's Tale IV isn't actually a blobber; in combat, each player-character occupies one space in a 2x4 grid, with the enemies occupying spaces in an opposing 2x4 grid, and you can move characters during combat in order to reach enemies with particular attacks, avoid enemy attacks, and provide support to other party members via certain abilities.

 

[Bricker]

+1 Legends of Amberland

 

[newtmonkey]

Wizardry: Tales of the Forsaken Land has the typical front row/back row setup, but it also has team abilities based on positioning. For example, one team ability allows two of your party members in the back row to cover two front row members with ranged weapons, which will interrupt any enemies that attack either of the characters being covered. This gives it a bit of tactical depth over the typical "the three guys in the front can attack/can be attacked, and the three guys in the rear can't attack/can't be attacked" setup that most traditional blobbers use.

 

[Gregz]

Examples of blobbers where party positioning matters?

All the Wizardries
All the Might & Magics
All the Bard's Tales
All the Dungeon Master(s)
All the blobbers

Preferably more than just front/back row positioning.

Wizardry 8
Dungeon Master(s)
Eye of the Beholder(s)
Legend of Grimrock(s)

Basically any real-time blobber will allow you to get flanked or side attacked.

 

[Vapid]

I remember that Ishar (the whole trilogy I think) had a grid where you could set the party's marching order. It's been a while since I last played any of the Ishar games, so I don't recall how it worked with the combat mechanics, but I do remember that in Ishar 2 or 3 there are mountains and badly arranged marching order could result in some of your party members falling down of the path / ledge.