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[DragoonKain]

I used to love strategy RPGs when I was younger. Vandal Hearts 1 and 2, Dragon Force, Shining Force, Final Fantasy Tactics, Front Mission, etc. Although I never finished FFT because I got a long ways in and my PS1 memory card died and I refused to play it all over again, but I'm getting the remaster that comes out soon, so I'll play that. For whatever reason, I fell out of favor with SRPGs. I tried to get into Disgaea and I wasn't into it, and for other SRPGs I didn't like the permanent death element that a lot of them had. Putting all this effort into building characters only to lose them permanently was something I didn't like, so for those and some other reasons I kinda just stopped playing the genre completely around the mid 2000's except the Valkyria Chronicles series, that's really the only one I've played from the mid 2000's on. I liked those games, but none of them captured the magic of the first IMO and the series eventually got stale for me.

If I decide to get back into the genre, what ones would you recommend? Multiple friends have told me Tactics Ogre might be the best ever. That was one I never played back in the day, but definitely going to play the remaster eventually. Also I know a lot of people like Triangle Strategy. I prefer medieval themed, but doesn't have to be.

 

[jshackles]

Triangle Strategy

Yep I think we're done here

 

[Loomy]

Yep I think we're done here

Wrap it up

 

[diffusionx]

I like Disgaea, especially the first 2

Also don't ignore stuff like XCOM, XCOM 2, and Jagged Alliance 3.

 

[Shifty1897]

My favorites in the genre are Fire Emblem Three Houses, Tactics Ogre Reborn, and Valkyria Chronicles.

If you are okay with a few issues, Triangle Strategy (amount of dialogue), Valkyria Chronicles 4 (fan service) and Jeanne D'Arc (lack of difficulty) are also all great.

Edit: Shoot I forgot about Unicorn Overlord... It's also great but the difficulty is low unless you put it at the highest level.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Triangle Strategy
Unicorn Overlord
Fire Emblem 3 Houses
Fire Emblem Engage
Valkyria Chronicles
Xcom 2
Baldur's Gate 3
DOS2
The Hundred Line Last Defense Academy
13 Sentinels Aegis Rim

Honorable mention Ogre Tactics remake and I'm sure the new FFTactics remake as well

 

[Punished Miku]

Triangle Strategy.

 

[The_hunter]

Unicorn overlord, fire emblem, persona tactics (gameplay only) and into the breach.

 

[GateofD]

Unicorn Overlord, Fire Emblem Engage (disliked 3 houses)

Various Super Robot Wars games.
also a gem for Type-Moon fans, the Battle Moon Wars game with the fate/stay night and tsukihime characters all mashed together

 

[CrimsonTide]

If I do not like RTS but like JRPG's (some)

Will I like the remake of FF tactics?

 

[kunonabi]

Stella Glow on the 3DS is painfully slept on.

 

[Hudo]

Mid 2000s? I suppose that also includes remakes/remasters of games released before that? So no Tactics Ogre Reborn and such?

Hmm...

Unicorn Overlord
Valkyria Chronicles
Triangle Strategy
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Expeditions: Rome

 

[TintoConCasera]

Loved playing Silent Storm back then. It's kinda like an XCOM set in WWII. You can play as either the axis or the allies, and the game features a very neat destruction system. Some dudes barricaded themselves on the second floor? Blow up the walls with some explosives, or even machinegun them from the floor beloe them. Cool stuff.

A more recent one is Battle Brothers. Less RPG and more of a sandbox experience, you go through the land recruiting people for your band of mercenaries and do missions and stuff. Game's very hard for me, never got too far on that one but it's fun for sure.

 

[DragoonKain]

Anyone play the Record of Agarest War games? How are they?

 

[Punished Miku]

Anyone play the Record of Agarest War games? How are they?

Nope never played.

... probably total shit though.

 

[ReyBrujo]

Tactics Ogre Reborn

Man, I finished the Switch version and the level cap killed it for me. I kind of remember the SNES one being better.

 

[Aion002]

Anyone play the Record of Agarest War games? How are they?

Bad to awful.

Anyway...


Nobunaga's Ambition Sphere of Influence and Awakening are great. Sphere of Influence is probably my favorite strategy rpg by far.

They are quite different from the traditional console srpgs, but they are really good, specially if you enjoy the warring states period of Japan.

Both are available on PS4/5, PC and I think that Awakening is also available on the Switch.

Sphere of Influence is more focused on the grand strategy side, while Awakening is more focused on the rpg side.

 

[Mercador]

I played all summer on Tactics Ogre Reborn, I'm almost down after 75 hours but I got burned down.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Triangle Strategy
Disgaea 5

 

[Shifty1897]

Man, I finished the Switch version and the level cap killed it for me. I kind of remember the SNES one being better.

I realize that the level cap is a big deal breaker for most people, basically everyone who finds the appeal of these games is to grind and break systems wide open, but I liked how it kept the game's challenge in check without level scaling enemies.

I agree that it doesn't seem like it would have been hard to have a "remove level caps" option at the start of the game so people can play it however they want. The branching story in this game is so good, I wish more people could appreciate it.

 

[Danjin44]

 

[ReyBrujo]

I realize that the level cap is a big deal breaker for most people, basically everyone who finds the appeal of these games is to grind and break systems wide open, but I liked how it kept the game's challenge in check without level scaling enemies.

I agree that it doesn't seem like it would have been hard to have a "remove level caps" option at the start of the game so people can play it however they want. The branching story in this game is so good, I wish more people could appreciate it.

I felt as it wasn't well balanced, many times just after the level cap raise I struggled with the next battle (like, you are capped to L18, you are fighting L20 foes, then the cap is raised to L23 and your next battle is against L21 or L22 foes, adjusted to the new cap) so I ended up grinding in training all new levels as soon as I got a new cap. Truth be told I didn't really exploit the elements' strengths and weaknesses (other than in the solo fight against your friend where I lost like 10 times and then decided to change my element to his weakness and then it was pretty easy), never recruited a single opponent because it was always like 0% chance, and never got a beast to sell since I didn't capture anything. At least I didn't get any recruited member betray me, or die on me.

The branching was cool, ended with the tragic king ending or something like that, and I understand being able to replay the game to explore the new stories is pretty cool (and I missed the whole extra dungeon I think) but well, at least I finished it.

Back in the SNES days I played Ogre Battle (like, the original) and Front Mission and I liked it more because of the simpler mechanisms. Still got to play FM on Switch, though.

 

[acidagfc]

IDK if you'd call it a tactical RPG, it is sort of a mix between those and HoMM games, but it is a game that stuck with me over all those years.

Disciples 2

Disciples 2 Gold

A decade after the First Great War, the final prophecy continues to unfold. Deep within t

www.gog.com

 

[PlayStaytion]

I'm starting to like BG3. That's just a different definition for turn based games, FFX/2, FF12. On PC it's Sid Meier Civilization IV.

 

[Krafter]

Good call, love Disciples II. Probably my favorite example of western artwork in a game.

 

[calico]

The Expeditions games (Rome, Vikings, Conquistador)
Midnight Suns
Symphony of War (haven't seen this mentioned here and I expect a lot of you would like it)

 

[geary]

King Arthur A knighf tale was good

 

[Queso de Grande]

Disgaea 5 is really great.

 

[OuterLimits]

Danjin44 above gave great recommendations. I would also add the Mercenaries Saga series(I think 7 games overall) as pretty good cheaper ones.(Switch, PS, PC) The narratives are pretty generic but the battles are good. The recent indie Dark Deity 2 is very solid (Switch,PC) and actually has good voice acting.

 

[Cfh123]

Lost Eidolons, which I played on Xbox, is a little known Korean-developed Western-style (medieval Europe setting) SRPG. It is really good. It is on Steam too.

I liked the story. You could do cool things with spells, like caste a water spell, then electricity in the same place for increased damage. If you like medieval themed, you will like this.

 

[semiconscious]

all the classic ps1/2 japanese 2.5d games, & a special nod to this cult classic:

 

[Labadal]

Very good calls.

I would like to recommend Blackguards. While it doesn't have the best Steam user score, I really like this game. I recommend it if you like to have a lot of options on how to build your character. It is often 90% off.

Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children is one of my favorite games of all time, so I have to give it a shout out. Lots of game time, many different systems that get introduced. Lots of fun character building, and fun missions.

 

[Laptop1991]

I use to play a lot of RTS games, but that was mid 90's to early/mid 2000's, after then there wasn't that many too choose from except Starcraft 2, i still remember how bad C&C 4 was, i haven't played any since.

 

[TheGreatMusashi]

I actually really enjoyed this game earlier this year. A sequel was recently announced. Not as good as 2 by any stretch but it was nice playing a newer Disciples game on console.