What's your favorite turn-based tactical RPG (i.e. FF Tactics, Fire Emblem, etc.)?

Hudo

Member
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I think it strikes a really nice balance between fun and challenging turn based combat with a compelling narrative that has memorable characters and some actual tough choices.
Ah fuck. I still need to play this. I actually was about to start this up when Unicorn Overlord came out and got sucked into that instead (my GOTY 2024).
 

Fbh

Gold Member
Ah fuck. I still need to play this. I actually was about to start this up when Unicorn Overlord came out and got sucked into that instead (my GOTY 2024).

It's really great. Up there with Nier Automata as my favorite thing Square has put out in over a decade.
Just as a heads up, the intro can be quite slow. Go into it expecting the first few hours to be mostly dialogue (though there's still some battles).

Once you get past the opening act I think it gets into a better pace with a more balanced mix of story and gameplay.
 

Hudo

Member
It's really great. Up there with Nier Automata as my favorite thing Square has put out in over a decade.
Just as a heads up, the intro can be quite slow. Go into it expecting the first few hours to be mostly dialogue (though there's still some battles).

Once you get past the opening act I think it gets into a better pace with a more balanced mix of story and gameplay.
Alright, then I will get into this next! You've hyped me up now, lol.
 
Used to play Silent Storm back in the day. It's like a WW2 XCOM with tons of weapons, 6 or 8 classes and best of all, 3D environments that are fully destructible. Nothing like clearing the second floor of a house by standing below it's floor and unloading an MG-42 into it.

I'd recommend it to anyone who liked games like XCOM or Jagged Alliance.
I played this and loved it.
 
I would probably say Divinity Original Sin 2 (I haven't played Baldur's Gate 3 yet), but I guess it doesn't count for whatever reason...

If so, maybe Fire Emblem Awakening, because it's the Fire Emblem game with my favorite story. I also really enjoyed Capes, released last year.
One of the things I love about these games is that virtually every encounter feels like a scripted battle from a focused tactical RPG. I don't know if they count towards this genre, but man they're fun.
 
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Filben

Member
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I think it strikes a really nice balance between fun and challenging turn based combat with a compelling narrative that has memorable characters and some actual tough choices.
I second this. It looks beautiful, has stunning character portraits, great dialogues with ambivalent characters, secret motivations, complex relationships domestic and foreign. Also sometimes really tough choices but many grey shades instead of clear black and white and many dialogues (and options) to explore those. Combat is fun, too. Not too complex (I usually don't play these games so I like this streamlined experience) but very satisfying.
 

eNT1TY

Member
Xcom 2 is brutal but when shit comes together it is glorious. Loved Unicorn Overlord a lot, a bit on the easier side but it was great fun from start to finish and some of the characters are really well written and i love the Vanillaware aesthetic. The mainline Front Mission games were also really good.
 

Larxia

Member
Midnight Suns. It's the best turn based system I have ever played.
I really love how there's no random / miss in that game, if you manage to think about a strategy, it will 100% work, making the combats feeling more like puzzles with set rules, rather than something relying on RNG.
 

DaciaJC

Gold Member
Either Battle Brothers or WarTales.

BB has the advantage of some excellent music and writing and better overall sense of atmosphere, whereas WT has more in-depth roleplaying mechanics and more approachable combat.

If Darkest Dungeon counts, though, that would be my first choice.
 

Roberts

Member
Wasteland 3 is my favorite. Spent countless hours being totally sucked into its wonderfully bonkers world. It helps that it can be so darkly hilarious.
 

ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
Xcom enemy unknown was great, very casual friendly. With enemy within, the game became much more complex, and I couldn't really get into it. As for xcom 2, I remember quitting because the tutorial section was too long? and I got bored. Disgaea d2 a brighter darkness doesn't seem to be very well received, but it was my first and only Disgaea game. I eventually stopped playing, but I really enjoyed the hours I spent with it. Lifting, throwing, mounting were cool. I bought Disgaea 4 and 5 and I will play them one day.

Fallout 1 and 2 aren't classified as tactical rpgs, but they weren't much different from the games I mentioned; they felt like open world XCOM games.
 

Skeptical

Member
Like several others, I think I have to choose Triangle Strategy as my favorite. It's probably an accident, but to me it felt like the perfect level of difficulty throughout. It seemed like every single battle resulted in me starting with what I thought was a good plan, watching my plan get shot to pieces, panicking and trying to reorganize, and eventually regrouping sufficiently to claw my way to victory. It made almost every single battle feel like an accomplishment.

I've said before that Fire Emblem is the comfort food of the genre, and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is the most comforting. Of all the FE games I've played, it feels like the most complete package. A great cast of characters, some really fun maps, no gimmicks that detract from the experience, and a lot of variety in approaches given the relatively large army size you can bring to each battle.

I know it's a heresy to some people, but I did not care for the story in Final Fantasy Tactics at all. That said, the battle system is fantastic. I love the heavy emphasis on elevation and area of effect attacks, which means you need to care about positioning a lot more than in many other games of the genre. And, of course, the job system automatically makes everything better.

And if people are going to use this thread for recommendations, I'll toss in the most obscure one that I really liked: Banner of the Maid. It's a Chinese developed alternate reality French Revolution/Napoleonic Wars era Fire Emblem clone with cute magical anime girls. And as ridiculous as that sounds, it works. The maps are fun, the challenge is there, and as cheesy as the concept is it takes itself seriously enough. It also has one of the best examples of story-gameplay integration I've seen. You know the trope in which the battle is tough, the heroes see no hope of winning, people are falling into despair, and the hero gives a speech and rallies the troops and uses that to somehow steal victory from the jaws of defeat? Well, one of the maps was absolutely perfect for that.
 

GymWolf

Gold Member
Ff tactics
Vandal hearts 2
Mutant year one


Are the only ones i played i think.
 
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Beechos

Member
Warsong/langrisser
Shining force
Dragon force

I wish there were more games like langrisser where you have little battlelions battling it out and heros take can take on battalions by themselves. A dynasty warriors tactical rpg was be amazing.
 
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Shifty1897

Member
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I think it strikes a really nice balance between fun and challenging turn based combat with a compelling narrative that has memorable characters and some actual tough choices.
One interesting thing about this game is how each character is basically their own unique class, and you can specialize them further into different subclasses. Kind of a different take on the class system.
 

HRK69

Gold Member

Haven't played it in a while, but the time I spent with it was a lot of fun

It looks like the developer is still actively adding new content, and there's DLC that really expands the game.

However, the reviews for the DLC seem pretty mixed. I haven't dived into it myself yet
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
HOMM3 and Warlords 1.

In Warlords, Orcs of Kor OP as they got tons of land with some good wolf rider units. They are also isolated where you can block off bridges. The yellow giants faction is decent too. The orange dwarf faction can get tight, BUT if you can get that town that can pump out dwarf units in 1 turn (a power 5 unit at 1 turn time is unheard of in the game) you can overwhelm that entire top map with them. And make slowly make your way down the hilly terrain to the bottom map.
 
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Saber

Newd Member
Shinning Force 3.

Its an offense they leaving this game on the dust. Such a gem in a need to be reintroduced to people.
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
Fire Emblem, tho I remember SMT Devil's Survivor being amazing, I really liked that game, I wish I had it on PC, I think it's my favorite SRPG by far
 

Fbh

Gold Member
One interesting thing about this game is how each character is basically their own unique class, and you can specialize them further into different subclasses. Kind of a different take on the class system.

Yeah I liked how each character was unique. Definitely made them all feel more distinct not just in the story but also in the gameplay.

I also enjoyed the unique take on decision making. I liked how all the major decisions are voted on by your entire party, and you actually have to convince party members to vote for what you want to do. Now to be fair, it is fairly easy to convince them if you take your time to gather information during the brief town exploration sequences, but I still ended up getting outvoted once or twice during my playthrough.
 
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