What are your favorite Tactical RPGs?
Looking to ask for people's favorite tactical RPGs because I have played a bunch but never really gotten into any. XCOM, Fire Emblem, Disgaea, Advance Wars, Fallout, etc.
Looking to see what other people love so I can convince myself to try something new or try something again.
Out of what I've played, Into the Breach was my favorite. Very dense, and the positioning is really important. The only one I actually finished.
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If you enjoyed Into the Breach, take a look at Tactical Breach Wizards. Not much of an RPG, but the combat is similar to ITB. Not as difficult though.
For some reason I read Tactical Breach Wizards and thought of Sexy Battle Wizards, and I just thought, that's a cool recommendation but why here?
Job system is fun too, just unfortunate the later Heroes stomp over created characters
And the music is incredible
That’s fine. Created characters are strong enough to beat the game with. I only played through it 2 times, but my second run I used as few named chars as possible. I created my team based on Seiken Densetsu 3 characters.
UFO: Alien Invasion.
A free, open source reimagining of the original XCOM games.
https://ufoai.org/
Shining Force is a classic. Basically Seva's answer to Fire Emblem.
Wargroove is pretty good too. Kind of like Advance Wars, but in a more medieval fantasy setting. From an indie dev with pixel art. My only real complaint is one I have with all modern "retro pixel art" style games: the "pixels" can move by much smaller increments than themselves. I wish games that used that style would align everything, including animation, to the fake pixels. It looks kind of busy and messy imo. It doesn't bother me enough to ruin Wargroove though.
Banner Saga was pretty good. It's a combination of tactical RPG with mostly text-based choose-your-own-adventure style elements between battles. Still haven't played the 3rd one, but I enjoyed the first 2.
Loved Shining Force since I watched my brother and his friend play all night after renting it from Blockbuster in the early 90s! I’ve played 1 and 2 a few times over the years and always had fun.
Free for mobile right now! https://www.theverge.com/news/688167/sega-retro-games-forever-program-free-download-ios-android-crazy-taxi-sonic
My favorite series is disgaea, but I wouldn't recommend it to most people, it's over the top game breaking silliness.
Chroma-squad is often overlooked, but captures a lot of what name 90s trpg's great and improves on the formula quite a bit.
The absolute best trpg imo is "bionic dues", I feel like it you enjoyed into the breach you should definitely give bionic dues a shot, it's such a different style of game,
What's the one in the picture? Also, how do I read alt text on Summit?
Picture is of "Front Mission" (1995). I've never played or heard of it, tbh it is just taken from the Wikipedia page for tactical RPG.
Front Mission was pretty fun, and it looks like there's a remaster available that shines it up a bit. I don't remember much about the plot, but you build and outfit a squad of mechs, and you can specialize them for guns, or melee, or rockets or what have you.
Ooh, thank you. It looks cool.
Jagged Alliance 2 (especially with the 1.13 mod) is the most ludicrously detailed tactical RPG you'll ever find. It can be a nightmare to actually play until you spend many, many hours learning all its systems, but nothing else comes close immersion-wise. You can customize every mercenary's loadout down to individual weapon attachments, capturing different parts of the map gives bonuses that actually make sense (like being able to ship in weapons once you've taken the airport), you can train militias to hold onto captured sectors for you, and you can even use the in-game internet to send flowers to the main villain.
Yeah, I really liked JA2. The UI is pretty elderly today, though.
I haven't been very impressed with some of the subsequent attempts to revive the series, though I still haven't gotten around to playing Jagged Alliance 3 yet, and that has much better scores than some of the intervening releases, like Jagged Alliance: Back in Action. If you haven't tried JA3 yet either, you might consider taking a look.
EDIT: Oh, wait, yes I did play it, because I remember the intro mission that they have screenshots of.
https://shared.fastly.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1084160/ss_0edc29526ad201a59357234cd77a34a5ba507208.1920x1080.jpg
I don't recall finishing the game, though. I should go back and see what my status in that game is. Thanks for making me think of it.
I've heard good things about 3, but haven't bought it myself. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts if you ever get back into it!
Just tried it, and it was some other game I was thinking of; I hadn't played JA3 yet.
While I haven't finished the game, thoughts:
It's the strongest of the post-2 Jagged Alliance games that I've played.
Still not on par with JA2, at least relative to release year, I'd say also in absolute terms.
My biggest problem --- I'm running this under Proton --- is some bugginess that I'm a little suspicious is a thread deadlock. When it happens, I never see the targeting options show up when I target an enemy, and trying to go to the map or inventory screen doesn't update the visible area onscreen, though I can blindly click and hear interactions. The game also doesn't ever exit if I hit Alt-F4 in that state, just hangs. AFAICT, this can always be resolved by quicksaving (which you can do almost anywhere), stopping the game (I use
killin a terminal on Linux) and reloading the save, but it's definitely obnoxious. Fortunately, the game starts up pretty quickly. Nobody on ProtonDB talking about it, so maybe it's just me. I have not noticed bugs other than this one.So far, not much by way of missions where one has to figure out elaborate ways of getting into areas or the like: more of a combat focus. I have wirecutters, crowbars, lockpicks, and explosives, like in JA2, but thus far, it's mostly just a matter of clicking on a locked container with someone who has lockpicking skill. Probably more realistic --- in real life, an unattended door isn't going to stop anyone for long --- but I kinda miss that.
The maps feel a lot smaller to me, though the higher resolution might be part of that. A lot of 3d modeling to make them look pretty. There's a lot more verticality, like watchtowers.
The game also feels considerably shorter than JA2, based on the percentage of the strategic map that I've taken. That being said, JA2 could get a bit repetitive when one is fighting the umpteenth enemy reinforcement party.
Unique perks for mercs that make them a lot more meaningful than in JA2 (though also limit your builds). For example, Fox can get what is basically a free turn if she initiates combat on a surprised enemy. Barry auto-constructs explosives each day.
Thematic feel of the mercs from JA2 is retained well.
Interesting perk tree.
A bunch of map modifiers like fog that have a major impact.
Bunch of QoL stuff for scheduling concurrent tasks for different mercs.
Pay demands don't seem to rise with level, though other factors can drive it up (e.g. Fox will demand more pay if you hire Steroid).
Feels easier than JA2, though I haven't finished it.
I'm pretty sure the keybindings are different.
Tiny thing, but I always liked the start of JA2, where your initial team does a fast-rope helicopter insertion into a hostile sector. Felt like a badass way to set the tone. No real analog in JA3.
I started running into guys with RPGs early on in JA3, much earlier than in JA2.
JA2 has ground vehicles and a helicopter and they require you to obtain fuel. Transport logistics don't exist in JA3, other than paying to embark on boat trips at a port (and just checked online to confirm that they aren't just in the late game).
More weapon mods in JA3. Looks like some interesting tradeoffs that one has to make here, rather than just "later-game stuff is better".
For me, it was a worthwhile purchase --- even with the irritating bug I keep hitting --- and I would definitely recommend it over the other post-JA2 stuff if you've played JA2 and want more. It hasn't left me giggling at the insane amount of complex interactions that were coded into the game like JA2 did, though, which were kind of a hallmark of the original.
Thanks for the detailed write-up! I'll have to pick it up at some point; even if it doesn't hit the same highs as JA2, there hasn't really been much else that comes close and a more modern coat of polish would be welcome.
What did you think of the new aiming system? I've heard mixed things, but it sounded good to me (or at least way better than a flat percentage).
I don't know what the internal mechanics are like, haven't read material about it. From a user standpoint, I have just a list of positive and negative factors impacting my hit chance, so less information about my hit chance. I guess I'd vaguely prefer the percentage --- I generally am not a huge fan of games that have the player rely on mechanics trying to hide the details of those mechanics --- but it's nice to know what inputs are present. It hasn't been a huge factor to me one way or the other, honestly; I mean, I feel like I've got a solid-enough idea of roughly what the chances are.
Yeah, I don't know of other things that have the strategic aspect. For the squad-based tactical turn-based combat, there are some options that I've liked playing in the past.
While Wasteland 2 and Wasteland 3 aren't quite the same thing --- they're closer to Fallout 1 and 2, as Wasteland 1 was a major inspiration for them --- the squad-based, turn-based tactical combat system is somewhat similar, and if you're hunting for games that have that, you might also enjoy that.
I also played Silent Storm and enjoyed it, though it's now pretty long in the tooth (well, so is Jagged Alliance 2...). Even more of a combat focus. Feels lower budget, slightly unfinished.
And there's X-Com. I didn't like the new ones, which are glitzy, lots of time spent doing dramatic animations and stuff, but maybe I should go back and give them another chance.
X-Com - UFO Defense and TFTD are definitely my favorite. Fallout 1&2 are a close second and I've been meaning to play through them again. Ogre Battle is a distant third, with Front Mission right behind it.
There's a reason why oldschool X-Com players kept coming back to the games despite technical issues like the Groundhog Day bug. (Thank all applicable deities for OpenXcom solving those issues, though.)
Absolutely loved both of them! I think UFO Defense was the first pc game I played on our first 486. It was one of the first games I ever successfully hacked.
Not sure how many people know, but there's another game from Gollop, Rebelstar Tactical Command for Gameboy Advance. It's part of the Rebelstar series dating back to the ZX Spectrum. It plays pretty much the same as the original XCom games.
Wasteland 3 is really good, baldurs gate 3 kinda, darkest dungeon, Valkyrie chronicles 1 & 4
I enjoyed Wasteland 3 a great deal too.
Advance Wars, of course.
I haven't seen any mention of "Steamworld: Heist", yet. It's a very different sort of game engine, but scratches the same itch.
I love Tactical Breach Wizards, which is somewhere between Into the Breach and Invisible Inc (also amazing).
Thanks for this rec, it looks delightful!
Wildermyth was very enjoyable, it's not as deep and well written as some of the others mentioned but still held my attention long enough to finish it.
Pretty unique art style and it felt relatively challenging throughout.
I second that opinion. It seemed shallow and easy at the beginning, but turned out to be a really entertaining and challenging game. I also love how the characters age, develop, and eventually retire.
They can also turn up again in later campaigns. This lends well to both the story and team-building aspects of the game, and is one of the things that sets Wildermyth apart from superficially similar games.
I'm a weirdo, so Massive Chalice.
It has a strange high-concept premise where you are an immortal ruler defending against a monstrous army that only attacks every decade or so. Any surviving individual squad member will only be able to go on a handful of missions before aging out, so you are also managing familial bloodlines to birth new soldiers, while controlling for genetic and social traits that get passed down. I love the uniqueness and big ideas. It's far from perfect, but you asked for favorite not the best.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, above all else.
That being said, Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor 1 and 2 are awesome. They combine SRPGs with the usual SMT combat - I don't think I've found something similar yet.
You move around like you would in any other SRPG, then you can attack enemies in range to enter normal turn based combat - however, at most, you can only play out 2 full turns before combat ends. Afterwards the next unit moves. Each unit represents a squad of up to three characters you will be batteling with, usually a human and two demons. Depending on your squad, you may have different movement, range and abilities.
Yes. The day is full of moments. (Relevant Penny Arcade)
Tactical RPG's are my favorite genre of games, and Tactics Ogre (not Ogre Battle) in any of it's many iterations is my favorite. No game is perfect but it does so many things so, so well. Matsuno's magnum opus. The latest version, Tactics Ogre Reborn added high quality voice acting which I really love.
I've had my eye on Tactics Ogre Reborn for a while now, but haven't bought yet since it seemingly won't go below 50% off, and the reviews say some of the later missions are pretty stacked against you, forcing you to play a certain way. Thoughts on this?
The game gives you all the tools you need and more to complete every map, and it's up to you how to use them. Character builds are very flexible and adjustable before each map to fit the situation, so if you're getting stuck somewhere it might be time to rethink your strategy.
A concrete example from my first playthrough: I was facing a large group of beasts and kept losing and losing. Up until then I had just been bringing my favorite characters in terms of personality, but when I instead brought a heavy phalanx frontline to keep my guys in the back safe, that encounter became a breeze since the enemy was too slow to even touch my backline.
The game isn't particularly difficult, but there's lots of this in the game. Facing undead? Bring someone who can do exorcism. The enemy has a lot of archers? Equip weapons/skills that let you deflect arrows. I am simplifying, and there's always more than one solution to each problem, but you're going to need to plan for each map before you go in.
And what do you know... it just went on sale. Thanks for the info, I just picked it up.
There's a hilariously drawn out postgame/endgame challenge dungeon type thing that's like 100+ straight battles.
But the main game is solidly worth the full price, quite honestly. Any sale you find is just helping your budget.
There are a few specific missions that are indeed stacked against you, but they are important story missions that are like boss fights. You don't have to play them a specific way to beat them at all, people just get too caught up in playing these games in cookie cutter ways sometimes and now you get site created by AI slop that just regurgitate it.
Another good one that’s more recent is Triangle Strategy. Positioning is important. Great story. Very similar to FFT but FFT is better overall. Still a great game and more modern.
I lamy FF Tactics a little bit. And it was okay (I was pretty young) but when advanced ears came out. Hooooo my god k was hooked. I was always on my Gameboy every chance I could get.
FFTactics like others was my favorite.
I quite enjoyed into the breach.
I bought a couple of tactics like games on steam and they all dont seem to be fun to me. I guess I like to grind a bit on fair but punishing tactics titles.
Oooh, I got you OP. If you liked the dense micro-maps of Into the Breach, check out Bad North. Defend small islands from waves of invaders with limited troops. Not an overly long game, but very satisfying for what it is.
My favorite is the original Final Fantasy Tactics, hands down. I also liked XCOM 1, Advance Wars, Ogre Battle 64, Unicorn Overlord, Fire Emblem 3 Houses, and probably a few others I can't think of right now.
Not my all-time fav, but I like it a lot and it's kinda slept-on: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars for the 3DS. It's got a lot in common with X-COM -- heck, Julian Gollop was even the producer on it.
Laser Squad, playing couch hot-seat is what sent me down this path.
I really liked Jagged Alliance 2, Afterlight and especially X-COM: Apocalypse. Apocalypse had such radical departures from the first two Ufo titles, which did not make it very well liked among enthusiasts, in particular the real-time battle mode. But the game had such fun mechanics and steep difficulty curve, I really enjoyed the challenge of it, as opposed to getting another Enemy Unknown clone that was TFTD.
I'm playing Last Spell right now, isometric base defense game. Lots of viable ways to play, but later missions become a slog if you don't plan out hero builds. A run takes 5-10 hours, but rounds take 20 minutes. Emphasis on crowd control and positioning.
Darkest Dungeon is nice if you want a break from isometric stuff, dungeon crawler, emphasis on team combat and resource management.
Creeper World III if you want to try RTS style, lots of community maps.
Tactical Breach Wizards, Come in through a window, throw everyone else out the window. Silly, but fun.
Baldur's gate 3
I like the disgaea series not only because of the deep systems involved, but also just because gameplay is so snappy. So many SRPGs are slow as molasses in terms of interface. I also really enjoyed Unicorn Overlord recently.
Fallout Tactics remains my favorite Fallout.
Syndicate from 1993. Don't know if that fulfills the "RPG" part of Tactical RPG but it's definitely worth a play.
Yes! I loved playing this game on our old 486.
I feel like it had RPG elements with the soldier upgrades and equipment. There was progression in what your characters could do. This game was amazing, I'd love a remake of this with some small graphical and quality of life improvements.
Tuned Heart - PC-9801
Koudelka - PS1
Jean D'Arc - PSP
XCOM 2 - Steam
Commandos to me is the start of a different lineage of real-time tactical stealth games, which goes on to include Desperados, Shadow Tactics, and Shadow Gambit (yes, most of those were made by the same team).
Outside of the OGRE-alikes (FO Tactics, FF Tactics, Disgea, and so on) some other options for tactical games that are a little different:
It has that iconic theme music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASTLGt_9vbU
Just can't beat The Shining Force games. Can't.
Currently playing Tactical Breach Wizards. It's not really "hardcore" the way XCOM is, which suits my lifestyle right now.
I was a big final fantasy tactics guy back in the day. I it was my first into to tactical. RPGs, and I was already in love with final fantasy III and VII by then, so it made sense. My buddy also had Vandal Hearts and that was awesome too! Can't say I played much more beyond that.
I rather enjoyed Gears Tactics a few years ago.
I really enjoyed it as an XCOM combat-ish game that felt like there was work done to make it feel like it belongs in the Gears Of War universe. It's not infinitely replayable because the campaign has mandatory side-missions that are generated from a limited template and begin to feel stale once you've seen all the templates, and by the endgame you have so many special abilities unlocked in your squad that it kind of drifts away from any semblance of feeling like combat tactics and into a puzzle game about min-maxing abilities to combo chain them together (this opinion might read a little oddly but if you've played enough turnbased tactical games you notice many game riding this line, with some going extreme one way or the other). It is worth a sale price though if you need a turn based combat fix.
My favorites are probably the Disgaea series and related games (Makai Kingdom, Phantom Brave) and Tactics Ogre. I also like Tactics Ogres more popular little brother, Final Fantasy Tactics.
Disgaea was a bit too edgy and weird for me. And Too. Much. Uninteresting. Dialogue ! Fire emblem games have the same issue.
Tactics ogre looks cool ! (Does it suffer from the issue stated above ?)
Disgaea and like are intentionally non-serious and funny. If the humor doesn't do it for you in the slightest then it's not for you sadly. I do have to say that once you get hooked on the series, all the other games feel like their mechanics are overly simplistic though.
And no, Tactics Ogre is all serious and very very good.
Yey, thanks !
Wargroove is very good.
The only game that I've ever played like this is SNES' game Ball Bullet Gun, it was like 12 yeas ago. It doesn't have a story. You make your team, and play against another player. Playing it alone is kinda boring.
Vandal Hearts on PS1. I think its probably not as good as I remember, but I was a small child and it said the word "Bastard" and that was the most adult media I'd been (unknowingly) allowed to consume. I played that game hard.
Most people don't see it as a tactical rpg but: Baldur's Gate 3
There was an old one on the first sega console controlling different knights on a board. It was the first game of its kind i played but could never remember what it was.
Not my fav by any means, but I've really been enjoying the Kriegsfront Tactics demo this week.