Fighting off Pandorans in Phoenix Point, the Locust in Gears Tactics, or staying in the fight for Huffman Island in Front Mission 1st: The Remake, Tactical RPGs gobble up more than their fair share of my gaming time.
I’ve loved strategy games my whole life; Kriegspiel by Avalon Hill, Fortress America or Axis & Allies from board game power house Milton Bradley, and Shadowlord from Parker Brothers were all staples for me as a teenager.
With the arrival of the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis my trusty board games were replaced by Desert Commander, Super Conflict, and Master of Monsters, but my love of strategy never waivered.
The formula was simple – get involved in a conflict, build up your military strength through representative battles, and defeat your enemies. Simple, direct, and fun, the way games should be. Not only are different units and abilities a staple of Tactical RPGs, you need to use all of them at some point.
My favorite part of these games is figuring out the combinations that give you edge in a battle where you’re outnumbered, and in some cases, outgunned (I’m looking right at you Front Mission Series!). Another similarity in all Tactical RPGs is through the course of the game, units evolve, level up, or specialize in different roles, which makes every battle more interesting (and sometimes more difficult).
The stories of Tactical RPGs vary to some degree, but building the ultimate squad of 6-10 units from dozens (some times hundreds) of units is 75% of the fun for me. How you build your squads to get through the games are what makes each game unique.
With so many Tactical RPGs to choose from, where does one start? If you’re just getting into the hobby, here are a few titles to get you started.
- Xcom: UFO Defense (Steam)
- Xcom: Terror from the Deep (Steam)
- Xcom: Enemy Within (Xbox One)
- Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1)
- Tactics Ogre or Tactics Ogre: Reborn (N64, PS5)
- Gears Tactics (PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X)
- Front Mission 1st: Remake (Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch)
- Advanced Wars 1 & 2 (Nintendo Switch)
- Banner Saga 1, 2, & 3 (Xbox One, PlayStation, PC)
- Massive Chalice (Xbox One, PC)
There are so many options to choose from in this genre, just Google Tactical RPGs and you are sure to find a game to capture your interest.
Happy Gaming!
Johncow
2cowsgaming.com 