Valkyria Chronicles is very solid. The system levels by class instead of by person, ever character in the game is distinct, so scout isn't just a scout, and the mixed real time and turn based gameplay is rather well done. It does a very bad gameplay to cutscene ratio, however. The story is... all right. Nothing you haven't seen before, and the anime romantic scenes are kinda grating at the start, but they do get better (as in, a little more mature, less cutsey), and aren't that numerous compared to general world building and character development.
Valkyria Chronicles is honestly just anime X-Com in the simplest terms, but if you aren't a fan of anime or the style, chances are you won't care for it. Basically as opposed to everyone having the same turn, you can give individual characters multiple turns through refreshing points every phase, though at diminishing returns in terms of movement and effectiveness. Also mixed in is a synergy system with individual characters liking and hating one another, so having a bunch of people that hate each other drastically reduces their aim and defense.
Also, for the love of god, do not think you can control the tank beyond moving in a straight line, and even that'll be something you wish you could do later on.
Shadowrun Returns is pretty good, and has the best workshop community I've seen on Steam, with stuff ranging from simple one-shot jokes, to old hell runs like The Universal Brotherhood,(basically considered the Shadowrun old-school Gygax equivalent, as in, you're lucky to survive and fail most of the objectives) not the
Universal Brotherhood Lite
that is the game that shipped with it.
If you're looking for something not as based in turns, but still strategy, there's Ghost Master, always a classic and somewhat difficult game(prepare to be a bit miffed, as there's still a couple of bugs that'll require you to restart the level that have been there since its original release)
I'm hearing and seeing some good things about Mordheim, though you probably want to wait for a sale since it's still early access and pretty pricey, but head and shoulders above Warmachine: Tactics in terms of price and content for the moment.
I'd give you more recommendations, but since you don't want to get bogged down in economics and city-management I'm assuming, I'll leave it at this.
Oh yeah, man. Get Valkyria Chronicles. The story is a bit corny and predictable in the vein of Ni No Kuni, if you are familiar with it. Very juvenile in its character design, but it also has some very good and entertaining characters. It's mostly the main two characters where things are cheesy, the rest of the cast are actually better characters but not really expanded on. The bad guys are more interesting than Welkin and Allison. (The two main characters)
However, it is definitely worth playing if you like turn based. The first few missions will feel easy as headshots aren't hard to pull off. But once you start fighting in the 'desert', things pick up. (About 8 missions -or maps - in) They also have a very interesting layout for the UI. If you are into those sorts of things, this game is worth a look. They use a "chronicled story book" to tell the tale as a tale. Yet, it is done as if it were real time. It's unique, and hard to describe. I highly recommend it. I have it for PS3 but I doubt porting it effected much.
It's still an early access game and definitely needs some polish (especially some better optimization), but I'm really enjoying "Warmachine: Tactics". The voice acting is kinda corny, but the tactical strategy elements of it are solid and bring a lot of interesting ideas to the table, such as "Focus" and how you utilize Warjacks. It also has a really cool aesthetic of these crazy magic-infused steampunk robots.
A little game known as Breach & Clear sounds right up your alley. I've played a decent amount of it and it's like X-Com, with a slight twist and a little more difficulty. You command a squad of elite... soldiers? All in the form of special force. People like the Navy Seals, Green Berets, and I believe special forces from Germany and Britain. You have four soldiers per squad, which have roles, skills, and changeable weapons. You do the game on a turn by turn basis, starting with the planning phase. Where you set your troops position and choose which direction they'll target. You click the go button and both you and your enemy start moving and shooting. You have to prepare for ambushes, noise, the whole nine yards. I enjoyed my time with X-Com, so you should hopefully enjoy this. I would wait for a sale though, I bought it for three dollars, instead of the usual twenty.
If you're open to some older games, Fallout Tactics was good for party and equipment management. My favourite turn-based game is still Heroes of Might and Magic 2, though.
Men of War is similar too, but the closest I've found to Xcom aside from JA was Silent Storm, set in a World War II era. It gets a little stupid near the end when the mech suits are introduced, but up to that point it's got a lot of similarity to Xcom's gameplay.
Really? I've played the Android version and that's really good, but I wouldn't say it's more difficult. I don't know how is the PC version but I assumed it was the same, more or less.
At any rate, I do suggest that - it's a nice one. Good on Android, too, if you want to play something on the go.
I'd also recommend Frozen Synapse. Get the original. It looks a lot like Breach & Clear but more stylised and it has more tactical considerations. Though I've played that on PC only (so I'm not sure how it compares against the PC B&C) and I loved it. Really good soundtrack, too.
Shadowrun returns and invisible inc. are the games I currently have my eye on for exactly the same reason. Mind you, I haven't played either myself yet. So by all means watch some reviews and/or trailers and judge for yourself if they have what you're hoping for.
The combat in Wasteland 2 is all turn-based. The game that occurs around it is pretty good, too.
The Heroes of Might and Magic series turns up on the cheap on GOG periodically. As of this writing HOMM3 is for sale at 50% off, and most of the people I've spoken to consider it one of the best in the series.
Shadowrun returns and invisible inc. are the games I currently have my eye on for exactly the same reason. Mind you, I haven't played either myself yet. So by all means watch some reviews and/or trailers and judge for yourself if they have what you're hoping for.
Shadowrun, at least the most recent one, is an OK game, but is utterly rubbish as a deep tactical experience. The tactical game play is...cursory, at best.
JA2 remains the king of turn-based tactical games.
Valkyria Chronicles is for all intents and purposes X-COM, but with a story and characters. And squinting ain't gonna help you, that thick anime cheese will force its way though every orifice.
Mechanically it's extremely solid though. I don't know if it's as good as X-COM, but it's darn close.
Xenonauts would be perfect for you. It's basically also an xcom adaptation made by fans of the original instead of an AAA developer.
The graphics aren't as good but still great to suit the athmosphere of the game, which you can cut with a knife. There's sill plenty of tactics and while the aliens don't differ as much as in the new one, they still provide different challenges and the terror missions are so difficult that they lead to incredible tense moments and sometimes actuall terror.
Overall it's a great game and not very expensive. If you liked Xcom exspecially the original you will love this.
The strategic gameplay is also a lot more complex and fleshed out than the new game with Airbattles with direct control over the aircrafts and multiple aircrafts fighting at the same time.
What about the Banner Saga? I've never played it personally, but I've seen some gameplay footage, and it appeared to be XCOM-like in it's combat scenarios.
Well I'm currently playing Shadowrun returns and it's decent. Tactics are nowhere near as good as X-com however and it does have an annoying habit of having dialogue before a fight and then giving your enemy first turn so it starts with you getting shot in face with nothing you can do about it. They should have made it like X-com where the enemy gets first turn but only take cover in that turn. You also can't use hired decker to pass decking checks, only to jack into the matrix. You don't miss out on much without decking, in fact it being useless is a common complaint but it's still annoying.
I haven't made my way to dragonfall or mods though which I've heard are better than the main.
I'm planning on picking up Valkyria Chronicles at some point.
Well, Wasteland 2 might be an RPG, but the combat is kinda similar: grid-based, turn-based, squad-based etc. I thought it was crud, but lots of people seem to dig it, so it might be worth checking out.
I can also heartily recommend Age of Wonders 2 & 3. They mix strategic and tactical maps, in the vein of Heroes of Might and Magic, but I find them far superior, on both a strategic and tactical level. Definitely worth checking out.
What about the Banner Saga? I've never played it personally, but I've seen some gameplay footage, and it appeared to be XCOM-like in it's combat scenarios.
Good, but extremely easy to exploit to the point you have to do it to survive later in the game. Once someone takes enough damage, they stop doing damage, killing them just gives the bigger guys more free turns, so you have to let an annoyance stay alive so that you can actually fight without having your guy have one turn while one of their's gets to move six times to your own characters only getting to move once.
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