New Turn Based Strategy or Tactics Game.....PLEASE!

[Spinwhiz]

Hi Friends!

I am looking for a new turn based strategy game or a tactics type game. I love games like Master of Orion (the first 2, the 3rd was a waste of space....get it...space and Civ but I also enjoy games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Shining Force (Genesis, not PS2 or PSP). I have a 360 and a PC.

Let me know what you guys think! Thanks a bunch in advance!

Spinwhiz

 

[Katana314]

Hmmmm. Let me try to think of some recent goodies...

I see something called Disciples II on Steam, with a metacritic average of 84. Might be worth looking into, but don't buy unless you can find out about it.

Defcon MIGHT interest you, although it's real-time.

I don't really know many turn-based games so well myself, so it might just be best to ask someone else.

 

[Jacques 2]

well it depends, are you looking for an RPG with strategy elements, in which case you should hold out for Mass Effect, or looking for a war game style RTS, in which case you should pick up World in Conflict. Alternatively, you could pick up Overlord for a middleground (that leans towards the former rather than the latter)

 

[Bongo Bill]

I really enjoyed Galactic Civilizations 2, which has the added bonus of not containing any copy protection.

 

[RST]

I recommend laser squad nemisis, its turn based but the turns run simultaneously with conditional orders, eg, go here, if you see anyone retreat, otherwise put a grenade through that window blah blah blah. It has four very different sides, but they are quite well balanced. The graphics arn't at all fancy, but they do the job fine. It has single player missions if you want to pay for them but to be honest its always much better playing against real people. Send a challenge to RST if you decide to play and i'll do my best to introduce you.

 

[LordLocke]

I'm probably not going to name a whole lot of surprises here, since the main problem is that the 360's turn-based options are... well, non existant. You got Band of Bugs... and... and... (seriously, I can't even think of more then one or two mediocre titles in the BackCompat library)

PC I know has a ton, but I've only played a handful, and liked even less- mostly the Civilizations, the Master series (Master of Orion/II and especially Master of Magic) and a little X-Com. AKA, nothing you probably haven't played already.

That said, maybe go online and give the Bladestorm demo off Live a try? I can't say for sure how deep that game's gonna be (It's a fast-paced game of RTS rock-paper-scissors disguised cunningly as a medieval war game) but I've been having fun with it.

 

[gameloftguy]

I would suggest Galactic Civilizations, 1 or 2. If you have a cell phone I have a couple of more.

 

[Virgil]

I'll second Band of Bugs on the Xbox 360, but that's going to be about it on that platform. You might also want to try Outpost Kaloki X, also on Live Arcade, as it's also a (quirky, sort of-)strategy game.

Your big win for strategy games on a console would be on the GBA, where you have a lot of options. First and foremost, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, a sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics. There's another sequel currently in development for the GBA. Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis is also very similar, and better IMO.

There is also Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon, Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, and both games in the Advance Wars series, all of which are excellent.

Another option is the PS2, which has a fairly decent library, but turn-based strategy games have kind of fallen out of favor on non-portables. You can find a whole slew of games developed and/or published by Nippon Ichi (Disgaea, etc) that might fit the bill, but they tend to be on the odd side, and hyper-anime-kawaii, so you'll either love them or hate them.

Recently, the PSP seems to be picking up some as well. Jean D'Arc and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions were both recently released, as well as tactics games based on both Dungeons & Dragons and Lord of the Rings. I haven't tried the latter, yet, but the first two are both quite good.

 

[Zukunft Krieger]

If you're willing to toss down 70 bucks for a GBA or 130 bucks for a DS (or whatever the current price is) I would highly recommend picking either up. There is the Fire Emblem series which has quite fine gameplay elements with personal styles and advancement for each individual character with the overall strategy taking place on each level/battle battle. Additionally, there's the Advance Wars series which is more towards the TBS side with unit spawns/builders and a focus on larger strategy because your units are replaceable.

 

[LordOmnit]

Well, if you're into SRPG's, then I'd suggest games by Nippon Ichi Software, but you said something about not for PS2 or PSP, so I'm not sure if that's what you'd want (they are all for PS2, except for one or two on the PSX I belive, and one on the PSP), but there it is if you are interested.

 

[Ajar]

Virgil, Disgaea is also coming out for the PSP. I had a GBA for my TBS lovin', and picked up a DS for Age of Empires, but now I'm eyeing a PSP, since I never played Disgaea or the original Final Fantasy Tactics.

Oh, and Spinwhiz, you might want to check out Massive Assault on the PC. It's TBS, but light on the tech tree and heavy on the tactics.

 

[Virgil]

Virgil, Disgaea is also coming out for the PSP. I had a GBA for my TBS lovin', and picked up a DS for Age of Empires, but now I'm eyeing a PSP, since I never played Disgaea or the original Final Fantasy Tactics.

I was extremely close to preordering it from Nippon Ichi's store a few days ago, but there's just so many games being released right now that I closed the browser before I could

The FFT remake is as good as the original, which is one of the best games ever, and if you like tactical RPGs you really should give it a try. I haven't really noticed anything different from the original PS2 version yet (other than the widescreen aspect ratio).

 

[Ajar]

Argh! Don't say things like that! I'm not done with Halo 3 multiplayer or with the Orange Box, I'm only halfway through Persona 3 (if that), I haven't started The Darkness yet, and by late next month Army of Two, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, and Rock Band will probably be out...

Maybe instead of Phantom Hourglass, Metroid Prime: Hunters, and Puzzle Quest, I'll pick up a PSP, FFT, and Disgaea... hmmmmmm.

Oh yeah, JF, good point about Catan and Carcassonne, both of which are just as awesome as their board game originals.

 

[Razzle Bathbone]

Add another endorsement for Catan. It's got negotiation, trading, resource management, strategy, and a dash of luck to keep you on your toes.

 

[Mogmoogle]

Hmm.. Well I loved mastor of orion 1 and 2, i did like galactic civilizations 1 and 2 and everyone loves civ . Final Fantasy Tactics is sweet, try out front mission 3 for psx or front mission 4 for ps2 its the same game play type as tactics, and also made be squaresoft, both great games, for PC try out fantasy wars, thats a decent game, its not as advanced as FFT but it is similar. best pc game I've played recently is battle for middle earth 2, its a real time strategy but its a good one, much like supreme commander, Earth 2160, etc all great RTS games, but I would recommend to you, Ufo : Aftermath, Aftershock, Afterlight.(A trilogy of games) all games which follow a story about alien attacks on earth, you control research, manufacturing, base placement and building, and troop deployment you get to control your troops in combat they gain exp you assign stats and train them with specific weapons, Ufo : extraterrestrials is another good one, but turn based were as the other Ufo: trilogy is like pause/play like action (I know its alot of UFO type games but there all inspired on an old ufo game from the early 90's). or even the Heroes of Might and Magic series on PC, you have heroes citys monsters, you look for treasure capture new citys, its another tactical rpg type game,
and if they ever remake masters of magic theres another one, if you can get a copy of the original youll have to dosbox it to get it to work in windows, anyway, if I think of anything else ill submit, I know its been like a year since you posted but I caught it on a google search and dropped in to see what i could say about it.

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

It's been said before, but Tactics Ogre for the GBA was a fantastic game. I also enjoyed the Lost Magic games, though there are many out there who didn't.

 

[Anarchemitis]

Ticket to Ride: Europe

 

[Shotaro]

Operation Darkness the demo is on XBLM right now download it.