Turn-based strategy: Why did you like (X) over (Y)?

[Tri]

Hello all, and welcome to my first thread.

I've been digging through my old collection of games and found an old favourite of mine called 'Shining Force' for the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive for the non-American folk). I popped it in and played the hell out of it, loving (almost) every moment of it.

For the most part I find turn-based strategy games alright, though admittedly my experience is rather limited. I love Shining Force and find Shining Force II pretty fun as well, I also have one for my PS2 called Stella Deus that I also enjoy despite some rather glaring flaws. However when I tried the GBA re-release of Fire Emblem, the one with Marth, name escapes me, I returned it to the place I had purchased it within a couple days.

This got me wondering. Why did I like, or even love these games, but find this game meh or completely hated? I have a handful of ideas, but to get a better idea, I'll ask you, when it come to turn-based strategy games, why did you like (X) over (Y)? As I'm thinking about designing one of my own, I'd like other people's inputs and thoughts about this genre of games.

Thanks for your time.

 

[AlternatePFG]

I like the Fire Emblem games quite a bit, because they're actually quite difficult. (For the most part, Sacred Stones was easy if you abused the tower, but there was still some chance of screwing up) While a lot of the systems are based completely off of luck (You can get completely screwed over by stat growths while leveling) you can still turn your army into well oiled killing machine if you game the numbers quite well. It's just a shame that Nintendo releases them so rarely. My favorite was Radiant Dawn, that game had some really cool levels.

I like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (I have the PSX Tactics on my PS3, but I have yet to play it) because it gives you a huge amount of options and different classes for your characters. The only problem is that the game is pretty easy because of all the options.

Disgaea is also really fun, but I've never progressed very far in them. (Lost my copy of Disgaea DS, twice. I bought it, lost it, bought it again, lost it again. I'm an idiot.) I do want to get the new Disgaea game for the PS3 if I get a chance.

 

[ChildofGallifrey]

I've been a Disgaea fanatic since Hour of Darkness came out on the PS2. Currently about 30 hours into A Promise Unforgotten, around level 3100 or so.

FF Tactics Advance also sucked me in pretty good in the 9th grade. I could never really get into the Fire Emblem titles though. Likewise for things like Panzer General and the like.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Turn based RPG has a few ways it can get depth, it can be a really spreadsheet heavy guessing game where knowing everything and calculating the best possible action is quite challenging and enthralling at the same time. This is basically competitive Pokemon.


It also can have a rather simpler style without much need for memorization but with a heavy characterization through the gameplay, enhancing immersion and letting you feel more as a part of the world, this is what a lot of games do and what you see in final fantasy or dragon quest.

Then there's the really hard grind based RPGs where the difficulty is part of the enjoyment and you need to basically come up with crazy out of the box strategies on the fly or die again and again till you grind enough levels, things like Disgaea or Shin Megami Tensei fall here.


I personally enjoy all styles but my single favorite turn based system ever is that of Cross Edge, in that game you have a combination of all 3, you get the spreadsheet memorization, you get the flashy and highly characterizing animations and you get a lot of really really hard fights forcing you to play in unusual ways.


So my answer is this, all 3 systems in a perfect ratio or a single system perfected to the utmost level is what I prefer over half-assed combinations or shallow and too easy systems like the ones in Golden Sun for example (still love golden sun due to my memories playing it at a younger age but I can't play it for more than 30 minutes a pop now, just too dull)

 

[MightyRabbit]

I prefer a limited class system that has a 'rock-paper-scissors'-esque effectiveness to it, like Vandal Hearts or Advance Wars. Being able to switch between lots of classes with all sorts of different stat growths and ability set ups is a bit too RPG for me, whereas I'm looking for a strategy game.

I also prefer the sections of the plot that deal with politics, before it turns out some evil guy is actually trying to summon some kind of demon army or whatever. But I'd be very interested to see another indie TBS game. Perhpas you should consider doing a campaign for Battle For Wesnoth to test-run your ideas. It's open-source and freeware.