General News - 25 best tactical RPGs

[HiddenX]

GamePressure made a list of the 25 best tactical RPGs:

Roleplaying in turns – 25 best tactical RPGs

As hack’n’slash constitutes one extremity of the RPG genre, its other side are the tactical RPGs, emphasizing complex, strategic battles played in turns. Here's a ranking of the 25 best tactical RPGs, according to our staff.

Tactical RPG, also known as SRPG, is a genre that’s been present on the market for over 30 years. They’re most commonly associated with Japan and gaming consoles. It’s a natural consequence, as the genre was popularized by the Fire Emblem series, which didn’t come to Europe until 2004. That’s why SRPG, while highly popular in Japan, remains on the sidelines of western gaming. In recent years, however, it seems like the situation is slowly changing.

Thanks to indie titles such as The Banner Saga or Invisible, Inc. and the latest installments of the Fire Emblem series on Nintendo 3DS, more and more people are picking up interest in tactical RPGs. That’s why we’ve decided to prepare for you a list of the best representatives of the genre, according to our staff.

[...]

25. Chroma Squad
24. Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
23. Project X Zone
22. Resonance of Fate
21. Odium (Gorky 17)
20. Gladius
19. Jeanne d’Arc
18. SteamWorld Heist
17. Vanguard Bandits
16. Incubation: Time is Running Out
15. Ring of Red
14. Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity
13. Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
12. Vandal Hearts II
11. Grand Kingdom
10. Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director’s Cut
09. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked
08. The Banner Saga
07. Shining Force III
06. Valkyria Chronicles
05. Front Mission 3
04. Fire Emblem: Awakening
03. Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance
02. Final Fantasy Tactics
01. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

Thanks Farflame!

PS: Jagged Alliance 2 is an RPG!


More information.

 

[Silver]

Jagged Alliance 2 and X-Com for the win! Oh wait...

 

[Vitirr]

I don't mind that this seems to be basically JRPGs and console games, but not adding XCOM makes it a complete joke. Of course XCOM is not much of an RPG even in our relaxed standards from nowadays, but if SteamWorld Heist is considered in the list then WTF?!

 

[forgottenlor]

I've played 4 on the list, VC, FOT, and TBS and SR : DF. Are they going on story alone here? I mean how can the Banner Saga beat out Fall Out tactics on tactical gameplay? And as far as tactical gameplay is concerned none of these games can compete with Jagged Alliance 2. And if they are going on pure story, what about Shadow Run:Hong Kong? The Banner Saga is an extremely simple tactical game, in my opinion, for example. There are plenty of better tactical games out there. Blackguards, for example, blows it away, and its not even a game I particularly like because of the puzzle levels.

 

[Stingray]

Wow what a nonsensical list.

Odium was god-awful btw, it is very rare for me to not finish a game but that was one of the few.

 

[wolfing]

#20 should be #1.

 

[henriquejr]

I agree with people here, a top-25 tactical RPGs without JA 2 and XCOM / XCOM 2 isn't meant to be seriously taken.

Also: Chroma Squad aka Power Rangers in top 25 ????? Yes, the list can't be taken seriously

 

[ikbenrichard]

I agree with people here, a top-25 tactical RPGs without JA 2 and XCOM / XCOM 2 isn't meant to be seriously taken.

Also: Chroma Squad aka Power Rangers in top 25 ????? Yes, the list can't be taken seriously

Totally agree with you.

 

[greywolf00]

While there are some glaring omissions, there's a lot of really good games on that list. FFT is my personal #1, and I'd take Stella Deus and Grand Kingdom off that list.

 

[Luethar]

How are none of the SSI Gold Box games not on this list? Or even C-64 classics like Wizard's Crown? If it were not for these games, the 25 you name wouldn't even have a list to be on..... just saying... well that's my two copper pieces worth of input....

 

[Saxon1974]

How are none of the SSI Gold Box games not on this list? Or even C-64 classics like Wizard's Crown? If it were not for these games, the 25 you name wouldn't even have a list to be on….. just saying… well that's my two copper pieces worth of input….

It's more of a JRPG list. Gold box, Divinity original sin, fallout 1/2, XCOM, and many others should be on the list. Big fan of tactical RPGS but not a fan of anime and JRPGs.

 

[Darkheart]

At least Fallout: Tactics made the cut. I love that game!

It has one of the best loot progressions, risk vs reward and you almost never have too much of anything (especially rounds for that tank).

Oh, how I miss storming the supermutie trenches and seeing my chars shot in half (and that kids, is why the SAW is called the SAW).

 

[Archangel]

More like 25 most shit games instead of best ones.

 

[Stingray]

More like 25 most shit games instead of best ones.

It's certainly much closer to a list of the 25 worst than it is to the 25 best :lol:

 

[Kordanor]

What a weird and useless list.
As mentioned before, not including Jagged Alliance basically already disqualifies them.

And if you include Shadowrun: Dragonfall, you can basically include each game with turnbased or RTwP Combat, as most of them include more tactical and engaging combat.

 

[Damian]

Jagged Alliance 2 and X-Com for the win! Oh wait…

They are not on the list because they transcend these shitty games.

 

[Stingray]

What a weird and useless list.
As mentioned before, not including Jagged Alliance basically already disqualifies them.

And if you include Shadowrun: Dragonfall, you can basically include each game with turnbased or RTwP Combat, as most of them include more tactical and engaging combat.

Yeah. The article's actual title is "Roleplaying in turns - 25 best tactical RPGs" so it seems like the author has, among other things, confused turn-based with tactical. (Granted, there is some correlation between the two, but still plenty of distinction)

This is an actual excerpt from the text for the #1 game on his list (Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together):

What warrants this game’s top position in the ranking is its story. The game depicts a very complex and epic story, more serious that you’d normally expect from a Japanese title.

So as far as I can tell, it's not even intended to be a list of the best "tactical RPGs", it's a list of the best games or RPGs (in the opinion of some clueless weaboos apparently) that happened to have turn-based combat.

They have a bizarre excuse for not including XCOM and JA2:

We’ve also decided to omit titles that tend to focus more on strategic than roleplaying aspects. That’s why our list doesn’t feature such series as X-COM/UFO or Jagged Alliance, which fall somewhere in between turn-based tactical games and SRPGs.

What? Who cares? Those games are still better tactical RPGs than the games on their list even if they have an added "strategy" element. And JA2's strategy element doesn't amount to that much anyway IMO.

Crap like this article just isn't worthy of being posted as news on RPGWatch...

 

[Kordanor]

What? Who cares? Those games are still better tactical RPGs than the games on their list even if they have an added "strategy" element. And JA2's strategy element doesn't amount to that much anyway IMO.

Crap like this article just isn't worthy of being posted as news on RPGWatch…

Well, they could have included JA2 UB then.

 

[Zloth]

SteamWorld Heist??? Oh look, they use Disqus, how convenient! I'll post there.

 

[ChienAboyeur]

The list is a living testimony of Japan's contribution to provide players with UgoIgo products.

What? Who cares? Those games are still better tactical RPGs than the games on their list even if they have an added "strategy" element.

They cant be better tactical RPGs as they are not RPGs.