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Are there any good tactical combat focused console RPGs?

anvi

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I remember a long time ago when Final Fantasy 7 came out, and there was a demo on PC. It was just fight after fight and no story, I loved it. Anyone know anything like that? I did research and found that Grandia 3 has interesting combat, but there is too much reading and dialogue and walking around so I gave up. So far the only one I liked has been FFT.

Also I loved Summoner on PC, and some people said Summoner 2 is better but it just looks like a dumb action game to me... The original was a tactical party based game.
 

Jason Liang

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Um. Shining Force/ Shining Force 2? Master of Monsters?

Also, on PC have you played Fantasy General and Chaos Overlords?
 

eric__s

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There's a lot of stuff...



There aren't a lot of good videos of Arc the Lad on Youtube, but it came out in English on the Playstation and is a very charming strategy RPG with great music and graphics. It's not that hard, but it's an enjoyable game. It has two sequels, most people think of 2 as the best and it is a direct continuation of the story of the first. Definitely worth checking out.



Growlanser 4 came out in English on the PSP and is also available on the Vita. I'm sure it's possible to play with an emulator. Growlanser games are extremely complex RTwP strategy RPGs that usually have a pretty significant degree of choice and consequence in them. They have very bizarre aesthetics and stories, but they have some of the best SRPG combat, and certainly the best RTwP combat out there. A few have been released stateside, 4 is my favorite but I also liked 2 for the Playstation 2.



Warriors of the Eternal Sun is a Dungeons and Dragons game made by Westwood that came out on the Genesis. It has pretty good combat, but great exploration and an interesting first person real-time dungeon exploration system. Great game.



Front Mission is a series of turn-based SRPGs made by Square that is about building and fighting with giant robots. I only played 4, which was on the Playstation 2, but I think most of them are out in English now? I think 5 is supposed to be the best. I don't remember a whole lot about it, but it was alright and had a more serious plot than a lot of other console RPGs.


Fire Emblem is a turn-based SRPG made by Nintendo. You go from battle to battle without any exploration and when characters die, they're gone for good, which is kind of neat. I never got into them and I couldn't tell you which one is best because they all seem the same to me.
 

pakoito

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Disgaea is good, and many of the other Nippon Icchi games too.

Labyrinth of Touhou 2 is great if you can see past the theme.

The Super Robot Wars saga is supposed to be good too.

I personally liked Langrisser/Warsong a lot for a while.

Advance Wars if you don't want named characters.

Archon is the most distilled version of it.
 

eric__s

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FEDA: The Emblem of Justice was made by a lot of the people who worked on the Shining Force games and has an English translation. It's kind of a worse Shining Force; it's not as good, but if you're craving more, here it is. I love the character designs and it does have some choice and consequence.



Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked is a 3DS enhanced port of the original DS version. It's got very good combat featuring the demon fusion mechanics of other Shin Megami Tensei games, but its story is why it's so great. There is an insane amount of choice and consequence and I have a personal theory that Gothic was an influence on its story.



Ogre Battle is a Super Nintendo grand strategy game where you assemble an army and move them around a huge map capturing cities in real-time. The battles are automated, but it's still really fun and gratifying to watch your little guys battle each other. I recall there being a lot of choice and consequence in the story too.



Dungeons and Dragons: Order of the Gryphon is a D&D Gold Box game that came out on the Turbografx. It has a good presentation and is a solid entry in the Gold Box series.



Vandal Hearts 2 is a turn-based SRPG on the Playstation with a unique system where two opposing units take turns simultaneously. It's a pretty cool idea in concept, but you can usually predict what the enemy will do and take advantage of it. Still cool to check out. I remember liking the story and characters a lot.
 
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Baron Dupek

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Jeanne D'arc
Tactical Ogre - Let us cling together
Final Fantasy Tactics - War of the Lion and sequel from NDS
WH40k - Squad Command (some variety in this weaboo world)
 

Jacob

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what is this "Summoner" and why it looks like Dragon Age: Graphics Even Worse Edition?
 

anvi

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Summoner is cool but old. Thanks for the replies, didn't realize there would be so many!
 
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All the good ones have been mentioned in this thread, I'm impressed there are that many consolefags on the codex.

The only one I didn't see is Vanguard Bandits. My personal favorites of all time are Der Langrisser and Front Mission 4/5.
 

Siveon

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Fire Emblem 7 (just Fire Emblem in the states) is the best of the series for newcomers of a monocled variety. I beat it at a young age so you don't need much context. After that you could try your hand at some of the unpolished English translations for the SNES games (which all have it's own strengths), the Radiance games for GC/Wii (my favorite after 7), the DS games (ok), 8, (meh), or Fates: Conquest (the only one with good design).

Stay away from Awakening.

Vandal Hearts 1 is also worth a look, I thought it was better than the sequel.

NIS games were recommended, and aside from Disgaea I liked Phantom Brave for being different.

Drone Tactics for the DS is a pretty decent SRPG, combat mini games aside.

Majin Tensei is worthy of a mention despite moonrunes.

EDIT: Oh yeah, might as well recommend Natural Doctrine and Lost Dimension. The former is an unconventional SRPG with a learning curve, while the latter is more straightforward and plays a lot like the aforementioned Valkyria Chronicles & a bit of nu-X-COM.
 
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Deleted Member 16721

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Plenty of them. Might want to start with the best one ever - Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. There is a PSP remake that updates some things but the SNES version is the one I know best. The PSP version removes having to train every time your characters level up (which is kind of a pain in the original), and adds a few different elements to further customize character skills and stuff. Amazing game, though. Serious tone with a political story, multiple endings + branching story paths with decisions to make. Lots of unique characters to recruit, lots of secrets and things you'll miss the first time through the game. Challenging combat, permadeath (with a chance to revive later before the battle is over to save the character), characters leaving/joining based on your alignment choices and story path. Surprsied no one has mentioned this game yet.

Brigandine and Langrisser.

Brigandine is really underrated, IMO. Great game as well. Finding it is a kid growing up it was like finding a hidden gem that nobody else knew about. My one friend and I played a ton of it at the time.
 

CryptRat

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Just play Valkyria Chronicles. Gungnir (on PSP) is also pretty fun.

Concerning classic JRPGs with a tactical layer for combat, I'd recommend Breath of Fire : Dragon Quarter, it's a very good one and its combat system is part of it. Energy Breaker is cool but talkative, the same can probably be said of Treasure Hunter G and of Eternal Sonata (and this one is easy), so I'm not sure they'll suit your taste.

If you just want some good JRPGs with just fight after fight you should just dig the diverse japanese Wizardry, I liked Tale of the Forsaken Land, but I'm sure there are even better ones from the recently fan-translated ones, you should also check the Etrian Odyssey series and the Shin Megami Tensei series, in particular the main series (SMT1 & SMT2, SMT:Nocturne, which is obviously one of the best JRPGs out there), and Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 and Souls Hackers ; The Dark Spire is pretty good too, one of my favourite RPGs.
Concerning FFs, Final Fantasy 5 and FF:The 4 Heroes of light (on NDS) are some FFs you would play for combat, 4 heroes of light is somewhat talkative though'.

The screenshots :
Valkyria Chronicles
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Gungnir
gungnir_screens_japan_01.jpg

Breath of fire : Dragon Quarter
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Energy Breaker
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Treasure Hunter G
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Eternal Sonata
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Wizardry Gaiden IV - Taima no Kodou
Wizardry%20Gaiden%20IV%20%20Engl008.png

Tale of the Forsaken Land
wizardry-battle-screen.jpg

Etrian Odyssey 1
etrian-odyssey--20070516024837142.jpg

SMT 1
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SMT : Nocturne
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Digital Devil Saga
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Strange Journey
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The Dark Spire
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FF5
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4 Heroes of light
latest
 
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Barnabas

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Sword Coast Legends, now most people are going to shit post this, but the thing is.. it's actually a pretty good game if you go into it not expecting Baldur's Gate 3 or NWN 3.
 

Jrpgfan

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Brigandine and Langrisser.

Brigandine is really underrated, IMO. Great game as well. Finding it is a kid growing up it was like finding a hidden gem that nobody else knew about. My one friend and I played a ton of it at the time.

I lost count how many times I replayed that game. I still play the Grand Edition from time to time.

I got it as a gift from a cousin who didn't like it. If it wasn't for that I would have never even heard about it since IIRC it was obscure at the time and not well received by the critics.

By the way, forgot about Valkyria Chronicles. Great RT-Action/TB hybrid tactical RPG and fairly new. The story is anime cliché bs but the gameplay is pretty good.
 

SCO

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Fan translation of Valkyria 3 on the psp is also a acceptable timewaster. Same in a lesser degree for Wild Arms XF (terrible story though, and it gets way too easy with a god character later).

Really 'are there any good tactical console rpg' is just a naive question. JA2 complexity mostly doesn't happen, because of ergonomics, but systems innovation exists. While there is plenty of cargo cult and following the popular stuff, at least the genre is catered for, unlike pc where it's the domain of indies and the occasional C-tiered studio.

Portables are good for tactical games because the games are designed to be played in small bites 'on the go' (which obviously doesn't happen very often, but let the marketers have their delusions if it gives good games).

Even there unfortunately, the last few years led to a paradigm shift of absolutely annoying twitch 'action rpgs' due to anime manboons.
 
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pakoito

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Bastard Bonds. It's what some would call a tactical RPG. I'm still in the first hours and I'm liking it. You're basically some chump that gets accused of something; you get to pick the felony and whether you're guilty or not, and off to the penal colony you go. The felony and guilt determine the NPC that breaks you out of jail. On my first character (a confessed heretic) I got a rogue to break me out of jail, which kind of blew as he was made of paper and I didn't make it out of the prison.

My second character is a chap-wearing dude called Sodom (guess what he's guilty of). Got a better NPC this time, and I'm happily recruiting a band of murderous sodomites... should have called him Lord Humongous. So far the game's been tactical with some conversations; time will tell how much of an RPG is this tactical game (there are hints of C&C in the achievements).

The system is that you get one action per round, except that you can "rush" your actions to get more than one per round at the cost of an increasing failure rate per additional action. If you fail one of these actions, you will receive extra damage on the next attack against the failing character. The enemies can do the same thing, of course. Sort of a game of chicken, if you will.

Sort of a game of soggy biscuit for my second character.
 

pippin

Guest
Shining Force/ Shining Force 2?

Always good reccomendations. Do not fear, (iirc) the animu bullshit isn't even there. I played it a lot during my childhood and I only remember vast battlefields and turn based combat.
 
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aweigh

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Firegem for the NES.

Inindo for the SNES (jrpg/srpg hybrid)

Uncharted Waters

btw, great recs in in here. p.much every single game rec'd in this thread is a good game and worth playing.

(although I personally dislike NIS srpg's).
 

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