What's the best strategy game you've played?

[Exhuminator]

So is Knight of Lodis truly good? I'd read the game was kinda meh due to not having Yasumi Matsuno involved.

[Ack]

I remember liking Knight of Lodis a lot when I played through it, but that was well over a decade ago at this point, back in 2002 or 2003. Since my frame of reference at the time was Final Fantasy Tactics, I compared the two a lot, hence why I recall that small difference in positioning. I also don't remember if you could attack and then move away to avoid an enemy, but like I said, it's been almost 15 years.

Either way, I enjoyed it and recall recommending it to fans of the genre. I've never played the first Tactics Ogre, so I can't compare. As for other strategy RPGs not yet mentioned, I do own Saiyuki: Journey West for the PS1 but have yet to give it a go.

[Tanooki]

In various genres I find games that were in a series tend to think more is better when less was more.

Civilization
Sim City 1&2
Advance Wars
Military Madness
Dune II PC
Command & Conquer
Warcraft 1&2
Warlocked GBC
Railroad Tycoon 1&2

I dislike more and more the sequels and spinoffs

[Jmustang1968]

So is Knight of Lodis truly good? I'd read the game was kinda meh due to not having Yasumi Matsuno involved.

It is good, and one of the best, if not the best SRPGs on the GBA. However, it isn't as good as LUCT, and probably isn't as good as FFT...

I also recommend playing LUCT first, as there are some story tie-ins that you will appreciate more if having played the original first. For that matter, playing MotBQ even more so.

[Xeogred]

Let us Cling Together > FFT
Knight of Lodis > FFTA (which I could barely stomach just a few hours of, in this case it's absolutely comparison)

Frankly I'd still take KOD over FFT as well. FFT's plot gets pretty bad near the end, the two times I've beaten it leave you with a weird unsatisfying vibe. Who was the final boss and why? Eh, another Necron deal I guess. For a story that was so grounded in reality and political intrigue, the random supernatural stuff near the end always rubs me wrong. TO never slips up like that.

I don't want to keep harping on this series like I do on the boards, but it's just always crazy to me how FFT completely stole the spotlight perhaps by name only, when I think the TO games are clearly better. And I don't hate FFT or anything, but limiting you to ~3-5 units per battle, lots of weird scripted boss fights and that one difficulty spike, special name units breaking the game, plot dropping off in the second half, etc, the negatives start looking a little stacked. TO is the same formula but just simply does everything better.

I like Arc the Lad 2 more than FFT as well, for the record.

[Ack]

Conversely, FFT is ridiculously easy to break once you know your units. Like, pathetically easy.

[Exhuminator]

I agree that FFT has plenty of problems. I still greatly enjoyed it when I played through it for the first time just a few years ago. However, I was a bit disappointed with Shining Force. I beat it around the same time as FFT, and walked away feeling the game was overrated, even for its time. Granted, it's Shining Force 2 that everyone loves so much. But really how different can SF2 be versus SF1? Is it actually challenging? Did they fix the crappy shopping system? Does the OST contain more than 2 songs? Well, I'll find out eventually. I need to see if SF2 is available on the 3DS eShop... that'd be perfecto.

Well you guys convinced me. I ordered these today:





So I understand from a plot perspective that TKOL needs to be played after LUCT. But I worry that TKOL will feel flaccid (gameplay wise) after playing through the refined and polished LUCT.

ALSO:

@Jmustang1968 have you ever played Front Mission?

What about the rest of you? Any FM fans around here other than me?

[Ack]

I believe we've talked about this at one point. I've played Front Mission 1 and 3. 1 I got through by relying on artillery strikes, while 3 I never did finish. It just went on too long for my tastes, and when I thought about how I would only be done with half the content...well, I just didn't desire to go back. I'll get around to it eventually. I also have FM4 sitting unplayed in my PS2 collection.

[pierrot]

I believe the first strategy game I ever played was FFT, which I rented, and hated, because I didn't really understand how to manage the gameplay concepts, couldn't get past the first map, and gave up on. I had Age of Empires II not too long after that, though, and I used to play it a lot. Loved that game. A number of years later, I got into Advance Wars 2, and later still, Dual Strike. I made it to the last continent of both, and never finished either. I had Front Mission 4, and played a fair amount of it, but stopped playing it somewhere in the middle. Next was probably Suikoden Tactics, which was interesting, in that it took the elemental runes from the series, and made a strength wheel out of them, and had spells to turn panels into a certain element to either help or hinder units.

The first strategy game I stuck with enough to beat was Disgaea. I liked it a lot at the time, but these days I feel like I would find the series extremely tedious.

I've played through a number since then, but it's difficult for me to say what the best one would be. None have really felt all that spectacular to me, although Dragon Force, and Terra Phantastica are very cool. I didn't think Shining Force or Shining Force II were too great, though I sort of understand why people like them.

I hesitate to call it a strategy game, but I'd probably say Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter. I think it's damn near flawless, and requires very tactical manipulation of enemies, especially in the early going.

[ElkinFencer10]

I picked up Battle Worlds: Kronos for my PS4 today on a whim. Has anyone played that and knows if it's any good?