The Best Tactical RPGs of All Time

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Survey scores · avg 4.6/5

Story4.9

Gameplay4.6

Graphics4.2

Music4.8

Character4.8

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a tactical story-rich RPG that tells the tale of students from varying backgrounds finding themselves in a full-scale war later on. Three Houses adds in a mechanic where you can explore around the monastery and interact with other characters and NPCs, while nurturing skills through numerous activities such as cooking, singing, and fishing. This is the best game for players who would love to be immersed in political storytelling, as well those who often invest themselves emotionally in the characters of a game.

Survey voice

Jonat / 20s / Male
This is everything I wanted Fire Emblem Fates to be: branching storylines that aren't trying to sell you a third "true" path, characters who are actually committed to their ideals, and consequences. Three Houses' narrative spun an entire discourse that, unfortunately, I don't think the community will ever recover from. It's a bittersweet game and the only thing I never liked about it is how we have to restart the campus section of the game for all 3 "main" routes.

Ronald / 20s / Male
I was really addicted to this game. I enjoyed the combat and the BGM that comes with it. It really hypes me up whenever a mission starts. Experimenting with the different classes after a study session really makes it fun to try in a mission. The story of each route was really good, and you can see the goals that the captains want to achieve.

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19 votes

Baldur's Gate 3

Steam (PC)

RPG Tactical RPG Strategy

Survey scores · avg 4.8/5

Story4.9

Gameplay4.8

Graphics4.7

Music4.7

Character4.9

If you love D&D, then you'll love Baldur’s Gate 3. Gather a group of memorable characters and enjoy this story-rich game, where your choices can shape the outcome of the story. Baldur’s Gate offers players the freedom of choice: would you rather persuade an NPC or kill them? Steal in broad daylight or sneak in the dead of the night? Baldur’s Gate 3 lets you choose how things play out. Along with the complex story, it also offers challenging turn-based combat where every move counts and the roll of the dice can decide your fate

Survey voice

かど
There are mainly three reasons I recommend it. The first is that a CRPG with this scale of production is almost nowhere to be found in today's market. The second is the overwhelming amount of content. Combining the main story and side quests, there's enough volume to play at least 100-150 hours. The text volume rivals an ultra-long novel too, and beyond repeat playthroughs, you can have a very dense experience in multiplayer with friends. The third is the high degree of freedom. Many of the choices the player thinks up as "I want to do this" are actually possible, giving you the sense of creating your very own story.
Show original (日本語)
おすすめする理由は、主に三つあります。一つ目は、これほどの制作規模を持つCRPGが、今の市場ではほとんど見当たらないという点です。二つ目は、圧倒的なコンテンツ量です。メインストーリーとサブクエストを合わせれば、少なくとも100〜150時間は遊べるボリュームがあります。テキスト量も超長編小説に匹敵するほどで、周回プレイはもちろん、友人とのマルチプレイでも非常に濃密な体験ができます。三つ目は、自由度の高さです。プレイヤーが「こうしたい」と思いつく選択の多くが実際に可能で、自分だけの物語を作っていける感覚があります。

Diana / 20s / Female
In my opinion, one of the best PC games of all time. I never knew that Dungeons and Dragons could be so well implemented into a video game. Every story arc, every boss fight, every detail was so well thought out. This game has no bad reviews from me at all. This is the first game where I really felt like "Wow, I can actually do anything I want, and the game will deliver the consequences without missing a beat". What an absolute unit of a game, honestly.

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19 votes

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Nintendo 3DS / DS

Survey scores · avg 4.6/5

Story4.5

Gameplay4.6

Graphics4.6

Music4.7

Character4.7

Fire Emblem: Awakening was supposed to the franchise's last hurrah but it became the entry that saved it. Fire Emblem: Awakening is a tactical RPG where you have to fight against the evil of another time, trying to save a future that was once doomed. It defined the modern Fire Emblem formula with a playable avatar making you more connected to the story and its characters. There was endless possibilities with unit-building as when you paired units together romantically, their children will show up later to be recruitable with their parent's traits. It was also accommodating to new players with a casual gamemode.

Survey voice

Cass / 30s / Female
This game was so exploitable with the learnable skills and job change. I was able to put just 4 characters in the map and block all incoming enemies with them. But what I loved about this the most is the story, at least in this game the children makes sense (unlike fe fates). It still has that old Fire Emblem games feel, unlike the new ones now.

Sicat / 20s / Male
First FE game that I played and what a great game that is supposed to be the swan song for the series. I absolutely liked the marriage system and having children inherit the parent skills. Story is typical time travel change the past stuff but still enjoyable. Character designs are top notch. Gameplay is great

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6 votes

Fire Emblem Fates

Nintendo 3DS / DS

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Survey scores · avg 4.5/5

Story4.0

Gameplay5.0

Graphics4.3

Music4.7

Character4.8

Fire Emblem Fates splits into three paths, with each path choosing a family to side with in a war that tears the region apart. Each path leads to a different story that also indirectly determines the difficulty of the game, with the third path combining the units of both families. With Fire Emblem's traditional grid-based strategy mechanics, Fates is great for fans of the franchise and also for newcomers that want a strategy game that incorporates moral choices with varying degrees of difficulty.

Survey voice

Sicat / 20s / Male
Despite how badly they handled the multiple routes (just sell all 3 routes in one package on standard edition tbh and not some scam special edition where everything is on one cartridge) and how bad the localization is, I still had fun with this game and probably my fave FE gameplay. My Castle is fun and the character designs are some of my fave

Dee / 30s / Male
I get the hate, but as someone who prefers building more than story, I love Fire Emblem Fates for the many pairings you can do to create and optimize offspring characters.

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5 votes

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Game Boy Advance

Survey scores · avg 4.2/5

Story4.6

Gameplay4.6

Graphics4.0

Music3.8

Character4.6

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is a lighter version of the original Final Fantasy Tactics, both in story and mechanics. The game follows Marche, who gets transported to Ivalice in his sleep. He must then find his way home, while figuring out just how he arrived there in the first place. The game simplifies the mechanics of the original Final Fantasy Tactics, while also introducing new mechanics. This, however, does not take away from the game, and still provides a great experience to players new to the game, as well as those who have played the original.

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Jessey / 20s / Male
FFTA was my first Final Fantasy Tactics game, and one that I find myself playing again time and time again.

Warren / 30s / Male
Another game that needed more recognition even though it's decently known.

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5 votes

Mega Man Battle Network

Game Boy Advance

Survey scores · avg 4.1/5

Story4.2

Gameplay4.2

Graphics4.0

Music4.0

Character4.2

The Mega Man Battle Network series steers away from the old Mega Man formula, choosing instead to combine deck building and tactical combat. Take control of Lan Hikari, and his NetNavi MegaMan.EXE as they explore the Net. Have fun, fight in NetBattles, and solve crime in the first installment of a loved series.

Survey voice

Ronald / 20s / Male
This was my first Battle Network game, and I was really addicted to it. The Cross System and Falzar transformation were so cool to me as a kid and the concept of using different kinds of chips to delete viruses was really flashy and fun to watch.

Jessey / 20s / Male
The first game I looked up guides for, and is very fun to play, especially the later ones.

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5 votes

Mega Man Battle Network 4

Game Boy Advance

Survey scores · avg 3.9/5

Story3.8

Gameplay4.2

Graphics3.8

Music4.0

Character4.2

It took a few games, but it wasn't until Mega Man Battle Network 4 when this game felt like it found its stride. The real-time grid combat and the Battle Chips mechanic plays out as a deck-building game with an action/reflex component. It is also amusing to reflect on how it had a dual-release approach with Red Sun and Blue Moon following the trend of other popular GBA titles at the time which encouraged trading and comparison of chip collections.

Survey voice

よねさん / 30代 / 男性
The Battle Network entry where the Soul Unison system was implemented for the first time. The design is excellent and the game balance was good too.
Show original (日本語)
ソウルユニゾンシステムが初めて実装されたエグゼシリーズ。デザインも秀逸でゲームバランスも良かった。

あわずこ
A memorable work I replayed over and over.
Show original (日本語)
何度も周回プレイして遊んでいた思い出の作品

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4 votes

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

Game Boy Advance

Survey scores · avg 4.4/5

Story4.8

Gameplay4.5

Graphics3.5

Music4.8

Character4.8

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade was a lot of fan's entry point to the franchise. It is a Tactical RPG that truly displayed what the series was all about. It had the classic story of defeating an evil tucked away within the world as you recruit characters to your cause. This entry was also the host of many fan-favorite lords like Lyn, Hector, and Eliwood. The difficulty was just right with solid level design and fulfilling unit progression. The support system also gave more glimpses into every unit's character and relationship. This game was simply great and still serves a good entry point today with the Lyn's tutorial section.

Survey voice

あいだ / 30代 / 男性
The difficulty tuning is exquisite, and the story is flawless. From the first playthrough to repeat runs, every play experience is the best.
Show original (日本語)
難易度調整が絶妙で、ストーリーも文句なし。初見から周回まで、すべてのプレイ体験が最高

Just2n / 20s / Male
A very engaging tutorial section to hook you into the world of Fire Emblem with three memorable Lords (Lyndis, Eliwood, Hector).

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4 votes

Mega Man Battle Network 3

Game Boy Advance

Survey scores · avg 3.6/5

Story3.8

Gameplay4.5

Graphics2.8

Music3.5

Character3.0

Mega Man Battle Network 3 released in two versions: White Version and Blue Version, both differing slightly in the items you can obtain and some of the post game content. The third installment in the subseries of Mega Man, this game features the same real-time RPG gameplay the subseries is known for, while introducing the Navi Customizer, which allowed you to give additional abilities to Mega Man. Often considered to be the best in the subseries by its fans, its a great entry point, even if you skipped the two games that came before it.

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1 votes

Unicorn Overlord

Nintendo Switch 2

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Survey scores · avg 5.0/5

Story5.0

Gameplay5.0

Graphics5.0

Music5.0

Character5.0

Unicorn Overlord tells a story of Alain and how an overthrown kingdom bounces back and reclaims its rightful place. In this game, you traverse through the vast map with different regions, participating in Fire Emblem-esque battles with different characters and recruiting them to your ever increasing army with only one goal, to vanquish all evil and reclaim the kingdom.

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1 votes

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Super Nintendo (SNES / SFC)

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Survey scores · avg 4.5/5

Story5.0

Gameplay5.0

Graphics5.0

Music3.0

Character5.0

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is the fourth entry in the long-running Fire Emblem series. It features the familiar turn-based strategy from the previous games but is more ambitious in scale, featuring very large maps that players must traverse to continue through its story. This game is also known for being the first in the series that features a second generation that depends on who you paired up in the first half of the game.

Survey voice

ゆーせー / 30代 / 男性
The system where you can get characters married by having them act next to each other was shocking. Depending on who you choose for the man's side, not only the performance but even the hair color changes, so back then I played while making friends with the strategy guide. There was also a sad development where, despite the name being exactly the same as a Crusader, you couldn't use that Crusader's weapon because you didn't choose the Crusader as the father, which was fun in its own way.
Show original (日本語)
くっついて行動させることで結婚できるシステムが衝撃でした。男性側に誰を選ぶかで性能はもちろん髪色も変わるので、当時は攻略本とお友達になりながらプレイしてました。思いっきり名前が聖戦士と同じなのに、父親に聖戦士を選ばなかったせいで聖戦士の武器を使えないみたいな悲しい展開もあったのがある意味楽しかった

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1 votes

Fire Emblem: Thracia 776

Super Nintendo (SNES / SFC)

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Survey scores · avg 4.5/5

Story4.0

Gameplay5.0

Graphics4.0

Music5.0

Character5.0

Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 is the fifth game in the series and acts as a interquel to Genealogy of the Holy War. It features a returns to smaller maps but also bring more challenging gameplay, such as the introduction of Fog of War, Capture, and generally tougher enemies. It's widely considered one of the most difficult games in the series, making it a game only a few have completed.

Survey voice

ゆーせー / 30代 / 男性
For elementary-school me, it was a deadly, ultra-high-difficulty game. To recruit every character, I mimicked the strategy guide's maneuvers and repeatedly spent 2-3 hours clearing a single stage until I beat the character-raising stat gacha, a hellish game. Maybe as a reaction to this work, the Fire Emblems after it gave the impression of being a bit easier as simulations, difficulty selection aside, so I sometimes get nostalgic for this work.
Show original (日本語)
小学生の私には死にそうな超高難易度ゲームでした。全キャラ仲間にするには攻略本の立ち回りを真似しつつ、 1ステージを2〜3時間かけてクリアするのをキャラ育成のステータスガチャに勝てるまで何度も繰り返すみたいな地獄のゲーム。この作品の反動なのかこれ以降のファイアーエムブレムは難易度選択度外視でもシミュレーションとしては少し簡単になった印象だったので、たまにこの作品が恋しくなることがあります。

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1 votes

Sakura Taisen 3

Dreamcast

Survey scores · avg 4.5/5

Story5.0

Gameplay4.0

Graphics4.0

Music5.0

Character5.0

Sakura Wars 3 takes the steam-powered storm of romance international as protagonist Ohgami is shipped off to Paris to help establish the Paris Combat Revue. As the first Sakura Wars entry on the Dreamcast, the game takes advantage of the consoles' then-powerful 3D graphical capabilities to show off new, unique mecha designs and new twists on the game's LIPS dialog and interaction system. Through it all it retains the series' classic emphasis on balancing romance, visual novel storytelling, and tactical combat, while freeing the system from the square grid tile format of earlier entries. All the while, the game also introduces a new cast of strong-willed heroines, this time leading dual lives in the Combat Revue and as performers in the Moulin Rouge-like Parisienne nightclub Le Chat Noire.

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1 votes

Sakura Taisen 1 and 2

Dreamcast