I need some TBS recommendations

[Yokillernick]

Hello there. So I just finished XCOM: Enemy Unknown, fantastic game by the way. The ending gave me teary eyes and I swore I will replay it. However in the meantime, I would like to explore other games in the Turn Base Strategy genre. I'm looking for something that has some decent graphics so no TBS made in 1999 and that's about it. So TBS players on the Escapist what TBS would you personally recommend ?

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I don't know if this is what you are looking for, considering that it is a very unique game, but give Frozen Synapse a try. Each player has a small team of various units (machinegunner, sniper, shotgunner, and grenadier) that they plot out their actions for five second intervals. When both players have decided what they are going to do, both players' units move simultaneously. A lot of the strategy comes from trying to figure out what you're opponent is going to do, and then trying to counter it. It is very fun.

 

[Wayneguard]

Hello there. So I just finished XCOM: Enemy Unknown, fantastic game by the way. The ending gave me teary eyes and I swore I will replay it. However in the meantime, I would like to explore other games in the Turn Base Strategy genre. I'm looking for something that has some decent graphics so no TBS made in 1999 and that's about it. So TBS players on the Escapist what TBS would you personally recommend ?

T_T THANK YOU GOD FOR POSTING THIS TOPIC T_T

I can now rave about Disciples!!

First off, forget about your stipulation that the game has to have good graphics. The best turn based strategy games were made in the 90s so there's no avoiding it.

Now, Disciples is a dark/gothic fantasy turn based strategy game with phenomenal artwork and sound and an oppressive atmosphere that oozes style. It plays almost like a dungeon crawling rpg but in tbs form because you basically have a party (a super stack led by your champion) that levels up as you kill shit & gain xp. It's hard to explain so just youtube disciples or disciples II (Disciples II is generally considered the best one).

Now, if you must have a game that has spiffy graphics, you could look at King's Bounty: The Legend. It looks a lot like warcraft 3 in terms of art style but it is definitely a Heroes of Might & Magic clone in terms of gameplay. It's pretty good... not Disciples good... but still pretty good. It's got great sound and art style and has a lot of personality. All these games are on GoG for your convenience as well.

 

[The Madman]

Frozen Synapse is excellent and definitely worth checking out. Go, look it up. Right now.


If you want something more fantasy oriented the recent King's Bounty games are amazing. I love em so much, probably one of my favourite franchise in recent years.

 

[perkl]

I'm looking for something that has some decent graphics so no TBS made in 1999 and that's about it.

There are none. The genre died in 90's. Sorry man but them's the breaks. The original X-COM is still the pinnacle of TBS: remake cut maybe two thirds away. While some of the things were good riddance some were the difference between a legend and merely a good game.

Best M&M was 3, which is positively ancient by now. King's Bounty is pretty but very slow and not that fun.

Frozen Synapse is WEGO. Depending on how much of a grognard you are (I'm guessing not much) you might like Combat Mission. Wargame: European Escalation is realtime but at a relatively relaxed pace. Consoles have some attempts, but they've never captured me so I don't think my judgement would be fair.

 

[Launcelot111]

Disgaea because it's absurd in every imaginable way. That's the only one I play

 

[Kopikatsu]

All of Nippon Ichi's games. Soul Nomad and the World Eaters (ESPECIALLY THIS ONE), Disgaea, Makai Kingdom, etc. Also Fire Emblem, Suikoden, Advance Wars, and some others I guess.

The graphics are flawless! 'Cause all use sprites. And sprites are awesome.

Well, not Suikoden. The TBS sections are sprite-based, but the individual battles are rendered 3D.

 

[Yokillernick]

Hello there. So I just finished XCOM: Enemy Unknown, fantastic game by the way. The ending gave me teary eyes and I swore I will replay it. However in the meantime, I would like to explore other games in the Turn Base Strategy genre. I'm looking for something that has some decent graphics so no TBS made in 1999 and that's about it. So TBS players on the Escapist what TBS would you personally recommend ?

T_T THANK YOU GOD FOR POSTING THIS TOPIC T_T

I can now rave about Disciples!!

First off, forget about your stipulation that the game has to have good graphics. The best turn based strategy games were made in the 90s so there's no avoiding it.

Now, Disciples is a dark/gothic fantasy turn based strategy game with phenomenal artwork and sound and an oppressive atmosphere that oozes style. It plays almost like a dungeon crawling rpg but in tbs form because you basically have a party (a super stack led by your champion) that levels up as you kill shit & gain xp. It's hard to explain so just youtube disciples or disciples II (Disciples II is generally considered the best one).

Now, if you must have a game that has spiffy graphics, you could look at King's Bounty: The Legend. It looks a lot like warcraft 3 in terms of art style but it is definitely a Heroes of Might & Magic clone in terms of gameplay. It's pretty good... not Disciples good... but still pretty good. It's got great sound and art style and has a lot of personality. All these games are on GoG for your convenience as well.

I looked at them and they look pretty good but I noticed you missed Disciples 3: Resurrection the newest one. Is because you hate it and you think is inferior to Disciples 2 or is it because you forgot ?

 

[GiantRaven]

The first three Advance Wars games are a barrel of fun if you have a GBA/DS lying around.

 

[The Madman]

I looked at them and they look pretty good but I noticed you missed Disciples 3: Resurrection the newest one. Is because you hate it and you think is inferior to Disciples 2 or is it because you forgot ?

I can't speak for everyone obviously, but in general Disciples 3 was pretty disappointing. Admittedly I haven't played Resurrection however.

If you're interested in the series however Disciples 2 is still damned fun and looks extremely nice as well, I love the art design they used for that game and the whole experience just oozes style. Definitely worth checking out although I should point out it's not a tbs game in the same sense of XCOM or Frozen Synapse but instead sort of a quirky Final Fantasy sort of combat with a Heroes of Might and Magic style overmap. Very fun game but also might not be quite what you're looking for.

If you do end up buying it however I'd definitely recommend getting it on GOG rather than steam. I actually picked up the steam version awhile back and it's a pain in the ass to get running on modern computers, they've done absolutely nothing to ensure compatibility. By contrast the GOG version is supposed to run just fine.

Wish I'd bought it via GOG who actually tweak the games to ensure they work properly on modern computers.

 

[hazabaza1]

Silent Storm is like a modern WW2 Jagged Alliance game. It's pretty good. More squad based that JA2 as well.

 

[Wayneguard]

snip

I looked at them and they look pretty good but I noticed you missed Disciples 3: Resurrection the newest one. Is because you hate it and you think is inferior to Disciples 2 or is it because you forgot ?

It seems I did leave it off. Personally, I have not played Disciples III; however, it is generally considered to be inferior to the earlier games in the series. If you looked at 3 and liked what you saw, then you can probably get it for nothing on steam sale. If you really are interested in Disciples though, I would suggest starting with the 2nd one because that game truly is a work of art. But if continuity is very important to you, by all means play them in order. The first game is great too. It's just got a little bit less polish and lacks some things from the 2nd game that you really miss going back (like the defend command).

If you do end up buying it however I'd definitely recommend getting it on GOG rather than steam. I actually picked up the steam version awhile back and it's a pain in the ass to get running on modern computers, they've done absolutely nothing to ensure compatibility. By contrast the GOG version is supposed to run just fine.

I have both the GoG version and the disc version from the strategy first 6 pack and both work fine on 32 bit windows 7. Of all the versions, GoG's is the easiest to get a hold of, the cheapest and comes with all the expansions. You really can't go wrong with GoG

 

[themyrmidon]

My favorites are Civ 5 G&K, Fire Emblem (GBA), and HoMM5. King's Bounty and Advance Wars are also ones I enjoy.

 

[Baron_Rouge]

Civ V and its expansion, Gods and Kings are amazing. I've sunk many hours into that game, with no regrets. I also remember Heroes of Might and Magic V being rather fun, and now there's a sequel to that, so that might be worth checking out. Also, if you have a DS, I had a great time with Pokemon Conquest.

 

[saintdane05]

Advanced Wars, Fire Emblem, and XComm work on very systems (Percentiles) Only this is the percentage of damage you will do to the enemy, rather hit percentage.

The Total War series will work, but be warned: The average game can take months. Literally, months.

 

[cryogeist]

Final Fantasy Tactics is a great TBS
while it might not have the graphics you're looking for (game was made in 1998) the gameplay is AWESOME