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Great SRPG games without Tactics in their title?

R

Recall

Member
So EVERYONE loves to talk about how great Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Orge are but how about some of the lesser known titles?

Arc the Lad 2 is an incredible game that really perfected the gameplay challenge and the dramatic story. The way it looks and plays is personally unrivalled.

Vandal Hearts 1 + 2 were titles that tried to make the series accessible to all. I loved how they never felt overwhelming yet still entertained.

Any other console SRPGs people love yet no-one ever seems to discuss?
 
Shining Force 1-3(3-2, 3-3) and CD.

If you include portables:
Jeanne D'Arc
Stella Glow.
 
Console only?

PSP has a whole bunch of great ones.

Jeanne D'Arc, Wild Arms XF, Metal Gear Acid 2 etc. are all amazing.
 
Fire Emblem of course. Way better than FFT imo, too.
 
Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity

Not quite as mechanically dense as other "tactics" games but goddamn its got style and great characters. Still one of my favorite PS2 games.
 
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume even though I seem to be one of the few persons in the world that enjoyed it.
 
Vanguard Bandits for the PS1 was a favorite of mine when it came out. I played it through multiple times to get every ending. The difficulty is a bit uneven (especially towards the end), and the game encourages min/maxing, but it has great 90's anime flavor and is a solid SRPG in its own right.
 
I played through Mercenary Saga 2 on my 3DS this last year and was surprised to find that I really enjoyed it. In many ways it is a fairly standard clone of Tactic Ogre, however it is a real solidly put together one and does capture the same level of light tactical enjoyment that its inspiration creates.
 
Summon Night 5 released last month on the psn. It's a PSP's game and the user's reviews were pretty positive in the official topic.
 
inorganicrosiel said:
Vanguard Bandits for the PS1 was a favorite of mine when it came out. I played it through multiple times to get every ending. The difficulty is a bit uneven (especially towards the end), and the game encourages min/maxing, but it has great 90's anime flavor and is a solid SRPG in its own right.
Click to expand...

Love this game, been thinking about doing an LTTP for it. It's the first SRPG I ever played, and I still replay it about once a year. Very short, fun story, and it's very cheap on PSN for Vita and PS3. Highly recommend it.

My other pics

Chroma Squad (PC)
Pokemon Conquest (DS)
Saiyuki : Journey to the West (PSN for Vita/PS3)
 
Vanguard Bandits isn't on the EU PSN, gonna have to crack open that US account I think.

Never played it but it sounds intriguing.
 
Bog said:
Shining Force 1-3(3-2, 3-3) and CD.

If you include portables:
Jeanne D'Arc
Stella Glow.
Click to expand...

is stella glow actually great or are you just including it for the sake of adding another title?

Not trying to be a dick i'm genuinely curious as I'm looking for a new 3ds game and I liked the demo but dont know if it holds up
 
speaking of arc 2, should I bother playing through arc 1 again in order to import my save file? Or is it not worth it if I dont feel like playing it again?
 
robotzombie said:
speaking of arc 2, should I bother playing through arc 1 again in order to import my save file? Or is it not worth it if I dont feel like playing it again?
Click to expand...
You really don't need to.

You can totally dive in to 2 without ever having seen any part of 1.
 
Recall said:
You really don't need to.

You can totally dive in to 2 without ever having seen any part of 1.
Click to expand...

I'm currently in Arc 2 and just finished Arc 1 a few days ago. Even though it's pretty barebone you can finish Arc 1 under 10h and it add a little context to the story of the second.

Well actually it took me 25h to finish but I did the 50 floor bonus dungeon and the 1000 arena battle quest for no reason at all :/
 
robotzombie said:
speaking of arc 2, should I bother playing through arc 1 again in order to import my save file? Or is it not worth it if I dont feel like playing it again?
Click to expand...

Its good to play 1. Characters from 1 keep there levels and it goes better with the story. "That is the legendary warrior that did this" and hes a powerful mofo. Im not sure at what level they start if you dont play 1.

If you do the tower, the melee warriors are 99 by the end.
 
I'm only on chapter 2, but Summon Night 5 (PSP/Vita game that came out in English last month) has been very promising so far and I enjoyed the other game I played in the series (SN3 - Japanese only).

I also really like Wild Arms XF (PSP). It's like FFT but with crazier classes & more interesting battle scenarios.
 
Dee Dee said:
This post took very long, what the hell Gaf?.
Click to expand...

It took very long because OP specified Console games.

Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn are very good strategy games, a bit on the easy side since Ike can become very overpowered, but the map design and the sometimes clever objectives make it a great game. The loss of the Shove mechanic will sorely be missed ;-;7

and if you are not really looking specifically for console then yeah Devil Survivor is reaaally good.
 
Shining Force 1 and especially 2, never got to play 3 :(, Front Mission 3 (didnt play any others but 3 was really awesome), Disgaea, Ogre Battle 64, and every Fire Emblem I have touched are all really great SRPG games. I also remember liking Bahamut Lagoon when I tried it ages ago, but its been a long long time since I have played it, and I only had a handful of hours in it, so it may not be as good as I recall.
 
maxresdefault.jpg


This underrated gem, really great game
except for the second-last mission, I don't like it when a game forces you to use particular character late in the game.
 
Sojiro said:
Shining Force 1 and especially 2, never got to play 3 :(, Front Mission 3 (didnt play any others but 3 was really awesome), Disgaea, Ogre Battle 64, and every Fire Emblem I have touched are all really great SRPG games. I also remember liking Bahamut Lagoon when I tried it ages ago, but its been a long long time since I have played it, and I only had a handful of hours in it, so it may not be as good as I recall.
Click to expand...

Front Mission 3 was great but 5 on the PS2 was amazing, too bad it only came out in Japan. There is an english patch around that makes it perfectly playable but the legality of it is disputable :)
 
La Pucelle:
Tactics

It was named La Pucelle: The Legend of the Maiden of Light in Japan, does that count?
 
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