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What are some beginner friendly turn-based sRPGs
- Thread starter Mozendo
- Start date
ethomaz
Banned
Shining Force 1, CD, 2, 3-1, 3-2/3-3 (both have been fan translated now).
They're great to start with as the systems (if they really even have any) aren't that deep like Fire Emblems or Final Fantasy Tactics' are.
Disgaea is at the very opposite end of the spectrum, probably the most depth for any game in the genre.
They're great to start with as the systems (if they really even have any) aren't that deep like Fire Emblems or Final Fantasy Tactics' are.
Disgaea is at the very opposite end of the spectrum, probably the most depth for any game in the genre.
OuterLimits
Member
Definitely Vandal Hearts for the original PlayStation. VH2 as well,although it's more challenging.
Arc the Lad series.
Also since you have a 3DS, try Mercenaries Saga 2 or 3 on eshop. Super cheap but good simple and fun introduction to the genre.
Arc the Lad series.
Also since you have a 3DS, try Mercenaries Saga 2 or 3 on eshop. Super cheap but good simple and fun introduction to the genre.
cj_iwakura
Member
Normal of course. I'm thinking in terms of default difficulty.
First one I played.
First time I saw a curse word in a game, tbh.
Nikodemos
Member
True.
Pretty much the only 'pure' Strategy 'RPG' (for a given measure of the term, since you do have a player avatar character) is Jagged Alliance 2.
As for Tactical RPGs, I second Shadowrun: Dragonfall Director's Cut. It's simple (player team is small, most of the abilities and levelups are easy to understand) and has a nice story. And you don't have that subpar Decking stealth game from Hong Kong.
OuterLimits
Member
Elaugaufein
Member
Disgaea has lots of fiddling and tweaks and combination stuff yeah but you can ignore pretty much everything except Diagonal Throw / Towers (in some games) and a mandatory trip through 10 levels of the item world and complete the story without any real problem. Its the post game content that will flat out murder you without a grasp on all the mechanics. Hell most of the efficiency post game comes from knowing what parts of the mechanics you can ignore right now to focus on more important things.
For purely simple combat focus I don't think anything will beat Advance Wars. Advance Wars Dual Strike and Days of Ruin are both excellent DS games.
No classes, no items, fog of war, officer choice for perks and powers. Units remain the same and each has their strengths and weaknesses.
It is great for strategy though you can often also brute force your way with turtling and then pushing with over whelming forces.
These games are not always easy but they start you off nice and slow with unit introductions and explaining different officer powers.
On the free to play front I can't recommend Fantasy War Tactics enough.
Fantasy War Tactics is currently my favourite f2p mobile SRPG by a fairly wide margin. I'd say it is currently my favourite gatcha game in general.
- Gives a lot of energy and energy potions, ways to earn potions etc.
- Only 1 event character is behind a paywall(they received a lot of complaints about that). The others can be attained by grinding or meeting certain achievements in game or earning the correct currency etc. One thing I hate in most f2p gatcha games is that you need to RNG gatcha for the heroes you want. None of that nonsense here.
- RNG for gear & potentials (stat bonuses for characters/equipments) instead
- Fairly generous with giving away red crystals (currency you buy with real money)
- Heroes' designs are hit and miss. Models look better than portraits.
- Story is pretty forgettable. Not its strong point though the bits of it are sometimes quirky and comical.
- Strategy is surprisingly good. The challenge comes not only from beating the stage but from trying to beat stages with SS rank or setting up your team to successfully auto grind the stages you want. There "challenge" tower that resets monthly. Some of the stages that you have requirements such as include x hero or use only attack type characters. Dungeons usually have buffs for certain setups such as +50mp regen if you bring two tanks.
- PvP is against AI controlled enemy teams. They can be exploited but there is also some strategy in setting up defenses.
Some 3DS eShop Demos
- Fire Emblem Awakening or Fire Emblem Fates, I prefer Awakening personally.
- Project X Zone, very simple and not difficult but very grindy and slow due to tanky enemies and heaps of different characters. The combo-y style combat also means you can't skip all animations making fights drag out. I still really enjoy the game its animation and fanservice. I'd say enjoy the demo but buy other recommendations first.
- Stella Glow, I enjoyed the demo and it is quite simple so far but I haven't played the game. Pretty quick demo and pretty standard JRPG fair for story from what I had seen.
I loved Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time but I wouldn't consider it an SRPG in the standard sense. There are certainly strategic elements to the combat at times but it is not conventional of the genre so probably not a good pick to try and get into the genre.
No classes, no items, fog of war, officer choice for perks and powers. Units remain the same and each has their strengths and weaknesses.
It is great for strategy though you can often also brute force your way with turtling and then pushing with over whelming forces.
These games are not always easy but they start you off nice and slow with unit introductions and explaining different officer powers.
On the free to play front I can't recommend Fantasy War Tactics enough.
Fantasy War Tactics is currently my favourite f2p mobile SRPG by a fairly wide margin. I'd say it is currently my favourite gatcha game in general.
- Gives a lot of energy and energy potions, ways to earn potions etc.
- Only 1 event character is behind a paywall(they received a lot of complaints about that). The others can be attained by grinding or meeting certain achievements in game or earning the correct currency etc. One thing I hate in most f2p gatcha games is that you need to RNG gatcha for the heroes you want. None of that nonsense here.
- RNG for gear & potentials (stat bonuses for characters/equipments) instead
- Fairly generous with giving away red crystals (currency you buy with real money)
- Heroes' designs are hit and miss. Models look better than portraits.
- Story is pretty forgettable. Not its strong point though the bits of it are sometimes quirky and comical.
- Strategy is surprisingly good. The challenge comes not only from beating the stage but from trying to beat stages with SS rank or setting up your team to successfully auto grind the stages you want. There "challenge" tower that resets monthly. Some of the stages that you have requirements such as include x hero or use only attack type characters. Dungeons usually have buffs for certain setups such as +50mp regen if you bring two tanks.
- PvP is against AI controlled enemy teams. They can be exploited but there is also some strategy in setting up defenses.
Some 3DS eShop Demos
- Fire Emblem Awakening or Fire Emblem Fates, I prefer Awakening personally.
- Project X Zone, very simple and not difficult but very grindy and slow due to tanky enemies and heaps of different characters. The combo-y style combat also means you can't skip all animations making fights drag out. I still really enjoy the game its animation and fanservice. I'd say enjoy the demo but buy other recommendations first.
- Stella Glow, I enjoyed the demo and it is quite simple so far but I haven't played the game. Pretty quick demo and pretty standard JRPG fair for story from what I had seen.
I loved Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time but I wouldn't consider it an SRPG in the standard sense. There are certainly strategic elements to the combat at times but it is not conventional of the genre so probably not a good pick to try and get into the genre.
Iriscomeback
Member
Stella Glow
Fire emblem birthright
Valkyria Chronicles
Fire emblem birthright
Valkyria Chronicles
GeekyDad
Member
^This
Another vote for Fire Emblem.
Valkyria Chronicles is also great, but also very different from your usual T-RPG.
Pokémon Conquest is fine but I found it too easy.
For people who have a Wii/PS2, Sakura Wars is worth checking.
Also, I might be reaching, but Trails in the Skies has T-RPG-lite style battles and it's well loved here on GAF. I think it's great for a first taste of the genre.
Valkyria Chronicles is also great, but also very different from your usual T-RPG.
Pokémon Conquest is fine but I found it too easy.
For people who have a Wii/PS2, Sakura Wars is worth checking.
Also, I might be reaching, but Trails in the Skies has T-RPG-lite style battles and it's well loved here on GAF. I think it's great for a first taste of the genre.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
I would recommend Vandal Hearts on the PSX.
It's straightforward and doesn't faff around with character creation, so the scenarios will always be based around the number of characters you actually have.
Shining Force 3 scenario 1/2/3 on the saturn would be another good choice. (use the fan translations here sf3trans.shiningforcecentral.com/)
Will echo Jeanne D'Arc. Great sRPG with really great characters. It's for PSP.
autoduelist
Member
Jeanne d'arc is a great game for beginners, high in quality and polish yet fairly simple.
It's was way to simplified for me. I ran away after a day.
Vita has my favorite srpg of all time, but I can't recommend it to beginners. It's hard, and has very unique systems unlike any other srpg, to the point that turns look like football plays, with positioning, height, and many other factors taken into play. It was destroyed by reviewers and many players, but if you give it the time it rewards you with beautifully deep gameplay. Thats why natural doctrine remains my favorite vita game. But again, it's only for experienced players who like learning new systems.
It's was way to simplified for me. I ran away after a day.
Vita has my favorite srpg of all time, but I can't recommend it to beginners. It's hard, and has very unique systems unlike any other srpg, to the point that turns look like football plays, with positioning, height, and many other factors taken into play. It was destroyed by reviewers and many players, but if you give it the time it rewards you with beautifully deep gameplay. Thats why natural doctrine remains my favorite vita game. But again, it's only for experienced players who like learning new systems.
First one I played.
Vandal Hearts is perfect. Streamlined battle system, pretty easy and great story/characters. Just stay away from the PS3 one.
bati
Member
I can't believe it took 3 pages for the true king of the genre to be named. Heretics.
Finally, someone agrees.
Nikodemos
Member
[avatarquote]
In all honesty, and despite me being a huge fan, I'd never recommend it to a newbie, or even to somebody who mostly played handheld tactical games. It has complex and convoluted mechanics and is oldschool hard, meaning you can mess up your endgame due to a decision you have taken early on (early game speuler:
like killing the corrupt Drassen airport ground manager instead of bribing him with $100 to keep his hands off your cargo; the guy who replaces him is equal parts stupid and useless
But yeah, JA2 is the definitive end-all of 'true' strategy RPGs.
RayearthRob
Member
Tenchi Muyo Snes.
Great game. My first srpg!!
Great game. My first srpg!!
PaulBizkit
Member
If you have a PSP, you have plenty to choose from.
Jeanne D'Arc, the classes are simple and MP fills automatically.
Summon Night 5 is also a pretty straightforward game as regards to the mechanics.
Final Fantasy Tactics is where most of us started at. It's quite simple to understand.
The Disgaea games are fairly recommended too, there is an enhanced port of D1 on the PSP. I think Wild Arms XF and Spectral Souls are a bit complicated...
Jeanne D'Arc, the classes are simple and MP fills automatically.
Summon Night 5 is also a pretty straightforward game as regards to the mechanics.
Final Fantasy Tactics is where most of us started at. It's quite simple to understand.
The Disgaea games are fairly recommended too, there is an enhanced port of D1 on the PSP. I think Wild Arms XF and Spectral Souls are a bit complicated...
appaws
Banned
I want to make the argument for Disgaea.
It has the depth available, if you dig into it...
But a beginner could very easily get into the campaign, use a few of the systems, and have an amazing time without becoming obsessed with Lvl 9999 God status and the Item World. But at least it you catch the bug...there is a healthy helping of stuff there for the OCD types.
It has the depth available, if you dig into it...
But a beginner could very easily get into the campaign, use a few of the systems, and have an amazing time without becoming obsessed with Lvl 9999 God status and the Item World. But at least it you catch the bug...there is a healthy helping of stuff there for the OCD types.
whatever6352
Member
Valkyria Chronicles and Banner Saga 1 and 2.
This. They are only about £4 each and and a decent introduction to many of the concepts in SRPGs while keeping character development relatively simple.
There are other good ones that add lots more depending on what you want, but for a modern introduction to the genre those are hard to beat at that price- MS3 only came out in January.
Also, Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars on 3DS is essentially a beginners guide to Xcom, losing permadeath and base management to focus on squad tactics, overwatch, unit skills and terrain. Should be fairly cheap too.
Failing that, Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright or FE: Awakening are a good intro, and Stella Glow isn't too bad either. Devil Survivor is great but not one I'd recommend to genre newcomers.
For home consoles, Valkyria Chronicles is fantastic too.
On the Vita, you've got access to the PSP games FFT War of the Lions and Tactics Ogre LUCT, both of which are top tier. You've also got access to my favourite SRPG of all time, Front Mission 3, as a PSOne classic. Can't really go wrong with any of them.
Vandal Hearts is pretty straightforward, although one particular level where you have to deal with shitty NPC AI can frustrate. It's a fun, not-overly-long, and bloody game where each level has a few puzzle-based elements to keep you interested.
Rhapsody may be one of, if not THE easiest SRPGs ever. You get tons of attacks that can decimate opponents almost instantly. I don't recall dying once when I played back upon release. The game is adorable, too - it's a musical (with full singing parts!) RPG. The dungeon design is horrid though, all square rooms that look identical. This was Nippon Ichi's breakout title.
Arc the Lad 1 and 3 are pretty easy and relatively straightforward SRPGs. 2 is a hybrid between SRPG and traditional RPG (with dungeon and town exploration) and is a fantastic game, but it can be REALLY challenging in some parts (like the final boss). Ditto for Twilight of the Spirits, which eschews a grid-based movement system for something more freeform (like in Phantom Brave or BOF: Dragon Quarter)
Shining Force series is another classic, and my first experience with the genre (unless you count Desert Commander or the battles in the D&D Pool of Radiance game). One nice thing about SF is it's pretty easy to grind and if you die, you don't lose your experience, just half your gold, DQ style (and you have to revive the party members that died). Shining 2 is a good deal more challenging, and a longer adventure.
Rhapsody may be one of, if not THE easiest SRPGs ever. You get tons of attacks that can decimate opponents almost instantly. I don't recall dying once when I played back upon release. The game is adorable, too - it's a musical (with full singing parts!) RPG. The dungeon design is horrid though, all square rooms that look identical. This was Nippon Ichi's breakout title.
Arc the Lad 1 and 3 are pretty easy and relatively straightforward SRPGs. 2 is a hybrid between SRPG and traditional RPG (with dungeon and town exploration) and is a fantastic game, but it can be REALLY challenging in some parts (like the final boss). Ditto for Twilight of the Spirits, which eschews a grid-based movement system for something more freeform (like in Phantom Brave or BOF: Dragon Quarter)
Shining Force series is another classic, and my first experience with the genre (unless you count Desert Commander or the battles in the D&D Pool of Radiance game). One nice thing about SF is it's pretty easy to grind and if you die, you don't lose your experience, just half your gold, DQ style (and you have to revive the party members that died). Shining 2 is a good deal more challenging, and a longer adventure.
https://www.google.at/search?q=final+fantasy+tactics+too+hard&oq=final+fantasy+tactics+too+hard&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.10183j1j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Especially one of the first few battles (forgot the name) was ridiculous. Might have one of the steepest learning curves I have ever encountered in any game.
I'd say Jeanne D'Arc is a pretty good place to start. SF games are pretty easy as well.
Appreciate this recommendation, currently taking a look at it now.
Do you have any other Android recommendations? Both Premium and F2P.
For those who try Fantasy War Tactics, GAF guild is on Global Server. By default the game set me off on Pioneer server. From what I read, there are less people on Pioneer server which means it is probably easier to get a higher rank in pvp but otherwise more people in Global meaning more players to help out. I played for 3 days before I worked that out. I was about level 22. I jumped servers and caught back up in about a day since I could skip a lot of the story stuff and just blaze through the missions.
Battle for Wesnoth
I'm pretty certain this is supposed to be free. It is certainly free on PC but maybe some developers ask for a bit of money on the mobile ports, I don't know. I first played it on mobile around 2009 so I can't really speak on anything added or new since then. It is pretty good and kind of addicting but you can get really fucked up by horrible RNG luck. There are a few campaigns and your units have perma death but you can pretty easily train new ones.
The combat can be frustrating because chance to hit is never 100%. Sometimes you will get hit even when the odds are low like 15%, other times you may have a unit that attacks 4 times for 20 damage each at 80% hit chance only to miss everything and get killed. Part of the fun for me was to try and minimise losses and still keep on top of things for next map.
Some mobile ports I haven't tried but the games themselves I will highly recommend.
Shadowrun Dragonfall
I think the UI may be a bit difficult. The game itself is more RPG heavy than strategy heavy. If you are familiar with RPGs then this is fine but if not then combat might be a little tough here and there. The writing and characters are exceptional. The PC release is my GOTY in 2013. Combat is not Shadowrun's strong point but I wouldn't consider it bad.
Banner Saga
I only played on PC again but the story while cryptic and a little annoying. However when the overall plot takes a backseat in favour of the more immediate, survival story beats it can also be pretty gripping. The animations are nice and the combat is pretty good. It is pretty simple to get into if you pay attention to the tutorial. I had a friend play this and didn't realise you could level up and I do recall having several levels before I worked out how to invest my points into skills and stats. The UI could definitely use some work as neither of us are inexperienced gamers. Once we have some points into stats and skills though the combat is very manageable.
I've been meaning to try Phantom of the Kill. It looks interesting and has battle transitions like SRW/Fire Emblem/Advance Wars etc. I can't recommend this as I haven't played it but figure I'll mention it since I'm looking at it.
In the past I wanted to try Terra Battle but it was never released in Australia AFAIK. It is also card based in battle so you don't get your little avatars mauling each other which while isn't important to me it is still something I really enjoy.
There is also Final Fantasy Tactics on mobile now. Well worth a play through if you haven't tried it.
MiniTaurus
Neo Member
+1 for Final fantasy Tactics =)
I'm gonna agree on the sentiment that the Disgaea games aren't too bad until you've cleared the main campaign.
To add on to these
Arc the Lad 1 isn't too hard. It does have a lot of quirks that you shouldn't expect in other SRPG's though. There's stuff like pre-determined turn order for all battles and also having to use all characters in every battle (you will eventually have a minimum of 7, maximum 14 with summons). These don't even carry over to the next Arc the Lad game. If you do play it though it's worth mentioning that you can carry over a completed save file to the second game.
Arc the Lad 2 is pretty tough at times, I agree. I also think it's really time consuming (in the sense that there's a lot to do, though battles can also be really slow. The latter never bothered me until I had to start grinding for the final boss). That said I found battles to be a lot more fun with more interesting options/skills (even if you have less characters on screen at a time than the first.)
I actually haven't gotten far in Arc the Lad 3 but it has a completely different structure from 2 (the story structure is based around being a bounty hunter and fulfilling requests). I also personally don't know if it's worth playing without having played 2 (I find the fanservice/appearance of older characters more interesting than the main plot and characters of 3, personally).
Can't comment on Twilight. I only ever played a demo of it when I was younger (though I plan to rectify that once I have a PS4)
Haven't played these in ages but I think they're serviceable, if bland SRPG's. I recall the first game having some very annoying sidequests (as in, they're annoying to try and trigger consistently).
To add on to these
Arc the Lad 1 isn't too hard. It does have a lot of quirks that you shouldn't expect in other SRPG's though. There's stuff like pre-determined turn order for all battles and also having to use all characters in every battle (you will eventually have a minimum of 7, maximum 14 with summons). These don't even carry over to the next Arc the Lad game. If you do play it though it's worth mentioning that you can carry over a completed save file to the second game.
Arc the Lad 2 is pretty tough at times, I agree. I also think it's really time consuming (in the sense that there's a lot to do, though battles can also be really slow. The latter never bothered me until I had to start grinding for the final boss). That said I found battles to be a lot more fun with more interesting options/skills (even if you have less characters on screen at a time than the first.)
I actually haven't gotten far in Arc the Lad 3 but it has a completely different structure from 2 (the story structure is based around being a bounty hunter and fulfilling requests). I also personally don't know if it's worth playing without having played 2 (I find the fanservice/appearance of older characters more interesting than the main plot and characters of 3, personally).
Can't comment on Twilight. I only ever played a demo of it when I was younger (though I plan to rectify that once I have a PS4)
Haven't played these in ages but I think they're serviceable, if bland SRPG's. I recall the first game having some very annoying sidequests (as in, they're annoying to try and trigger consistently).