What are the best Strategy/RPGs?

mr_zen256

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I've had a hankering for some good ol' RT strategy RPG but there doesn't seem to be much new out there.

Some of the titles I've already got and and playing are Spellforce 1 & 2 and recently purchased Warhammer: Dawn of War 2.

Anyone know of other titles that have a nice blend of RT strategy and RPG?

Not really after HoMM and Kings Bounty type games, more looking toward the realtime strategy/rpgs.
 
Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor includes a short campaign or two that are vaguely similar to the DoW2 style. The Warcraft 3 expansion pack includes a campaign like that, in case you missed it. Have you tried the new Jagged Alliance game? I don't know how much RPG there is.

Otherwise, for newer games I'd just play DoW2 campaigns over and over with different builds until you get sick of them.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Finished Xcom a couple of weekends ago. Used to love the Shining Force games.. 3 was a Saturn only title right, and only the first of the trilogy was translated to English?

I've been holding off getting the new Jagged Alliance until it had been all patched up. Might wait for the next special on that one.
 
Warhammer Mark of Chaos was fun. There's a demo out there for it.
 
Men of War isnt RPG at all, but its one of the best games never played.
 
I've had a hankering for some good ol' RT strategy RPG but there doesn't seem to be much new out there.

Some of the titles I've already got and and playing are Spellforce 1 & 2 and recently purchased Warhammer: Dawn of War 2.

Anyone know of other titles that have a nice blend of RT strategy and RPG?

Not really after HoMM and Kings Bounty type games, more looking toward the realtime strategy/rpgs.



These might be fun to play on an emulator for the nostalgia of it.

http://www.complex.com/video-games/2012/07/the-10-best-old-school-rpgs-of-all-time/shadowrun
 
Final Fantasy Tactics is excellent for the PSX. It is turned based though.
 
There's that Tryst game... But I've never played it, so I can't exactly recommend it and it might be terrible, but it's supposed to be kind of like this. Mainly I haven't played it because the demo was made by stupids (you have to play online with real players abd ut's multiplayer only, but there was only 4 people playing it...so I just sat around for 15 minutes then gave up. No vs AI or anything...:eek:) :D
 
You should seriously try Sins of a Solar Empire. One of the few games that actually put strategy (read: thinking before making an important decision) into the spotlight.
 
Shining Force 1 & 2. Old Genesis titles, but still some of my favorites. Also, look up Shining in the Darkness (RPG not Strategy RPG, still a hell of a game though).
 
All the suggestions have been excellent so far, thanks! I have great memories of the Shining games on the genesis. I'll definitely be looking into taking another shot at Shining Force 3 and Shining the Holy Ark at some point. Looks like emulation for the Saturn has gotten pretty good with SSF.

I had a look at Sins of a Solar Empire some time ago but that looked to be more of a straight up strategy game (not so much RPG elements?). In terms of the space games, I do enjoy the Space Rangers series and am patiently waiting for the Space Rangers 2 HD update. Also, there was a thread in the last few days about a game called Drox Operative and I decided to pick that up. Pretty cool game. More action RPG in spaceships rather than strategy though. Mixed in with some interesting diplomacy mechanics, ah la Civilization.

It seems there haven't been a whole lot of games that have blended strategy/RPG aspects in a way that the Spellforce series has. It's a shame because I thought the combination struck a really good balance.
 
I'll be looking for a new strategy game soon too. I finally made it to the last mission of X-COM:EU on Classic Ironman (big deal for me cause I suck at strategy games especially RTS). I've never really had much interest in strategy games such as SimCity or Civilization cause the settings don't really interest me but thoroughly enjoyed X-com with the combat and RPG elements (didn't care much for the satellite/UFO meta game).

Ive bought almost every strategy game out there but never play them for more than an hour. The list of strategy games I have finished: Commandos, Jagged Alliance, Fallout: Tactics, FF: Tactics, Ogre Battle, Men of War, and soon X-com. I prefer turn-based strategy games where I can take my time to plan out my next move and I really like tactical combat with some RPG/upgrade element. Any recommendations?

I might try out the Jagged Alliance remake but that got pretty horrid reviews all around.
 
Tactic Ogre.

It's a more refined FFT as far as I know. I never beat it because ...... maybe the graphics? I dunno, something felt a bit off.

But it is very good.

There's also Vangaurd Bandits. It's pretty good, a mecha TBS.
And the 2 Vandal Hearts. I beat the first one, and if you do it right end game becomes miserably easy as your main character literally just shits on everyone. And Vandal Hearts 2, I keep on getting half way and quitting. But it's a different turn based game. You and your opponent move at the same time, so you can screw yourself by moving the wrong characters, but beat the game with the chance of not getting hit if you move it right.

All PSX games, cept Tactics Ogre was remade.
 
Tactic Ogre.

It's a more refined FFT as far as I know. I never beat it because ...... maybe the graphics? I dunno, something felt a bit off.

But it is very good.

There's also Vangaurd Bandits. It's pretty good, a mecha TBS.
And the 2 Vandal Hearts. I beat the first one, and if you do it right end game becomes miserably easy as your main character literally just shits on everyone. And Vandal Hearts 2, I keep on getting half way and quitting. But it's a different turn based game. You and your opponent move at the same time, so you can screw yourself by moving the wrong characters, but beat the game with the chance of not getting hit if you move it right.

All PSX games, cept Tactics Ogre was remade.

Real time, man. If we were talking turn based, there would be a huge list.
 
I'm assuming your talking about PC games, in which case I'd also like some recommendations.


I have all 3 scenarios of Shining force 3 best turn Based Strategy game ever....but not for PC.


All though given the massive progress of Dolphin and PSX2 emulators you really could consider PS2, Gamecube, and Wii all to be PC games now. In which case you can check out Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. They are a continuation off each other and quite fucking amazing. No shining force 3, but more recent complement.


Helpful List of RTS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_real-time_strategy_video_games

Helpful list of turn based RTS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_turn-based_strategy_video_games

Nothing outstanding in recent games.
 
RTS’s that I enjoyed immensely:

Star General - Turn Based - Dos - CLASSIC!
War Craft: Orcs and Humans – Wow! Memories! Gave my 386 a major workout playing this bad boy! (and # 2 Tides of darkness was pretty sweet also)
Lords of the Realm 2 - Was Awesome!
Total Annihilation - Arm all the way baby!
Supreme Commander 1 - With some mods and a REALLY powerful computer (cpu wise) was pretty awesome - VERY pretty looking nukes. (Supreme Commander 2 = sad panda)
Star Craft + Broodwar - Yeah it was pretty good.
Dawn Of War games - Pretty much all of the original ones before Dawn of War 2 which changed a lot of stuff and is less RTS and more squad based...
Command and Conquer Generals + Zero Hour - glitchy engine (thanks EA) but Super fun!
Age of Mythology - had a TON of fun at LAN parties w/ this one.
Demi God – ehh had some fun w/ this one.

And for a off the wall “RTS”, Giants: Citizen Kabuto – multiplayer w/ base building, WOW what fun this was (and still is!)
 
making this type of game must be

A. Difficult
B. Not profitable
C. Both.

Because from What I have seen they really haven't made very many of them them....and in the past 5 years they have made almost none.

I guess I could throw starcraft 2 in the mix....even though for some strange reason I can't bring myself to like startcraft.....even though I love warcraft 2.
 
making this type of game must be

A. Difficult
B. Not profitable
C. Both.

Because from What I have seen they really haven't made very many of them them....and in the past 5 years they have made almost none.

I guess I could throw starcraft 2 in the mix....even though for some strange reason I can't bring myself to like startcraft.....even though I love warcraft 2.

Well in terms of strategy/RTS games -

Blizzard released SC2, HoS expansion next March.

THQ has had Relic working on its W40k license and churned out DoW II, but also took time to make Space Marine (non RTS). Company of Heroes 2 is supposed to be released next year, but THQ is currently going through financial issues (mostly due to a failed project related to kids gaming) so this is uncertain.

EA has been farming out CnC games along with LoT. One issue is they stopped Simcity franchise in favor of The Sims but tried something slightly different with Spore. However next year there will be a new Simcity. Along with another large project in CnC Generals 2.

Total War games seem to be still coming out regularly.

Massive had been a relative succesful newcomer with Ground Control and World in Conflict. They had been rumored to be working on another "military RTS" but have since then been bought by Ubisoft and are now assisting with games like AC:Revelations and Farcry 3. Not too sure what the logic here was lol...

Supreme Commander 2 was released 2 years ago.

Microsoft has put of Age of Empires Online.

Men of War is a newer franchise.

I do not really recall that many more "name" RTS games being released 5+ years ago then now.
 
There are lots of RTS games out there, just not many with RPG elements in them as well.
 
There are lots of RTS games out there, just not many with RPG elements in them as well.

Didn't notice that actually.

But with that being said what "name" games that were RTS/RPG hybrids were there more than 5 years ago on the PC?

Really it seemed more like RTS games were gaining RPG elements. Or at the very least the idea of introducing more "character building/progression" into units as opposed to them simply being fodder. If you look at like the single player for games like Dow2 and SC2 it is extremely different from the more RTS MP aspect.
 
Didn't notice that actually.

But with that being said what "name" games that were RTS/RPG hybrids were there more than 5 years ago on the PC?

Really it seemed more like RTS games were gaining RPG elements. Or at the very least the idea of introducing more "character building/progression" into units as opposed to them simply being fodder. If you look at like the single player for games like Dow2 and SC2 it is extremely different from the more RTS MP aspect.

There haven't been too many. I suppose Syndicate/Wars would qualify. The more recent King Arthur games, too.
 
I'll be looking for a new strategy game soon too. I finally made it to the last mission of X-COM:EU on Classic Ironman (big deal for me cause I suck at strategy games especially RTS). I've never really had much interest in strategy games such as SimCity or Civilization cause the settings don't really interest me but thoroughly enjoyed X-com with the combat and RPG elements (didn't care much for the satellite/UFO meta game).

Ive bought almost every strategy game out there but never play them for more than an hour. The list of strategy games I have finished: Commandos, Jagged Alliance, Fallout: Tactics, FF: Tactics, Ogre Battle, Men of War, and soon X-com. I prefer turn-based strategy games where I can take my time to plan out my next move and I really like tactical combat with some RPG/upgrade element. Any recommendations?

I might try out the Jagged Alliance remake but that got pretty horrid reviews all around.

Should check out Silent Storm. Physics engine was excellent. One of my favorite tactical rpgs. Some goofy sci fi things in it but well worth it.
 
The thread did go a bit OT into pure RTS. As others have mentioned, there are a plethora of RTS games out there yet a meager few RTS/RPG hybrids.

It's all good considering there's been some excellent suggestions regardless of not fitting the exact criteria. The fact is, they are simply a rare breed (hence starting the thread in the hope of finding some overlooked gems).

I haven't tried the King Arthur series but have heard mostly positive feedback about it. Essentially it's like a Total War game with RPG elements, yes?

I guess Mount & Blade would fit in the category too. It didn't hook me, but I might give it another shot in due course.

In terms of tower defense/RPG, Iron Brigade is fun although currently an unplayable, buggy mess due to GFWL and the criminally slow Microsoft patch validation process. Will definitely go back to it once it's been cleaned up. Other tower defense/RPG games worth noting are Dungeon Defenders and Orcs Must Die.
 
Kingdom Under Fire 2 is supposed to be some sort of MMORPG/RTS hybrid.

What are you considering a RTS/RPG though? A strong hero unit that levels/customizable? Unit leveling/progression/persistence? Leveling/progression within one session or persistence over multiple sessions?
 
Yeah, any kind of leveling & customizable heros/units is a plus. Preferably over the course of the entire game. Essentially the ideal gaming experience to fit the criteria would be something in a similar vein to the Spellforce series.
 
Real time, man. If we were talking turn based, there would be a huge list.

Was replying to chineseman, man! I was long out of RTS by the time I saw this thread.

BTW, NetStorm isn't just a tower defense game. It's might even be the first. But it's an RTS that's really based on what you build to attack the enemy wizard. Not like those ones you see today where you just sort of sit there and wait for attacks.
 
I know it's old, but Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth had you leveling up your heroes and your other battle units. And there was just something very satisfying about making the cavalry units charge.
 
I still go back and play the old Command and Conquers on occasion. Classics, can't go wrong with those.

And way too much of my life was in Starcraft, if you haven't played that, it's a must.
 
Ask and ye shall receive!

Just spotted this little indie title in the wild called "Frozen Hearth" from Australian developers, Epiphany.

Looks to be very similar to the Spellforce series and has the RTS/RPG hybrid blend I was looking for. Very tempted to pick this one up :)

Gamespot Dev interview & "Let's Play"
 
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