Summary
- Popular series like Mario and Marvel successfully ventured into tactics games.
- Gears Tactics proved that cover shooters can seamlessly transition to tactics gameplay.
- Spin-offs like Fallout Tactics and Persona 5 Tactica have created unique and deep combat systems.
Tactics games have had a resurgence in more recent years. Sometimes, you just want a game that forces you to use all your brain to do even the simplest of tasks, and that's where tactics games excel. And for as many incredible, dedicated tactics games as we have now, plenty of non-tactics series want to get in on the fun, too.
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Posts By Ben JesseyPlenty of different games have over the years created copious spin-offs, and quite a few of them have tried their hand at tactics games. ANd even when all of them aren't perfect, they are always a breath of fresh air in a game otherwise dominated by more traditional real-time games.
8 Mario + Rabbids
Mario and Rayman
Like Follow FollowedMario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Strategy Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 85/100 Critics Rec: 92% Released August 29, 2017 ESRB E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief, Mild Language Developer(s) Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Paris Publisher(s) UbisoftWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALWhile Nintendo can be a bit repressed in terms of experimenting with many different genres with some of its games, Mario is not that. That little guy has found a job in every genre there is, from RPGs and tennis, to racing and platforming. One he seen a surprisingly lack of though were tactics games.
That is where Ubisoft's Mario + Rabbids comes in. A collaboration between Mario and Rayman, though mainly the Rabbids, Mario had a dedicated tactics game that pulled heavily from the likes of modern XCOM games. And the most shocking part of all is that the game was actually good. Who know the Mushroom Kingdom had some many keen strategists?
7 Marvel's Midnight Suns
Marvel
LikeMarvel's Midnight Suns
Tactical RPG Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 82/100 Critics Rec: 90% Released December 2, 2022 ESRB T For Teen Due To Language, Mild Blood, Violence Developer(s) Firaxis Games Publisher(s) 2K GamesWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALIt's hard to call anything from Marvel strictly a spin-off when there is no singular continuity to spin-off from. In a sense though, every Marvel game is a spin-off from the more prominent films and comics, so Marvel's Midnight Suns feels like one that can approriately called a spin-off, and by far the most interesting in a long time.
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Posts By Alexander PineraComing from Firaxis who made the modern XCOM games, Midnight Suns blended some of the best aspects of those games with the more defined characters from Marvel's comics. The result were a series of fleshed-out characters who all felt like truly unique characters. Even more unique are the way each character's moves are determined by a custom deck of cards built for each of them.
6 Gears Tactics
Gear Of War
Gears Tactics
Turn-Based Strategy 4.0/5 Released April 28, 2020 ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language Genre(s) Turn-Based Strategy Powered by Expand CollapseGears of War helped to popularise cover-shooters, a genre that became the leading style of design for third-person shooters for quite a while. It is up for debate if Gears of War was the best at this style of gameplay, but even six entries or more-or-less the same thing would wear down on anyone. And so enters Gears Tactics.
Turns out cover-shooters are a natural fit for tactics games. With the camera pulled to a top-down perspective, Gears Tactics fits perfectly. The gameplay becomes turn-based with more restrictions on your movement, but many of the same actions feels natural, such as moving to cover to advance, and slowly cutting through hordes of Locust swarms.
5 Metal Gear Acid
Metal Gear
Like Follow FollowedMetal Gear Acid
Stealth Digital Card Game Systems Released March 22, 2005 ESRB Mature 17+ 6 Images CloseWHERE TO PLAY
PHYSICALFrom the very beginning, and with few exceptions, Metal Gear has been a real-time series, which became even more prominent with the 3D Metal Gear Solid entries. Stealth was the selling point, it was deep and intricate, and an inescapable part of the game. Bu that's not to say the game's still didn't experiment every now and then.
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Posts By Asad MubeenEnter Metal Gear Acid for the PSP. While sTealth was still a priority, you were now moving across a grid-based map, and had to build out a deck of cards that determined your actions. Each card had an associated cost, and trying to keep that cost low allowed your turn to come up faster. Essential if you wanted to stay ahead of the enemy.
Metal Gear Acid also had a very unique cel-shaded look unlike the realism of the rest of the series.
4 Fallout Tactics
Fallout
Like Follow FollowedFallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
Tactical RPG Systems Released March 15, 2001 ESRB Mature 17+ // Violence, Blood, Strong Language Developer(s) Micro Forté Publisher(s) Bethesda Softworks Multiplayer Local Multiplayer Franchise FalloutWHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALFallout as it started with Interplay, and Fallout as it currently stands with Bethesda are two entirely different beasts. The original games were fully turn-based once combat was entered, while Bethesda's are fully real-time, with aspects of that turn-based heritage in the VATS system. Fundamentally, both are still RPGs.
Fallout Tactics is not that. It did away with many of the RPG choices and character iteration, aiming instead to make a much deeper combat system. And assuredly it was. It had a mix of real-time similar to Final Fantasy's ATB system, the original game's turn-based system, and a team-based system where each squad took all their actions in turns. While not beloved at the time, it became the foundation for so many tactics games to come later.
3 Persona 5 Tactica
Persona 5
Like Follow FollowedPersona 5 Tactica
Tactical Systems 3.0/5 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 77/100 Critics Rec: 67% Released November 17, 2023 ESRB T For Teen Due To Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence Developer(s) P-Studio Publisher(s) AtlusWHERE TO PLAY
SUBSCRIPTIONWe live in a world where Persona 5 is inescapable. There are just so many of them, from the original game, dancing spin-offs, innumerable collaborations, and so much more. Persona 5 is inescapable. And just when it seemed like the games had slowed down, Persona 5 Tactica reared its head.
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PostsPersona 5 Tactica is a tactics spin-off of the original Persona 5, though also has a dramatically different art direction with more cutesy characters. That said, many of the elements, such as All-Out Attacks and Personas made the leap for a genuinely enticing, if quite easy, tactics game.
2 Pokemon Conquest
Pokemon
LikePokemon Conquest
Tactical RPG Systems Released June 18, 2012 ESRB E For Everyone due to Mild Cartoon Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes Developer(s) Koei Tecmo Publisher(s) Nintendo, The Pokemon Company Multiplayer Local Multiplayer, Online Multiplayer Franchise PokemonWHERE TO PLAY
PHYSICALBack in the day, Pokemon flourished with spin-offs with genuine depth. While we are mostly restricted to free-to-play mobile entries now between new mainline entries, there are quite a few magnificent Pokemon spin-off lying dormant that are just begging for revitalisation. And Pokemon Conquest is one of them.
Pokemon Conquest is a collaboration between the wider Pokemon series and Nobunaga's Ambition, the strategy games. It takes place in a unique Pokemon region that is also home to the many leaders of the Sengoku period. Except now they have Pokemon to use. The game takes place on a turn-based grid, and is genuinely one of the most unique Pokemon spin-offs out there.
1 Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy
Like Follow FollowedFinal Fantasy Tactics
Tactical RPG Systems Released June 20, 1997 ESRB T For Teen // Mild Language, Violence Developer(s) Square Publisher(s) Square, Sony Computer Entertainment Engine Luminous Franchise Final Fantasy Genre(s) Tactical, RPG Powered by Expand CollapseFinal Fantasy as a series is so unique because it has very little connective tissue. For the most part, every entry can be completely different from each other. That said, the series does still get spin-offs, entries that make more dramatic changes than those representative of the main games. And Final Fantasy Tactics is simply one of the best spin-offs ever made, tactics or otherwise.
Final Fantasy Tactics uses the Job systems of previous entries in the system, and extends that to 3D, tile-based arenas. Your Job determines your unit's speed, an adaptation of the ATB system. The game is also packed with countless choices, which both determine the units you can recruit, and the path the story follows.
Final Fantasy Tactics also introduced the setting of Ivalice, which would later be used in Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy 12.
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