What are your top 5 Strategy RPGs?

[AB Positive]

Dark Wizard love. I knew there was a reason I came here

from what I've played:

5 - FF Tactics Advance
4 - La Pucelle Tactics
3 - FF Tactics (psx)
2 - Dark Wizard


...


1 - Disgaea. This was one of two reasons I owned a PS2 (other than the Katamari games). Great plot, characters, battle system - I fell in love with NIS with this one.

[Kamisama]

I like SRPGs a lot, but I haven't played that many, including some famous ones.

Well 5 i liked:
- Wachenröder
- Vandal Hearts
- Sakura Wars Series
- Farland Story
- Battle Robot Retsuden

[Wraith Storm]

I like SRPGs a lot, but I haven't played that many, including some famous ones.

Well 5 i liked:
- Wachenröder
- Vandal Hearts
- Sakura Wars Series
- Farland Story
- Battle Robot Retsuden

Wachenröder!!!
As your avatar suggests. Wachenröder is a fantastic game. I remember when I first bought it back in 2002 I played it for hours on end... even though I couldn't read a word of it it was still easy to figure out what to do. I loved the intro where they created everything with actual models and then filmed it and overlayed CG! I have never seen anything like it!

[Blanka789]

1. FF Tactics
2. Saiyuki: Journey West
3. Shining Force Series
4. Arc The Lad 2
5. Warcraft 2

Surprised Warcraft and Saiyuki went unmentioned this long...

[jjgames]

I love this genre, but apparently I have a lot of catching up to do. I should start with the Shining Force games since I have a Genesis. Of the ones I have played, my favorite is Tactics Ogre.

[Kamisama]

Wachenröder!!!
As your avatar suggests. Wachenröder is a fantastic game. I remember when I first bought it back in 2002 I played it for hours on end... even though I couldn't read a word of it it was still easy to figure out what to do. I loved the intro where they created everything with actual models and then filmed it and overlayed CG! I have never seen anything like it!

Haha yes. I love that game and the style. There is an english Script on Gamefaqs that allows you to understand the story. Maybe you want to re-read it to see what you missed.
Unfortunately my Saturn "forgot" the Save (damn battery) after I played like through half of the game. Maybe I should start it once again.. hmm.

[Gabriel]

I hope that my ravings have introduced some of you people to Dark Wizard. I'm extremely happy to see it highly regarded by so many people.

I wrote my top 5 list ages ago. I don't know where that thing got to. Here's my current list. I wonder if anything has changed?

5. Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1)
4. Shining Force: Legacy of Great Intention (Genesis)
3. Shining Force CD (Sega CD)
2. Front Mission 3 (PS1)
1. Dark Wizard (Sega CD)

I think FFT has dropped on my list. That's because it was great for it's day, but I just don't think it ages well. I tried to play it both on the PS1 and PSP recently and just couldn't get into it. Its hanging it at #5 right now in deference to the greatness I remember ascribing to it.

Shining Force gets two entries on the list because it's just that damn awesome. I don't like the later installments of the series because I feel they focus too much on tedious mucking about rather than getting down to the business of kicking ass. And Shining Force CD has a laser-like precision on that note.

Front Mission 3 and Dark Wizard are my easy choices for best games of the genre ever for their great degree of customization.

Final Fantasy Tactics may soon be removed from my list entirely and replaced by Jeanne d'Arc (PSP).

And now, my bottom 5 list!

Worst Tactical RPGs I've played (in no particular order):

Disgaea (PS2)

I know this one gets a lot of love, but I can't see why. It just stupid and even most MMORPGs aren't as pointlessly grindy as this one is.

Disgaea is really on my list as a placeholder for almost all Nippon Ichi TRPGs, which seem to all have the common thread of "Our characters are EVIL, therefore they are edgy and kewl, and we don't need interesting gameplay, just a few stupid color gimmicks."


Kartia (PS1)

Thankfully, I don't remember much about this one. I just remember it being extremely boring. It had the most lifeless combat of any game of the genre (barring Battle Hunters, below).


Operation Darkness (360)

It isn't very fair to pass judgement on this one before it's even out, but unless the retail version of the game differs substantially from the demo, this is just a piece of trash. Poor camera, huge and empty maps, difficult targeting, awkward interface, etc. It was just a poor experience at every turn. The only thing it had going for it was the supernatural WW2 vibe, and that just isn't enough to save it.


Tactics Ogre (PS1)

This is another one which I imagine someone will cry "heretic" over. I back this one largely by just pointing out the "training" feature.

See, Tactics Ogre doesn't give you enough XP in battles to level up effectively. The designers seemed to understand this, so they put in the training mode. In this mode, you divide your army up into two factions and then bash on each other for the next hour. No, the AI doesn't control one side of your army and leave you to control the other. You must control both sides. Yes, you effectively perform the TRPG equivalent of masturbating for an hour in order to level up your party.

And you'll do that A LOT.


Battle Hunters (PS1)

I don't know if this one even qualifies. The packaging calls it a RPG, and it's superficially similar to a TRPG. It takes the trappings of a TRPG and wraps it around something only slightly removed from Chutes & Ladders crossed with Candy Land.

Battle Hunters is random. You can have a superior experience to Battle Hunters by taking a chessboard and rolling a die to move pieces around. Hell, play the training mode on Tactics Ogre before playing Battle Hunters.