Lately I have been really enjoying mewgenics. Very deep game
So I’ve only seen a couple hours of gameplay (watching a friend stream it). But Jeanne d’Arc seems pretty interesting. More of a tactical turn-based RPG.
XCOM (most enjoyed Enemy Within, with Long War, other versions also generally good), just a masterpiece.
Into the Breach, probably the cleanest, and a great theme.
Lots of deck-ish based battlers: Slay the Spire (1 and 2), Backpack Hero, Monster Train
The Last Spell, Battle Brothers
Lots of D&D or adjacent stuff that board/tabletop-like: Balder’s Gate 3, Gloomhaven/Frosthaven.
Edit: Wasteland series and Shadowrun series also great.
Backpack hero doesn’t get enough love. I love to see it!
Baldur’s Gate 3 and Expedition 33
First one is a great game, but combat is not the most important feature of the game IMHO.
The other is very good, and the combat is more relevant.
I think that the engagement is being able to build a strategy on how to win, instead of rely more on reaction.
Expedition 33 was so good. The way they updated turn based combat really modernized it imo.
You mean the parrying which they borrowed from Super Mario RPG / Paper Mario?
The order of events depends on the characters’ status and attributes, and the player can change it using specific actions
I interpreted those as buffs, but didn’t play nearly enough JRPGs to judge the novelty of this mechanic.
I embarrassingly haven’t played either of those. I’m guessing that E33 is quite a bit more robust. Different attacks or skills require different timings or number of clicks and similarly on defense an enemy may attack multiple times and the timing of the clicks changes the parry vs defend.
Well the original simplicity certainly has its charme. E33 leans a bit too much into git-gud-territory for my taste (cheers for the patched easy mode).
For sure. I do still have a soft spot for the classic turn based, but also and appreciate for what E33 has done. I will say that it’s not the most forgiving mechanic, but the masochist in me finds the punishment and hopefully later reward worth it. Similar to games like Elden Ring, where there aren’t many shortcuts to success.
Looking at the end game design of E33 I believe that the devs also thought combat would be more relevant, but in the end I only stayed for the plot (and looked up plot threads hidden behind hours of end game grind in longplays). I enjoyed BG3’s grounded approach more.
Baldur’s Gate 3.
I normally hate turn-based games with a passion, but they way they handled it is amazing. Combat is visceral, brutal, and rewards the player for spending time to think before they act. You can do some really crazy stuff if you think outside the
boxprism.chess
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Chrono Trigger comes to mind
Advance wars on the gameboy advance. When I was in the navy weʻd do the turn based 4 person mode with fog of war, and just hand it around the ship or when we were on leave.
Played this for the first time yesterday and I’m totally hooked
It’s super fun, very well thought out, and like, really takes good, positive advantage of turn based strategy.
I grew up playing the Final Fantasy series starting on the NES. I recently got FF7 remake on steam sale and have been putting time into that, but they did change it from turn based. I think at least FF1 - 11 are solid turn based games. Don’t think I played any after 11
You can make the later ones closer to turn-based with settings, but that does also make it easier.
Brogue, Hoplite, Stone Soup and other roguelikes
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Battle for Wesnoth
Heroes of Might and Magic
various card games
basically, any game with significant tactical depth can benefit from well-done turn-based timing
I came here to say Battle for Wesnoth. Something about the game has kept me hooked for like a decade
Worms. Literally any Worms title.
Additionally: Transistor
Very rarely. Pokémon and Expedition 33 are the only ones that come to mind outside of more casual games like Super Auto Pets or Balatro
Does Balatro really fit into that genre? I’d consider it 95% rogue-like deck-builder.
Maybe not, but to me one of the defining features of turn-based is that the game does not go if you are not playing, or taking your turn so to speak. The rounds are similar enough in function to super auto pets, and those feel like turns to me so I just lumped them in together.
Chess
Advance Wars 1 and 2, absolute bangers
Baldur’s Gate 3
Divinity: Original Sin 2
For the King 2
