The Best Tactical RPGs for Strategic Gamers
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The tactical RPG genre envelopes seamless blends of character-driven narratives and challenging fights on volatile landscapes. Some games feature small crews versus the world, while others involve managing caravans and armies. All urge players to explore and approach complicated scenarios with strategic decisions and take risks for a chance to last another round in combat.
Embarking on epic journeys, strategizing against countless foes, and navigating intricate narratives, tactical RPGs have etched their place as a beloved genre among gamers. From commanding elite squads in the heat of battle to making critical decisions that shape the course of narratives and character relationships, these games offer a blend of strategic gameplay and creative storytelling for players to engage in their own ways.
Meet the most awesome tactical RPGs gamers can play today.
1. Baldur’s Gate 3
This immersive role-playing video game, developed by Larian Studios, the same developers for Divinity: Original Sin II, seamlessly integrates tactical gameplay with deep, intertwining, engaging narratives.
Players craft unique characters using Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rules and assemble a versatile party of complex and interesting characters, unraveling the game’s narrative through these characters’ stories and various quests. The game divides its story into three acts, adopting a non-linear format within each section, allowing players to approach quests in virtually any sequence.
As one of the tactical RPG genre’s best installments, Baldur’s Gate 3 stands out as an instant classic.
2. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
As a direct sequel to Pillars of Eternity, Deadfire unfolds in Eora, with players reprising the role of a “Watcher.” It introduces familiar and new companions whose roles evolve based on player choices and tasks players with pursuing Eothas, the god of light and rebirth who was believed to be dead.
Gameplay carries itself across maritime journies to the Deadfire Archipelago, seeking answers that could bring chaos to mortals and gods. Players must manage their crews and ships, for every interaction and combat scenario shapes the fate of everyone.
3. Valkyria Chronicles 4
Valkyria Chronicles 4 follows three installments, standing out as the latest and best iteration of this military-themed tactical RPG series. This game introduces a new Grenadier soldier class capable of launching mortar rounds. The tactical gameplay remains the same as its predecessors, but with a new “Brave” system that allows players to counter devastating enemy attacks.
The story follows Claude Wallace and his friends enlisting in the Federation Army to combat the Empire during the Second Europan War. Their mission begins as safeguarding their home, Gallia, but extends to rising the ranks and surviving the horrors of an ever-evolving war.
4. XCOM 2
XCOM 2 unfolds in a dystopian future two decades after the events of its predecessor, XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Players command a squad that once resisted alien forces and now battles against Earth’s alien totalitarian occupation.
The game employs procedurally generated maps, ensuring a diverse playthrough giving players opportunities to think creatively within missions. Players take control of the Avenger, an alien ship acting as the new mobile base for XCOM, commanding the engineering and research departments between missions where players unlock technologies and upgrade their arsenal.
5. The Banner Saga
In a fictional world inspired by Norse mythology, The Banner Saga tells the story of the player’s caravan as they combat a warlike race named Dredge that despises humans. Players control two playable characters whose separate stories eventually merge, making the player’s narrative choices important and diverse.
The tactical combat occurs on a board with square tiles similar to a chess board, where units have a specific number of squares to move each turn. This passion project of a game features traditional animation, giving it a unique stylistic appearance with an epic narrative.
6. Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark
Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark plays out in the world of Teora, reshaped by newfound order following widespread destruction and chaos. The Immortals constitute a governing council and utilize mortal agents known as Arbiters tasked with safeguarding the land and its inhabitants.
Players control a specific Arbiter, joined by a cast of characters met throughout the story, adventuring to uncover internal corruption set on destabilizing the world. Engaging in turn-based tactical combat, players navigate temples, forests, and wastelands, seeking to maintain order for Teora.
7. Wasteland 3
Wasteland 3 unfolds in the frozen wastelands of post-apocalyptic Colorado, where players encounter diverse choices with far-reaching consequences on the world and narrative.
Players take charge of two surviving members of the Arizona Ranger Team November, navigating a treacherous alliance with the local ruler referred to as the “Patriarch.” The tactical combat gameplay balances with narrative RPG elements involving complex relationships and severe food and water shortages.
8. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
This indirect sequel to Pathfinder: Kingmaker features a new cast and adventure in the nation of Mendev led by Queen Galfrey, fending off the demonic invasion emerging from the Worldwound.
The player takes command as a citizen of Kenabres, surviving demonic onslaughts and discovering enigmatic “Mythic powers” from an unknown source. By recruiting diverse characters as commanders, players grow their party on the quest to seal the Worldwound. As the Mythic powers evolve, players can choose “Mythic paths” like Angel, Trickster, or Lich, each with unique abilities, leadership approach, and personal fate.
9. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden
Set in a post-apocalyptic world marred by the Red Plague and nuclear devastation, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden places players in command of Stalkers, mutants sent from the Ark to scavenge the Zone.
Players control three characters: an explosives expert named Selma, a duck hybrid armed with a crossbow called Dux, and a humanoid boar proficient in shotguns named Bormin.
As the team advances through the Zone, collecting items to unlock new weapons and gears, they grow their skill tree with experience gained through tactical combat scenarios.
10. BattleTech
Featuring the world from the Classic BattleTech board game and a team boasting experience from previous BattleTech tactical RPGs, this game captures the essence of the board game while offering a fresh take on rules and gameplay.
BattleTech occurs during the 3025 Succession Wars Era, a time of intense conflict where noble houses deploy massive fighting machines known as Battlemechs, or “Mechs.” Players assume the role of a mercenary commander, leading a team of mechs into tactical turn-based battles. Players make crucial decisions on mech armaments and skills, and choosing which house or houses to serve in the war shapes the narrative in many ways.
11. Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Shadowrun: Dragonfall takes place in a magical cyberpunk future, 2054, 42 years after the return of magic. The world evolved with technological integration and the coexistence of mythical beings, and this story plays out in the anarchic free state of Berlin.
Players adopt the role of a stealthy mercenary known as a “Shadowrunner,” with gameplay featuring Dungeons & Dragons-style point-based character creation and turn-based tactics. Berlin, now a “Flux State,” offers a volatile backdrop where fleeting powers leave vacuums, connections are paramount, and Shadowrunners navigate the line between success and desperation.
12. Jagged Alliance 3
In the fictional country of Grand Chien, chaos erupts following the abduction of its president by the rogue paramilitary group known as “the Legion.” Jagged Alliance 3 brings players into wartime, controlling a squad of mercenaries with a mission to rescue the president and restore order.
Each member boasts distinct backstories and personalities among 40 mercenaries, with customizable weapons and precision targeting at enemy body parts during combat. Progressing through the game unravels interconnecting storylines with side missions and bonus opportunities, providing many ways to establish alliances.
13. The Last Spell
The Last Spell unfolds in a dark fantasy, post-apocalyptic world scarred by war and magic devastation.
A deranged mage discovers a spell capable of destroying cities, and in retaliation, other cities and the royal family learn the spell and soon engulf the nations in purple flames. Among the flames rises purple mist spawning undead, where players control The Commander and a team of heroes to combat.
Every battle scenario takes place in a town represented on an isometric battlefield with a magic circle at the center. Each map features day and night phases that allow players to prepare and enter turn-based battles.
14. Wildermyth
In Wildermyth, players delve into randomly generated battle scenarios, scouting an overworld map to take part in quest opportunities and develop their band of heroes.
The game begins with players choosing from randomized Farmer characters who later evolve into hero forms like warriors, hunters, or mystics. Party members develop friendships or rivalries, aging over time within each playthrough, ensuring a unique run every time.
The turn-based combat employs a grid-based system reminiscent of the XCOM series. Choices on the campaign map demand strategy and resource allocation, such as rebuilding a village improves your territory but loses time to prepare for an invasion event.
15. Showgunners
In the dystopian future of Showgunners, players assume the role of Scarlett, a vengeance-driven ex-cop who finds herself as a contestant in a gladiator-style game show, “Homicidal All-Stars.”
Scarlett must survive a series of turn-based tactical battles; every combatant has two action points to spend for movement, attacks, or special abilities, each costing one point. The show’s host introduces additional threats to challenge Scarlett if she does too well.
Beyond combat, players tackle real-time navigation through trap-ridden areas and puzzles, signing autographs to boost fame and attract sponsorships with unique rewards.
16. Othercide
Othercide takes place in a dimension known as the Dark Corner, where a god known as Suffering torments the world with pain. Players control a group of Daughters, female warriors who fight against Suffering, hoping to end it. The game employs a dynamic timeline system, where turns in battle get altered by various skills, allowing players to manipulate the sequence.
Actions consume action points, and excessive spending leads to exhaustion, delaying a Daughter’s future actions. The game features roguelike elements where defeated squads and their items turn into “Remembrances,” which enhance other playthroughs’ combat efficiencies and increase survival time.
17. Shadows of Adam
Shielded by the impenetrable haze of the Misty Woods, the remote village of Adam enjoyed peace since the Wraith War, fueled by the now-vanished dark magic. However, darkness reemerges, and only the cryptic secret left behind by a missing legendary hero, Orazio, can reveal a way to change the world.
Orazio’s son and adopted daughter must discover this secret to save Adam, risking a revelation that could unhinge the world coincidently. Players control the four main characters, Asrael, Kellan, Curtis, and Talon, engaging in battles against carefully crafted monster setups. Action points regenerate between rounds, making this turn-based game play at a faster pace.
18. Wargroove
The Kingdom of Cherrystone plunges into war, forcing young Queen Mercia to flee on a journey for allies. Pursued by enemy Kingdoms, her quest becomes the pivotal means of saving her kingdom and forging new alliances.
Wargroove plays similarly to a Nintendo Wars-style game, immersing players in strategic army battles with a selection of fifteen commanders to lead. Each commander boasts unique campaigns, motivations, and personalities. Every battle plays out with the commander taking over territory and growing their army’s presence.
The game features other modes outside of the story campaign that play well with up to four players.
19. Hard West 2
Hard West 2 involves demons, witches, and zombies in a Weird West setting, where players control an outlaw named Gin Carter. After attempting to rob a ghost train owned by the demon Mammon, the demon steals Carter’s soul and forces the player to find a way to get it back.
Players assemble a posse of gunfighters and melee experts, each wielding special abilities, and fight in turn-based combat with three action points for movement or attacks. The game introduces a gameplay dynamic that speeds battles up—characters who make killing blows replenish their action points, potentially allowing them to attack indefinitely.
20. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle creates a crossover between Nintendo’s Mario and Ubisoft’s Rabbids franchise, featuring Mario, his friends, and a group of Rabbids who try to save the Mushroom Kingdom from invading Rabbids that accidentally misuse a powerful invention.
The campaign story mode plays a linear path through four worlds, where players encounter map exploration and turn-based battles. Players can choose three of eight playable characters, equip them with weapons with special effects, and level them up with “Skill Orbs,” unlocking a skill tree for further customization.
This game feels refreshing, with a great blend of chilled difficulty and an entertaining story.
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