Board 8 > In 2020, what's the best FFT-style Tactical RPG?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Is it still the original Final Fantasy Tactics? War of the Lions?

Disgaea? Which one?

Is Mercenary Saga any good?

I'm fiending for some good TRPG action right now.


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Does Fire Emblem count?

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If you want a challenge then the Agarest War games are decent.

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It's still FFT for me (I haven't played War of the Lions.)

If you're looking for something different, I recommend giving Wild Arms XF a shot.

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xp1337 posted...

Does Fire Emblem count?

Technically a Tactical RPG, but not exactly what I'm looking for right now.

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it's fft and it's tactics ogre: let us cling together. I've seen some talk of other recentish games but those are the two gold standards.

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this isn't my genre at all, but i've heard good things about disgaea 5

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FFT original still the best IMO. Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark is a good one that's recent.

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Kind of wild to me that the FFT style didn't catch on more. There's been barely anything that's even tried since then, other than Disgaea, but that doesn't hit the same buttons.

....Stella Deus?

NeoElfboy posted...

FFT original still the best IMO. Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark is a good one that's recent.

Ive been eyeing this for a while now. its got good buzz but I watch a trailer and I dunno. whats your take on it? I trust you more than just about anyone when it comes to trpgs.

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transcience posted...

Ive been eyeing this for a while now. its got good buzz but I watch a trailer and I dunno. whats your take on it? I trust you more than just about anyone when it comes to trpgs.

The folks who made it love FFT and it shows. But they're also pretty cognizant of FFT's problems and tried to fix them (things like not being able to take back movement, some classes being boring/underpowered skillset-wise, etc.). In general I'd expect most people who like FFT would also like this, it scratches that same itch of playing around in jobs, porting over abilities and building characters.

I like FFT better overall but FFT is not a game easily dislodged for me, and it does have some notable advantages (I think the writing is better since I find Delita more interesting than anything about FS; I dislike the fact that you can't rotate battlefields in FS). That said I would generally expect anyone's opinion on Fell Seal to be at least reasonably close to their opinion on FFT so I never hesitate to recommend it to fans.

It draws a bit from Tactics Ogre as well, using a similar system for MP though a bit more transparent (everyone gains 10 MP per turn by default).

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I've eyed Fell Seal a lot, but the bland character design has always turned me away.

Watching a trailer now sure makes it more tempting than I remember, though. Or maybe I'm just being tricked by the circular job selector.

NeoElfboy posted...

The folks who made it love FFT and it shows. But they're also pretty cognizant of FFT's problems and tried to fix them (things like not being able to take back movement, some classes being boring/underpowered skillset-wise, etc.). In general I'd expect most people who like FFT would also like this, it scratches that same itch of playing around in jobs, porting over abilities and building characters.

I like FFT better overall but FFT is not a game easily dislodged for me, and it does have some notable advantages (I think the writing is better since I find Delita more interesting than anything about FS; I dislike the fact that you can't rotate battlefields in FS). That said I would generally expect anyone's opinion on Fell Seal to be at least reasonably close to their opinion on FFT so I never hesitate to recommend it to fans.

It draws a bit from Tactics Ogre as well, using a similar system for MP though a bit more transparent (everyone gains 10 MP per turn by default).

thanks for that. is the story and setting appealing? thats a big part of the draw for me with those classics and I dont know what to expect from FS.

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does into the breach count

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The Banner Saga isn't exactly on the same level as FFT but maybe worth a shot

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has anyone here played the valeria mods for FFT WOTL? version 2.0 is about it come out and i've been curious

but i'm also not someone who knows the total ins and outs of regular FFT

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Fell Seal looks cool mechanically, but that art style is...interesting.

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Banner Saga doesn't feel like FFT at all.

It goes off on it's own tangent in the same way that XCOM does.

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I could never get into FFT back in the day, despite liking the genre quite a bit. Disgaea 1 and 2, however, I racked up a solid playtime on. I've most recently bought Disgaea 5 on PC and my experience with it so far suggests it will be a good timesink too.

If you have never played any Disgaea game before, the first one is almost certainly the best starting point, and it recently had a remake for ps4/switch too.

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play LFT if you want an FFT mod. not sure if anything has come out thats better in the last several years but that one is great.

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ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Fell Seal looks cool mechanically, but that art style is...interesting.

Everything about the world's style seems fine, it's the models and the off-putting conflicting portraits that kill me.

yeah I agree. I want to pick it up on Switch but I haven't been able to get myself to pull the trigger. maybe when I finish FF7 remake.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

Everything about the world's style seems fine, it's the models and the off-putting conflicting portraits that kill me.

Yeah this is totally it.

The portraits are really nice and remind me almost of the old D&D CRPG ones, but then the actual character models look NOTHING like them. At least in Baldur's Gate, the character models were blurry enough that you could sort of imagine it.

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if you're looking for Japanese games, a few cool lesser ones are Wild Arms XF and the Valkyria Chronicles games. There's also a new Brigandine game coming out soon-ish that looks promising. If you're willing to look at western games, there's a whole genre of XCOM spin-offs - Mutant Year Zero, Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, Gears Tactics - and the only two games that can come close to the Matsuno games, Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2.

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I feel like we're still waiting for the masterpiece game of the FFT genre; the original FFT never caught on with me, I do happen to love FFTA but I know I'm in a minority, and it has its flaws

wild arms xf is fantastic but it's got touch of puzzle elements as certain classes are required for specific stages, at least early on.

still fantastic overlooked game

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ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Technically a Tactical RPG, but not exactly what I'm looking for right now.

I think the Awakening/Fates games can be played in a way that's somewhat similar to FFT

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iiicon posted...

There's also a new Brigandine game coming out soon-ish that looks promising.

I still can't believe that we are in a world where this exists.

(I kinda hesitate to recommend it, but Brigandine: Grand Edition is probably my favorite SRPG.)

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As mentioned above new brigandine coming.

Mercenaries Wings Saga is quite good it's like a poor mans FFT

TheArkOfTurus posted...

I still can't believe that we are in a world where this exists.

(I kinda hesitate to recommend it, but Brigandine: Grand Edition is probably my favorite SRPG.)

i just learned this has an English patch and might start it tonight. how obtuse is it?

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Paratroopa1 posted...

I feel like we're still waiting for the masterpiece game of the FFT genre; the original FFT never caught on with me, I do happen to love FFTA but I know I'm in a minority, and it has its flaws

I don't know if this is a hot take, but I think FFT is the masterpiece of the FFT genre. Unless you meant a second masterpiece, in which case I would agree since truly I can't think of another Tactical SRPG at that level. (Maybe Ogre Battle was the first masterpiece of the genre, though, and FFT was the second).

I would say that the Disgaea series scratches a very similar itch. The re-releases of the original game are a good choice, although I'm particularly partial to Disgaea 5.

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FFT is still the best game of its kind (I don't consider Fire Emblem the same kind) that I've played

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Snrkiko posted...

i just learned this has an English patch and might start it tonight. how obtuse is it?

Not that obtuse, although it does have a learning curve. GE added a tutorial, which should help. Just don't start as Esgares.

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Yeah lol try some fire emblem fates bro it's a great tactical rpg

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transcience posted...

thanks for that. is the story and setting appealing? thats a big part of the draw for me with those classics and I dont know what to expect from FS.

Mm. It's trying to channel a similar sort of feel but I don't think the writing chops are on the same level, sadly. The core setup of a council of immortals and the state they've created is good, they just don't do much interesting with it and there aren't really many interesting characters. In general I feel like the writing was a bit afraid to take risks; the main character is competent but the conflicts she faces are... safe, despite the fact that the game flirted with being about how a person who is both good and lawful reconciles those facets in a corrupt society.

So it's not terrible in this regard, but it is rather bland, and that is indeed one of the reasons I'm saying FFT is still better.

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it is and always will be Tactics Ogre

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Fell Seal is the correct answer

It's FFT, except without garbage class balance, which basically makes it utterly perfect. The plot is not as good and it's obviously not as pretty, but those are the only two knocks against it. In every way a game's systems can be good, it excels. I've shilled it to five different people with widely varying tastes (from FFT diehards to people who never touched an SRPG before) and they all loved it. It is, legitimately, the future of the genre and any SRPG that doesn't take cues from it going forward is an actively bad game. Like, it's so good a friend of mine pushed forward a game design thesis based on it. How many games can you say that about?

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i don't think i'd necessarily consider XF to be in the same specific subgenre but it's definitely pretty great.
for me it's still gotta be PSP LUCT at the top.

you can also ignore war of the lions. it's not mentioned yet but you'll eventually see it due to it being technically a Square game. in reality it's Gumi's take of FFT and a gacha.

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if interested in Fell Seal you may be able to find some cheaper copies from people who got Humble Bundle still. was in March's choices.


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I want it on Switch though. I'll probably pay the switch tax when I get bored enough and want to dive in.

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NeoElfboy posted...

Mm. It's trying to channel a similar sort of feel but I don't think the writing chops are on the same level, sadly. The core setup of a council of immortals and the state they've created is good, they just don't do much interesting with it and there aren't really many interesting characters. In general I feel like the writing was a bit afraid to take risks; the main character is competent but the conflicts she faces are... safe, despite the fact that the game flirted with being about how a person who is both good and lawful reconciles those facets in a corrupt society.

So it's not terrible in this regard, but it is rather bland, and that is indeed one of the reasons I'm saying FFT is still better.

well, I think I appreciate a safe attempt over, I don't know, whatever Disgaea is trying to do. thanks for the info.

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disgaea is "hey do you like numbers because WE GOT NUMBERS" more than anything else.


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yeah of course, I mean the goofy pseudonarrative that they try to spin

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Glad to learn about Fell Seal. Will have to check that out.

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Just looked at Fell Seal. The character models look so unappealing that I don't know if I could get over that.
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Disgaea 1 Complete

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KingButz posted...

Just looked at Fell Seal. The character models look so unappealing that I don't know if I could get over that.

They're surprisingly charming in action, if it helps any. There's one particular NPC who has a finger wag emote which gets me every time because it conveys his personality perfectly.

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Kinglicious posted...

you can also ignore war of the lions. it's not mentioned yet but you'll eventually see it due to it being technically a Square game. in reality it's Gumi's take of FFT and a gacha.

I assume you mean FFBE: War of the Visions?

In any case, while it's probably not up there with the likes of FFT and TO:LUCT, I have to throw in a suggestion to try Jeanne d'Arc. It's one of those "I know the others are technically better, but this one's still my favourite" situations for me.
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Kinglicious posted...

you can also ignore war of the lions. it's not mentioned yet but you'll eventually see it due to it being technically a Square game. in reality it's Gumi's take of FFT and a gacha.

BlackMageJawa posted...

I assume you mean FFBE: War of the Visions?

In any case, while it's probably not up there with the likes of FFT and TO:LUCT, I have to throw in a suggestion to try Jeanne d'Arc. It's one of those "I know the others are technically better, but this one's still my favourite" situations for me.

Yeah, no, War of the Lions is the updated version of FFT.

FFBE War of the Visions was actually what inspired this topic.

Ive been playing it, and its fun enough for a mobile game, but it doesnt really scratch same itch as real tactics games.

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