Tactics Ogre

Quest - 1995 - SNES/Sega Saturn/PS1/PSP

One of the coolest SNES games you've probably never heard of, Tactics Ogre was first released on the SNES in Japan in 1995. Actually, it was never officially released in the U.S. until it was ported to the PSP a few years ago. But your best bet to play this game is probably a SNES emulator with one of the fan-translated ROMs, because no one I know actually owns a PSP.

Tactics Ogre was made by largely the exact same team of people that worked on Final Fantasy Tactics. Same director, same story writer, same composer and (some of) the same artists. This game will feel very familiar if you've ever played FF Tactics. I realize now that some of the battle scenarios and story scenarios for FF Tactics were lifted straight out of this game. If you've never played FF Tactics, Tactics Ogre is a turn based strategy game kind of like XCOM: Enemy Unknown. One of the cool differences in this game is that there are decision-based branching story points. I’m not sure why they went away from that for FF Tactics.

I really want to like Tactics Ogre more, but there are a few gameplay issues present in this game that weren't fixed until FF Tactics that make this game pretty annoying. Firstly, this game is hard. Like stupid hard. Like evil hard. Which isn't bad, but when you combine that with a permadeath mechanic where your units instantly die, it feels unfair. In FF Tactics when a unit’s HP hits zero, it begins a 3 turn timer where that unit is bleeding out and can be revived. They only will die when the timer hits 0. In Tactics Ogre when a unit’s HP hits zero, they’re dead instantly. So many ragequits. So many battles restarted. You’ll eventually get a class that can bring back units who have died in a battle, but it’s not until way late in the game.

This game is also way more grindy than FF Tactics. There were a few battles where I realized I wasn't even close to winning and had to level up my units for a bit before retrying. And like most RPGs, grinding in Tactics Ogre is not that much fun.

Summary:
If you want to try an obscure tactical RPG with some old school difficulty, you could do worse than Tactics Ogre.

FTL

Subset Games - 2012 - PC

I think FTL is probably my favorite new game I played this year, I absolutely loved this game. FTL is pretty much Star Trek: The videogame, but without the license. You manage the crew and systems of a starship while exploring the galaxy and fighting aliens. The gameplay sessions of FTL are typically short, you play until you die. So depending on your luck, skill, and familiarity with the game, a session can last between 15 minutes to maybe 2 hours.

What kept me playing this game again and again is that everything in a play session is randomized: The layout of the galaxy is different each time, the encounters you’ll experience are different each time, and the weapons and upgrades you’ll get are different each time. Each upgrade you get will likely change your battle strategy and tactics too, so it never feels like you’re doing the same thing over again. Plus completing certain achievements or sidequests in the game can unlock other starships you can use on your next playthrough that have totally different weapons and playstyles, so it kept me coming back for more. It really has some pretty brilliant game design.

FTL is also a fairly difficult game overall. There are currently only two difficulty settings: “easy” and “normal”. I probably would have labeled them “normal” and “hard”, but whatever. My only real knock on this game is that success in FTL can be dependent on which encounters you get, which is somewhat luck based. A few unlucky encounters in a row can be crippling, especially on normal(hard) difficulty. It’s also not that pretty of a game to look at either, but for an indie game made by a team of only two people, that’s to be expected. If you go and watch gameplay footage of FTL on YouTube, you’ll see what I mean.

Summary:
Don’t let its looks scare you off, I found FTL to be an excellent game. I think most gamers can enjoy this game, but I’d highly recommend it to fans of challenging strategy games or fans of Star Trek who’d like to see an actual good Star Trek game. I also hear the creators are releasing a free expansion pack with new weapons, ships and scenarios in the near future, so I’m pumped to play more FTL when that comes out.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Firaxis Games - 2012 - PC/PS3/X360

I got this game for free by preordering Bioshock Infinite on Steam. I enjoyed this game sooo much more than Infinite. I like to think that I actually bought this game and got Bioshock for free. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a turn-based tactical strategy game where you command a squad of soldiers battling an alien invasion. It’s actually a remake of an old PC game of the same name. I never played the original, but I've heard it has some UI issues that make it unintuitive and difficult to learn. This was the opposite. It was easy to get the hang of and felt familiar to me as someone who has played several games in this genre before.

XCOM also has a “permanent death” element where if one of your soldiers dies on the battlefield, he dies forever. Which made me restart a battle a few times when one of my best soldiers died, even though I probably would have won anyway. Soldiers can specialize in several different classes: Sniper, heavy, medic etc. and you can upgrade your soldier’s gear and abilities and what not. Nothing too groundbreaking or innovative, just a very solid tactical strategy game.

Summary:
Check this out if you like turn-based strategy, I enjoyed this game enough to finish it twice. It’s quite addictive. And difficult.