I really love strategy RPG's - or SRPG's for short. I love plotting and planning my assault on enemy characters, figuring out which classes and characters work together well, and I'm a sucker for some really meaty combat sequences. These types of games have been making a BIG comeback lately too. Surprisingly, some recent games have managed to make my top 3!

Let's dive in head-first.

#3: Shining Force II

The Genesis (or Mega Drive as it's known outside of the US) actually had some really good RPG's. This is one of the many must-own games for the system; especially for RPG fans.

While the first game was already very good and laid an incredibly solid foundation for the series, the second game improved the formula in so many awesome ways. The game is much longer, contains more free roaming, more character classes, and has more ways of promoting characters. On top of all of that are a few secret characters that take some exploring and going off of the beaten path to find. 

Characters themselves aren't as fleshed-out as you'd see in newer SRPG's, but they still feel fun and unique. You'll often see characters reacting to dialogue and depending on who's in your party, you'll see different characters saying different things. Each character has a neat character portrait and some really fun classes to tinker with.

Combat takes place on a grid and is your usual turn-by-turn tactics affair. The graphics look stellar for the Genesis! Especially the environments and the character models during combat. When you aren't in combat, you'll roam a world map a-la Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, or any other JRPG from around that time. There's some cool places to explore and some fun secrets to discover. 

If you're looking for a strategy RPG that's "all killer - no filler" this one will be right up your alley.

#2: Triangle Strategy

Available on Switch and Steam, this game is a must-own if you're a fan of classic strategy RPG's. If you've played Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics, or anything similar to those, you'll be right at home with this game.

Triangle Strategy has a very compelling story with lots of branching paths to explore, which adds a lot of replayability to the game. The game has many moments where you'll need to make a choice that will heavily impact the story and the characters. 

Speaking of characters, Triangle Strategy has LOTS of characters to recruit and does an excellent job of making each character feel as unique as possible. Each character belongs to one of the typical class archetypes that you'd see in other games of the genre, like mage, swordsman, archer, healer, etc. But Triangle Strategy takes it a step further by giving each individual character their own unique class and playstyle. NO TWO CHARACTERS WILL PLAY THE SAME! To make them feel even more unique, each character is given a very detailed backstory and some additional character building on top of that. Depending on how often you use a character and how far you are in the story, you'll be able to trigger a story segment further delving into a character and why they are who they are now. 

Combat takes place on a grid and character's turns are dictated by their speed and a few other variables. Overall, the turn-by-turn combat feels incredibly meaty and satisfying. It also uses a handy time line feature so that you can see when other character's turns are and plan your tactics around that.

Seriously, this game is great! It's like if Game of Thrones was made into an SRPG. There's lots of twists and turns in the story and the characters really feel alive. 

#1: Steamworld Heist

Steamworld Heist is my absolute favorite strategy RPG of all-time. After reading what I have to say, you'll see why and I hope you check it out as well!

First-off, the game isn't very long. It'll take around 15-20 hours to beat the story. There are some side missions that you can complete for additional water (the game's currency) and grind some XP. So if you stick with just the story missions, you won't be missing out on anything substantial. But the short length to the game helps to make each playthrough feel fresh; unlike a 40-60 hour slog. 

Let's start with the characters! Each and every one feels unique. Just like Triangle Strategy, each character is part of a basic class archetype: Captain, Vanguard, Flanker, Sentry, and a few more. There's normally two characters for each class, with some exceptions. While two characters might share the same class, they'll play completely different from the other. For example: one Sentry character acts as a sniper, using precision weapons to strike weak points - the other character is all about explosives and doing additional damage over time. While the backstories for the characters aren't very fleshed-out, the characters still feel unique and fun to talk to. 

Gameplay is where the game really shines. Steamworld Heist ditches the grid in favor of side-scrolling cover-based shooting - think XCOM, but 2D. Combat takes place in different enemy spaceships, which are procedurally generated. Characters take turns running around the ship looking for loot, cover, or taking potshots at enemies. Instead of the usual percentage chance to hit an enemy that you'd see in other games of the genre, Steamworld Heist relies on eyeballing the environment to see whether or not your shot will knick an enemy.

Is there a slanted wall above the enemy that's taking cover? Bounce a bullet off of that wall and shoot them in the head.

Two enemies taking cover in another room? Lob a grenade and hope for the best.

Is there an enemy right in your face? Just aim your gun at their head and shoot.

Most enemies take one or two shots to kill, so combat is normally quick and snappy. There's also lots of cool hats to collect which you'll use to decorate your characters, lots of guns to fine-tune each character's loadout, lots of cool abilities that each character will unlock as they level-up, and so goddamn much more.

Seriously, this is one of my top 5 favorite games of all-time. It's flat-out fun to play and never gets old to me. If you're still on the fence about buying it, the game is on sale almost all the time! You can usually get it for around $7 or less. That is a STEAL. With Steamworld Heist 2 coming out this year, you might as well run through this one and see what the hype is all about!

That's it folks - my top 3 favorite SRPG's. Thanks for reading my ramblings and I hope that you eventually check any one of these games out. 

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think about my games, what your favorites are, or if you have any suggestions for other great games. 

PEACE OUT.