Recommend me some good SRPG's

[Erik_Twice]

FE works without perma death, it does add difficulty. You have a finite number of characters, so if they die, you have less to use. Permadeath works best in games like xcom. Yeah, if you lose an experienced character, it is a set back, but you can recruit more.

I don't think it works, because without it you can just shove down your superior units against the inferior ones of the enemy and you come out ahead. This is most notable with bosses. You can just attack with all your characters mindlessly if they can come back. No need for planning. The game does not become easier, in a strict sense, it just stops providing a strategic challenge.

You also tend to have far more useful characters than you can actually put to use, so it's not a big drawback. I actually think XCOM is far, far more punishing than FE in this regard. That game does put you in a death spiral and recruits are not competent enough to pull their weight.

And I really don't think permadeath is a significant factor in how difficult a Fire Emblem game is. The easiest games in the series all have permadeath, for example. I really don't think anyone will struggle with Fire Emblem 8 or 9, permadeath or not.

[Jmustang1968]

FE works without perma death, it does add difficulty. You have a finite number of characters, so if they die, you have less to use. Permadeath works best in games like xcom. Yeah, if you lose an experienced character, it is a set back, but you can recruit more.

I don't think it works, because without it you can just shove down your superior units against the inferior ones of the enemy and you come out ahead. This is most notable with bosses. You can just attack with all your characters mindlessly if they can come back. No need for planning. The game does not become easier, in a strict sense, it just stops providing a strategic challenge.

You also tend to have far more useful characters than you can actually put to use, so it's not a big drawback. I actually think XCOM is far, far more punishing than FE in this regard. That game does put you in a death spiral and recruits are not competent enough to pull their weight.

And I really don't think permadeath is a significant factor in how difficult a Fire Emblem game is. The easiest games in the series all have permadeath, for example. I really don't think anyone will struggle with Fire Emblem 8 or 9, permadeath or not.

All things equal it is a significant factor, but obviously many other things can affect difficulty. It is a part of the identity of FE games for sure, but I can see why it would put many people off. I also feel the story of the games suffer from the permadeath as it prohibits character growth in the story.

[Violent By Design]

I think it's a stretch to call Advance Wars an SRPG - someone going from Shining Force to Advance Wars might end up being disappointed because they're not that similar.

I'd say Shining Force II is the most logical progression because it's just better than Shining Force I.

XCOM is another one that people aren't entirely sure if it's an SRPG or not, but it does have RPG elements for sure, and UFO Defense, Enemy Unknown and 2 are all supposed to be pretty awesome (I only played Enemy Unknown). If you want a title that came out this past decade I'd say go with XCOM

[noiseredux]

yeah fair points. I love love love tactical turn based combat, so I tend to lump all those games together in my mind whether they have RPG elements or not. But you guys are right about the distinction.

What about Valkyria Chronicles? SRPG or just tactics game?

[marurun]

Vasteel on TurboGrafx CD is an under-appreciated tactical-style game that iirc does include an interesting story, even though you don't level up characters. It also has TONS of compressed speech for information on each unit. That and Military Madness, which is relatively story-free, are great introductions to sci-fi tactical combat.

For more story-based RPG stuff, Warsong and Shining Force I & II are really some of the best out there to get started with in the SRPG space.

If you are willing to step up into the GBA era, which is very 16-bit influenced in so many ways, Tactics Ogre: Knights of Lodis on awesome. And Zone of the Enders: Fist of Mars is another great GBA SRPG, but with a sci-fi twist.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Exploring a genre in chronological order is the best course of action. So start here.

[MrPopo]

What about Valkyria Chronicles? SRPG or just tactics game?

It's sort of on the border. I'd say VC1 & 4 are pure tactics, while VC2 & 3 are closer to SRPG because aspects of character advancement are unique to each unit (the awards system).

[pook99]

Some great suggestions here, and I think many of you convinced me that perma death is not that horrible so I may try fire emblem.

I have played langrisser 2 and loved it and also played dragons force and loved that as well.

Shining force 2 is definitely a logical step, I love the first one but kind of want to hold off for part 2 for now, but will definitely play it at some point.

I think my next game will either be:

tactics ogre for gba or a fire emblem game. I am fine with emulating and downloading translation patches, with that in mind what is the general consensus on the best fire emblem to start with. Someone mentioned part 2 on snes, is that the general consensus?

I have played a touch of advance wars back in the day, I did enjoy it but never really got into it. I do plan on giving that a go at some point but I want to branch out to some stuff I never played at all first.

[MrPopo]

For your first Fire Emblem I'd say you'd be best off with either the first western release on GBA (localized as just Fire Emblem), or Fire Emblem Awakening on the 3DS. I'd say anything prior to the first western localized one runs the risk of turning you off due to some less forgiving mechanics on top of the perma death. Now, the remakes of those games on the DS/3DS might be worth looking at. You could also snag Path of Radiance on the GC, but that I think runs expensive these days. I would NOT recommend the sequel on the Wii, Radiant Dawn, as the difficulty is much higher on that one.

[pook99]

For your first Fire Emblem I'd say you'd be best off with either the first western release on GBA (localized as just Fire Emblem), or Fire Emblem Awakening on the 3DS. I'd say anything prior to the first western localized one runs the risk of turning you off due to some less forgiving mechanics on top of the perma death. Now, the remakes of those games on the DS/3DS might be worth looking at. You could also snag Path of Radiance on the GC, but that I think runs expensive these days. I would NOT recommend the sequel on the Wii, Radiant Dawn, as the difficulty is much higher on that one.

thanks, I'll start with the GBA one and go from there. I am pretty sure I own the gc game, but I will probably just emulate it anyway since I am too lazy to dig through my garage to look for it.