Fun beginner friendly Strategy/Tactics games?

[Thule Esperada]

I've been getting into strategy/tactics games recently, and was wondering if anybody who is familiar with the genre has any recommendations. I do play primarily on consoles, so that does limit the available games for me though. Titles that are beginner friendly would be good. The gameplay can be realtime, turn-based or a hybrid system. I'd prefer a good balance of combat with well paced progression (tech or levels/classes) and light base/settlement building (a lack of this is not a deal breaker).


Games I have played:

- Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4 (My current favourites)

- Langrisser 1&2 remake (Pretty fun, but unlocking different paths is kinda repetitive and gaining class points becomes a slog later on. Also not a fan of mages not being able to cast spells if they move)

- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (Played this one a long time ago. Had fun with the basic systems but the 'Laws' were too frustrating for me)

- Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (Still havent finished this one, but I'm enjoying it. Never knew stealth- and tactical-gameplay went so well together.)

- Star Wars Empire at War (Played this one a long time ago too, but I really enjoyed the space combat and pace of the tech-progression. Ground battles were ok, but not great.)

- Stellaris (Picked this up due to the Empire at War vibes the trailers gave me, but it's a bit too large in scope for me. I'm interested in the endgame space combat stuff, but you have to do ALOT of slow micro-management to get there)

- Age of Wonders Planetfall (Looked really cool from trailers. A combination of combat and city building seemed right up my alley. But I couldn't get into it, the tech-progression was really slow and had to be started from scratch every mission. Units having an upkeep cost was also a bummer due to the slow resource gains. The AI also seemingly didn't have to pay upkeep, so they were always WAY stronger than my faction despite having far fever settlements. These elements combined made for a very dull turtle-playstyle)

 

[Dionysos]

I would suggest Final Fantasy Tactics or Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (the remastered version of the former). If you enjoyed Tactics Advance apart from the Laws system, then in the original Tactics that Laws system is not present. So that would be no hindrance at all.

It is also a very solid game in terms of plot, and is fun to play.

However, you mention your preference for consoles. That would be an issue for this game. I believe it might now be available on smartphones etc, but I do not know if it is currently available on any consoles beyond handhelds.


And unfortunately that is where my own experience with this genre ends. Hopefully somebody else who has played more games of this sort can help.

 

[Molosev]

The "Advance Wars" series is pretty awesome in its mechanics and has a cute scenario (even if the theme is pseudo-modern conflicts). It is very easy for beginners with a well integrated tutorial. A remake was to be released recently, but the war in Ukraine led the developers to suspend the release.

The series also inspired the creation of "Wargroove" which proposes a medieval universe maybe closer to what you are looking for.

Otherwise there is always Air Scarmush, a revolutionary air combat game that I developed in my basement .

 

[Thule Esperada]

I would suggest Final Fantasy Tactics or Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (the remastered version of the former). If you enjoyed Tactics Advance apart from the Laws system, then in the original Tactics that Laws system is not present. So that would be no hindrance at all.

It is also a very solid game in terms of plot, and is fun to play.

However, you mention your preference for consoles. That would be an issue for this game. I believe it might now be available on smartphones etc, but I do not know if it is currently available on any consoles beyond handhelds.


And unfortunately that is where my own experience with this genre ends. Hopefully somebody else who has played more games of this sort can help.

Thanks for the recommendation. I have read good things about FF Tactics. I do own a PS Vita, and the online store should still be up so I might be able to get the remastered version digitally.

 

[Thule Esperada]

The "Advance Wars" series is pretty awesome in its mechanics and has a cute scenario (even if the theme is pseudo-modern conflicts). It is very easy for beginners with a well integrated tutorial. A remake was to be released recently, but the war in Ukraine led the developers to suspend the release.

The series also inspired the creation of "Wargroove" which proposes a medieval universe maybe closer to what you are looking for.

Otherwise there is always Air Scarmush, a revolutionary air combat game that I developed in my basement .

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll look into Wargroove and see if it's to my tastes.