BEST STRATEGY
Previous Winners
2018: Valkyria Chronicles 4
2019: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
What makes a good strategy game? Is a real-time strategy game equal to a strategy RPG, or is one better than the other? Well, I suppose the answer to that depends on your own personal taste. Here at oprainfall, we were big fans of two SRPGs in particular that released in 2022. One, a brand new game with a never before experienced story. The other, an old title with a fresh coat of paint. I personally had a hard time deciding between these two, but let’s take a look at the nominees.
Triangle Strategy
NA Release Date: March 4th, 2022 (Switch), October 13th, 2022 (PC)
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PC
Impressions (2021 Demo)
Triangle Strategy is a brand new title which is a bit of a unique SRPG. I think what makes it unique is how you equip and raise your army. There is no buying and equipping new weapons, every character has a set weapon which you can upgrade via various passive skills in each unit’s skill tree. Not only that, but there aren’t any generic units you can create to fill out your army, which isn’t the case with every SRPG. Every single character recruited has story relevance and as you use a character, you’ll eventually unlock new little story scenes and learn more about them. Triangle Strategy‘s story is very engaging. When you have to pull out the Scales of Conviction and make a choice, you really question every decision you make. There is no easy answer, any choice you go with can have major consequences. In my opinion, it truly pulls you into the story and makes you think about things, and question both the characters’ intentions and whether or not you’ve made the correct choice.
Tactics Ogre: Reborn
NA Release Date: November 11th, 2022
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, PC
Tactics Ogre: Reborn is an old classic, which has yet again been released with a fresh coat of paint. Nowadays you often see people reference Final Fantasy Tactics as the epitome of what an SRPG should be, and they often proclaim it as their favorite of all time. But Tactics Ogre is a classic in its own right, which released just a little bit earlier and was also worked on by Yasumi Matsuno. I actually picked up a copy myself and have been playing it for the very first time. Honestly, Tactics Ogre didn’t pull me into its story to the extent that Triangle Strategy did, but what I love about it, is that it has a better balance between battle gameplay and story. Triangle Strategy sometimes can be overwhelming with constant story interruptions. The story is fantastic, but sometimes you just want to get to the next battle already. Meanwhile, Tactics Ogre, more effortlessly blends story with gameplay, and you don’t find yourself as overwhelmed. And let’s not forget that fresh coat of paint. Various updates were made to the game. One of the biggest changes is the ability to level individual units and change them to another class while keeping their level. You no longer level specific classes as a whole. The second big update made to the game is the party wide level cap, which is gradually raised throughout the story. This level cap prevents you from grinding too high above enemies and makes every battle a decent challenge. But, it also keeps you from unintentionally ranking up enemies too high. These are only two changes among various updates made to the the game. Nonetheless, it’s a fun time for both old fans and new.
And the winner is…
Tactics Ogre: Reborn!
If it were only up to me, I wouldn’t know which of these two to choose as my absolute favorite. As I mentioned earlier, Triangle Strategy has a fantastic and extremely engaging story that sucks you right in. Yet, sometimes the story can seem too much and get in the way of enjoying some quality strategy gameplay. Then there’s Tactics Ogre: Reborn, which maybe doesn’t have quite as engaging of a story, but it still has its own depth, and you truly get to enjoy strategizing throughout a wide variety of challenging stages. Ultimately, as a whole, we here at oprainfall have chosen Tactics Ogre: Reborn as our favorite 2022 strategy game. Sometimes, an old classic with some much needed updates thrown in is simply the best.
The featured image was done by Brandon Rose, who you can find on Twitter.
