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Need advice for modern TB game

Prehistorik

Scholar
Joined
Sep 19, 2015
Messages
118
Location
Bololand
Which modern TB game should I buy and play? I was thinking about these:

D:OS (Original or EE?)
XCOM, XCOM 2
Blackguards, Blackguards 2
???

Which one have better tactical options and encounter design?

(I've played AOD, Underrail, TOEE, Shadowruns, ROA 1)
 
Self-Ejected

Lilura

RPG Codex Dragon Lady
Joined
Feb 13, 2013
Messages
5,274
Have you played ToEE + Temple+?

Have you played Jagged Alliance 2 + 1.13?

If not, forget modern.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
Anything(? are any of them not turn-based?) from Jeff Vogel(Spiderweb Software) -- some are old, some are remakes, some are remakes of remakes, some are new
Halfway
Templar Battleforce (underrated as fuck, the screenshots on the store page don't do it justice)
Hard West
DUNGEONS OF CHAOS (that's the actual name, and it's surprisingly good)
StarCrawlers
Star Traders: Frontiers
Any of the new shadowrun games
Expeditions: Vikings
Dead State: Reanimated
 

Generic-Giant-Spider

Guest
The first Blackguards is decent, has some good encounter design. My primary complaints concerning it are more to do with its narrative and how it doesn't take enough advantage of the idea that you're a group of cutthroats and criminals.

The second game sucks dick though, don't play that one.
 

Martyr

Arcane
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
1,099
Location
Bavaria
modern, huh?
Knights of the Chalice - if you like Dark Sun & ToEE
Elminage Gothic, Paper Sorcerer and Grimoire - if you like Wiz 1, 4 and 7
Expeditions: Viking, Blackguards are great and Divinity: OS (non enhanced) is also worth checking out. and do you really need a remake of X-Com? the original is still perfectly playable and can be modernized through openX-Com if you don't want to play vanilla.

and Lilura is right about Jagged Alliance 2; it's a must play and one of the best (TB) games of all time. also make sure to check out Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games, Wizardry 7 and Pools of Darkness. they're old but gold. and definitely still better than 99,9% of modern "RPGs".
 

TemplarGR

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck Bethestard
Joined
May 30, 2013
Messages
5,815
Location
Cradle of Western Civilization
Begin with the first XCOM reboot and its expansion. It is a very fun game.

Divinity Original Sin is not really tactical. There is no skill required, just tons of freetime and patience. It sucks really, and its combat is mostly elemental gimmicks and teleportation gimmicks.

Blackguards i only really tried for 20 minutes, then uninstalled. Boring Heroes of M&M clones.

Ignore the advice about ToEE, it is an abomination

Also ignore Jagged Alliance 2. It was good, for its time, and i completed it back in the day, but it was really a slog. And your eyes will bleed with the tiny UI/sprites.

Last but not least, ignore the advice to play the original XCOM. An overrated piece of trash these days. The only old XCOM worth a damn was Apocalypse, and yes, i do advice Apocalypse, if you can stomach the graphics. But ignore the previous 2. They have aged extremely bad and they were shallow games.
 

TemplarGR

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck Bethestard
Joined
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Messages
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yes, TemplarGR I know. he should just dump all these shitty games like JA2 and X-Com and jump right into the incline that is Skyrim.

Games do age, and some age badly. Just because something was good 30 years ago, does not mean it is good to play today. I know, sucks that the world moves forward and some autistic retards would like to be stuck in the 90s forever, but you know, reality is reality.

Jagged Alliance 2 was one of my favourite games 2 decades ago. I really liked the overworld map, the fact that i could raise militia and stuff, the fact that it was modern times weaponry etc, but really, it is nothing special these days. The turn based battle system is your typical spend action points to move, spent action points to shoot, repeat, borefest. It has been done to death multiple times.

The original 2 XCOM games were also pretty shallow vs Apocalypse. Apocalypse was like an order of magnitude deeper. Sure, they were great games, but they were the first attempt... Yes they are important games in gaming history, but they are not good to play TODAY...

So yeah, if someone is looking for some turn based fun, he should play modern games these days. Like the XCOM reboot.
 

Martyr

Arcane
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
1,099
Location
Bavaria
TemplarGR agreed, some games age badly. and agreed, you don't have to like the exact same games you liked in the past.
but there are games that are truly timeless. masterpieces. Jagged Alliance 2 certainly is one of those timeless masterpieces. I can't think of any reason why someone would dislike this game. and it's not like there's anything better around, JA2 is still the pinnacle of isometric TB combat-focused RPGs.
the X-Com reboot is just the original with shiny new graphics and unnecessary small changes. why not play the original? it's like you're telling us to watch the shitty 1998 remake of Psycho, while most people enjoy the original Hitchcock movie.
 

Falksi

Arcane
Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
10,538
Location
Nottingham
What game is ROA 1?

Hard West is fucking brilliant.

Got to say, as someone who didn't play JA2 when it was first released, I tried to get in to it a few years back and struggled. It just didn't grab me.
 

mondblut

Arcane
Joined
Aug 10, 2005
Messages
22,205
Location
Ingrija
yes, TemplarGR I know. he should just dump all these shitty games like JA2 and X-Com and jump right into the incline that is Skyrim.

Games do age, and some age badly. Just because something was good 30 years ago, does not mean it is good to play today. I know, sucks that the world moves forward and some autistic retards would like to be stuck in the 90s forever, but you know, reality is reality.

Jagged Alliance 2 was one of my favourite games 2 decades ago. I really liked the overworld map, the fact that i could raise militia and stuff, the fact that it was modern times weaponry etc, but really, it is nothing special these days. The turn based battle system is your typical spend action points to move, spent action points to shoot, repeat, borefest. It has been done to death multiple times.

The original 2 XCOM games were also pretty shallow vs Apocalypse. Apocalypse was like an order of magnitude deeper. Sure, they were great games, but they were the first attempt... Yes they are important games in gaming history, but they are not good to play TODAY...

So yeah, if someone is looking for some turn based fun, he should play modern games these days. Like the XCOM reboot.

NRGtxyD.jpg
 

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
9,428
Location
Grand Chien
Which modern TB game should I buy and play? I was thinking about these:

D:OS (Original or EE?)
XCOM, XCOM 2
Blackguards, Blackguards 2
???

Which one have better tactical options and encounter design?

(I've played AOD, Underrail, TOEE, Shadowruns, ROA 1)
XCOM2 with Mods is fucking incredible in my opinion. However, it's not exactly an old school experience. Xenonauts is definitely the better game if you're looking for something true to the old XCOM games.

I hated D:OS's story. The sequel isn't too bad, in my opinion, but it's quite divisive on the Codex from what I've seen.
 
Last edited:

Tito Anic

Arcane
Shitposter
Joined
Dec 27, 2015
Messages
1,679
Location
Magalan
Which modern TB game should I buy and play? I was thinking about these:

D:OS (Original or EE?)
XCOM, XCOM 2
Blackguards, Blackguards 2
???

Which one have better tactical options and encounter design?

Only tried D:OS, found it boring after 1h - uninstalled. There is no contenders for AoD, ToEE, Underrail:smug:

p.s. Did you play Geneforge, Avernum series?
 

ManaJunkie

Arbiter
Joined
Feb 15, 2018
Messages
281
yes, TemplarGR I know. he should just dump all these shitty games like JA2 and X-Com and jump right into the incline that is Skyrim.

Games do age, and some age badly. Just because something was good 30 years ago, does not mean it is good to play today. I know, sucks that the world moves forward and some autistic retards would like to be stuck in the 90s forever, but you know, reality is reality.

Jagged Alliance 2 was one of my favourite games 2 decades ago. I really liked the overworld map, the fact that i could raise militia and stuff, the fact that it was modern times weaponry etc, but really, it is nothing special these days. The turn based battle system is your typical spend action points to move, spent action points to shoot, repeat, borefest. It has been done to death multiple times.

The original 2 XCOM games were also pretty shallow vs Apocalypse. Apocalypse was like an order of magnitude deeper. Sure, they were great games, but they were the first attempt... Yes they are important games in gaming history, but they are not good to play TODAY...

So yeah, if someone is looking for some turn based fun, he should play modern games these days. Like the XCOM reboot.

latest

May you die from syphillis
 

Efe

Erudite
Joined
Dec 27, 2015
Messages
2,597
massive chalice - more of a strategy
Thea - rpg/strategy hybrid.
Bards tale 4 is nice if a bit simple and has puzzles.
stranger of sword city - blobber.
 

Falksi

Arcane
Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
10,538
Location
Nottingham
Just downloaded Blackguards & Blackguards 2, on sale on GOG and £4.08 in total. Bargain.

Seriously, what game is ROA 1?
 

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