Recommendation of Storyfag Strategy Games

[betamin]

HoMM 4 OC

No really, I'm not trolling. The walls of text in between the turns are a great read and stories of heroes stranded in the new world are engaging and personal. I especially liked the chaos and might campaigns.

Agreed.

 

[Trash]

Imperium Galactica springs to mind. I remember liking that one quite a bit. Around that time you had several 4x type games that combined story with a campaign in which you colonised worlds and build fleets and so on. Mealstrom was one of those early ones.

And seconded Sword of the Samurai. That game was Sid at his best. Simple, addictive and filled with little touches that helped bring the game alive.

 

[Rahdulan]

Myth 1 & 2

Fuck yes, this. #1 is easily the best, but #3 is also ok.

I'm still surprised how Myth 3 managed to somehow avoid completely screwing up everything up even though it was a prequel basically featuring the villains on later Myth games. Shame it was a mess in the AI department, but at least it made for good multiplayer. And yes, I loved the HUMANITY IS DOOMED atmosphere it had going on.

 

[Modron]

I doubt anyone knows about this game as its ancient like hell - 1997 if I'm not mistaken. Spellcross, the only way to get it' it seems, is via torrent. Some wacky sci-fi vs fantasy turn based tactical strategy. Looks crappy but surprisingly nice gameplay. Features story divided by chapters-campaigns. Sadly, in a traditional manner - "good guys defeated on all fronts - hold the line- counterstrike-etc". Had research, unit experience, healing times, resource mannagement and upgrades.

What do you mean hardly anyone knows this game, there was an LP here; furthermore, I wouldn't count 1997 as ancient, it was the one of the golden eras of pc gaming.

Edit: Thirding that recommendation for Sword of the Samurai good music, the rts combat was probably the weakest of the 3 different layers of conflict but it did have some nuance to it, duels and combat against groups were fun, and it has the best manual of any game ever made.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Myth and Dark Omen would be my first choices, Myth just oozes atmosphere and Dark Omen has very cool characters.

Apart from that - Incubation.

 

[Borelli]

JA2 main plot has a generic muhaha evil villain. Mercenaries are varied but you should not play the game just for THAT.
Dark Omen is standard Warhammer "we are fighting orcs but oh look somebody else has appeared". Not a storyfag game in any way.
I second the Myth games. No other strategy game out there like it.

 

[odrzut]

Alien Legacy (old, clunky interface, but the atmosphere and story is just great): http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/27116/Alien+Legacy.html

Storm Master (even older, setting is nice - flying islands, you design and fly-test your airships, fight with them, trade parts with other countries): http://www.abandonia.com/games/426

 

[praetor]

Dark Reign (the first, i don't really remember the 2nd)

 

[DraQ]

Dark Reign (the first, i don't really remember the 2nd)

Wouldn't count it as legitimately storyfag game.

I do remember impressive LoS, elevation and terrain mechanics, vast variety of units, tons of options, and good AI, though. Also flow as opposed to supply based economics.

 

[praetor]

Dark Reign (the first, i don't really remember the 2nd)

Wouldn't count it as legitimately storyfag game.

I do remember impressive LoS, elevation and terrain mechanics, vast variety of units, tons of options, and good AI, though. Also flow as opposed to supply based economics.

well, the actual plot was kinda meh, but all the "fluff" in it (the unit histories, the mission briefings/debriefings that gave a meaningful context in the history of the conflict etc) were pretty excellent (although granted, i played it a long time ago, so my memory could be faulty )

 

[Storyfag]

Most games I'd reccomend have already been listed.

But nobody even mentioned Command and Conquer 1 through 3. Also, Red Alert 2, but no Red Alert? And finally, Heroes of Might and Magic V were quite decent.

 

[Absalom]

Third recommendation for Sword of the Samurai. Glad to see people giving that game the love it deserves.
Lords of Magic if you can get past the art style

Also, Imperium Galactica has a freeware java client so there's no problems running it on modern pcs

 

[Ashery]

Third recommendation for Sword of the Samurai. Glad to see people giving that game the love it deserves.
Lords of Magic if you can get past the art style

Also, Imperium Galactica has a freeware java client so there's no problems running it on modern pcs

But oh god, some of the video messages from the campaign are just so cringe worthy.

 

[DwarvenFood]

This is a good thread. Anything to update since two years ?

I think we can add Banner Saga to the list.

 

[Lucky]

There's been a dearth of good strategy games, let alone story centric, so I'm not sure if there's much to add. The only recent game that stands out to me is Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence, which looks quite good but I haven't played it yet, since I'm holding out hope for a GoG release. There's also some upcoming games that might be good (That Which Sleeps, Six Ages), but that's still some ways off.

As far as older games go, the best ones have pretty much been named (with Myth 1+2, SMAC and Sacrifice at the top). There's still some I'd recommend to try out, such Heroes Chronicles, which is a series of scenario packs for HoMM 3 telling the story of Tarnum. It's not an especially challenging game and the story isn't spectacular, but it does have charm to it and Tarnum is a good lead. You can now also easily get them all in a single bundle, rather than having to pay full-price for each of them. Keep in mind that each game is self-contained, but the ultimate conclusion takes place in HoMM 4.
Then there's Domionion 3 and 4, which don't have a storyline to follow but do stand out because of how great the lore is (because it's grounded in real mythology).
Tone Rebellion has a story that is woven into the atmosphere and that you uncover as you explore the different realms and find artefacts, but it's more suggestive and doesn't follow a clear narrative like other games do. My personal favourite, but not for everyone.
Age of Mythology is also all-around solid, with a more cohesive story-arc than the sequel, Age of Empires III.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Magic & Mayhem

Basically RTwP version of Julian Gollops Chaos with story campaign.
Not sold digitally anywhere as far as I know.

 

[octavius]

There's still some I'd recommend to try out, such Heroes Chronicles, which is a series of scenario packs for HoMM 3 telling the story of Tarnum. It's not an especially challenging game and the story isn't spectacular, but it does have charm to it and Tarnum is a good lead.

The Heroes Chronicles are so easy that if you are a competent player you'll never see many of the story messages before completing a map.

 

[Silva]

Reunion.

 

[Old One]

King's Bounty - The Legend

 

[Lucky]

The Heroes Chronicles are so easy that if you are a competent player you'll never see many of the story messages before completing a map.

That's why I'm recommending playing it based on the story and not the gameplay, since they're not nearly challenging enough to justify getting if you just want more HoMM 3. If possible, play them before you play HoMM 3. If not, play sub-optimally when appropriate.

 

[pippin]

Not sold digitally anywhere as far as I know.

According to Wikipedia, the game was published by Virgin in Europe and Bethesda in America. So there's bound to be some kind of legal bullshit about it, or perhaps it's just another case of Bethesda's laziness.
The game is wonderful, though, and it had beautiful claymation animations. I like how you are more of a druid than a "normal" wizard.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

According to Wikipedia, the game was published by Virgin in Europe and Bethesda in America. So there's bound to be some kind of legal bullshit about it, or perhaps it's just another case of Bethesda's laziness.
The game is wonderful, though, and it had beautiful claymation animations. I like how you are more of a druid than a "normal" wizard.

it's also kinda hard to get running in modern systems. And last time I tried the game crashed always when PC picks up scrolls.
Which is completely unavoidable for mission progression.

GOG version would be nice but Magic & Mayhem has currently only 134 votes in Community Wishlist.
http://af.gog.com/wishlist/games/magic_mayhem_1?as=1649904300

edit. found possible solution to scroll pick up crash from youtube comments for video I posted earlier

 

[Name]

Ah so I tried my hands on Sword of the Samurai. I think it's pretty charming, but I wouldn't call it a Storyfag game, same with Pirates! or Cover Action, due to the (low volume of) procedural generated flavor texts.

 

[Silva]

Would Endless Legends qualify ? Each faction has its own story/central quest to follow (beside the typical 4X victory conditions).

 

[Nazrim Eldrak]

I put nearly every mentioned game on this list. Enjoy!

Found something wrong in the list than don´t cry me a river and correct the failure!
List created/updated on ----13.10.2015----

"Story driven" Strategy Games

1. Real time
-Starcraft I
-Starcraft II
-Homeworld series
-Act of War
-Red Alert 2
-Nexus Jupiter Incident
-Spellforce 1
-Spellforce 2
-Midwinter
-Sacrifice
-Elite first encounters
-Sword of the Samurai
-Myth 1
-Myth 2
-Myth 3
-Warcraft 2
-Warcraft 3
-Company of Heroes
-Men of War
-Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat and Dark Omen
-Battle Realms
-World in Conflict
-Dark Reign
-Command and Conquer 1
-Command and Conquer 2
-Command and Conquer 3
-Age of Mythology
-Magic & Mayhem

2. Turn based
-Alpha centauri
-Age of Wonders 1
-Age of Wonders 2
-Age of Wonders 3
-King Arthur 1
-King Arthur 2
-Sangokushi Sousouden
-Sangokushi Koumeiden
-King of Dragon Pass
-Frozen Synapse
-X-COM Enemy Unknown
-Jagged Alliance 1
-Jagged Alliance 2
-Galactic Civilizations
-Endless Space
-Panzer Generals
-Steel Panthers
-All Fire Emblem games
-Sengoku Rance
-Daiteikoku
-Der Langrisser
-Spellcross
-Silent Storm
-Disciples 2
-Crusader Kings 2
-Incubation
-Lords of Magic
-Banner Saga
-Heroes of Might & Magic 4
-Heroes Chronicles -> which is a series of scenario packs for Heroes of Might & Magic 3 telling the story of Tarnum
-Dominion 3
-Dominion 4
-Kings Bounty



3. Don´t know
-Floor 13
-Imperium Galactica
-SMAC (I don´t even know the true title of this game)
-Alien Legacy
-Storm Master
-Tone Rebellion
-Reunion