Best Strategy Game - FINALS

[This Old Neon]

The final round of the “Best Strategy Game” side-event includes 1 poll of 6 games.

• You can only vote for ONE (1) game in the finals.
• The top game will be the official “BEST STRATEGY GAME EVER!!!”
• You can’t change your votes once they’ve been submitted, so click carefully. Voting closes on Saturday at midnight ADT.

VOTE HERE

Best Strategy Game Finals

Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, PS1)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII (2003, PS2)
Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (1992, Genesis)
SimCity 2000 (1993, PC)
StarCraft (1998, PC)
XCOM: Enemy [Unknown/Within] (2012, Multiplatform)

[SkyPikachu]

I think I'm going to try the easiestly accessible winner a genre I never properly explored.

[Kong Wen]

I think I'm going to try the easiestly accessible winner a genre I never properly explored.

StarCraft 2 isn't StarCraft, but I think it's F2P now.

XCOM is available on every system under the sun including phones, so it should be pretty accessible.

These games are all pretty readily available, actually, with the exception of Romance 8, which may still be PS2-only.

[SkyPikachu]

I think I'm going to try the easiestly accessible winner a genre I never properly explored.

StarCraft 2 isn't StarCraft, but I think it's F2P now.

XCOM is available on every system under the sun including phones, so it should be pretty accessible.

These games are all pretty readily available, actually, with the exception of Romance 8, which may still be PS2-only.

If the winners available on PS4,XBO,Switch or PC they I'll play it basically otherwise I'll just move down the list.

I've played Starcraft 2 and it's fun. The original starcraft seems really dated and something I wouldn't like but I might try the remake however it doesn't seem like the greatest single player experience.

[MerlinDrazziw]

Probably should not vote in this category as I don't like strategy games, but I still voted for Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII. Don't know it but it has a nice cover

[Kong Wen]

Oh, I guess I didn't post my own pick, but it's probably pretty obvious. Final Fantasy Tactics is my favourite game, not just in this category, but overall. The other games in this bracket are all excellent as well. Great category, SakaeWu!

[Sharecrow]

I love Shining Force but I abstained due to genre ignorance. I’ve never played any of the others and don’t want to vote based on my extremely limited experience.

[Kong Wen]

I love Shining Force but I abstained due to genre ignorance. I’ve never played any of the others and don’t want to vote based on my extremely limited experience.

I can see you really enjoying the Romance of the Three Kingdoms RPGs like VIII here in this bracket, though obviously not in the same way as Shining Force. They're less about nuts-'n-bolts than the main strategy iterations, but you still get a lot of granular control of the strategy and development side. But you really get to feel like you're "growing up" your character, and living in a bigger world, some of which you touch, and some of which is none of your business. It's neat.

[This Old Neon]

Best Strategy Game Finals
Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, PS1)

Final Fantasy Tactics is officially the "BEST STRATEGY GAME EVER!!!"

[Kong Wen]

Final Fantasy Tactics is officially the "BEST STRATEGY GAME EVER!!!"

Slurm, you can get this on PS3 and Vita under the PSOne Classics library, at least in North America.

There's an updated version called "War of the Lions" or something like that, which arguably improves the translation, but I think the original translation is a big part of the game's enduring charm, so I highly recommend starting with the original if you can.