Best Strategy Game (Round Two)

[This Old Neon]

Round One of the “Best Strategy Game” side-event includes 4 polls of 8 games each.

• You can vote for UP TO THREE (3) games per poll, or skip a poll entirely.
• The top 3 games in each poll will advance to Round Three.
• You can’t change your votes once they’ve been submitted, so click carefully. Voting closes on Saturday at midnight ADT.

VOTE HERE

Poll 1 of 4
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (1999, PC)
Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, PS1)
Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords (2006, PC)
Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia (1999, PC)
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (2017, NS)
Master of Orion (1993, PC)
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares (1996, PC)
SteamWorld Heist (2015, Multiplatform)

Poll 2 of 4
Fire Emblem (2003, GBA)
Fire Emblem Awakening (2012, 3DS)
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (2005, GCN)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (2007, Wii)
Jagged Alliance 2 (1999, PC)
Panzer General (1994, PC)
Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (1992, Genesis)
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995, PC)

Poll 3 of 4
Dynasty Tactics (2002, PS2)
Dynasty Tactics 2 (2003, PS2)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms II (1991, Genesis/SNES)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny (1991, SNES)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII (2003, PS2)
SimCity (1989, PC)
SimCity 2000 (1993, PC)
Valkyria Chronicles (2008, PS3)

Poll 4 of 4
FTL: Faster Than Light (2012, PC)
Into the Breach (2018, NS/PC)
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (1993, SNES)
Sid Meier's Civilization II (1996, PC)
Sid Meier's Civilization III (2001, PC)
Stellaris (2016, PC)
X-COM: UFO Defense / UFO: Enemy Unknown (1994, PC)
XCOM: Enemy [Unknown/Within] (2012, Multiplatform)

[Kong Wen]

Poll 1 of 4
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (1999, PC)
Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, PS1)
Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords (2006, PC)
Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia (1999, PC)
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (2017, NS)
Master of Orion (1993, PC)
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares (1996, PC)
SteamWorld Heist (2015, Multiplatform)

Final Fantasy Tactics is great. There's a bunch of other good stuff in this bracket (Age of Empires II, Master of Orion & Master of Orion II), and I haven't played Galactic Civilizations II or Heroes of M&M III. Like Share, I think I'll use this opportunity to play favourites. I'll give FFT a sole vote and let fans of the other good strategy games here sort the rest out.

Poll 2 of 4
Fire Emblem (2003, GBA)
Fire Emblem Awakening (2012, 3DS)
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (2005, GCN)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (2007, Wii)
Jagged Alliance 2 (1999, PC)
Panzer General (1994, PC)
Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (1992, Genesis)
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995, PC)

Shining Force is the obvious one. Even though I'm madly in love with both Radiance FE games, it would be criminal not to vote for Warcraft II. So I'll go with that and then I'll have to choose... ugh... Path of Radiance, I guess? For having a more focused narrative. Radiant Dawn is a bit too split up between the factions to get the edge when it comes down to just those two games.

Poll 3 of 4
Dynasty Tactics (2002, PS2)
Dynasty Tactics 2 (2003, PS2)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms II (1991, Genesis/SNES)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny (1991, SNES)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII (2003, PS2)
SimCity (1989, PC)
SimCity 2000 (1993, PC)
Valkyria Chronicles (2008, PS3)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms II and III are the best ones here. VIII is probably the best RPG in the series (although some do prefer X, I prefer VIII), but that's not enough to make it one of the best strategy games. Even so, my third vote will come down to that or SimCity 2000. Or nothing. Maybe I'll just leave those chips on the table.

Poll 4 of 4
FTL: Faster Than Light (2012, PC)
Into the Breach (2018, NS/PC)
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (1993, SNES)
Sid Meier's Civilization II (1996, PC)
Sid Meier's Civilization III (2001, PC)
Stellaris (2016, PC)
X-COM: UFO Defense / UFO: Enemy Unknown (1994, PC)
XCOM: Enemy [Unknown/Within] (2012, Multiplatform)

Ogre Battle is the obvious one here. It's a work of genius.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is also amazing.

My third vote will either come down to Into the Breach (which is, IMO, better balanced than FTL) or Civ II.

[Sharecrow]

Am abstaining. I’ve played very, very few of these games. Don’t want to muck up the tallies with limited experience. Again am not much of a strategy guy

[The Shoemaker]

Am abstaining. I’ve played very, very few of these games. Don’t want to muck up the tallies with limited experience. Again am not much of a strategy guy

I've played a good amount of these games but still feel bad voting with all I haven't played!

I'll also note I vote for Radiant Dawn over Radiance. The splitting of the armies 3/4 was a mechanic I really liked and and subsequent playthroughs feel like something I prepare for through the entire game.

Shout out to Steamworld Heist and Valkyria Chronicles as well. Both games take the existing strategy formula and reinvent it in some way.

[This Old Neon]

Here are the winners of Round Two of the Best Strategy Game event! Games that have to compete in tie-breakers to advance are indicated in red.

Poll 1 of 4
Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, PS1)
Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia (1999, PC)
SteamWorld Heist (2015, Multiplatform)

Poll 2 of 4
Fire Emblem (2003, GBA)
Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (1992, Genesis)

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (2007, Wii)
Jagged Alliance 2 (1999, PC)
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995, PC)

Poll 3 of 4
SimCity 2000 (1993, PC)
Valkyria Chronicles (2008, PS3)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII (2003, PS2)
SimCity (1989, PC)

Poll 4 of 4
FTL: Faster Than Light (2012, PC)
Into the Breach (2018, NS/PC)
XCOM: Enemy [Unknown/Within] (2012, Multiplatform)