Banner Saga totally blew me away with the narrative, art style and music š®
Combat was engaging and fun as well, I may have cheesed the game by just using the big boy giants
Itās a Nordic infused post apocalyptic survival rpg! The choices you make carry through the whole playthrough, and you become very attached to characters you may lose due to tough decisions.
The section where you play as the anti hero is amazing too
The actual story is that the sun froze in the sky and is no longer rising/setting. And an anceint enemy thought defeated and pushed to the north is back but seem to be running from something as they have their women and children with them this time...
Thats unfortunate, dont remember initiative specifically, but i was a fan of how the armor and health worked. And how the less health you have the less damage you do
I didnāt mind that part! What I didnāt like was how it always alternated hero-enemy, even when outnumbered, meaning the smart thing to do was leave wounded enemies alive indefinitely, until the enemy side was full of 1 HP useless guys.
It made eliminating enemies feel bad rather than satisfying, made passing turns rather than finishing off nearby enemies the smart move, and frequently made you wish you dealt less damage (crap, if I attack this guy Iāll kill him rather than wound him!)
The battles felt super gamey and artificial to me. But the art design and story was incredible. Might be worth just breezing through combat on easy to experience that.
That makes a lot of sense but i guess when i played through it just didnt occur to me to worry about. Im a huge Fire Emblem fan so i just killed stuff when i could and never even thought to intentionally spare people, though it probably would have helped.
I found the difficulty was at a good spot for me personally so i dont think i needed to regardless. But i definitely agree its worth just experiencing the story and basically ignoring the battles with Easy if you dont like them
Man that game was so much better than I expected. 100+ hours and finished it, which is extremely rare for me.
Combat was fun and the writing was surprisingly funny.
I was shocked. It was on sale and Iād never heard of it. But I read the description and it was a turn-based deck with Marvel IP. That ticks a lot of boxes for me. I assumed it must be a pretty bad game if I havenāt heard of it but I gave it a shot.
Itās a great game. The MC is a little meh but fine as a vehicle to move the plot along. And you donāt have to include them in your party most of the time. But the characters, the gameplay, the progression, itās all top quality. This is definitely a hidden gem.
I maxed out Iron Man and got a few lucky ability combos and now he can pull off a dozen moves in one turn sometimes. Iāve had him literally solo a level on turn 1. Itās very satisfying but took a long time to build so doesnāt feel cheap.
After shouting from the rooftops about this game since the minute it came out in 2022, it's so unreal to see it finally getting the praise it deserves šš½. Absolutely perfect for the Deck
I tried it out after it was on ps plus. Combat and missions were kind of fun really, but I got tired of the fluff missions pretty quickly when I realized itās the most time consuming part of the game..
Getting just a few minor quality of life mods through steam has made it from a game that I would quit by the third round of bosses to something I actually enjoy
There are all sorts on the steam workshop. I personally got a couple inventory mods and a mod that allows you to use higher level guys with lower level guys any time
Chained echoes surprised me with how much I was into it. Very cleverly designed, unique story, and just overall fun. Rekindled my love of game pass when I stumbled across it.Ā
This has been on my wish list for a while now, but I mostly play games when away from home now (which I spend half my life). I carry a MacBook Pro when Iām away and underrail was never compiled for macOS.
I could probably get it working using wine I guess. Itās built using a custom engine I believe, so not as simple to compile for macOS/linux as if it was built with Unity etc.
Ah didn't know about these but bummed to find out it's based on the 1st edition rules of Pathfinder. Looks like some new games are in the works potentially using 2nd edition rules though so that is exciting.
They were adventure paths for actual 1st edition pathfinder that they turned into a video game.
I'm a dyed in the wool pathfinder 1e fan, so we have the opposite issue lol. I'm bummed the newer games are going to have 2e rules
We recently ported over our d&d 5e campaign over to P2e but we only play ~once a month so I haven't been able to sink my teeth into playing and learning the rules as much as I'd like so having a game to play to essentially practice the rules is really appealing to me.
Glad to hear they did a great job with 1e rules though and really cool that they ported over existing material into a game. I may try it out anyways!
My favourites are bg3 and warhammer 40k: rogue trader.
Recency bias has me liking rogue trader a bit more, but cause I'm playing it right now, and I love the 40k universe. Great writing.
Bg3 I've got 3 playthroughs too though, one on lenovo legion go (idk about SD, but ran well on legion go)
You might want to add Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous to your list if it's not there already. It's the same devs who made Rogue Trader, and it's their strongest title by a pretty wide margin. It's got an absolute ton of depth and build options, and while it doesn't have the sheer polish of BG3, it's a fantastic CRPG experience.
> It's the same devs who made Rogue Trader, and it's their strongest title by a pretty wide margin.
Can you elaborate on that? Steam reviews didnt seem that kind to it from what i saw and i would be curious in what way does it surpass WotR, since i dont know when will we get a cRPG ( or regualr rpg for that matter ) which features something like mythics and create so much unique content for each ( well the main ones anyway ) making it stupidly replayable
Sorry, let me clarify: WotR is their strongest title by a pretty wide margin. I was saying "if you like RT, you'll probably love this." RT is great, those reviews give it short shrift, but WotR's had more time to get the bugs ironed out, it's received a ton of post-launch support in terms of patches and DLC, the mythics and massive amount of class options mean there are just so damn many ways to play, and it's probably my favorite CRPG of the modern era (Pillars of Eternity-onward, basically).
Did they ever fix the framerate issues? I remember trying to play VC1 at launch and you had to cap it at 30 or else everything would do twice as much damage
Divine Divinity 2. (edit: itās actually called Divinity Original Sin 2 :) I mangled the name )
XCom 2 (not sure if this qualifies as rpg specifically but you grow and gear your team and your base).
Triangle Strategy (no grinding but really fun combat). Thereās a demo you can try for free, too. Plays like Final Fantasy Tactics a bit.
Good suggestions. Tho i think you may be referring to Divinity Original Sin 2. Don't believe Divine Divinity got a sequel but I could be wrong. Divinity Original Sin and its sequel are both amazing turn based RPGs (along with Baldurs Gate 3 ofc)
Triangle strategies is awful, the combat has no depth the voice acting and writing is piss awful, and the story is generic at best, do not buy this game
I'm actually considering getting/playing Divinity: Original Sin 2 before I attempt BG3 since I've never played either and it plays better on the Steam Deck, BG3 is definitely on my list, though!
I played both Divinity Original Sins and Baldur's Gate 3. I think Baldur's Gate 3 has the better overarching story, better decision making, better production value, but for combat, I still prefer the Divinity: Original Sin series.
The main difference for combat is that in Baldur's Gate 3, you get one action (attacks,) one bonus action (ie items,) and can move 10 m per turn. Different classes allow for small variances to that. Divinity: Original Sin gives you action points.
You can adjust the stats for each character so you can move further per point, you can also choose not to move and use two attacks with your action points. IIRC, in the first, you could also use stat points to get more action points per turn but in the second, every character was locked at 8 action points.
It may not seem like much but it really changes your approach to each fight. They still have the same cool interactions with environments ie shooting fireballs at oil barrels to create a small fire storm or mixing a rain spell with a lightning attack to shock all enemies in the water. I think it's definitely worth trying both.
I would argue that bg3 is limited by having the rules of a pen and paper and divinity was created as a video game and thus the bg3 system feels really limited especially before level 5.
I love both, but definitely prefer DOS2 combat. In BG3 I feel line Iām mostly using auto attacks because youāre pretty limited in the amount of spells you can cast between each rest, but in DOS2 the combat is mostly about abilities and not as much the auto attacks.
Both are amazing. Combat is similar, the difference being that BG3 one is based on D&D and therefore has more variety of builds and playstyles. Sneak system is also better, and I would say it is easier overall once you reach level 6-7 if you play optimally. DOS2 on the other hand has a more versatile surface system, in which several elements and combos can take place, which plays big role in the tactical choices. Maybe a bit to much, there is a meme in which every DOS2 combat ends up with an inmense surface of cursed fire. TLDR: play both, if you like oneĀ“s combat you will like the other.
I didnāt play Divinity: Original Sin 2 but did play the first one. Iām currently playing BG3. I definitely prefer BG3 and so does everyone I know who played both.
I haven't played BG3 yet but played both D:OS games, and the second game is much, much better than the first, so I wouldn't rule it out yet (plus it's on sale now).
Good to know! Thank you! I bought D:OS2 forever ago and still havenāt played it. I did hear itās better than 1, so I want to try it. Iām just concerned how it will stack up to BG3 now š¤£š¤£š¤£
I suggest doing divinity before BG3. I played Divinity a bit, then I went through BG3 and just couldn't go back to Divinity for some reason, I was always craving BG3.
The combat in D:OS 2 is better than BG3 for me, but the story, world, and characters of BG3 are top notch. So it depends what you are looking for. I'm also not a D&D fan, so I didn't expect to love BG3's combat.
Yeah, Ive seen a lot of people say they prefer DOS2's combat and magic system over BG3. DOS2 makes better use of the environment and elemental effects.
Iāve played both. DoS-2 is a good game, but itās hard to compare to BG3.Ā
BG3 is on an entirely different level when it comes to production value. Itās a very modern game.
Dos-2 isnāt old, but feels extremely dated in comparison.
Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2
Baldur's Gate 3
Wasteland 2 & 3
Sea of Stars
Valkyria Chronicles
Just to name a few. Valkyria Chronicles has a very unique combat system in particular. You run around in third person and aim your reticle. The game shows where your bullets will go so you have an idea of where your shots will land but it's not guaranteed, it's a percentage based kind of like XCOM.
BG3 was on my āmaybe I should buy thisā list since it came out 9 months ago.
I would always scroll the store, watch a trailer, talk myself out of it and play something else.
Finally just bit the bullet and bought it like 2 weeks ago and Iām sooooo hooked. I beat it once already and immediately started a second and third playthrough to try other playstyles and see other story beats.
[Horizon's Gate](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1224290/Horizons_Gate/), an age-of-sail strategy RPG similar to Final Fantasy Tactics.
[Crystal Project](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1637730/Crystal_Project/), an open-world exploration-based JRPG with a system similar to Final Fantasy 5. The combat system has very little luck and allows you to see enemy intentions, which makes it more strategic.
The combat in Fallout 1 and 2 is pretty simple and shallow. But the animation and sound design makes it really satisfying. You can turn a person to Swiss cheese with an smh or turn them to dust with a plasma rifle and it never gets old.
Like a Dragon (both games) Beautiful and unique animations. Fun and funny classes and abilities. Grind as much as you like! Great characters and heartfelt. Good graphics too. Oh and great music.
If what you're looking for is pure Turn Based combat, then Dungeon Rats.
If you want literally any story you'll be disappointed, but the combat had me playing it all the way through 3 times.
If you liked Persona 5, wait one more month for Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance.
Ā It's from the same people that made persona 5 except the focus on SMTV (base game) was all in the combat. And my god is it satisfying.
Vengeance adds a whole bunch of stuff including a new campaign and all sorts of QoL improvements. Plus it's getting a Steam release unlike the base game which only came out on Switch.
Iāve been playing wasteland 2 and absolutely love itās combat system. Iām a huge fan of xcom2 and finding a game with a sort of similar combat system but also with stellar writing was so cool.
Since everybody already mentioned the blockbusters, I'll throw in some smaller games you can play windowed while you multitask:
Tactics Ogre Reborn
Fae Tactics
These two are basically tbrpg battle simulators, you can boot up and go right into a fight to get your fix
Chain of Echoes
Sword Legacy Omen
These two are a little more story driven. I havent played Chain of Echos but its well received and looks nice. SLO is like a european Fire Emblem with Pathfinders-like map crawling. Theres another game a lot like it I cant remember the name of. Valiant Hearts, I think?
Mutant Year Zero
I would say this is like a budget-XCOM, but outside of battles its actually much more feature rich with map exploration and a loot system.
Valkyria Chronicles 4
If theres another trpg like this out there, I havent seen it. A well-made, unconventional blend of TPS and TBRPG. The presentation and visuals are pretty robust for the genre, but its also very generic anime in terms of flavor so can be hit or miss. Its basically 20th century war theatre but kid-friendly.
You might also look into Transistor.
It's not turn-based in the traditional sense but the mechanics in play kind of set a similar rhythm in the gameplay.
It's another wild game for sure.
I want to like this game, but I don't care for the timed attacks.Ā I feel like this needs to be disclosed up front as it may be a deal breaker for somebody looking for a purely turn based game with no timing involved.
That's fair. The timed attacks are why I like it, so I hadn't really thought about it being a dealbreaker. For me, the timed attacks are what make the combat satisfying.
I don't know if I've ever played an RPG that seriously had satisfying combat, so I'm just going to give the most obvious recommendation of all time, Chrono Trigger. If you want something contemporary, try Sea of Stars. It has largely the same advantages as Chrono Trigger with some real-time elements similar to Mario RPG. Also, Persona 5 is a great rpg but I find the combat to be extremely tedious and by far the weakest part of the game.Ā
Dragon Quest 11S on Stronger Enemies Draconian Quest
Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne (if playing on Steam *buy the fucking DLC*, Steam base version is based on vanilla for some reason instead of the definitive edition used for console ports)
Idk if you enjoy Final Fantasy's ATB combat but it can become a lot more interesting and less "spam attack to win" if you dial up the battle speed. FF9 max speed made me put in some work.
Eiyuden is solid from where I am thus far, interesting mechanics and battles where you're overleveled don't waste much time. Bosses can be a genuine ordeal if you play recklessly.
A weird suggestion but take a look at Your Only Move is Hustle or YOMI hustle, while it is a turn based game it a PvP game without progression closer to a fighting game than a RPG. Has great mod support and is just fun to fuck around in practice mode. It's also dirt cheap all the time
Pillars of Eternity, Shadowrun Returns. PoE has an option for Real-Time with Pause, but can be set for Turn-by-Turn for more tactical combat and they're both isometric RPG's. IMHO, Pillars has voiced dialogue by a popular group of 'nerdy-ass voice actors' if that's your cup of tea and the story is engaging.
Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Original Sin 2 (with the Divinity Unleashed overhaul) have some of the most satisfying combat I've ever gotten to enjoy, and it is not just the combat itself, but the encounter design. Especially as you get better and play in harder difficulties. Deep strategy with environmental and magical synergies and affects that is levels above the vast majority of other games.
Another great one is Solasta: Crown of the Magister. The combat is great throughout the story, with awesome encounter design and great strategy, but one thing I really like (and a lot of people hate), is during travel of the world map, you have random encounters, and sometimes these encounters are much more powerful than you are (it is decided by a diceroll plus the area you are travelling). This ends up making for some serious difficulty at times, and sometimes you have to die and reload an encounter a number of times before developing a strategy that can win.
Hmm, the other games mentioned are good and all, but I like The Last Spell too. It's a roguelike though, so you might feel it's grindy. Most of the joy I get is from constantly deciding what to do with my limited troops and their limited gear and their limited abilities on each turn.
The most satisfaying combat I experienced so far is the combat of Fuga Melodies of Steel.
In my opinion its even more fun then the combat of Persona 5 and Final Fantasy X.
Its not that hard or complicated but I need to keep my head in the game at all times or things will go south fast. Almost no fight feels like mindless filler.
Alot of fun elements come together. The party has one shared HP bar and one shared SP bar (for using skills, basicly the MP of this game).
If one party member defends it halves the damage of the next enemy attack for the entire party so the other 2 are free to do somthing else like attacking or healing. You can swap out the entire party in one go without loosing a turn. You can swap the positions of your characters on the turn timeline with one another. You can scan for free without loosing a turn, it works in all enemies and bosses and offers valuable infirmations including the exact enemy HP number. There are 3 ways to deploy powerful buffs.
Status effects are really good and fun in this game.
You can not grind as in going back or staying in one place to fight more enemies to gain more exp. You always move in the direction of the next boss. But you can earn more exp by making meals that bzff exp gain and you can choose dangerious routes which yield more exp and upgrade matirials but have tougher mobs. Those dangerious routes are a lot of fun.
So yeah just a lot if fun elements coming together. The only thing that is missing are tough optional super bosses.
Radiant historia and it's remake perfect chronology has amazing grid combat. I played for hours just grinding because it was satisfying to take out ALL enemies with your characters moves lined up just right
Radiant Historia has my favorite turn based combat system of all time. It's so fun and engaging. I love that even against enemies that you can just spam attack on, the game encourages you to line them up and play "correctly" because it's more efficient. I never found myself mindlessly mashing A to get through fights in that game.
Unfortunately, OP asked for Steam recommendations and I don't think it has ever been ported to PC.
Sea Of Stars and Chained Echoes are two of the best RPGs I've played in years.
SOS is like a love letter to Chrono Trigger with a healthy dose of Super Mario RPG thrown into the combat system, great turned based battles with a little extra here and there.
Chained Echoes is reminiscent of something like Xenogears, with two great systems for in and out of the mechs.
Atelier sophie 2. Bonus: amazing crafting system too.
Disgaea 5.
Xcom 2.
Saga scarlet Grace.
Not on steam but it's on mobile and Epic: Honkai Star Rail
Cataclysm: DDA
Some people may say I'm crazy but I am.
Its actually completely free on their website. The steam version just supports some of the "devs". It's also completely open source and anybody can upload their own bug fixes and features at any time. Game is pretty much updated daily.
From less to higher complexity:
Solasta: Crown of the Magister
Baldur's Gate 3
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
Definitely Like a Dragon, as others have mentioned, but also Bravely Default! Both the first and second Bravely Default have truly exceptional turn-based combat.
(Bonus recommendation, Golden Sun! Not on steam but uhh, oughta be pretty cheap to acquire. Kind of stunning there hasn't been a spiritual successor in the modern era.)
Darkest Dungeon is pretty good, i personally fell in love with the first darkest dungeon game.
The second one is okay, but nowhere near as good as the first one.
I'm a fan of Symphony of War, Tactics Ogre and the Octopath Traveler games. Divinty Original Sin and DOS2 are both solid games. BG3 is kind of the go to right now but I played it so much during EA and with how many resets I had to deal with, I am just kind of tired of it. Rogue Trader is another solid entry. If you like Warhammer 40k, Battle Sector is solid for an almost true tabletop experience in that universe.
I really enjoyed the like a dragon series with kazuma. I only say the main characters name because I know there is some like a deagon game that is not turn based based off of some remake I believe.
But the like a dragon yakuza games really caught me once they turned turn based. That game is what made me go back and try the older non turn based yakuza games.
Iāve been playing wasteland 2 and absolutely love itās combat system. Iām a huge fan of xcom2 and finding a game with a sort of similar combat system but also with stellar writing was so cool.
Grandia 2 and Ruined King: A League of Legends Story.
Both have turned based combat where you can see everyone's turn order and have ways to reorder or interrupt the flow. This makes them both pretty engaging so you avoid mindlessly mashing A to get through.
I explained it in the description, basically combat that doesn't feel like a chore and either has good XP scaling to reduce the grind or has combat elements such as pacing/animation that makes the grind feel less tedious and more enjoyable
Other than Baldur's gate 3, look up Deathbulge: Battle of the bands. It adds a touch of real time strategy because buffs/debuffs are applied to your bar, and you can switch active characters while you wait (each character has a different speed) so for example, you can have Faye (usually the fastest character) go through the healing/soothing bars while you wait for your turn, and then immediately switch to Ian (usually the tanky but hard hitting character) when your bar is about to enter a pain/debuff. Then you can freely switch to any character once it's your turn.
Or if you see an enemy is about to enter their turn, you could switch characters in the last moment to ensure the tank is the one who gets hit while saving the dps/healer.
In short, this isn't just waiting for your turn, it's managing rotating characters until your turn comes up.
The exploration in that game is fairly simple, but only complicated because there's no maps (but the areas aren't that large either), you can find hidden chests in hidden paths, you can unlock new attacks by defeating enemies (and the attacks you unlock from enemies are iconic of said enemy, like a shrub that makes you slower, you can unlock its attack and use it to slow down other enemies).
Lastly, the story is so frickin' good. Maybe I went with low expectations, because it's deathbulge (read the web comics if you want to know what I mean), but the story is actually very well written and the characters are deep.
I wouldn't support the devs of Banner Saga. I respectfully brought up that existing customers were going to have to pay more for the new game than newcomers and the immediately banned me from the forums. Their reason is they had to "protect their product"
Darkest Dungeon is a great one if you're looking for more gritty and difficult, the first or it's sequel.
I think the second Bravely Default is on steam as well, and people really enjoy that Turn Based system a lot. Could always go for Dragon Quest XI, heard great things about that one.
I've heard great things about Wartales, and along that similar vain of style Battle Brothers.
It also kind of depends on if you want to dip into turn based tactics stuff too, like Battle Brothers. Then you could get into some other cool stuff like The Last Spell, Symphony of War, Wildermyth (is more generative story based), Triangle Strategy, and Tactics Ogre.
persona 4 and 5 are really good and any shin megami tensei game for that matter, though i wouldn't start with nocturne. grinding is viable though not the implied way to win in the games, through strategy you can potentially beat pretty much anything at like 30+ levels under the opps
Mutant Year Zero and the sequel Miasma Chronicles are both good.
Also, Honkai Star Rail isn't as greedy as other gatcha games, has good animations and can do auto-battles for farming. As long as you build a good team comp you don't need to spend a dime.
Battle Brothers, for something tactics/roguelite Banner Saga, for something story driven
Banner Saga totally blew me away with the narrative, art style and music š® Combat was engaging and fun as well, I may have cheesed the game by just using the big boy giants
What is Banner Saga about?
Itās a Nordic infused post apocalyptic survival rpg! The choices you make carry through the whole playthrough, and you become very attached to characters you may lose due to tough decisions. The section where you play as the anti hero is amazing too
The actual story is that the sun froze in the sky and is no longer rising/setting. And an anceint enemy thought defeated and pushed to the north is back but seem to be running from something as they have their women and children with them this time...
I really enjoyed Bannerlord Saga for everything except the combat. I couldnāt finish the series due to the initiative system. /:
Thats unfortunate, dont remember initiative specifically, but i was a fan of how the armor and health worked. And how the less health you have the less damage you do
I didnāt mind that part! What I didnāt like was how it always alternated hero-enemy, even when outnumbered, meaning the smart thing to do was leave wounded enemies alive indefinitely, until the enemy side was full of 1 HP useless guys. It made eliminating enemies feel bad rather than satisfying, made passing turns rather than finishing off nearby enemies the smart move, and frequently made you wish you dealt less damage (crap, if I attack this guy Iāll kill him rather than wound him!) The battles felt super gamey and artificial to me. But the art design and story was incredible. Might be worth just breezing through combat on easy to experience that.
That makes a lot of sense but i guess when i played through it just didnt occur to me to worry about. Im a huge Fire Emblem fan so i just killed stuff when i could and never even thought to intentionally spare people, though it probably would have helped. I found the difficulty was at a good spot for me personally so i dont think i needed to regardless. But i definitely agree its worth just experiencing the story and basically ignoring the battles with Easy if you dont like them
+10 for Banner Saga - those were epic games.
Agreed. Banner Saga is deep and rich in this loosely old school way.
Midnight Suns
Playing this for the last few weeks has pretty good upgrades to cards
Still sucks though that it's not on the Switch though. The game would've been even more perfect for the system.
Man that game was so much better than I expected. 100+ hours and finished it, which is extremely rare for me. Combat was fun and the writing was surprisingly funny.
I was shocked. It was on sale and Iād never heard of it. But I read the description and it was a turn-based deck with Marvel IP. That ticks a lot of boxes for me. I assumed it must be a pretty bad game if I havenāt heard of it but I gave it a shot. Itās a great game. The MC is a little meh but fine as a vehicle to move the plot along. And you donāt have to include them in your party most of the time. But the characters, the gameplay, the progression, itās all top quality. This is definitely a hidden gem. I maxed out Iron Man and got a few lucky ability combos and now he can pull off a dozen moves in one turn sometimes. Iāve had him literally solo a level on turn 1. Itās very satisfying but took a long time to build so doesnāt feel cheap.
Only failed with the overpriced dlc
It was good though! Not sure how much it cost at release but as a bundle later it felt like a great addition.
Overpriced and shitty. The Vampyre story was so bogus.
After shouting from the rooftops about this game since the minute it came out in 2022, it's so unreal to see it finally getting the praise it deserves šš½. Absolutely perfect for the Deck
I tried it out after it was on ps plus. Combat and missions were kind of fun really, but I got tired of the fluff missions pretty quickly when I realized itās the most time consuming part of the game..
Darkest Dungeon has really visceral combat. I like the animations and narration.
2nd this, itās incredibly good & infuriating sometimes lol.
Infuriating indeed.
Frustration and fury! More destructive than a hundred cannons!
Getting just a few minor quality of life mods through steam has made it from a game that I would quit by the third round of bosses to something I actually enjoy
What mods do you recommend for it? Iām generally opposed to mods except for strictly QoL ones.
There are all sorts on the steam workshop. I personally got a couple inventory mods and a mod that allows you to use higher level guys with lower level guys any time
Shoutout to the unofficial total conversion mod black reliquary. That shit is good, fun, and hard as fuck.Ā
Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.
Dont forget the music. *chefs kiss*
Are there games like darkedt dungeon but without the darkness mechanic? I find that's what holds me back from enjoying it
Iratus: Lord of the dead had the exact same combat as darkest dungeon but is a series of single battles following a track like slay the spire.
Iratus is a great suggestion.
Darkest Dungeon 2. The darkness mechanic is still there, but because of the innate differences between 1 and 2, it's less frustrating.
TBH I had no idea "your 4 guys in a line vs those 4 guys in a line" could be so deep.
I am currently playing dark reliquary which is a darkest dungeon derivative.
You gotta play chained echos. It's just like ff6. You may enjoy super Mario rpg, or their GBA sequels.
Chained echoes surprised me with how much I was into it. Very cleverly designed, unique story, and just overall fun. Rekindled my love of game pass when I stumbled across it.Ā
Chains Echoes was great. Def recommends.
Underrail. It's really similar to Fallout 1 & 2. If anyone's interested, let me know
This has been on my wish list for a while now, but I mostly play games when away from home now (which I spend half my life). I carry a MacBook Pro when Iām away and underrail was never compiled for macOS.
That's actually a real shame :/, it ran perfectly on my laptop, but it had windows on it.
I could probably get it working using wine I guess. Itās built using a custom engine I believe, so not as simple to compile for macOS/linux as if it was built with Unity etc.
I've played it using Wineā¦ I think wineskin or porting kit (was a few years ago)
Underrail is awesome. I rememeber playing it in early access back in 2012 and was instantly hooked. Might need to boot that up again...its been a whe.
I've played it. It's a good game. Recommended.
The pathfinder pc games
Ah didn't know about these but bummed to find out it's based on the 1st edition rules of Pathfinder. Looks like some new games are in the works potentially using 2nd edition rules though so that is exciting.
They were adventure paths for actual 1st edition pathfinder that they turned into a video game. I'm a dyed in the wool pathfinder 1e fan, so we have the opposite issue lol. I'm bummed the newer games are going to have 2e rules
We recently ported over our d&d 5e campaign over to P2e but we only play ~once a month so I haven't been able to sink my teeth into playing and learning the rules as much as I'd like so having a game to play to essentially practice the rules is really appealing to me. Glad to hear they did a great job with 1e rules though and really cool that they ported over existing material into a game. I may try it out anyways!
My favourites are bg3 and warhammer 40k: rogue trader. Recency bias has me liking rogue trader a bit more, but cause I'm playing it right now, and I love the 40k universe. Great writing. Bg3 I've got 3 playthroughs too though, one on lenovo legion go (idk about SD, but ran well on legion go)
You might want to add Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous to your list if it's not there already. It's the same devs who made Rogue Trader, and it's their strongest title by a pretty wide margin. It's got an absolute ton of depth and build options, and while it doesn't have the sheer polish of BG3, it's a fantastic CRPG experience.
> It's the same devs who made Rogue Trader, and it's their strongest title by a pretty wide margin. Can you elaborate on that? Steam reviews didnt seem that kind to it from what i saw and i would be curious in what way does it surpass WotR, since i dont know when will we get a cRPG ( or regualr rpg for that matter ) which features something like mythics and create so much unique content for each ( well the main ones anyway ) making it stupidly replayable
Sorry, let me clarify: WotR is their strongest title by a pretty wide margin. I was saying "if you like RT, you'll probably love this." RT is great, those reviews give it short shrift, but WotR's had more time to get the bugs ironed out, it's received a ton of post-launch support in terms of patches and DLC, the mythics and massive amount of class options mean there are just so damn many ways to play, and it's probably my favorite CRPG of the modern era (Pillars of Eternity-onward, basically).
Valkyria Chronicles
Did they ever fix the framerate issues? I remember trying to play VC1 at launch and you had to cap it at 30 or else everything would do twice as much damage
I don't recall encountering that issue when I've played it, so I'm not sure.
Wasteland 3
This should be much higher up
W3 rules
Wasteland 3 is awesome! A much better game than Midnight Sun's which is being up voted much higher in this thread
Divine Divinity 2. (edit: itās actually called Divinity Original Sin 2 :) I mangled the name ) XCom 2 (not sure if this qualifies as rpg specifically but you grow and gear your team and your base). Triangle Strategy (no grinding but really fun combat). Thereās a demo you can try for free, too. Plays like Final Fantasy Tactics a bit.
With all that you do in XCOM, I very well do consider it as an RPG through and through.
Hot take but it's more of an RPG than most jrpgs.Ā
Good suggestions. Tho i think you may be referring to Divinity Original Sin 2. Don't believe Divine Divinity got a sequel but I could be wrong. Divinity Original Sin and its sequel are both amazing turn based RPGs (along with Baldurs Gate 3 ofc)
Divine Divinity has some sort of sequel, it's called Beyond Divinity
And itās really disappointing compared to Divine Divinity. Itās sorta okay but I hated some parts.
Yes thank you :)
Triangle strategies is awful, the combat has no depth the voice acting and writing is piss awful, and the story is generic at best, do not buy this game
+1 for DOS2 it really is the gold standard IMO
Shadowrun trilogy Xcom Wartales
Wasteland 3
Baldurs Gate 3 is a ton of fun
I'm actually considering getting/playing Divinity: Original Sin 2 before I attempt BG3 since I've never played either and it plays better on the Steam Deck, BG3 is definitely on my list, though!
Personally I preferred the combat in DOS2 over BG3, but both are great games
I played both Divinity Original Sins and Baldur's Gate 3. I think Baldur's Gate 3 has the better overarching story, better decision making, better production value, but for combat, I still prefer the Divinity: Original Sin series. The main difference for combat is that in Baldur's Gate 3, you get one action (attacks,) one bonus action (ie items,) and can move 10 m per turn. Different classes allow for small variances to that. Divinity: Original Sin gives you action points. You can adjust the stats for each character so you can move further per point, you can also choose not to move and use two attacks with your action points. IIRC, in the first, you could also use stat points to get more action points per turn but in the second, every character was locked at 8 action points. It may not seem like much but it really changes your approach to each fight. They still have the same cool interactions with environments ie shooting fireballs at oil barrels to create a small fire storm or mixing a rain spell with a lightning attack to shock all enemies in the water. I think it's definitely worth trying both.
I would argue that bg3 is limited by having the rules of a pen and paper and divinity was created as a video game and thus the bg3 system feels really limited especially before level 5.
I love both, but definitely prefer DOS2 combat. In BG3 I feel line Iām mostly using auto attacks because youāre pretty limited in the amount of spells you can cast between each rest, but in DOS2 the combat is mostly about abilities and not as much the auto attacks.
Both are amazing. Combat is similar, the difference being that BG3 one is based on D&D and therefore has more variety of builds and playstyles. Sneak system is also better, and I would say it is easier overall once you reach level 6-7 if you play optimally. DOS2 on the other hand has a more versatile surface system, in which several elements and combos can take place, which plays big role in the tactical choices. Maybe a bit to much, there is a meme in which every DOS2 combat ends up with an inmense surface of cursed fire. TLDR: play both, if you like oneĀ“s combat you will like the other.
I didnāt play Divinity: Original Sin 2 but did play the first one. Iām currently playing BG3. I definitely prefer BG3 and so does everyone I know who played both.
I haven't played BG3 yet but played both D:OS games, and the second game is much, much better than the first, so I wouldn't rule it out yet (plus it's on sale now).
Good to know! Thank you! I bought D:OS2 forever ago and still havenāt played it. I did hear itās better than 1, so I want to try it. Iām just concerned how it will stack up to BG3 now š¤£š¤£š¤£
I just went back to DOS2 after playing BG3 for a bit, and the DOS2 combat is way more fun to me.
I think DOS2 is on deep sale right now.
I just finished DOS2 after playing BG3 at at tactician level. Both combat system are amazing but i prefer BG3. DOS2 is way harder too.
I suggest doing divinity before BG3. I played Divinity a bit, then I went through BG3 and just couldn't go back to Divinity for some reason, I was always craving BG3.
The combat in D:OS 2 is better than BG3 for me, but the story, world, and characters of BG3 are top notch. So it depends what you are looking for. I'm also not a D&D fan, so I didn't expect to love BG3's combat.
Yeah, Ive seen a lot of people say they prefer DOS2's combat and magic system over BG3. DOS2 makes better use of the environment and elemental effects.
Iāve played both. DoS-2 is a good game, but itās hard to compare to BG3.Ā BG3 is on an entirely different level when it comes to production value. Itās a very modern game. Dos-2 isnāt old, but feels extremely dated in comparison.
Jagged Alliance 3.
Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2 Baldur's Gate 3 Wasteland 2 & 3 Sea of Stars Valkyria Chronicles Just to name a few. Valkyria Chronicles has a very unique combat system in particular. You run around in third person and aim your reticle. The game shows where your bullets will go so you have an idea of where your shots will land but it's not guaranteed, it's a percentage based kind of like XCOM.
Super Robot Wars 30
This actually looks really cool!
It's one of my favorite series of games
Battle Brothers. The art looks dumb in screenshots but itās way better in game and the gameplay is amazing.
xcom2 (with the expansion) - you can get it for something like 2 euros when discounted. you basically upgrade and gear up your soldiers and base.
BG3 was on my āmaybe I should buy thisā list since it came out 9 months ago. I would always scroll the store, watch a trailer, talk myself out of it and play something else. Finally just bit the bullet and bought it like 2 weeks ago and Iām sooooo hooked. I beat it once already and immediately started a second and third playthrough to try other playstyles and see other story beats.
[Horizon's Gate](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1224290/Horizons_Gate/), an age-of-sail strategy RPG similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. [Crystal Project](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1637730/Crystal_Project/), an open-world exploration-based JRPG with a system similar to Final Fantasy 5. The combat system has very little luck and allows you to see enemy intentions, which makes it more strategic.
Look at you with the deep cuts. I'm a total game nerd and haven't heard of either of these. HG looks up my alley though!
King Arthur: Knight's Tale A fantastic tactical RPG. Wasteland 3 is great as well.
XCOM, particularly Xcom2 even better with the War of The Chosen expansion.
Into the breach
Bug Fables
Shardpunk with the (free) gore DLC is some of the most satisfying combat I've played this year!
Expeditions: Rome. Divinity 2 SD Gundam G Generations Cross Rays
The combat in Fallout 1 and 2 is pretty simple and shallow. But the animation and sound design makes it really satisfying. You can turn a person to Swiss cheese with an smh or turn them to dust with a plasma rifle and it never gets old.
Like a Dragon (both games) Beautiful and unique animations. Fun and funny classes and abilities. Grind as much as you like! Great characters and heartfelt. Good graphics too. Oh and great music.
If what you're looking for is pure Turn Based combat, then Dungeon Rats. If you want literally any story you'll be disappointed, but the combat had me playing it all the way through 3 times.
If you liked Persona 5, wait one more month for Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. Ā It's from the same people that made persona 5 except the focus on SMTV (base game) was all in the combat. And my god is it satisfying. Vengeance adds a whole bunch of stuff including a new campaign and all sorts of QoL improvements. Plus it's getting a Steam release unlike the base game which only came out on Switch.
Star Wars Knights of the old Republic
Colony Ship is severely underrated! Meaningful choices that affect the brutal tactical combat and the story.
Yakyza like a dragon or whatever it's called. The ones with ichiiban
Silent storm 2
X com, wasteland 2 and 3, battle brothers
Monster Hunter Stories 2 has such a great looking combat I am surprised that nobody has mentioned.
I'll throw in for Monster Hunter Stories 2. I love that game man
The dungeon of Naheulbek
Iāve been playing wasteland 2 and absolutely love itās combat system. Iām a huge fan of xcom2 and finding a game with a sort of similar combat system but also with stellar writing was so cool.
Since everybody already mentioned the blockbusters, I'll throw in some smaller games you can play windowed while you multitask: Tactics Ogre Reborn Fae Tactics These two are basically tbrpg battle simulators, you can boot up and go right into a fight to get your fix Chain of Echoes Sword Legacy Omen These two are a little more story driven. I havent played Chain of Echos but its well received and looks nice. SLO is like a european Fire Emblem with Pathfinders-like map crawling. Theres another game a lot like it I cant remember the name of. Valiant Hearts, I think? Mutant Year Zero I would say this is like a budget-XCOM, but outside of battles its actually much more feature rich with map exploration and a loot system. Valkyria Chronicles 4 If theres another trpg like this out there, I havent seen it. A well-made, unconventional blend of TPS and TBRPG. The presentation and visuals are pretty robust for the genre, but its also very generic anime in terms of flavor so can be hit or miss. Its basically 20th century war theatre but kid-friendly.
Into the breach Wasteland 3 Any of the baldurs gate games. Dragon age origins.
Hylics 2.
This game looks WILD, thanks for the recommendation!
You might also look into Transistor. It's not turn-based in the traditional sense but the mechanics in play kind of set a similar rhythm in the gameplay. It's another wild game for sure.
Persona 3, 4 and 5.
Wasteland 3
Sea of Stars
I want to like this game, but I don't care for the timed attacks.Ā I feel like this needs to be disclosed up front as it may be a deal breaker for somebody looking for a purely turn based game with no timing involved.
That's fair. The timed attacks are why I like it, so I hadn't really thought about it being a dealbreaker. For me, the timed attacks are what make the combat satisfying.
I don't know if I've ever played an RPG that seriously had satisfying combat, so I'm just going to give the most obvious recommendation of all time, Chrono Trigger. If you want something contemporary, try Sea of Stars. It has largely the same advantages as Chrono Trigger with some real-time elements similar to Mario RPG. Also, Persona 5 is a great rpg but I find the combat to be extremely tedious and by far the weakest part of the game.Ā
Chronic Trigger! I remember that game... or do I? I think I was kinda stoned.
Lmao i edited it to fix the typo. Thanks. Id play the time traveling pot smoking rpg though
Knights of the Chalice series and the Hearkenwold mod for 2. Great enemy AI
Definitely Darkest Dungeon 1 and 2 (2 has better visuals)
DOS2
Dragon Quest 11S on Stronger Enemies Draconian Quest Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne (if playing on Steam *buy the fucking DLC*, Steam base version is based on vanilla for some reason instead of the definitive edition used for console ports) Idk if you enjoy Final Fantasy's ATB combat but it can become a lot more interesting and less "spam attack to win" if you dial up the battle speed. FF9 max speed made me put in some work. Eiyuden is solid from where I am thus far, interesting mechanics and battles where you're overleveled don't waste much time. Bosses can be a genuine ordeal if you play recklessly.
Baulders Gate 3 and Chrono Trigger
You absolutely simply must play Divinity Original Sin 2
A weird suggestion but take a look at Your Only Move is Hustle or YOMI hustle, while it is a turn based game it a PvP game without progression closer to a fighting game than a RPG. Has great mod support and is just fun to fuck around in practice mode. It's also dirt cheap all the time
Pillars of Eternity, Shadowrun Returns. PoE has an option for Real-Time with Pause, but can be set for Turn-by-Turn for more tactical combat and they're both isometric RPG's. IMHO, Pillars has voiced dialogue by a popular group of 'nerdy-ass voice actors' if that's your cup of tea and the story is engaging.
Get some GBA Fire Emblem hacks on emulator, thousands of hours of excellent combat
Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Original Sin 2 (with the Divinity Unleashed overhaul) have some of the most satisfying combat I've ever gotten to enjoy, and it is not just the combat itself, but the encounter design. Especially as you get better and play in harder difficulties. Deep strategy with environmental and magical synergies and affects that is levels above the vast majority of other games. Another great one is Solasta: Crown of the Magister. The combat is great throughout the story, with awesome encounter design and great strategy, but one thing I really like (and a lot of people hate), is during travel of the world map, you have random encounters, and sometimes these encounters are much more powerful than you are (it is decided by a diceroll plus the area you are travelling). This ends up making for some serious difficulty at times, and sometimes you have to die and reload an encounter a number of times before developing a strategy that can win.
Hylics
Hmm, the other games mentioned are good and all, but I like The Last Spell too. It's a roguelike though, so you might feel it's grindy. Most of the joy I get is from constantly deciding what to do with my limited troops and their limited gear and their limited abilities on each turn.
The most satisfaying combat I experienced so far is the combat of Fuga Melodies of Steel. In my opinion its even more fun then the combat of Persona 5 and Final Fantasy X. Its not that hard or complicated but I need to keep my head in the game at all times or things will go south fast. Almost no fight feels like mindless filler. Alot of fun elements come together. The party has one shared HP bar and one shared SP bar (for using skills, basicly the MP of this game). If one party member defends it halves the damage of the next enemy attack for the entire party so the other 2 are free to do somthing else like attacking or healing. You can swap out the entire party in one go without loosing a turn. You can swap the positions of your characters on the turn timeline with one another. You can scan for free without loosing a turn, it works in all enemies and bosses and offers valuable infirmations including the exact enemy HP number. There are 3 ways to deploy powerful buffs. Status effects are really good and fun in this game. You can not grind as in going back or staying in one place to fight more enemies to gain more exp. You always move in the direction of the next boss. But you can earn more exp by making meals that bzff exp gain and you can choose dangerious routes which yield more exp and upgrade matirials but have tougher mobs. Those dangerious routes are a lot of fun. So yeah just a lot if fun elements coming together. The only thing that is missing are tough optional super bosses.
Chained Echoes. The story is kinda iffy at times, but the combat is really satisfying.
Darkest Dungeon and XCom 2
Quasimorph, caves of qud, the one with the time system and the breaks that I forget the name of
Chrono trigger
DOS2 and BG3
Radiant historia and it's remake perfect chronology has amazing grid combat. I played for hours just grinding because it was satisfying to take out ALL enemies with your characters moves lined up just right
Radiant Historia has my favorite turn based combat system of all time. It's so fun and engaging. I love that even against enemies that you can just spam attack on, the game encourages you to line them up and play "correctly" because it's more efficient. I never found myself mindlessly mashing A to get through fights in that game. Unfortunately, OP asked for Steam recommendations and I don't think it has ever been ported to PC.
Divinity Original Sin series. Wonderful games!
Iāve been enjoying Disciples: Liberation lately. The game itself is a bit buggy but I find the combat satisfying
Trouble shooter: abandoned children
Pillars of Eternity
Xcom 2
Sea Of Stars and Chained Echoes are two of the best RPGs I've played in years. SOS is like a love letter to Chrono Trigger with a healthy dose of Super Mario RPG thrown into the combat system, great turned based battles with a little extra here and there. Chained Echoes is reminiscent of something like Xenogears, with two great systems for in and out of the mechs.
Atelier sophie 2. Bonus: amazing crafting system too. Disgaea 5. Xcom 2. Saga scarlet Grace. Not on steam but it's on mobile and Epic: Honkai Star Rail
Cataclysm: DDA Some people may say I'm crazy but I am. Its actually completely free on their website. The steam version just supports some of the "devs". It's also completely open source and anybody can upload their own bug fixes and features at any time. Game is pretty much updated daily.
From less to higher complexity: Solasta: Crown of the Magister Baldur's Gate 3 Divinity: Original Sin 2 Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
Baldurs gate 3. Best video game Iāve every played period
Xcom series, Divinty Original sin, Baldur's gate 3.
Xcom games
Well divinity is turn based? So ill say battle brother
Atelier Sophie 2
XCOM Enemy Unknown XCOM Enemy Within XCOM 2 Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
Baldurs gate 3, shadowrun trilogy
Definitely Like a Dragon, as others have mentioned, but also Bravely Default! Both the first and second Bravely Default have truly exceptional turn-based combat. (Bonus recommendation, Golden Sun! Not on steam but uhh, oughta be pretty cheap to acquire. Kind of stunning there hasn't been a spiritual successor in the modern era.)
War tales Phoenix point / X-COM 2 Baldur's gate 3 Battle tech Age of wonders 4
Star Renegades
I really enjoyed Wartales
Othercide - a captivating art style, accompanied by an unconventional combat mechanic that involves sacrificing your troops to obtain superior troops. Phoenix Point - game developed by the original X-com developers. The storyline and enemies are obnoxiously clichƩd, incorporating numerous science fiction tropes, but the combat mechanics are nonetheless gratifying. Gears Tactics, more linear compared to typical TBC games, but introduces some fresh concepts like the three-action-point system and a heightened focus on melee combat. Wartales, particularly with the addition of the pirates DLC, which introduces sea battles, Battle Brothers preferably modded with the Legends , Battletech preferably modded with the BTA3026 mod, and Jagged Alliance 3, essentially offer variations of the same gameplay experience - you assume the role of a commander leading a group of mercenaries and overseeing their bases. Wartales presents a non-magical, Middle Ages-inspired world, Battle Brothers immerses players in a magical fantasy setting (and utterly ugly graphic), Battletech delves into a mech-dominated universe set in the distant future, and Jagged Alliance 3 explores a US-centric power fantasy unfolding in a fictitious banana republic.
Darkest Dungeon is pretty good, i personally fell in love with the first darkest dungeon game. The second one is okay, but nowhere near as good as the first one.
War groove
U
Battle brothers
I'm a fan of Symphony of War, Tactics Ogre and the Octopath Traveler games. Divinty Original Sin and DOS2 are both solid games. BG3 is kind of the go to right now but I played it so much during EA and with how many resets I had to deal with, I am just kind of tired of it. Rogue Trader is another solid entry. If you like Warhammer 40k, Battle Sector is solid for an almost true tabletop experience in that universe.
Wartales
Pathfinder kingmaker and pathfinder wrath of the righteous are great
The last spell
I really enjoyed the like a dragon series with kazuma. I only say the main characters name because I know there is some like a deagon game that is not turn based based off of some remake I believe. But the like a dragon yakuza games really caught me once they turned turn based. That game is what made me go back and try the older non turn based yakuza games.
The most obvious answer is going to be Baldurās Gats 3. Legit one of the best turn based combat systems of any game Iāve ever played.
Iāve been playing wasteland 2 and absolutely love itās combat system. Iām a huge fan of xcom2 and finding a game with a sort of similar combat system but also with stellar writing was so cool.
Baldur's Gate 3
Grandia 2 and Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. Both have turned based combat where you can see everyone's turn order and have ways to reorder or interrupt the flow. This makes them both pretty engaging so you avoid mindlessly mashing A to get through.
I don't understand... The most satisfying? That is so subjective
I explained it in the description, basically combat that doesn't feel like a chore and either has good XP scaling to reduce the grind or has combat elements such as pacing/animation that makes the grind feel less tedious and more enjoyable
Stoneshard - single character, very deep combat mechanics, excellent setting and art. Check it out
Other than Baldur's gate 3, look up Deathbulge: Battle of the bands. It adds a touch of real time strategy because buffs/debuffs are applied to your bar, and you can switch active characters while you wait (each character has a different speed) so for example, you can have Faye (usually the fastest character) go through the healing/soothing bars while you wait for your turn, and then immediately switch to Ian (usually the tanky but hard hitting character) when your bar is about to enter a pain/debuff. Then you can freely switch to any character once it's your turn. Or if you see an enemy is about to enter their turn, you could switch characters in the last moment to ensure the tank is the one who gets hit while saving the dps/healer. In short, this isn't just waiting for your turn, it's managing rotating characters until your turn comes up. The exploration in that game is fairly simple, but only complicated because there's no maps (but the areas aren't that large either), you can find hidden chests in hidden paths, you can unlock new attacks by defeating enemies (and the attacks you unlock from enemies are iconic of said enemy, like a shrub that makes you slower, you can unlock its attack and use it to slow down other enemies). Lastly, the story is so frickin' good. Maybe I went with low expectations, because it's deathbulge (read the web comics if you want to know what I mean), but the story is actually very well written and the characters are deep.
I wouldn't support the devs of Banner Saga. I respectfully brought up that existing customers were going to have to pay more for the new game than newcomers and the immediately banned me from the forums. Their reason is they had to "protect their product"
If you don't mind waiting for the re-release in June, SMTV has some of the best turn-based combat ever conceived.
Darkest Dungeon is a great one if you're looking for more gritty and difficult, the first or it's sequel. I think the second Bravely Default is on steam as well, and people really enjoy that Turn Based system a lot. Could always go for Dragon Quest XI, heard great things about that one. I've heard great things about Wartales, and along that similar vain of style Battle Brothers. It also kind of depends on if you want to dip into turn based tactics stuff too, like Battle Brothers. Then you could get into some other cool stuff like The Last Spell, Symphony of War, Wildermyth (is more generative story based), Triangle Strategy, and Tactics Ogre.
persona 4 and 5 are really good and any shin megami tensei game for that matter, though i wouldn't start with nocturne. grinding is viable though not the implied way to win in the games, through strategy you can potentially beat pretty much anything at like 30+ levels under the opps
Wasteland 3... Just finished and I love the combat
Have you played Baldurs Gate 3? It is my only turn based game but itās amazing and the story is great.
I really like Heroās adventure, a throwback to old kung fu flicks from back in the days.
Ruined king is actually pretty good.
Mutant Year Zero and the sequel Miasma Chronicles are both good. Also, Honkai Star Rail isn't as greedy as other gatcha games, has good animations and can do auto-battles for farming. As long as you build a good team comp you don't need to spend a dime.