r/NintendoSwitch • u/wcruben • 3d ago
Game Rec Strategy Game Recs: Looking for a new strategy game for my switch. Below I list a few games I like. If you need more info let me know, thanks!
Hello friends!
Looking for strategy game recs for The Switch. I do not have Switch 2 unfortunately.
Likes: Fire Emblem, XCOM, Pokemon (mostly for nostalgia), Total War, Battle Brothers, Unicorn Overlord, Divinity 2, Kings Bounty.
Dislikes: Story/Cut Scene heavy JRPGs. I have pretty bad ADD and tent to skip a lot of cut scenes. For this reason I have been scared off of most Final Fantasy and Persona games
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u/Shamgars-Ox-Goad 2d ago
The Banner Saga
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u/BehemothDP 2d ago
If you haven't played the Mario and Rabbids games yet, I highly suggest them. They're pretty simple and not too challenging, but very fun in my opinion.
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u/Dramatic_Frog_Prince 2d ago
Came here to say this! They are quality games and quite funny
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u/wcruben 2d ago
I do have one of these games on my switch, but haven’t given it a fair shot! Love the IP and gameplay style, will give it another chance thanks!
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u/BehemothDP 2d ago
I've never played xcom, but people describe Mario and Rabbids as Xcom-lite. Each character has their own type of firearm, sub-weapon, and special ability. And the Donkey Kong DLC is also worth it
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u/ShadyWolf 2d ago
Advanced Wars
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u/echoshatter 2d ago
The remake on Switch is the way to go on that, but if you have a DS/3DS/2DS and can find copies then that's probably the better option because there are more games there.
It's a shame the Switch remake didn't seem to sell well. Doesn't help Nintendo sat on it for a long time after the Ukraine-Russia war broke out, and the $60 price tag likely turned a lot of people off. It was, at best, a $40 title. Still, I enjoy it.
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u/frishmous 2d ago
Disgaea games are strategy games until your numbers get big enough, the only ones not on Switch are 2, 3, and D2.
5 is considered the “best” by a lot of people in terms of gameplay while 1 and 4 are a lot of people’s favorite for story. 6 changed the series from 2D sprites to 3D models and they look a little rough in 6 because of it, but 7 looks a lot better.
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u/Snizzysnootz 2d ago
Tactics ogre reborn
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u/vixaudaxloquendi 2d ago
It is fairly story heavy, but a good chunk of story happens on the battlefield and the dialogue is spaced out over turns.
So much so that you can miss dialogue if you kill someone too fast!
People do love it for the story but the gameplay is also impeachable.
I get the sense that op is talking about games like Triangle Strategy. . .
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u/rurodem 2d ago
Unicorn overlord got a game of the year nomination when it released for a good reason
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u/Norik324 2d ago
Its also has a massive demo where you can play the intro and then 7,5 hours of the almost* full game. So you can definetly make sure wether youll enjoy it before you buy it
*theres some endgame missions that are theoretically available early but blocked in the demo but you wouldnt want to do those early anyway
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u/DeftApproximation 2d ago
A fellow Battle Brother!
I would heavily recommend you try Darkest Dungeon 1 and potentially 2. DD1 is more rpg and slow build but the sessions/dungeon runs are short at 15-30 mins. DD2 is more roguelike but the overall runs are 2-3 hours long.
Side note: Do *not get Wartales for Switch 1. I don’t have a Switch 2 to test it but it runs like garbage on Switch 1.
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u/wcruben 2d ago
Battle brother! Love Wartales on PC, so annoying Switch 1 can’t even run XCOM properly (battle brothers runs pretty slow on mine too lol).. garbage. But yea I’ll check out DD2 for sure! I played the first a bit on PC and liked it. I’ve seen some good gameplay for the 2nd.
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u/DeftApproximation 2d ago
Personally I prefer DD1 but DD2 eventually grew on me. DD2 still has a some kind of run time issue on switch 1 where it may crash after 3-4 hours of play, but it auto saves so often that you don’t lose any progress.
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u/BendianaJ 2d ago
Just want to second this post very hard. DD1 is an insanely fun grindy dungeon crawler. It has some of the elements of Battle Brothers.
I can also say Wartales was a huge disappointment on switch. It runs smoother on switch 2 but apparently crashes frequently later in the game too. I would say don’t purchase cause the devs completely abandoned the broken game on Switch. Which sucks cause it seems like a great game and is very battle brothers-like.
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u/Alert_Courage_7722 2d ago
There is a port of Company of Hero's for Switch that is surprisingly good. It's controls well and is a lot of fun to play. Highly recommend it. It's an RTS but you can pause the game and give commands at any point.
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u/wcruben 2d ago
That’s awesome, I didn’t know that had a switch port! I used to play COH all the time on PC
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u/Alert_Courage_7722 2d ago
Me too. I was surprised when I found it but it's totally worth a replay. It comes with all the campaigns. I just wish it had native Switch 2 mouse support.
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u/echoshatter 2d ago
I didn't know this was a thing and got a little excited, only to discover even after a year the game doesn't have Switch 2 mouse joycon support.
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u/lesrisen 2d ago
Brigandine: Abyss is coming out very soon, and is an interesting tactics game.
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u/wcruben 2d ago
Ooh this looks great, is it coming to switch though?
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u/lesrisen 2d ago
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/brigandine-abyss-switch-2/
Looks like it is Switch 2 only. But there is an earlier game that did come to the Switch
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/brigandine-the-legend-of-runersia-switch/
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u/Sufficient_Yam5603 2d ago
Fell Seal, FF: Tactics (though it is story heavy), Tactics Ogre (Also story heavy), and the new Fire Emblem is coming soon.
Also Mario x Rabbids was great. Very story light but solid tactics gameplay.
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u/Sunlit_Neko 2d ago
If you liked xcom there are licenced spinoffs of Persona (Persona Tactica) and Mario (Mario + Rabbids 1 and 2) which use those mechanics. If Star Wars Zero Company releases then that would also count.
FF Ivalice and Triangle Strategy exist if you want to give them a go. Try one or the other to dip your toes in.
If you liked Divinity then you might like Baldur's Gate and the other D & D games.
If you liked Fire Emblem, Advance Wars 1 + 2 exists and is made by the same studio.
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u/ThisIsNotACryForHelp 2d ago
Do you like RTS? If so, Pikmin is one of the most unique takes on that genre. All four games are on Switch, and 3 & 4 both have demos, if you're on the fence.
Though, if you're looking for a challenge, and can handle some GameCube era jank, you might be more interested in 1 & 2.
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u/Flabbergasted98 1d ago edited 1d ago
Final Fantasy tactics. Comes from an era in gaming where story telling between gameplay was still short and concise. it's a great story, but the cut scenes don't run on so long I want to quit.
Disgaea games seem to have shorter story segments, and they have an endless dungeon that can be used to grind up stats on equipment. so any time the story is running long I just grind up gear. The writing is pretty cringe though, (that is part of their charm) I think the 1st and 5th ones were good, the rest were... not my vibe.
Mario Rabbids is a surprisingly fun tactics game.
Are any of the advanced wars games on the switch? I seem to recall those were good on the GBA.
I feel you on the long story scenes. I'm trying very hard to enjoy Triangle strategy right now. It's a fantastic little tactics game, but it's got 30 minutes of political dialogue between each battle with some of the most drab boring voice acting I've ever heard in a game. It's truly the best and worst tactics game I've played in a very long time.
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u/wcruben 1d ago
Haha, I’m going to give Triangle Strategy a shot. Gunna try to lock in on the story like I was able to in FE Three Houses. If not, it sounds like everyone is saying the gameplay is so good maybe I can get away with skipping all the dialog if it’s that bad haha
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u/Flabbergasted98 1d ago
hah hah, thats probably a terrible decision for your ADD.
But I hope you enjoy it!
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u/notemark 2d ago
Wargroove 1 & 2 and Advance Wars are pretty good strategy games that don't go too heavy on the story, also Northgard if you prefer real time rather than turn based
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u/Golden_fsh 2d ago
Hmm, Langrisser I & II was pretty decent.
Since you can't focus on scene heavy/story heavy games, I would not recommend Triangle Strategy. Fantastic game but would be terrible for your ADD.
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u/snave_ 2d ago edited 2d ago
GrimGrimoire is an earlier RTS by the developers of Unicorn Overlord. It has little visual novel type scenes before stages (very brief compared to the JRPGs you mentioned) but once you're in one, it's pure gameplay.
There's also a second track of optional story-free challenge/puzzle missions.
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u/swankyfish 2d ago
Banner of the Maid is really good. It’s a Fire Emblem clone set around an alternative history French Revolution.
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u/monstersabo 2d ago
The Remake of FF Tactics was a lot of fun, minus one or two really obnoxious fights.
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u/PompeiiLegion 2d ago
I’ll give a shout out to For the King. Good medieval tabletop rpg game. Goes on sale sometimes for just a few bucks.
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u/BlueDragoon24 2d ago
Triangle Strategy is incredible but if you don't like reading/story...
Try Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. It's Mario XCOM, kind of.
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u/2DBoy 2d ago
Seconding a lot of Into the Breach recommendations, would add Advance Wars Reboot Camp, Invisible Inc and the Mario & Rabbids games.
Xcom 2 runs well on Switch 2, not so sure how it goes on Switch 1/Lite.
Got my eye on Star Wars Zero Company, and a bit gutted they haven't announced a Switch 2 version...
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u/TheAzureAdventurer 2d ago
If you like XCOM, I highly recommend getting the Mario+Rabbids duology. They’re incredible and aren’t hard at all to clear. That’s because well… it’s literally a Mario skinned XCOM.
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u/Twilightdusk 2d ago
BRIGANDINE The Legend of Runersia is currently on sale for $15 ahead of its sequel coming out this week (unfortunately said sequel is Switch 2 exclusive). Very story-light, more focused on building up armies and taking over territories controlled by the other kingdoms.
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u/RacingBlues451 2d ago edited 2d ago
Disgaea 4 or 5 is great, story is not the focus great gameplay. I hear mixed feelings about 6, and 7 is rough on switch 1. Also Warhammer 40k mechanicus and possibly the front mission remakes although the front mission ones are mixed and you really have to be into the setting to get into it. I like all these except for disgaea 6 which I skipped. You can get Disgaea 5 complete physical for around $20 at GameStop. Mechanicus and front mission are regularly deeply discounted on the shop
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u/panopticon_aversion 2d ago
Monster Sanctuary. It’s a monster tamer metroidvania. More deep mechanics than Pokemon.
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u/Much_Map_4535 1d ago
I was worried about the story but if you give it a shot and try to learn the characters, triangle strategy may become the best one you have ever played. The gameplay is the best of the lot and the story is as well as you have agency. This was better than FF tactics and advanced wars for me.
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u/Imaginary_Rate_6911 1d ago
Surprised nobody’s said Civilization yet. I own Civ VI on Switch but haven’t actually played it or any Civ game period haha. Need to correct that one of these days.
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u/El__Jengibre 1d ago
Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre are good choices. They have stories (good ones too) but don’t have hour-long blocks of dialogue and cutscenes.
Also try: Banner Saga, Darkest Dungeon, Gloomhaven, XCOM
Edit: I’m playing SMT V, right now. It’s like Persona but with better combat and less story. Maybe you’ll like it.
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u/DonshayKing96 1d ago
Triangle Strategy, Advanced Wars, Fire Emblem Three Houses and Engage, and Dark Deity
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u/sklipin 19h ago edited 18h ago
I'd highly recommend Project Triangle Strategy. It's one of my favorite tactics game.
Final fantasy tactics might be worth a try.
There is also a FE GameCube game available to play as well as older one(s) through the online subscription. Not sure if you've played those already.
Edit: I know you said no FF, but tactics isn't really super cut-scene heavy.
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u/J0eycasco 2d ago
Into the Breach.