The strategy role-playing game genre, or SRPGs for short, includes a wide variety of games. Grand quest lines, weird enemies, and tough challenges all await you in the myriad of worlds available in this one genre.
One of the longer-running series in this genre isDisgaea. For years, fans have reveled at the immersive universe, lovable characters, and often silly tone. While there are plenty of games in the series, each with a good amount of replayability, they don’t last forever. So once you complete the series, what do you play next?
1Jagged Alliance 3
Being a mercenary is a dangerous job, as Jagged Alliance 3 shows you quite often. Running your own band of guns-for-hire in the war-torn country of Grand-Chien will take all your skills and intelligence, but it’s a mission worth doing.
If you enjoyed the tactics and overall challenge of the Disgaea series but wanted something a little more on the serious side, then this is definitely a title worth looking into. There is plenty of carnage and missions to keep you busy here for some time.
2Persona 4: Golden
The acclaimedPersonaseries has brought in fans for years now, and Persona 4: Golden hones it down to what is nearly a science. It’s a JRPG that, much like the Disgaea series, doesn’t like to take itself too seriously.
Hit your enemies with scooters,go on a ski trip, and overall, learn to love the characters you come across. The story is often shown through well-animated cutscenes, which is a fun addition to the gameplay. If you want a quirky and often heartfelt adventure, you should give this one a shot.
3La Pucelle: Ragnarok
La Pucelle: Ragnarokis an interesting game that takes the SRPG form and shows you why it works so well. There’s plenty to love here, like a cute art style that’s incredibly similar to Disgaea, diverse characters and enemies, and a simple combat mechanic that is easy to grasp.
Speaking of combat, some of the attacks you can have your party do are so wacky you’ll be laughing well into your next attack phase. It may not be a unique blend, but La Pucelle knows what it’s doing and has refined it well. Plus, penguins make repeated appearances, which is pretty cute.
4Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark
Strategic turn-based combat, detailed customizable characters, and a pretty intense storyline, Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark has a lot to draw you in. If you wanted something a little more serious than the Disgaea series, then this is a great start.
It’s won a series of awards now for its distinct gameplay and storytelling, and they’re all deserved. Few SRPGs focus so much on the detail of the characters that this one does. It’s not hard to spend literal hours making your very own group of Arbiters to go and adventure with; in fact, it’s recommended that you do.
5Phantom Brave
An orphan that can talk to ghosts, a well-rendered fantasy world, and a storyline tense with emotions; Phantom Brave may seem cute, but it has a lot going for it. Following the journey of Marona and her team may seem like a normal foray into a fantasy SRPG world, but it’s more than that.
You’ll fight interesting creatures, see beautiful locales, and experience a storyline that deals with loss and hope. A little more than you’d expect from such a light-hearted-looking game, right? If any of that is of interest to you, go and pick up this title.
6Triangle Strategy
If you enjoyed the graphics of the Disgaea series, you may be interested inTriangle Strategy. It has an interesting design of being a sort of popped-out 2D graphics that really make attacks and monsters seem to jump out at you. The story and gameplay are far from bad, either.
The RPG elements are showcased with character skills that allow fora good amount of replayabilityand combat experimentation. There’s a well-made world with a focus on war, power, and moral choices, which may seem surprising for how fun the art style is when you first look at the game.
7Valkyria Chronicles
Sometimes fantasy worlds are a fun thing to dive into, but every so often, you want something with some more historical ties.Valkyria Chroniclesis just such a title. Set in the 1930s, the story follows the squad of a fictional military unit trying to keep the piece as chaos breaks out.
There’s plenty of fantasy and oddness in the series, too, for those fans of wilder SRPGs. There’s a solid amount of lore and some pretty sharp graphics to back up an easy-to-work combat system, as well.
8Tactics Ogre: Reborn
The 1995 heavy-hitter is back and revamped with better AI and graphics. There’s never been a better time to get intoTactics Ogre. Even those who aren’t fans of the genre have probably heard of this title.
Playing as Denam, you’ll have a lot of choices to make throughout your journey, and they aren’t pointless either. Each of them shapes the pixilated world around you and will lead up to the culmination of the story. It’s not hard to see why it’s such a big name in and out of the genre.
9Final Fantasy Tactics
A veritable classic, and for good reasons. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with going back to the roots of a genre and seeing how it has paved the way. TheFinal Fantasyseries has been entertaining players for decades now.
While Tactics changes things up a bit, it’s still well worth your time. There are some detailed battle mechanics that are surprisingly easy to pick up, combined with classic graphics and Final Fantasy storyline, and you have a game that is impossible to put down.
