Editor’s Note: This post does contain a brief discussion on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and may contain light spoilers.
Tactics games have gained a lot of notoriety in recent years.
This format typically involves turn-based combat on a grid surface where players can strategically move their characters in an attempt to defeat their opponent. This style is seen in Fire Emblem, Langrisser, Valkyria Chronicles, and Triangle Strategy.
Most recently, Atlus announced it was joining the fray with Persona 5 Tactica, a turn-based tactical game set within the Persona 5 universe.
This announcement begs the question: what other franchises should make the leap to a tactics format?
In the past, tactics games tend to center on war. I mean, the worlds of Fire Emblem are never at rest as somebody is always fighting someone else.
That said, tactics games aren’t always centered on war. Games like Disgaea and Mario + Rabbids don’t have the overarching war theme in them. That said, conflict is always a key part of a tactics game.
If we’re setting out on a war theme, I think The Legend of Zelda could make a good leap into the tactics world.
There are often mentions of war such as in Ocarina of Time or we see it outright in Tears of the Kingdom. Either way, a tactics Zelda game could be a lot of fun because of the vast amount of races there are in Hyrule.
A key part of any good tactics game is the cast of characters you have on your team. The Legend of Zelda has no shortage of great races that could aid or oppose your forces in war.
Another great series could be Metroid.
The Galactic Federation and the Space Pirates have long opposed each other in these games as this conflict often serves as the backdrop. A tactics game could bring that conflict to the forefront and could provide a better interaction with the Federation than what we saw in Other M or Metroid Prime: Federation Force.
If we want to go the non-war route, Pokémon could be a fun road to go down.
These creatures already fight amongst themselves so it wouldn’t be out of the norm to pit them against each other on a grid. I guess if you wanted to make this a war game, you could and further build out the Great Pokémon War theory.
Turn-based combat isn’t the only way to go here. Real-time strategies could also be in play and all these games could feasibly fit within this style as well.
There definitely seems to be an appetite for this style of game so I wouldn’t be surprised to see more franchises follow Persona. Some, like Final Fantasy, could even revisit it.
But what do you think? Which franchise would you like to see make the leap to a tactics format? How would you build out that game? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.
Featured Image: Atlus (via Nintendo)
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