A reader celebrates the release of Civilization VI on Switch by naming the five best strategy video games for consoles.
Id like to hope that right now youre all thinking, Hes bound to mention Advance Wars, thats definitely the best!. Well, Im not going to. Not because I dont think its one of the best video games ever made but because there hasnt been a new one in a decade and it seems pointless to me to recommend a game you cant actually buy anymore, except in a Wii U port that misses the entire point of it being portable.
So instead Im going to concentrate on five great games that are easily available, have modern graphics, and absolutely everyone owes it to themselves to try. Theyre super accessible, fast-paced, and a few of them at least even have a good story. I couldve done more than five too, as games like Invisible, Inc., The Banner Saga, and Fire Emblem are also great. But these are my favourites. I hope they become yours too.
Advertisement
Advertisement
1. Civilization VI (Switch/PC)
The game that inspired me to write this feature. Its a few years old on PC (although they did just announce a new expansion for it) and is never usually ported to consoles. But for whatever reason they did with the Switch and it works fantastically well. Everything is there, the interface works great, and because its turn-based its perfect for portable play. Ive no idea if its going to sell, but I hope so because Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle seemed to and that almost made this list too.
2. Halo Wars 2 (Xbox One/PC)
The rest of these games are all turn-based but there have been a few real-time strategies on consoles and this is the best of them. It works just like Command & Conquer, which is to say that you just point and click where you want your units to go and thats pretty much it. Base-building and upgrades arent much more complicated and everything goes along at a fine pace and looks great. Theres also a really good multiplayer skirmish mode which is even more fast-paced.
3. Disgaea 5 (PS4/Switch/PC)
I was split on whether to recommend this or Disgaea 1 Complete but I tend to agree with GC that the original is feeling a (little) dated now and I think this most recent one is probably overall the best. Theyre both great though, as are many of the other sequels, and definitely the best of what is called strategy role-playing games. Theyre primarily turn-based strategies, where you move characters around on a grid to fight each other, but there are role-playing elements where everyone and their equipment can be upgraded. Oh, and its really funny too!
Advertisement
Advertisement
4. XCOM 2 (Xbox One/PS4/PC)
This is the real giant of the genre and one of my favourite games ever. Its a turn-based strategy, not too dissimilar in style to Disgaea but with an overarching strategy meta game where youre trying to start a revolution to get rid of aliens that have taken over the world. The amount of depth here is incredible, from researching and manufacturing your own weapons and armour, to careful use of stealth, cover, and special abilities. And yet at the end of the day youre still just pointing and clicking where you want characters to go, so its really accessible too.
5. Into The Breach (Switch/PC)
Up until recently I wouldve said that XCOM 2 was my favourite strategy game, but now Im not so sure. Into The Breach is so good its scary. Its also probably the closest thing to Advance Wars here. Not that its a clone (like the upcoming WarGroove) but just that it has that same mix of simple rules, simple graphics, and amazingly deep, addictive gameplay. Every battle is fought on a tiny little grid but literally every single move counts, turning it into chess but with giant robots and bugs. It is amazing and I would recommend it, and all these other games, to anyone.
By reader Mordo
The readers feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email [email protected] and follow us on Twitter.
Advertisement
Advertisement
