kylelabriola

blogging (ashamedly)

Hello! I'm an artist, writer, and game developer. I work for @7thBeatGames on "A Dance of Fire and Ice" and "Rhythm Doctor."

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I run @IndieGamesofCohost where I share screenshots and spotlights of indie games. I also interview devs here on Cohost.

posts from @kylelabriola tagged #tactics rpg

also:

I'm having fun with Tactical Breach Wizards, it's really good. But it also reminds me of that really wide spectrum of game under the "tactics game" or "tactics RPG" umbrella term.

There's probably technical game design terms for these but for me it always feels like a spectrum from the word "Tactics" to "RPG."

So on the "Tactics" end of the spectrum it's stuff like Tactical Breach Wizards, Steamworld Heist II, and Into the Breach. Every single turn counts, you have to be really careful about what you're doing. They're very "swingy" to me, as in the tide of battle can swing in the opposite direction very quickly on a misplay. Usually, to make this all happen, the game is designed with really low max HP numbers.

And then the other side of the spectrum is the "RPG" end with stuff like Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea. Where battles are long, HP gauges are large, and you kind of chip away at each other. You also usually have more character customization and party customization, spread out over a longer time. Maybe even Baldur's Gate 3 is in this category?

Both ends of the spectrum have the potential to kind of lose my interest sadly. The idea of having to be perfectly tactical with every single move can be a bit exhausting and disheartening (maybe I should be putting on Easy modes when available) and feel a little bit left-brained. Especially if your own character can be KO'd in one turn. But the other end, when the RPG battles are sooooooo long and slow, is also exhausting in a different way.