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[lordcooper]

I'm looking for a game similar to Final Fantasy Tactics (as in turn based combat with element of guild/clan management at least a semi-decent plot.)  I've never actually played any FFT games before, so I figured it'd be wise to ask if you beautiful people could recommend either the best one, or one of it's competitors to me.

As payment, I bring a humble offering of two memes.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Meta]

Disgaea is what you need.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[lordcooper]

Thanks for the suggestion

Any particular Disgaea game you'd recommend?  What elevates this beyond others of the genre?

[Meta]

If you got a PS2 and if you're able to find it, the first Disgaea is the one I recommend you, just to introduce you to the game series and gameplay.

Edit: Oh, I did not see the 2nd question. The humor and story (and therefore, the characters) of the game are some of the qualities of this game. But the gameplay complexity and depth are really the best points of this game series. Just FYI: Max Level = 9999.

[freeformschooler]

They've released better versions of it though, in case you have a DS or PSP.

[dehimos]

The original FFT: Tactics Ogre

[Frumple]

The Super Robot Wars games. All of them. I'm limiting my suggestions to that, because an actual "Decent SRPG" list would have a good few dozen entries, and that's just PSX and earlier.

A google for SRPG will get you a larger list of similar games.

[lordcooper]

Sorry guys, I should probably have been a little more specific in the OP.

I'm aware of a lot of these kinda games (although I'd never heard of the term SRPG.)  What I'm really looking for is to learn a little about the differences between them.  What games are the greatest within this genre and most importantly, why?

[freeformschooler]

IMO, in terms of strategy games, the Fire Emblem series stands out because of its interesting attributes: every unit is a unique character, and every attribute and point of damage matters. It's one of the most thought-provoking SRPGs I've played.

[Dakk]

Any fire emblem game should do it. But if you're looking for something thats VERY similar to FFT, you can try the vandal hearts series for the PSX. While its graphics aren't as good and the plot isn't as deep, its a pretty decent isometric tactical rpg.

Like other people said, tactics ogre is the original FFT, in almost every aspect.

There's also two french MMORPGs, namely Dofus and Wakfu, that inspired their combat system on FFT. Its the closest thing to a tactical mmorpg on the internet. I'm actualy surprised square-enix didn't come up with an FFT MMO by now, instead churning out disapointing FFX clones.

[Bluerobin]

Yes to all of the suggestions so far. I never thought I'd be saying this, but if you have a PSP you've got a lot of the good ones available. The original FFT was ported and retranslated, Tactics Ogre's on there, Disgaea's ported there (the subtitle of this game gives a hint at the humor of it... the original subtitle was Hour of Darkness, the PSP version is Afternoon of Darkness). A fair number are on the DS, though, and like Meta said, you can get most of the originals for the PS/PS2. Those are the main three series I typically hear throw around when people are talking about good SRPGs. I haven't played Super Robot Wars, but this isn't the first time it's been brought up, so it's gotta be good.

Edit: restructuring based on OP clarification:

The FFT series: good for a solid class system where you can make any character good at most things, eventually. The means to do this are somewhat opaque, though. One comment about the FFT "series" though: the original is very different tone and story-wise from the Advance games. I like them both, but for different reasons, so if you're looking for a serious "old school" kind of feel, go with the original. If you're looking for a still fun but lighter-hearted story, go with the FFTA games.

The Disgaea series: good for a fair amount of over the top mischief and mayhem with a good dose of humor, plus character customization that goes beyond a "class system." You can sink a LOT of time into Disgaea if you want. I'd say this game's system is the closest to FFT's base, but it builds on it and adds some mostly-optional complexity.

I know less about the tactics ogre systems, but it has a more old-school feel to it as well. I think the PSP one is more polished than the advance one (and I think the PSP one's a remake of a super famicon/PS1 game), but they're pretty fun. I remember getting a little frustrated with the balance of how the battle system worked, though (I felt like my characters were missing a lot and not doing much damage and the range of archers is extended by being higher up, but you don't know by how much since the base range is shown but any modifications aren't. I think this archer range complaint applies to the original FFT as well, I just never used them in that game), and I feel like the class system is even more opaque than the other two since it relies on getting a character's stats to certain levels instead of just having a certain class or class combination at certain levels. If you're playing with an FAQ/cheat sheet for that aspect of the game like I typically do it's less of an issue, but eh.

Fire Emblem's good too, but if I remember right there's very little character customization; more of the emphasis is on the in-battle strategy aspect.

[agentorangesoda]

vanguard bandits for psx is pretty good too. lots of branching storylines

Der Langrisser is a great one as well. A very well done fan translation came out a couple years ago; they even translated the manual.

[Levi]

Valkyrie Chronicles is kind of fun, although a little thin on the character development bits.  You also get tanks which is fun. 

I don't know if there really is a lot of FFT style games out there though.  There is grotesque tactics on steam, but frankly I didn't think it was very good at all.

[Mephansteras]

The old Vandal Hearts game for the ps1 is pretty good, although I personally didn't like Vandal Hearts 2 very much.

[Haschel]

All iterations of Disgaea are good on their own, each one is a standalone game so you don't need to play any of the past titles to enjoy it (Though you may miss out on an inside joke or two) The first one has the most basic gameplay, and honestly it's pretty generic if you've played any of the more recent iterations. If you're experiencing it for the first time though, you're golden. Despite the basic gameplay it has the (in my opinion) best story and characters of the series. Each title after the first adds some new core mechanics that don't quite re-invent the gameplay, but are significant enough to warrant hours upon hours of play. Most of the mechanics won't matter much if all you do is the main story, though. It's the after-game that really opens it up.

There's also the Front Missions series. It lacks the character depth of FFT or Disgaea, but still has some fun customization and pretty solid strategy in battles. And who doesn't like giant robots? The first three are all classics, the fourth and fifth didn't get much appreciation (Fifth wasn't released in US but I believe there is a fan translation. Haven't played it yet myself)

Also similar to Disgaea is Phantom Brave which is a personal favorite. It's the same strategy based RPG, but it's unique in that the square grid is removed. You also don't "deploy" units at the start of battle, rather you always start with the main character and she summons spirits bound to objects around the map. The characters, setting, and story really struck a chord with me as well.