After several weeks with Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave on Nintendo Switch 2, players may still have hundreds of hours of stories to explore across Dagda. When every Flame Lord’s campaign is complete, these five strategy RPGs and tactical adventures offer different ways to keep your planning skills sharp while waiting for news about downloadable content from Intelligent Systems.
For more ideas beyond turn-based tactics, browse RETROCADE’s arcade blog or explore the arcade machine range.
1. Final Fantasy Tactics
The 2025 remake of Final Fantasy Tactics is a strong choice for anyone who enjoys difficult terrain, flexible character classes and carefully planned team builds. Its job system encourages experimentation, while specific battles demand that you think carefully about which abilities and roles belong in your squad.
Optional skirmishes are practically essential, even on normal difficulty, so some grinding is part of the experience. The reward is a satisfying sense of mastery. Beneath the tactical systems sits a grim but affecting story about ordinary people exploited by the nobility. The remake is also somewhat less demanding than the original 1998 PlayStation release.
2. Fire Emblem Engage
Fire Emblem Engage, released in 2023, may not have the character-driven narrative associated with Three Houses, but its battles and maps are excellent. The Emblem Ring system lets characters borrow skills from earlier heroes, creating unusually powerful combinations and plenty of room for customisation.
Building a strong bond with an Emblem allows a character to inherit some of its skills permanently. There is also a social-simulation layer and an explorable overworld, although these elements are easier to set aside here than they are in Fortune’s Weave.
3. Wargroove
Players who choose permadeath in Fire Emblem may appreciate the demanding battles in Chucklefish’s 2019 strategy game, Wargroove. More than 12 Commanders lead the campaign, and each has a distinctive ultimate ability called a Groove. Grooves charge during combat and can produce effects such as healing or constructing walls.
Caesar, a golden retriever dressed in silver armour with a red-feathered plume, is one of the most memorable commanders. In one mission, Caesar and his soldiers enter an abandoned stronghold occupied by rogues, who quickly discover that the dog general is not to be underestimated.
4. Shining Force 2
Sega’s 1990s strategy RPG remains a worthwhile alternative for anyone who wants straightforward grid-based battles without social-simulation systems or calendar management. Its maps include memorable set pieces such as a giant chessboard and a sequence involving floating rafts.
The story is simple even by 1990s RPG standards, revolving around a broken magical seal and an ancient evil. The unusual cast provides much of the charm, including a werewolf, a phoenix and a flying jellyfish capable of using ice magic. Shining Force 2 is available through the Sega Genesis library for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers.
5. Unicorn Overlord
Vanillaware’s 2024 tactical RPG is a natural fit for players who enjoyed gradually opening up the world map in Fortune’s Weave. You liberate towns, collect resources and build an army to oppose an evil empire. The central plot is familiar, but optional adventures and character-focused missions add more depth.
More than 60 recruitable characters join the roster across a range of classes. Rather than moving every character individually, you form squads of up to five for turn-based combat. Skills and passive abilities can be arranged so their effects trigger in an advantageous order, adding another layer of strategy. Vanillaware’s painted environments and character designs make the campaign especially striking.
Choosing your next tactical challenge
Each game approaches the appeal of Fortune’s Weave differently. Final Fantasy Tactics focuses on jobs and demanding encounters, Engage offers expansive character customisation, and Wargroove makes battlefield decisions especially unforgiving. Shining Force 2 delivers a simpler retro format, while Unicorn Overlord combines exploration with squad-based combat.
If you are building a dedicated home gaming setup, RETROCADE’s arcade machine buying guide can help you choose the right format. Compact spaces may suit bartop arcades, while hands-on builders can investigate DIY arcade kits.
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