• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

What is the best strategy video game of all time?

The best strategy game?

  • Command & Conquer

    Votes: 11 5.9%
  • Age of Empires II

    Votes: 24 12.8%
  • Company of Heroes

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • Civilization II

    Votes: 6 3.2%
  • Civilization IV

    Votes: 8 4.3%
  • Black & White

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Home World

    Votes: 2 1.1%
  • Advance Wars

    Votes: 6 3.2%
  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert

    Votes: 16 8.6%
  • Pikmin 2

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • Star Control 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Myth II: Soulblighter

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Supreme Commander

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • Final Fantasy Tactics

    Votes: 21 11.2%
  • Fire Emblem: Awakening

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • Rise of Nations

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • Halo Wars

    Votes: 4 2.1%
  • Warcraft III

    Votes: 9 4.8%
  • Starcraft II

    Votes: 16 8.6%
  • Rome: Total War

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • Xcom: Enemy Unknown

    Votes: 12 6.4%
  • Another not listed

    Votes: 42 22.5%

  • Total voters
    187

Silvawuff

Member
Plants vs. Zombies. That's strategy, right?

Srs answer tho, probably Starcraft. It has a very robust multiplayer scene, even to this day.
 

Fbh

Member
I've heard good things about this game but it doesn't seem easy to play in 2021. One of the few games I set out to play on PC and gave up before I found a working way to do it.

Yeah, sadly due to licensing issues it got completely delisted.

I still have a physical copy, it's actually the only physical PC game I still own.

Right now the only 2 options are to track down a second hand physical copy or just pirate it.

Every time there's some new LOTR project I cross my fingers that the increased interest in the franchise will make someone fix things behind the scenes and arrange for a digital re release.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
The best I've played is probably Stellaris for the hardcore. I think maybe Halo Wars 1 for the unititated.
 

Akuji

Member
OBVIOUSLY its starcraft brood war.
Is there any other real strategy game?

Lul at putting sc2 the abomination into the poll.
 

Elog

Member
As a complete strategy nerd there are many titles missing that should be on that list and several titles that are on the list but shouldn't.

Hard to pick one winner but if I would mention a few it would be Distant Worlds Universe (old now - looking out for the sequel hopefully coming this year), Sword of the Stars, Crusader Kings 2, Total War: Attila (best of the series just very punishing and hence why people dislike it) and AI War.
 

BlackTron

Member
Yeah, sadly due to licensing issues it got completely delisted.

I still have a physical copy, it's actually the only physical PC game I still own.

Right now the only 2 options are to track down a second hand physical copy or just pirate it.

Every time there's some new LOTR project I cross my fingers that the increased interest in the franchise will make someone fix things behind the scenes and arrange for a digital re release.

I went through this two years ago. I even finally managed to download a copy but couldn't make it work. It look legitimate effort and time just to find it.

If they would put it out for sale to end that problem I would certainly buy it.
 

Ballthyrm

Member
Strategy in the title, OP put a ton of tactics game in the list.

Strategy != Tactics.

Strategy: a: the science and art of employing the political, economic, psychological, and military forces of a nation or group of nations to afford the maximum support to adopted policies in peace or war
b: the science and art of military command exercised to meet the enemy in combat under advantageous conditions

Tactics: a: the science and art of disposing and maneuvering forces in combat
b: the art or skill of employing available means to accomplish an end

All of the following, I would consider to be mainly Tactics games:
  • Final Fantasy Tactics
  • Advance Wars
  • Xcom: Enemy Unknown
  • Company of Heroes

In Tactics the big difference is that you are mostly working with what you've got to achieve a specific end.
Whereas in Strategy you are building something that you'll later use in multiple ways.

Tactical games tend to be built with some way of accomplishing a set goal and some sense of Fairness.
Whereas in Strategy game you are playing to give yourself an unfair advantage as much as possible in order to win.

And Pikmin is neither a Tactics or a Strategy game. It's a puzzle game disguised as a Tactics game.
 

cireza

Banned
S-RPG : Dragon Force
drfosa0f.jpg


T-RPG : Shining Force III
shf3sa0f.jpg


RPG : Panzer Dragoon Saga
240.jpg
 
Last edited:

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
An awesome business game I played on Apple in the 80s. If you like looking at sales, profit and inventory. It's all text.

You can play against the computer which isnt very good. But playing against my brothers was super fun even though I didn't know what I was doing at the time.

The only starting tips you need as I dont think they ever told you is the typical starting selling price is 500, a factory can normally make 10 units and OT a factory can make 20.

It's only when I replayed the game on emulators when the internet got up and running I understood it all. If you can a big bull market years later, I was able to sell all my goods for $2000.

Funny thing was the manual. They knew there were bugs in the game where it would dump you to a kill screen. It would happen if you played a a game too long (too many years). So in the manual they even brought it up. lol

Cartels & Cutthroats | ClassicReload.com

Cartels (gamesdatabase.org)
 
Last edited:

CitizenZ

Banned
Those saying Xcom Enemy unknown(one of the best games ever) need to go play Enemy Within. The same goes for X2 where War of the chosen was better.

As for RTS there is no other answer than CoH. None.
 

Nubulax

Member
Command and Conquer Franchise and Starcraft Franchise have to be top 2 for me. Red Alert the original is STILL my favorite strategy game of all time
 
Last edited:
Poll is shit. Separating civ games instead of just saying civ divides that vote as people have preferences depending on how old and which ones were played.

Also these are different types of games, civ and homm(not even on thr poll, instant fail), gal civ, etc are turn based strategy or 4x games, Rome total war is real time with turn based, command and conquer and age of empire are more localized individual units and also real time strategy. You also have games like eu4, hearts of iron, crusader kings, stelaris that are real time with pause on a massive scale.

That's not even getting into console style games like final fantasy tactics, ogre tactics, disgaea (not on here), advance war, fire emblem, all turn based strategy but down to individual units not nations or larger scope.

Plus people who never played pc strategy games are always going to choose the console games and vs versa. A real poll would be best strategy game from x genre/sub genre. Plus many great games are excluded.
 

TheStam

Member
Some good games with on the list, but there's not a single Paradox Interactive game on there.

From the list I would say Civ2, but my vote would go to Europa Universalis 3 which is probably my most played strategy game of all time. Hearts of Iron 2 in close second place.
 

Bragr

Banned
Strategy in the title, OP put a ton of tactics game in the list.

Strategy != Tactics.





All of the following, I would consider to be mainly Tactics games:
  • Final Fantasy Tactics
  • Advance Wars
  • Xcom: Enemy Unknown
  • Company of Heroes

In Tactics the big difference is that you are mostly working with what you've got to achieve a specific end.
Whereas in Strategy you are building something that you'll later use in multiple ways.

Tactical games tend to be built with some way of accomplishing a set goal and some sense of Fairness.
Whereas in Strategy game you are playing to give yourself an unfair advantage as much as possible in order to win.

And Pikmin is neither a Tactics or a Strategy game. It's a puzzle game disguised as a Tactics game.
Wow wow wow, hold on here, I agree with your idea of tactics games, but strategy games are mostly games that involve thinking and planning, and Pikmin and Company of Heroes certainly fit that bill, the more strategic you are in those games the better you do, why don't you view them as strategy, CoH as a tactics game?
 

noise36

Member
No Dune 2? I am reading the books at the moment and am wishing this game would get a remaster/reboot.

The Civilization series are the best strategy games ever made for sure.
 
Last edited:

MiguelItUp

Member
I voted for AoE II, because for several years I knew multiple people that still played it. A lot of them weren't even RTS fans of any form. But that game hit them in a way that was really special. I think second for me is probably C&C or C&C Red Alert.
 

Abhorash

Neo Member
Depends on if we're talking about RTS or Grand Strategy. For me personally is most of the Total War series, AOE, AOM and the Paradox games since they've monopolized that genre and schtick. Haven't played any Civilization game yet though.
 

Sleepwalker

Gold Member
Fire Emblem for the GBA, the first one launched in North America.

Played almost all the fire emblems since and haven't been able to recapture the feel of that one.
 
Came here to be sad that nobody mentioned one of the strategy OGs...Shining Force. Also, Ogre battle belongs on this list I think?
 

DinoD

Member
Age of Empires II. It may not be the technically the best/complex strategy game ever, but surely the one that gave me the countless hours of pure fun. Its probably in my top 5 games of all time.

Regards
 

Ceadeus

Member
I voted advance wars. It's simple and like this that way.

It's crazy when an old thread is bumped, you can see so many banned members
 
Shining Force was the first and only game I gave up a night of sleep to keep playing through. 2 and 3 are perfect sequels too. After them I would have to say FFT and Ogre Battle were both amazing. Tactics is still my favorite FF game. SC 1 was my first taste of mp RTS, and it got me sucked in till WC3. Red Alert 2 gets a strong honorable mention for RTS, so fast and crazy even when playing against the cpu.
 
Starcraft 2 Broodwar.
There was a point in time that I lived and breathed this damn game and friends and coworkers would discuss build orders.
Nowadays no one at my work talks about video games. 🥺
 

Bryank75

Banned
My favorite C&C games were Tiberian Sun and Generals

Others I liked a lot were Ground Control, Homeworld, Civ and

the legendary.... Total Annihilation!



The game that console wars are actually based on.
 

Tschumi

Member
I guess it's been said enough that your poll includes a lot of games that aren't RTS games

The answer is
1) aoe2
2) Warcraft 3
3) Homeworld
4) Age of Mythology
5) Starcraft
6) World in Conflict
7) C&C Red Alert 2
8) Ground Control
9) Rise of Nations
10) Empire Earth

Hybrid mentions:
Majesty 2
LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth
Black and White

Bryank75 Bryank75 I'm glad someone else has Ground Control in their heart.. i adore GC... GC2 not bad.. descendant World in Conflict fucking incredible... I liked TA tons as a kid but i find it janky these days, and i could never get into Supreme Commander or its expack or whatever it is
 
Last edited:

Hnjohngalt

Member
Starcraft1 would had been my GOTF if it allowed more units. That 200 max units, forced games to be too fast. I wish the remake added more but Blizzard gonna be like that. I still would hoist Rise of Nations over most on that list. The options and play mechanics are sublime. I also liked the 10 sec pause mechanics you can use for tactical offenses or defenses. It was more strat and tactics than most RTS games before it. Plus the single player risk lite part was awesome.
 
Top Bottom