Looking for a Fire Emblem Style Steam Game

So I'm fairly new to the whole steam thing (only have 2 unplayed games on it right now) and am getting my yearly Fire Emblem itch (normally play the sacred stones or the fire emblem titled GBA game at least once a year). All the talk of the new 3ds game has made me want to play a similar style game. So if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them.

Some of the big things i'm looking for; TBS, hopefully decent story/characters, some sort of evolution mechanic would be awesome (I loved choosing the paths for upgrading characters in Fire Emblem), something not too hard on my mediocre laptop and also decently priced (fifteen dollar max as this is going to be my casual game probably). The big ones are just that it be turn based and have decent price. Hope I'm not being too picky but I would love to find something in the monstrosity that is steam to suit my needs.

Thanks duders.

The game for you is XCOM enemy unknown!

@benny: have it on console.....also probably a little bit too complicated for my laptop. But yes that game is awesome.

X-COM 1 or TFTD then (I personally loved TFTD).

I've heard that Banner Saga is supposed to be a Nordic Fire Emblem (even more so than the one with a Norse love affair), but I haven't played it enough to know. Or at all.

For what it's worth, not a ton of games have that sort of evolution/promoting mechanic other than like Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Shining Force, and a few others. It's kind of a JRPG thing, which there aren't a ton of on Steam.

Highborn has...some of the things you're looking for, though Rock, Paper, Shotgun really didn't like the writing.

A friend of mine likes the Grotesque Tactics games, though I have never personally played them, and from screenshots I don't think they're anywhere near the level of polish of Fire Emblem, but hey, maybe they're good?

The Banner Saga isn't out yet, but it will probably have a lot of what you want. You can play the F2P multiplayer version now, The Banner Saga: Factions.

XCOM is above your stated price range, but seriously, it's really really good. It's more of a premise than a story, and doesn't really have characters, but your soldiers gain pretty meaningful abilities as they level up, and the tactical combat is great. Though there is a strategy/management layer to the whole thing where you may misspend your money at the base or just not earn enough money and then your guys are underequipped, so if you really hate that kind of stuff than maybe you'd find it frustrating, except it makes things pretty clear to you.

The games most like Fire Emblem (Shining Force, Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea) aren't likely to be on Steam anytime soon.

Also, here is this old thread where someone asked a question very similar to yours, though not restricted just to PC: http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion-30/fire-emblem-like-games-578051/

@bisonhero: @d_bones: Shining Force I and II are available on Steam. They're classics for rather cheap.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/71120/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/71160/

@truthtellah: Oh man, totally forgot about that. Thought they were only on the Wii's Virtual Console.

@d_bones: Yeah, those 2 Shining Force games are the most directly similar to Fire Emblem, in that the Shining Force series is pretty much Sega's answer to the Fire Emblem series. Note that they are kind of primitive when compared to Fire Emblem: Awakening because they are Sega Genesis games. Sadly, no support conversations either, because that's pretty much a Fire Emblem thing. The Shining Force stories are pretty standard JRPG fantasy, though Fire Emblem really isn't much better in that department.

@bisonhero: Yeah, I've enjoyed Shining Force II recently. I'd recommend this version of the game. A very good emulation of it, and it still does have a great charm to it.

Sort of? They're more like Sega intercepting the Tactics Ogre craze that was just on the horizon, at least in terms of direct gameplay. If we want a Fire Emblem-esque game that was notably on the Genesis, can't go wrong with Warsong (even if it ended up on a lot of non-Sega systems much later).

Took a look at the Shining Force games and think they look a little dated even for my GBA nostalgia.

Banner Saga Factions is similar to Fire Emblem, but a bit more stripped down. Also, no campaign (just multiplayer). I liked it until I hit the "you're going to lose the next 17 matches unless you pay to get better dudes" wall. It got me interested in the campaign that's due out later this year, though.

Yeah, that's probably more accurate, but the side effect is that they ended up somewhat similar to Fire Emblem. It's a bummer that Tactics Ogre hasn't been rereleased on anything but Sony platforms. C'mon, guys, put your old-ass games on Steam.

Seriously, what happened to Quest? Square buys them, they basically continue the Final Fantasy Tactics series for a bit on the GBA, and I don't know what they've contributed to since then.

Have you tried downloading an emulator and playing Advance Wars?

@believer258: i'm considering getting an emulator and just playing the GBA Fire Emblems over again cause it doesn't seem as though steam has much in that style. But yeah I've played Advance Wars, I like it but I think Fire Emblem is deeper which I like.

Or Quintet, for that matter? I should not have been listening to the Terranigma soundtrack after that. Now I'm bummed that I don't know what happened to all of Enix's smaller branches/companies from the SNES era. Their ominous Wikipedia page certainly doesn't help.

@d_bones: The King's Bounty series is a pretty good turned based tactical rpg. There is also a demo for one of the games.

The closest thing might be Highborn, but it has a lot more in common with that other Intelligent Systems-developed series,(Advance) Wars. Be warned, Highborn wears its humor on its sleeve, and whether you like it or not really depends on how you like the humor.

You could also give Battle for Wesnoth a spin. It feels closer to Tactics Ogre/Final Fantasy Tactics in terms of pacing, but at least you can grab it for free.