I just got a PS Vita and as the title suggests I'm looking for some games that are similar to Advance Wars and/or Fire Emblem.

I've read a lot of recommendations of Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre but from the videos I've watched of the these game they seem more focus on the RPG elements than the tactical elements.

What would be the closest to Advance Wars on the Vita system?

(oh, and BTW I live in EU in terms of what is available in the PSN Store)

Thanks in advance,

Valkyria Chronicles 2, Disgaea franchise, and tons more. Both FF Tactics and Tactics Ogre are all about tactics. I'm no expert on the PS1/PSP/PS Vita library, but SRPG are one of the most prevalent and widely available genres for the system.

When in doubt, just wait for a sale. I got FF Tactics and Valkyria Chronicles and some Disgaea game for a fiver each. Can't go wrong at that pricepoint.

It's a PSP game, but Field Commander is probably the closest thing to Advance Wars.

Nothing yet

There are no good tactical rpgs on the vita

@recspec said:

I can't find Field Commander in the EU PSN Store...

Thanks, I will definitely look for both these game and buy them on sale.

If you haven't played FF Tactics that's probably the best SRPG (it is to me) so definitely grab that.

It does not have more RPG than tactics, in my mind. Yes you are upgrading your characters and there are classes and everything (that's all deep) but you have to know what you're doing and be very tactical in the battles too.

There are things to exploit in the game (but this happens in just about all SRPGs) but it has a lot of depth moment to moment. I get how its different but both games scratch a similar itch for me. I'd definitely give it a shot before I gave up on it because it's an amazing game.

I don't think there are many TBT games on the playstation, most of them are probably gonna have a hefty emphasis on the RPG aspects unfortunately dude.

There are plenty of tactics and systems in Disgaea. There is a pretty big emphasis on grinding, though. Which I like, there's a ton of game there to go through.

disgaea, tactics games, jeanne d'arc, all psp games but if you can find them for vita sure... those are some to get.

Mecho Wars is a PS Mini game that's fairly similar to Advance Wars, and super-cheap.

Try Wild Arms XF! It's a lot more tactical than FF tactics. The story is a bit anime, but I liked it.

Front. Mission. 3. It's an original PSOne joint, but it's a sexy beast.

@blackwood:

If you get Valkyria Chronicles 2, be ready for a slow burn. The first 10 hours or so are rather bland and trivial both story and gameplay-wise. It gets a lot better though. I'm now 30 hours in, and I think it's shithot - I love it. Loads of depth, and plenty challenging, and while some aspects of the story remain rather purile, the whole military academy angle does come together rather nicely.

Disgaea 3 came out on for the Vita in 2012

Tactics Ogre is definitely a lot more tactics focused than FF: Tactics (Damn word), so you might enjoy that more if that's what you're looking for. I would highly recommend playing Final Fantasy Tactics at some point though. It is, in my opinion, the best SRPG ever made.

I would also highly recommend Disgaea. There is nothing else on the market even remotely close to how insane and amazing those games get. It has tons of crazy systems to get lost in and is pretty hilarious and insane. Definitely more RPG than tactical stuff though. Although there are some puzzle elements which can be pretty interesting. I remember D3 being free for PSN+ users on the Canadian PSN, not sure if its still available but it might be free on your PSN as well.

Aside from the ones mentioned, Rainbow Moon is an obvious choice, and for a different take on the genre Frozen Synapse Tactics should be coming soon. There are a bunch more out or due out in Japan soon, though stuff like Super Heroine Chronicle and Super Robot Wars Z are unlikely to make it over due to licensing issues. Natural Doctrine might though, and the Black Heart Hyperdimension Neptunia SRPG spin-off is practically a certainty.

@seppli: How is it compared to VC1 if you've played that? I really loved the first and I now finally have a Vita too so I was looking into getting it soon.

It's been forever since I played the first one, but I was quite disappointed with the second game initially. Took me like 2 months to get through the first 10 hours of Valkyria Chronicles 2. For that time, it felt like it was made for stupid people, and the plot is little more than a bland high school sitcom.

There's a sharp spike of difficulty at about the 10 hours mark, and from then on out it just gets better and better gameplay-wise. The story and its characters also started to grow on me, especially once the character specific missions trickle in. As far as I remember it all, it has deeper mechanics than the first game. Very enjoyable.

If you are willing to suffer a little, you won't be disappointed in the longrun - but be forewarned, it isn't great from the get-go.

IDK if you can get them in EU, but grab Front Mission 3 and Vanguard Bandits from PSN. I played them back in the PSX days and they are two of my favourite games of all time.

@Front Mission 3 is available but not Vanguard.

I'm also looking forward to Frozen Synapse: Tactics.

I'm just here to echo a few other posters, definitely jump for Front Mission 3 if it's available to you.

I don't care what platform you have, it's arguably the best in the series and up there on my list of best SRPGs ever made. AFAIK, it's as close as one can get to crossing mech-sim levels of customization/progression with snappy and "to-the-point" Intelligent Systems-style strategy.

That is a damn shame. Vanguard Bandits is sooooooo good. Something crazy I will suggest you do with Front Mission 3 is to play it with perma death. It's not an option in the game so you will need to do it yourself. When I played it as a kid I rented it and didn't have a memory card at the time so when I died I died for good and all my progress was lost. It made each fight so amazing knowing that if I died it was game over for real. There were several missions where I was down to 1 wanzer that had all his parts broken but a melee arm and some how came out on top. Nothing has come close to the highs I got from playing the game like that. It's something only a crazy person would do, but if you go in with that mindset it adds so much to these type of games.

Front Mission was always an interesting series that did things drastically different than other games in the SRPG genre. I tried jumping into Front Mission 3, but it just didn't mesh well with me, though mostly because I realized mech games aren't my style. However, I can see why others enjoy the series and makes me wish Square would return to their experimentation with various genres again instead of bastardizing Final Fantasy.

That is totally crazy, but something I very much can relate to :) I've added storylines to numerous game in the past by the way I played then.

The most was in in the first two Fallout - where I hunted and killed all slave dealers I can across. It added nothing to the game or the storyline (that was built into the game) but for me it added a aspect to the game that I really like.

Do anyone know how to get Jeanne d'Arc in the EU PSN Store?

It's MIA and all how-to guides I've found online seem a dated and their approach doesn't work anymore (buying US game cards etc.)

Seeing how many times FFT has been mentioned, you might probably want to get that. But before you do, know that there are currently 2 versions you can gey. The ps1 and the psp version.

Price being equal, go with the psp version as it has cutscenes and even multiplayer (I think). If difference is more than 5$ just get the cheapest.

This.
And Disgaea 3.

Jeanne d'Arc was never released in Europe, a shame since it's really good and charming in that Level 5 way. I had to buy it from the NA PS3 storefront and transer it to Vita, so unless you start to dabble in dummy accounts and multiple memory cards you're out of luck.

I'm playing Tactics Ogre right now... loving it.

And I found Advance Wars for DS extremely cheap on eBay - so I'm gonna borrow my son's DS to play that also :)

Not sure if there's any PSVita titles that's actually like that. But you play great strategy RPGs such as Tactics Ogre (PSP), Final Fantasy Tactics (PSP), and Front Mission 3 (PSOne) on your Vita.

Hmmm any chance of another advanced wars? Obviously not on vita but there needs to be one on 3DS

Days of Ruin was just recently released in Japan so pretty slim but I hope so, Advance Wars is one of my favorite series. Intelligent Systems managed to revilatize Fire Emblem but we'll have to see if they try the same with AW or just stick with FE.

I wish Vandal Hearts was available, that was always my fondest SRPG back in the day.

The PSP version of Tom Clancy's Endwar, which is Vita compatible, is a Battle Isle clone - and the Battle Isle series was inspired by Hudsonsoft's Nectaris/Military Madness for the PC Engine, which was in itself the precursor to Famicom/Advance Wars. The console game Endwar was an entirely different thing, but the PSP game is an hexagonal turn based strategy game.

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ps vita chock full of the games i desire, me likey...

@fisk0 said:

The PSP version of Tom Clancy's Endwar, which is Vita compatible, is a Battle Isle clone - and the Battle Isle series was inspired by Hudsonsoft's Nectaris/Military Madness for the PC Engine, which was in itself the precursor to Famicom/Advance Wars. The console game Endwar was an entirely different thing, but the PSP game is an hexagonal turn based strategy game.

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Dam, I had no idea the PSP end war was like this. Going to pick this one up now.

What this person says is true. Mecho Wars is exceedingly similar to Advance Wars.

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Should be noted that since my last post in this thread, Natural Doctrine has indeed been licensed for western release by NISA later this year.

If you want something specifically built for the Vita, nothing comes to mind. Available on the Vita though is Front Mission 3. Which is maybe the best Squaresoft game that nobody talks about? It's really god damned good and if you can put up with the graphics and the aspect ratio (both worth it) it will scratch that Fire Emblem itch all night long.

Disgaea 3 is probably the worst of the series but still worth trying, and Disgaea 4 Vita is coming out soon and it's generally considered as good or better than the original game (I fall in the "better" camp)

I stumbled across this 3 years late... but now I feel like I need to go buy a Vita