Out of Turn, out of Time

My intense love of turn-based tactics has faded with time. I was curious why that was so.

"Army" by Sean MacEntee is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

This is a Bonus Post that breaks from my One Cool Thing premise. Let me know what you think in the comments!

It is not inaccurate to say that the major impediments to me learning German while studying abroad in Austria were my fascination with the works of W. Somerset Maugham (thank you English bookstore!), Advance Wars, and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. I opted for “just one more turn” over “just one more memory” more than I should have.

Scheisse! But also, aufwiedersehen enemy tanks.

I loved clawing my way to an S-Rank on that little clam-shell device. As a 21 year old nerd, my identity was strongly tied to my firm belief that playing turn-based tactics games were how mortals grew closer to god.

I was voracious in my consumption, but selective in my dedication and affection. I bought a Sony PSP at launch explicitly to obtain Field Commander, but quickly found the disk-based device wasn’t snappy enough for satisfying turn-based play.

The variety was not worth my time if it was not, as the French say, “correct.” It wasn’t just the careful positioning of units - every tactics game has that - but the crisp, satisfying, amuse-bouche delivery mechanism that was important. I loved constant, delicious bites.

I loved a few things, then, about the genre:

• The quick pace of the feedback loop. I made a decision and evaluated the consequences rapidly. This fed into the GBA vs. PSP debate. One was crisp, the other was not.

• The combination of decisions. Which units, at which time, in what position, to solve which problem, that I deemed most urgent. It was a robust, but not overwhelming density of decisions.

• Pick up and put down. At any point these games could be paused, saved, and returned to.

• Evaluation. The games had a very clear and intuitive scoring system. I would earn a B, iterate, snag an A, optimize, and earn that S. I knew precisely where I stood.

Over time, the firepower of modern consoles began to evolve the genre beyond two dimensional sprites.

The hybrids and distant relatives were also appealing. Knights of the Old Republic was turn based, but kept moving as if it were real time. Fallout 3 encouraged you to play through combat using its VATS system and I was rewarded for this with gruesome, slow-motion, three dimensional feedback.

We shouldn’t overlook XCOM. The richness of the meta-game and the visceral nature of the 3D, tactical combat was invigorating. I loved watching my alien stomping bros leap through glass windows and slam open doors. It was a tiny detail, but really added a little pep to a typically static genre.

It seemed as if the genre would grow with me. As if we’d be pals forever. But, the reality is not so.

I was so eager to purchase Wargroove, the spiritual successor to Advance Wars, and found myself bored after just a few hours. I tried Flotilla. While novel, it just felt messy. It lacked precision and the French culinary precision I craved.

Civilization fails to hold my interest for long…I’m just too overwhelmed by the inputs and never feel like I’m actually successful. XCOM 2 was more difficult than fun, or perhaps I lacked the patience to be successful? It no longer felt fair.

Child of Light was boring at best with its tiresome timing mechanism punched into the combat.

The task then is to ask whether the genre or I changed? Or, potentially, is it more accurate to say that the genre didn’t change enough?

Analysis craves comparison, so before we identify the elements of the genre I still enjoy, it’s useful to look at turn-based games I have enjoyed recently and why.

Into the Breach is a favorite, because it boldly captures the simplicity of Advance Wars: carefully prioritize enemy targets, avoid damage, position units with the next few turns in mind, and use special powers effectively. But, it strips away the tedium with lightning fast maps that last only a handful of turns. Your S-Rank does not come from repetitive play, but from succeeding in this challenging, rogue-like setup. It’s familiar, but also fresh.

Gratuitous Space Battles is a game in which you are provided vague information about the enemy fleet. You must then use finite resources to design your ships and fleet, arrange them in formation, and give them high level orders. For example, you can direct your cruisers to engage capital ships first, and primarily from a distance. You then hit go and watch. Once the battle begins - not unlike an actual admiral - you are a passenger of your strategy. This game is not turn-based, but it plays with the notion of control and the classic turn-based spectrum of battlefield control and decision space.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a very typical, standard turn-based game. In many ways it is a fairly glossy, typical take on the genre. Why do I like it, then? Well, for one, the tactics portion is only half of the game. The other half is a rich, bizarre, strange science fiction narrative experience. The other thing is that 13 Sentinels is explosive and over-the top. Your units are launching an avalanche of missiles and decimating the enemy robots. It’s also, dare I say, rather easy. It’s a great stick of bubble gum. The flavor doesn’t last long, but that is okay, because you have other things to eat.

Persona 5 Royal is first and foremost, the most stylish game I have ever played in my life. I’ve seen images of people cosplaying the game’s interface, which is high praise. This is a turn-based Japanese RPG, but it is lightning fast. You are working to identify weaknesses, exploit them, and chain your combos together. It forces you to constantly re-evaluate which characters you have in the battle, how to manage them across multiple encounters, and which of their Personas to use and level.

It seems clear to me, then, that I still massively value a lightning fast feedback loop and absurdly snappy decision making. My patience is much reduced, be that a symptom of age, time poverty, or just exasperation with the hundreds of hours I’ve otherwise spent on slower entries of the genre.

I value experimentation and games that are forcing me to re-think the battlefield. Be it by stripping my control, forcing me to change a pivotal character at the right time, or forcing me to survive a procedural gauntlet.

I also value narrative far more now. This is potentially a sign of my maturity, or perhaps my maturity in tandem with the maturity of narrative in games. It’s a topic on which I have more thoughts for a future entry. Many turn-based tactics games lack a compelling narrative or even characters. This is one of the reasons I’m so interested to try Triangle Strategy.

Mostly, it seems that the games that remain too close to the offerings of the classics and only differentiate themselves with finer graphics or mild hybridization just aren’t distinct enough to warrant my affection. I want something more than a bigger tank, the inclusion of a real-time mechanism, or even bigger powers to wield.

If Advance Wars is a fine gaming caviar, and I’ve consumed too much, well, that isn’t the worst fate.

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