On The Radar – Turn-Based RPGs & Strategy Games of February 2022

“No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.”
― Aristotle

Well, I’ve got two good news for you!
The first one is that this time you won’t have to read one of my (in)famous introductions, so you can go straight to reading the list of the upcoming releases!
The second one is that this month is going to be very very rich, with games for almost every taste. True – most of them are indie projects. This, however, certainly doesn’t mean they won’t be able to catch your attention.
Extravagance and originality are the leitmotif of the month! So much so that we could find games where the hero is called Hiro, where the main quest is to go and get some sugar, or where you can fight foes by playing on a banjo.
Ah, what would life be without a little foolishness?

Best Turn-Based RPGs & Strategy Games releasing on February 2022

GRID SLAYER – 2^nd February

I’m aware that there are a lot of deckbuilding games out there. Enough so that there isn’t really any place left for enthusiasm in the genre. Grid Slayer, however, does look quite interesting and original, at least from the visual standpoint.
At its core, it can be defined as a tactical grid-based deckbuilder, with a deep strategic flavor.

Each encounter is decided by many factors, like the elemental effects (i.e., Lightning stuns and spreads through Water. Water puts out Fire. Fire spreads through Oil. Oil is slippery and so on), the units’ positions, the card combinations etc.

If you want to become a genius, it’s worth a look! On Steam!

KING OF HEROES – 3^rd February

A battle card game, but also a great adventure!

Ok, you’ve got me, I confess, I don’t know much about this game (only that our hero is called Hiro…), so I’ll just quote what I found in the official description:
“Follow our hero on his treacherous adventure, tackling on a multitude of obstacles and battling strange and scary monsters. A new and interactive strategy game in the making built just for you and your friends!
Using an innovative four-slot system, plan your moves ahead of time. All moves resolve at the same time, and CHAOS ENSUES.
Each unit has their own special skills! Will you play as the tough and hardy warrior, Hiro? Or the magical wizard Aria? Discover the secret behind the King of Heroes!“

On Steam next week!

RISE OF THE THIRD POWER – 10^th February

You know, I’ve never been a great fan of JRPGs. ROTTP looks exactly like a heartfelt tribute to the console classics of the 90s, even if the developer promises a good combination of the best elements of Japanese and Western style gameplay and writing.

The story takes place in the land of Rin, at the height of the Age of Sail, following the events that would lead to the greatest war in human history.
You command a party of eight heroes, each with their own personality, as they embark upon a suicide mission to topple the evil Arkadyan emperor.

Soon on Steam and GOG.

SUGAR STORY – 10^th February

After a hero called Hiro, here we have a guy embarking on a mythic quest: go and get sugar for his family because it’s just ran out!
I mean, what do they smoke while developing…? Obviously I’m just joking, I always appreciate original and crazy ideas. After all, as someone said: “Originality is the best form of rebellion.”
That being said, as you may have guessed, Sugar Story tells the adventure of a boy on his first very important mission: save the sugar and… the world itself, along the way.

Features:

• Friend Slime, who accompanies you on your journey across the world.
• Time Progress Battle System. (In other words, it’s a dynamic turn-based system in which you attack as soon as you have strength – if your opponent recovers faster, he attacks).
• Puzzles to solve.
• Fantastic soundtrack.
• Find secrets.
• Lots of interesting Quests.
• Gain experience and learn new skills.

Only on Steam.

INK AND PAPER: WANDERING (E.A.) – 10^th February

Have you ever wanted to fight someone by playing a banjo or reading a book? No? Me neither, but Ink and Paper looks crazy enough to give you such opportunities (or even worse… or better – it depends on your level of madness).

We don’t know much about the game, but one thing is quite clear: this ain’t your average turn-based RPG, and that’s good news for everyone. At the time I’m writing, the project still looks like it’s at a very early stage, but it seems foolish enough to be fun!

Only on Steam E.A.!

SGS GLORY RECALLED – 10^th February

Ok, this is a wargame so, according to our tradition, I’ll quote the description on the Steam page:
“This game covers the rather unknown fight in the British colony of Hong Kong at the start of the Pacific War during World War Two, between the British and Commonwealth forces and their Japanese opponents. The outnumbered defenders managed to resist for 3 weeks, abandoned by all. They did it for the glory, and this fight is worth being recalled.
As a part of the SGS family, the gameplay is very similar to that of the other games, where you move air and land units, play cards to sustain your actions, and interact with the other player or AI in a turn-based game mode.“

On Steam!

SEFIROT SHARDS (E.A)- 11^th February

Part collectible card game and part turn-based strategy, Sefirot Shards tries to say something new in a rather overcrowded genre.

In a world fragmented into many levitating shards, each one with its unique characteristics, you and your squad must explore the land and face a dreadful invasion of undead. Fight, complete quests, solve riddles, conduct investigations and unveil all the secrets Sefirot has in store for you!

And would you like to know what is the best news? Sefirot Shards is totally free, so what are you waiting for? Oh, I forgot, it hasn’t been released yet…

On Steam!

SPELLDRIFTER – 15^th February

Let’s get back to something more “conventional”.
We all know that deckbuilding games are very popular right now, but, precisely for this reason, it isn’t always easy to stand out from the crowd.
Spelldrifter tries to combine the classic deckbuilding gameplay with a more strategic and tactical approach to the battles. Imagine it like a “hybrid” where the positional tactics of a turn-based RPG meet the customizability and replayability of a collectible card game.
Already published on Epic Games Store and IOS, now Spelldrifter is ready to land on Steam (but, honestly, I dunno if this version will include some bonus content…).

On Steam and Epic Games Store!

TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER III – 17^th February

Well, for many of you, this’ll be the main release of the month, that’s for sure.
The perfect combination of turn-based dynamics, deeply strategic choices and real-time battles on vast and beautifully designed battlefields.

If you’ve ever played any of the previous chapters, I think you’ll feel at home, so don’t expect a revolution of the well-tested “formula”, but rather a refined version of the previous games with a truckload of new content.

And don’t forget that if you have a PC/XBOX Game Pass, you will be able to play it for free!
Really soon on Steam and Epic Games Store!

MONARK – 22^nd February 2022

Previously released on PS5, Monark is a rather original JRPG with a very interesting story to tell.
A strange mist is inducing madness in people all around you. To save your friends, you’ll have to explore the Mist, but also jump into the Otherworld and fight the demons with your EGO.

On Steam.

ATELIER SOPHIE 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream – 25^th February

The game tells the story of one of the adventures Sophie the Alchemist had after she left her hometown of Kirchen Bell. It is centered around Sophie’s quest to find Plachta after they are separated in a dream world of Erde Wiege, and the new friends they meet there.

Whatever this means, Atelier Sophie 2 is quite a classic and (for some) an interesting JRPG with a lot of fan service and beautiful girls. Who knows, maybe this time it could even be a good game?

On Steam.

HERESY SIMULATOR – 28^th February

Usually we don’t cover turn-based adult games (about that, Marcello, WHY the hell don’t we???). Anyway, in the list Marcello gave me, there was also this game, so I presume I’m allowed to talk about it.

And… I don’t know what to say, simply because I dunno a thing about it.
Looking around, I’ve discovered a few things like: a) the game looks A LOT like another game called “Memoirs of a Battle Brothel”; b) From the screenshots, the game seems to use 3 very different art styles (really strange…).

Honestly, I don’t know what to think. Anyway, Heresy Simulator, defined as “An adult (NSFW), open-world tactical RPG” should be out at the end of the month. On Steam, obviously.

FINAL FANTASY VI P.R. – February

Square Enix has been re-releasing their early games as the more refined versions for quite some time now, and Final Fantasy VI, in this Pixel Remaster variant, is the latest installment.

So – expect some great improvements, with the charm of the glorious original version!
Graphics have been painstakingly recreated by veteran character designer Kazuko Shibuya, bringing the world of FINAL FANTASY VI to PC for the very first time. And that’s not all: new music and sound, updated controls and active-time battle system are optimized for a more fluid combat system.
Obviously, this special version includes Steam achievements and Trading Cards.

On Steam and … no, wait, only on Steam!

RIFLE STORM – February

I participated in a playtest of the game not so long ago, and I can say that I didn’t like it very much.

I think the idea behind Rifle Storm is to offer the players a turn-based strategy game quite easy to pick up and play, especially in short sessions. The art style brings to memory the good old games of the 90s and, at its core, it can be considered a tactical turn-based game with roguelike elements.

Your goal is to lead a mercenary squad in a series of stages (represented by the classic “nodes”, along the lines of FTL), trying to survive while facing a series of random events.

During February on Steam.

CASCADE TACTICS – February

Inspired by classics like Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre, Cascade Tactics is a solo dev project, that can be considered somewhat of a mercenary simulator (stop saying Battle Brothers!).

You start as a novice mercenary and your goal is to hire other party members, each one with his own characteristics and abilities, and complete quests for money.

On Steam.

DEAD GRID – February

Dead Grid, developed by Atom Void, tells the story of a group of mercenaries wandering around a post-apocalyptic world full of zombies and other menace, struggling for survival.

Card-based combat mechanics, with tons of upgrades and consumables.

KEY FEATURES

• Immersive Card Combat – Each card in play is a 3D view of a combat environment.
• Mercenary Squad – Recruit and gear up your squad of mercenaries, each one voice-acted and with a unique personality.
• Unlock Skills – Level up and unlock abilities to discover powerful combos. Every skill has its own progression, and unlimited re-specs means unlimited experimentation!
• Randomized Loot – Collect and upgrade hundreds of randomly dropped weapons and items, then pick the right gear for your style and strategy.
• Unlimited Progression – Discover new contacts who offer a wide variety of challenging missions. Missions can be repeated on higher difficulty levels for more rewards and squad experience.

On Steam.

THE WRATCH’S DEN – February

With a minimalist and yet colorful art style, The Wratch’s Den puts you in the shoes of a Dungeon Master pledged to build his dungeon, hire new monsters, grow his villainous society and set up defenses against those damned heroes!

Features:

• Build your own villainous hide-out.
• Hire monsters, buy traps, research tech.
• Defend against heroes come to slay The Wratch.
• 4 difficulty modes.
• A separate scoring/survival mode.
• 20-40 minutes sessions on average.
• Randomized gameplay for considerable replayability.
• Soundtrack by the amazing Pentadrangle.
• Heroes throw objects in the fountains.

On Steam and ITCH.IO.

ROMA INVICTA – February

Another mysterious solo dev project.
I don’t know much about it, but, watching some trailers, I think I get the idea. Roma Invicta is a sort of an indie version of Total War, with nice pixel art.
The game follows the campaigns of conquest of the Roman army and is composed of a strategic section – where you can plan your next move in a turn-based mode, and a battle section with action-packed real-time fights.

Features:

• Experience a lovingly handcrafted scenery of ancient Gaul.
• Recruit your troops from legionnaires to scorpion artillery to Germanic cavalry.
• Fight in tactical and action-packed real-time battles with hundreds of individual soldiers.
• Slow down or pause the battle to always stay in control and give orders with no hurry.
• Hand over parts of your army to the AI ​​to always keep control, even during larger battles.
• Supply your troops and always pay attention to the changing of the seasons.
• You decide whether to bring peace to the Gallic villages or whether to plunder them and thus further ignite the resistance against you.
• Different starting conditions and difficulty levels ensure replay value.
• Support a hobby game developer in his first commercial game, all done by himself.

If you are interested, you can download the open beta version here. On Steam during February.

And that’s all, folks! Have a nice day!