Awesome games people should know about!

[Rez09]

Cyberbots, however, is on the PSN. So at least there's that.

I didn't know that, actually. It's nice Capcom thought to bring that over. Too bad they don't have any interest in a sequel, because I'd love to play a followup to either game. )':

Speaking of underappreciated Capcom Dreamcast games ported from the arcade, how about Cannon Spike and Project Justice?

Would you believe I never played the Rival Schools games? D: I heard they were pretty good too, but no one ever had them. How was Project Justice?

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EDIT: Alrighty, I've got another one. Here are the hints!

1) It's an older PC game
2) It's a turn-based tactics game set in WWII
3) It's the first 'sequel' in its series, but the sixth game overall
4) You play as Germany
5) The Americans are dirty cheaters

Any ideas?
Let's see what it is!

Panzer General II - Glenn Summers(?) / SSI - 1997 - Turn Based Tactics

I'll put this simply: Panzer General II is non-story driven TBT at its finest. The game is challenging without being unfair (minus those cheating Americans), it's mechanics are fairly simple while lending a lot of depth, the graphics are basic but do their job perfectly, and the music is . . . well, not gonna lie, it's actually rather forgettable. However, all of that said, I do need to point out this game is only for certain types of players, as the going is fairly slow and there is no actual plot or characters in the game. It's all about tactics as you fight your way across Europe to get your units into vital strategic points as quickly as possible, and there is little else to the game.

But that's not as bad as it may sound, because there is plenty of depth to the game. The primary focus of every mission is completing it quickly, with the stages you play being based on how well you do, potentially ending with the theoretical invasions of Britain and the US. This provides a lot of incentive to come up with the best strategies to break that defensive line as quickly as possible, balancing the risk/reward of your actions, instead of slowly creeping forward in a fully defensive formation and pressing into enemy territory. Taking things slowly is a luxury that, frankly, kills the challenge of most other TBTs, the Fire Emblem and Langrisser series in particular. Though sometimes daunting, PGII's Brilliant Victories are always within reach if you plan things accordingly, but quickly slips away or ends up quite costly if you don't.

Which brings me to the next thing I feel the game does right: unit cost. The game's currency is prestige, which is used to purchase and upgrade units, heal, and overcharge their health -- three of these four actions are dedicated to keeping units alive and relevant, and there is a reason for this. Despite not having any story threads attached to them, your units DO stick with you from mission to mission and gain experience, gaining additional stats and potential leaders and abilities as they level up. This makes poor plays exceptionally costly, as you can lose extremely powerful units you've come to rely on because you didn't bother scouting an area before you moved in. This is compounded by how important it becomes to create a strong core as the game goes on, as enemy armies will have leveled units of their own to contend with.

That doesn't mean you need to, or even should strive to, keep EVERY unit alive though, as keeping units fully repaired and upgraded is a relatively expensive affair, so knowing what is expendable is also important in the game. It is sometimes much more valuable to sacrifice a unit to gain a tactical advantage than it is to not lose them and hang back and slog it out with artillery instead. This also means there's the need to gauge what units to upgrade or just sell off between rounds, especially when a new technology hits. Do I sell this level 1 unit off and buy a new one, hoping for a new / better leader, or is this unit actually going to be useful enough for me to keep and upgrade?

This is especially true of extra infantry and recon units, both of which are extremely important, but not always to the same extent. Every unit class has its role and all are important to make proper use of, but you don't always need four recons, nor are tons of engineers needed in stages without lots of rivers to make pontoon bridges across. I end the game with a core around 30 ~ 35 units, but there is a lot of unit shuffling to get to that point. About the only thing that I never shuffle is artillery, which end up the true cornerstone of my military as their supportive fire and ability to destroy enemy entrenchment levels are invaluable under any and every circumstance.

UNLESS YOU ARE TRYING TO LAND THEM ON A BEACH AND YOUR RANK 5 PANTHER GS ARE MAGICALLY TWO SHOT BY INFERIOR AMERICAN ARMOR. In which case they are completely useless and will proceed to explode on the next turn because America.

Anyway, I don't really know what else to say about the game. If you enjoy tactical games and care less about story and characters than mechanics, this is a game you should check out. It's extremely well made and absolutely is . . .

an awesome game you should know about.

(And it's on GoG. )