I've learned I'm very particular with the genre after taking a serious hiatus from it. I like unit customization, so I tend to prefer games where I have a lot of options to tailor make a team but I do get a bit miffed when said options feel a bit arbitrary or under powered. I have also decided that the optimal player load out of units is about five. Any higher than that and you can start tacking on an extra ten minutes per unit in every battle since the game will likely add two for each one you have. It's a large part why I struggled to get through Tactics Ogre, Arc the Lad, and Valkyria Chronicles.

FFTactics - Easily one of my favorites. I feel it offers some of the best customization and battle mechanics of the genre while not over staying it's welcome. I feel the two biggest issues against it is the plot kind of derailing partway through and that the game has issues balancing difficulty and flow. It's just too easy to try to grind in this game to get to the skills you need and throw the whole balance of the game off for your efforts.

FF Tactics Advance -A streamlined variant of it's console brother. I find the plot is a bit more hard hitting than the cutesy cast and visuals give off. Sadly, I find the game a wee bit streamlined for my taste. The races are a neat idea, but the classes themselves leave much to be desired and I find the FFIX approach to gaining skills makes the difficulty a bit more lopsided than I would care for.

FFTA2 - Better visuals and more content than it's GBA brother. Still has the simple class and bothersome upgrade system issues from the original, but it's honestly the main narrative that bugs me the most about this game. It can be addictive as usual for the genre, but difficult to remember anything else about it. I could not remember the full plot to save my life.

Front Mission 3 - This games hits that nice balance of great customization and party building I love with a smooth gameplay that sets itself apart from other entries. While I can agree that the non-battle interfaces leave much to desire the core game is still pretty strong in my opinion. The fact the game has two campaigns and a minor NG+ mode gives it a lot of longevity, though Honestly if you're only going to play it once, I recommend doing Emma's route since it's meatier, has more options, a better plot, and Emma is infinitely more likable than Alisa. My goal for the year is to finally finish SM4 and go through the first two entries as well. I will say that of what I have played of FM4, the gameplay is more focused and far more nuanced with additional unit types and skills being more straightforward to learn. The EC storyline is interesting, but the USN one has the more likable characters.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together - Not a bad game, but I prefer the original over the remake for the core gameplay. I love the better quality and replay value options in the remake, but the gameplay borrows too much other games I don't care for and the skill/job systems are garbage if you ask me. The plot is a strong point and the game has three scenarios to go through, so you have lots of replay value.

Vanguard Bandits - This was a weird game, and I really want to get back to it someday as I never finished it. The game feels like Panzer World Galient turned into a Tactical RPG in both looks and feel. The gameplay is a bit too basic for me since it featured very little in terms of customization and is bigger on just leveling your heroes. The game becomes a bit of a nightmare once the cheap ass enemy units that have a move that targets your pilots directly start becoming common enemies. I'm also sure I made the wrong choices and wound up in the bad ending scenario because the final boss felt impossible.

Arc the Lad Trilogy - Underrated series that is Sony's answer to Sega's Shining Force. The first game is a bit tedious but also gracefully short. The next two games are a bit on the long side for my taste, but the gameplay is vastly improved with better customization options, more interesting characters, and AtL2 easily has the best plot of the three games. I never got around to finishing the third entry, but it streamlined a lot of ideas from the second game and has a cool cast, just a weaker plot after the soul crushing ending to the second entry.

Disgaea - This series broke me, and soured the genre from me for a long time. Don't get me wrong, the cast and stories are pretty fun and great, but the gameplay is just too much of a grind and while the customization options got better as the series went on, it has never been able to scratch the itch I really need. Of anything, I find the game's to be a painfully straight parody of the ridiculousness of power gaming in these types of games and burnout is just so easy for me.

Valkyria Chronicles - I could never finish this entry. The plot and cast reeked a bit too much of anime tropes for me to stomach and while I appreciate the unique crossover of TRPG and third person shooter mechanics, the game hit my two pet peeves of gameplay by having too many units on the field and weak customization.I still hope to try and push through this game to see if I can like it because I really want to. I just can't for some reason.

Suikoden Tactics -This one is a mixed bag, but compared to the two entries above, I like it a bit more. The mechanics of the Suikoden series work really well in a TRPG, and the new mechanics like the Buddy system and and elemental field effects add a lot of tactical options for battles. The core gameplay is pretty fun. the issues are mainly the plot pulling an FFTactics/FM3 issue of the more interesting political plot constantly being dropped into the background for the less interesting and often more fantastical chase the dangerous artifact mission. On the gameplay front, I'm annoyed the game has all the non-story character have perma-death capability, which largely undercuts their value. As well as removing the main series mage knight option for customization, which seriously hurts a lot of these optional characters you can recruit.

SMT: Devil Survivor - Great gameplay, intriguing if underutilized plot, and an awful cast of characters. Like Suikoden Tactics, the SMT press turn mechanics transition beautifully into the genre and I love the customization options for the human party members even if it lacks any flexibility. The lack of a Compendium is really annoying, but this is one of the few entries where the ''choose the skills your demons inherent'' mechanic is actually worthwhile. It has a lot of story paths and characters to recruit but the plot never quite achieves the potential it has, mainly because the cast is pretty unlikable by all accounts. One of the only entries in the franchise where I purposely let characters die when the option became available, and the only SMT entry where I didn't go the Neutral route just because it was the only way to get Yuzu out of my party.