Looking for some recommendations

[psgels]

Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum so I hope that I'm posting this at the right place. I was wondering if I could ask your help on recommending me some interesting strategy games that I could play.

 

The thing is, I both love and loathe strategy games. On one hand I love exploring all these intricately complex games and systems that have been designed. On the other hand, I suck at them. Horribly. I've been trying game after game after game, Age of Wonders, Civilization, Baldr's Gate, Total War (okay rpgs with some strategy influences as well), and I found them all very interesting at first, only to be kicked in the nuts because I forgot to optimize, micro-manage, build an army, or forgot to research and am now so far behind that it's basically pointless in continuing further.

 

I'm looking for a game where I can have fun: where I can just goof off, don't have to pay attention to whether or not I'm creating the strongest thing, but I can still have fun with non-optimized strategies that just seem interesting, and where I don't feel punished for being a terrible player. Does any of you know of a game that sortof fits these criteria?

 

An example of the kind of game I'm looking for is The Temple of Elemental Evil. It was very rough around the edges and not balanced at all, but you could fully create your own array of characters and you could make them incredibly flawed and you'd still have a blast playing due to all of their interesting powers and synergies together.

[7h30n]

Have you tried playing on easier difficulties? It's no shame to play on the easiest setting. If you can't cope with the easiest setting, then sorry if the previous sentence offended you.

 

Other than that, it seems you prefer strategy games mixed with RPG (and vice-verse).

I would recommend Expeditions: Conquistador. I bought it on GOGs summer sale and I find it quite enjoyable. The game is set during the period of colonization of Americas and you play a role of a Spanish Conquistador. There are multiple choices and the game mixes real historical facts with some fiction. Gameplay is turn based, and the combat plays like a simplified Heroes of Might and Magic or Age of Wonders. It's a really unique game.

[Thorondor]

I'm afraid you're not going to find many interesting or worthwhile strategy games where you can just 'goof off', because that's generally the antihesis of what the genre is about - making the best possible use of whatever is in your power to command in a well thought-out, or at least effective, manner.

 

So, while I find providing you with a suggestion not that easy, given your criteria, I'd venture Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II: Retribution to be a decent option to explore.

 

Not necessarily a through and through walk in the park, but, if you haven't tried the game before:

 

- it has almost no base building aspects at all

- it's pretty linear, in a fashion which also doesn't leave much room for one to make repeated mistakes. If taking route A to an objective gets you killed, just try B. If bringing type X unit to a mission ends badly, bring type Y instead.

- while it does require micromanagement your forces are quite limited and therefore perfectly manageable, and the gameplay is action-oriented and satisfying, as blowing things up and smacking the enemy forces around always is

- it has good overall production values, provides for both single-player and multiplayer enjoyment and delivers graphically as well

 

Others are bound to come forward with more suitable recommendations for you, but not much more is springing to my mind right now.

 

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Anyway, welcome to StrategyCore, psgels!

[silencer_pl]

You might try Divinity: Dragon Commander. It's not a great game, quite Ok-ish and funny. Plenty of references to current world situation. The main campaign is divided into 3 parts. Part 1 is fairly easy and you can goof around I think you can only lose it if you want to lose it. Part 2 can be hard. I've played it on hardest difficulty but managed it. The third part depends how well you've finished the 2nd part. If you rolfstomped the AI at the end of chapter 2, you will roflstomp at chapter 3, because all your units will be transferred.

 

Though once you finish the game, you probably won't return to it, though depends if you are interested in other princesses.

 

P.S.

 

You also get to control a dragon, how cool is that.

 

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The other game, but this one is more Action RPG with small hint of strategy is Overlord 1 & 2. Quite funny game.

 

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I could also recommend whole Spellforce series. It's RPG/RTS game. The story is brilliant. The game can be hard at some points but overall is fairly easy.

[Space Voyager]

There are little strategy games less complicated than CnC series. And most RTS games. I'd go for lessening the difficulty level, as 7h30n already pointed out.