While it’s perhaps less likely now due to that Nintendo has another IP planted in its own turn-based tatical series in the form of Mario+Rabbids, we would love to see this pitch revived someday. Just maybe after Metroid Prime 4 is finished, eh?
The Suicide Squad
If you’ve played the OG Fire Emblems or XCOM games (and didn’t cheat with your saves), you’ll know that your teammates can go at any time. One mistake or one missed shot can mean total devastation thanks to permadeath. What better fit for a game like that than — in the eyes of those who command them — a team of disposable villains?
While we very likely won’t ever see Rocksteady’s upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League on Switch, a smaller-in-scale project like this could settle nicely onto Nintendo’s handheld.
Metal Gear (Again)
Okay, we’re cheating with this one, but with the legendary Metal Gear series remaining dormant since 2018, we’re looking to the series’ past to think of a way for Snake to make his grand return.
The Metal Gear AC!D games were a duo of card-based strategy titles, pairing Metal Gear’s signature stealth elements with a turn-based-strategy twist. We never got either game on Nintendo systems; they were both on Sony’s PSP. But with Sony dropping out of the handheld game — and Switch being a modern-day PS Vita in many eyes — why not bring a new AC!D (or hell, we’ll take a remaster of the first two) to Nintendo’s console? And the others, if you like.
Splatoon
Nintendo’s newest star IP has made quite the splash in the seven years since it first debuted. However, two sequels later and the most prominent criticism of them is that they are a tad too similar to fully warrant their status as a sequel and, in some respects, might work better as a live-service game.
So, in order for Nintendo to have that extra time to go back to the drawing board and make Splatoon 4 something really special, we propose a tactical Splatoon adventure in which you command a team of Inklings to take control of each map. Pairing Splatoon’s excellent style and music with the gameplay of something like XCOM, you could even go full Fire Emblem Fates with it and have your own Squid Kid choose to side with the Inklings or the Octolings, maybe even teaming up to take the fight to the Salmonid menace.
A promising blank canvas just waiting to be splatted.
Star Wars
No matter how you feel about Disney-era Star Wars, grittier projects like Rogue One and Andor have tended to be better received among longtime fans. While the eternal superhero-esque Jedi vs. Sith conflict is cool and all, these down-to-Tatooine stories about groups of comparatively powerless rebels have been a breath of fresh air.
We’re looking at mixing the tone of those projects with something along the lines of Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles series. The free movement and aiming of those games feels ripe for a Star Wars entry for one reason: Remember how great the ending of Rogue One was when Vader showed up and was an unstoppable force? Imagine that while managing a group of rebels as they attempt to escape from him (or Kylo Ren if you want to set it in that era).
Resident Evil
Does anyone remember Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City? That weird attempt at a squad-based shooter set during the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3? We’re going to expose ourselves here and say, the concept is solid, even if the execution was uhh… less than solid.
However, we believe you could easily salvage that concept with a solid strategy title. You could control a unit of Umbrella Corp mercenaries like in the original as you made your way through Raccoon City during the 1998 incident.
Once again, we think the XCOM style would fit this very well. You could even throw in special units as you make your way through the story, the likes of Jill Valentine or Leon Kennedy. While the XCOM series has dabbled in boss fights, we can only imagine the intensity a tactical fight with the likes of Nemesis would bring.
Pokémon (again)
Yes, we’re cheating again. But with the last few years heralding the return of other Pokemon spin-offs like New Pokémon Snap and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, maybe it’s due time to give Pokémon Conquest another go.
For those that missed Pokémon Conquest on DS upon release (which, considering it was released over a year after the 3DS launched, we can’t blame you), it was a crossover between Pokémon and Koei Tecmo’s Nobunaga’s Ambition strategy series in which your player character attempts to unify the 17 regions of the Ransei Region as Nobunaga himself seeks to conquer it.
While it may be a bit more of a hard sell considering how niche of a crossover it was, we’d love to see Nintendo and Koei take another crack at Conquest. It seems less likely, though seeing as Koei are now involved with the Fire Emblem series, but stranger games have returned!
So what do you think? Do you agree with our picks, are there any series’ you would like to see get the strategy treatment? Castlevania, perhaps? ‘Hades Tactics’ sound good? Feel free to sound off in the comments below!
