I Suck at Games: Strategy/Tactical games

Just about a month ago, I got together with my friends for the first time in quite a while for a night of Starcraft. I remember getting that game when it first came out, along with Brood War,
and while I was never obsessed with it, I absolutely loved it. I'm way
more of a futuristic-setting type of person than something that takes
place in the past, so it seemed perfect for me. There was just one problem -- I. Was. Horrible. I still am. I don't think I've ever won a single game of Starcraft or Warcraft
on my own in my entire life. The only way I can even come close to
winning is when I'm part of a team of people who have been playing for
years, and who specialize in the strategy genre. It doesn't matter what
game in the genre it is, I can't seem to win. Or come even close to
winning, for that matter. In fact, I've never even finished any of the
single-player Starcraft campaigns to this day.













When I was in middle school, one of the teachers in a computer class I had was really laid back, so we'd play stuff like Starcraft and Command & Conquer
whenever we had some downtime, and that's probably where I played those
games the most. All the computers in the room were always networked, so
we were always on big teams. Well, you know how there are those TV
shows and movies where the kids in gym class in school are being picked
to be on teams, and the non-athletic kids are always picked last? That
non-athletic kid was me when it came to downtime in that class. I was
always shuffled from team to team because everyone knew how I played,
and I honestly can't say I blamed them one bit. I wanted to
make me stop playing half the time. No matter what happened, I was
always swarmed from all directions by the enemy, seemingly only a
minute or two into the game. I never even had time to build up a
defense.



And
that's when I realized what my one true weakness is when it comes to
RTS -- I hate the pace. I'm not a strategical player; I'm all about
run-and-gun. When it comes to stuff like Starcraft, I'm always
trying to go faster than I should be. I always concentrate on nothing
but offense, and way too little on defense, leaving my entire base wide
open and ripe for the picking. And you know what really sucks? I know
that it's my weakness. I just never seem to be able to adjust my play
style to do what I know needs to be done, so my suckiness is my own
fault. I'm always relying on my teammates to come and bail me out, but
I'm always worried that they'll be slaughtered in the process. I love
RTS games, but I think they actually stress me out more than anything.

You
know what type of game I'm even worse at than strategy? Tactical. No,
not like Tactical Espionage Action -- I mean grid-based. Limited
movements per turn, straight-up tactical stuff. I can't play games like
Ogre Battle or Final Fantasy Tactics to save my life. The
kick in the crotch when it comes to that is the fact that I don't even
know why I suck so badly at them, which means it's really hard to write
about it here. I think part of it is the fact that most tactical games
that I've seen look like they want to have free-roaming or real-time
battle systems, but the grid system restricts that free movement. Now,
I realize the grid system is there purposely, and it's not meant to
restrict anything. It's just that when I'm playing, I feel like I'm
purposely being held back not for the sake of gameplay, but just
because the game wants to be a bitch. It feels like a negative thing to
me. I'm not saying the games that utilize this system are bad by any
means -- I just can't adjust and plan to move along the ground in a
thoughtful way. It goes back to that run-and-gun mentality of mine, I
suppose.



Another
thing that tends to distract me in tactical games, for lack of a better
term, is the sheer size of the fights. Some of the fights in tactical
games tend to last a very long time, and I'm more of a quick-but-many
type of guy when it comes to battles. I can do long battles, but I much
prefer a break now and then instead of just one drawn out battle
sequence. I tend to start falling asleep if it's the same exact thing
for such a long period of time. I can't remember which game this one
friend of mine was playing, but one battle seriously took about 45
minutes from beginning to end. Come to think of it, maybe that's
another thing that makes me suck at RTS games.

I'll tell you what, though. There's one tactical game that I truly do love and that's Valkyria Chronicles
because that game does stuff differently than any other tactical game
I've ever played. It still limits your movement for the turn you're
taking, but everything is absolutely free-roaming and half the game is
a third-person shooter. As you move, you're being attacked by all the
enemies in range in real-time, and once you're done, you can take cover
and manually aim your weapon to attack. You have much more freedom than
any other strategy/tactical game I've ever come across and half the
time it doesn't even feel like it's a part of that genre. I'm good at
third-person games, and I think that's what helps me like Valkyria Chronicles so much.

So
there you have it. I suck at RTS and tactical games, I know this fact,
and I'm fine with it. I do like what I've played of them, but I think
the pace of them is just too slow for me to ever truly get into them,
which is a shame since I'm extremely excited for Starcraft II.
I'm sure I'll still buy it, but I probably won't be winning any games,
at least not until I have about four years of practice or something.
I'll start winning games in Starcraft II once Starcraft III comes out.




http://www.destructoid.com/i-suck-at-games-strategy-tactical-games-142582.phtml