Tactical RPGs are defined by systems—grids, stats, classes, damage ranges—but behind all that complexity lies a quiet architect that shapes every encounter: enemy AI. Whether you’re facing down a band of goblins in Tactics Ogre or an alien ambush in XCOM 2, your experience is largely determined by how well the AI performs. Enemy behavior…
History of Video Games
The Rise of the Hub World: Between Battles and Belonging
In the high-octane realm of RPGs, action games, and tactical adventures, it’s not always the climactic boss battles or branching decisions that leave the strongest impression—it’s the quiet spaces in between. The spaces where nothing explodes. Where no enemy ambush waits. Where you’re allowed, perhaps for the first time, to just exist. These are the…
Beyond Poké-Emblem: Tactical RPG Crossovers and Genre-Bending Experiments
Welcome back, Gaming Graduates! In our last session, Poké-Emblem showed us how a fan’s wild “what if?”—what if Pokémon Red/Blue played like Fire Emblem?—became a full-fledged tactical RPG reality. That ROM-hack crossover turned Kanto into a grid-based battlefield, proving that tactical RPG combat can thrive in the most unexpected worlds. Today, we’re zooming out to…
The History of Fire Emblem: A Tactical Legacy
In the landscape of tactical role-playing games, few names command the same reverence as Fire Emblem. With its finely-tuned grid-based battles, character-driven narratives, and uncompromising permadeath mechanics, the series has endured for over three decades. From humble origins on the Famicom to worldwide acclaim on the Nintendo Switch, Fire Emblem has continually reinvented itself—striking a…