This can be a traditional turn-based RPG like Final Fantasy Tactics/Advance, Ogre Tactics or hybrids like HOMAM and King's Bounty.

Personally I like FFTA and HOMM II the most.

I have this terrible condition. Due to the fact that I played the Fire Emblem games first, I have never been able to enjoy the FFT style of games. I own several of them (some several times like the original PS1 FFT and the PSP remake) and have never been able to play one beyond the opening act. Just to list them: Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Advance, War of the Lions, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, Ogre Battle 64, Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis, and Jeanne D'Arc (although I like this one above the others).

Games I still like, but have not beaten include: Stella Glow and Luminous Arc 2.

Games I love:
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, and Sacred Stones; King's Bounty Armored Princess, Dark Side, and Warriors of the North; Heroes of Might and Magic V; and the early Langrisser games.
I also like Fire Emblem 7, Geneology of the Holy War, and Shadow Dragon (although this one is the weakest of the three).

I have a brother who has also played Fire Emblem Awakening and Echoes: Fires of Valentia, the latter of which he considers to be amazing.

(While I have played some Three Houses, I only really enjoyed it as an activity to do with friends.)

Valkyria Chronicles. I loved it on PS3 but it's available in a few places now. Own but have not played 2, 3, and 4. The first game, however, is very good with a nice tactical sense to the combat. I have seen it compared to X-Com Enemy Unknown and that even occurred to me as well but I have a hard time getting into X-Com and the comparison only makes sense in a limited way: you have a roster of replacements to pick from when you get your people killed. The shooting mechanics are fun in Valkyria but it is a more relaxing experience and more thoughtful in general than a third person shooting game with tactical considerations. That said, it's not hard to exploit little things in the game with the active time but turn based combat.

Valkyria Revolution I consider very enjoyable but it's not as tactical/strategic (I know these words have different meanings) as the Chronicles games. It plays kind of like a mission based version of Shining Resonance (same dev) and similar to Type Zero (another game I own and played maybe once for ten minutes).

Just a couple weeks ago: https://www.gog.com/forum/general/what_strategy_games_would_you_recommend

My tldr: Fell Seal. But look at that thread. That's strategy in general rather than sRPG. But worth looking.

...if only GOGmixes hadn't been taken away as a feature...

Age of Wonders, Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic, HoMM 3 for their many brilliant user-made maps.
OpenXcom is also very good but I haven' t tried any of the mods yet.

Does Crusader Kings 3 count? And does it count if I've only played it through free trials so far? I would say CK2 since I have it and some DLCs and have been playing it a lot lately but CK3 is a better game in every way, IMO. I love RPGs, 4X/grand strategy types of games and I've always had a pipe dream of being a real world monarch so it was pretty much designed for me lol

Do they have any RPG mechanics? If not, then I'd say no. The main thing is having either RPG combat or some kind of big RPG mechanics. I haven't tried open Xcom, I did try the first XCOM though and felt like the interface is a bit dated - you really need to read the manual before playing, unlike some other old games where you can figure it out as you play. :D

I've played FFTA first, so for me it's the other way around - I was thinking of playing FE games, but for some reason the NDS game didn't interest me that much, and I just felt it's a hassle that you need to have two units next to each other for them to trigger their dialogue, instead of just having them in the battle at all. But I was looking some new indie (and not really indie) games that follow the FE and Advance Wars formula, and was thinking I might try them out, as they had more strategy to them, similar to FFTA and the likes, but also some of the jankenpo mechanics of FE. Have you tried Advance Wars? You might like those, as they're similar to FE, but you also build your units, so it's like a FE RTS almost (except it's not realtime).

Yes, it'd probably be a grand strategy game first, RPG second but it is basically a blend of the nation management of grand strategy and the personal roleplay of developing your dynasty through personal character choices, smart marriages, managing the relationship you have with your vassals (especially your council), granting titles wisely, etc. It has a load of opportunity for roleplay on top of very solid grand strategy gameplay so yeah, I don't know if you'd consider it a strategy RPG or not but it definitely does have plenty of RPG mechanics despite being grand strategy first and foremost.

If that doesn't count, so far, I've really been digging the King's Bounty series. I always liked HOMM but felt like its roleplaying side was pretty limited, whereas KB enables a bit more roleplaying and immersion into your character. Plus, I prefer the real time world exploration of KB. Still, both HOMM and KB are great games that I really need to sink a lot more time into!

Heroes of Might and Magic V is the best one for me! HoMM 3 is a close one and it's one of those classics that never going to get old, bit I play a lot more V so that is why I choose it.
The new XCOM games are also super good recommendations.

It is funny how decisions like that can affect our tastes going forward.

I actually have Advance Wars Days of Ruin, quite fortunately. It ended up becoming kind of rare. At the time I actually wanted Dual Strike more but asked for Days of Ruin for Christmas from an uncle, since it was the newer game. I really like it, the art and music in particular but the games are also fun. I now also own Dual Strike as a virtual console game on Wii U.

I would suggest Battle for Wesnoth for a PC game that plays a little like Fire Emblem and a little like Advance Wars but with a typical fantasy setting. By typical I mean elves, rangers, dwarves (I think), and that kind of thing. I enjoy it and while it does not start cruel it does not feel the need to hold your hand for very long.

Whilst it's only borderline RPG, my all time favorite video game is still Jagged Alliance, plus its sequel. If people are counting Xcom games then Jagged Alliance surely counts.

Other notables I've played in recent years:

Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4.
Langrisser
Shining Force

I really want to try out the Front Mission games and just got Disgaea 6 for my Switch as well.

I do like most of the SRPGs. It is probably my most favorite genre of all. When I first got into the genre, the amount of translations for the jp-only releases were often limited to the bigger titles. So there are many titles I never touched.
For the ones I really liked and haven't been mentioned yet:
The Langrisser games for the Mega Drive.
Silent Storm and its standalone expansion Silent Storm Sentinels for the PC.
The Phantom Brave and Disgaea 1 & 2 PC releases.


In some other circles I have seen people who really like FFT kinda dismiss FFTA and FFTA2. Never really understood that. I think they are fun games.

I like Rise of Legends, Age of Wonders II/Shadow Magic, King's Bounty remakes, Warcraft III (not the remake) and recommend them to anyone looking for that blend. Then Heroes of Might & Magic 3/5.
With some caveats also King Arthur series (extremely unpolished, both of them) and Total Annihilation: Kingdoms (barely qualifies).

I wouldn't consider HOMM games to be "RPGs." Rather, those are full on strategy games. And HOMM 5 is perhaps a hybrid between strategy & action/adventure.

X COM are definitely also not RPGs.

Turn-based tactical RPGs (non-hybrid) are my favourite genre, by far.

In my opinion...

Excellent
- King's Bounty (entire series)
- Blackguards
- Fae Tactics
- Shadowrun: Dragonfall
- Fantasy Wars

Very Good
- Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark
- Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest
- Shadowrun Returns
- Blackguards 2
- Gorky 17

And if you allow card-based tactics, also:
- Etherlords 2 (Excellent)
- Shadowhand (Excellent)
- Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales (Very Good)
- Etherlords (Very Good)