What PC games are like Fire Emblem? Many games bring aspects of the popular RPG franchise to PC. Of course, you’re not going to get an exact replica of the Nintendo-developed Fire Emblem, but whatever it is that intrigues you about the games, whether you’ve played them or not, there’ll be something on this list for you.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a unique union of Persona and grid-based warfare. It manages to make building an army fun as well as a megalomaniacal necessity and is firmly one of the best tactical RPGs around. Since the fantasy games series is exclusive to Nintendo platforms, though, it’s perfectly understandable why you might be looking for a PC alternative. So don’t despair; there are a ton of similar games available right now, and we’ve listed them right here.
The best games like Fire Emblem on PC in 2023 are:
Into the Breach
We’re kicking off with one of the best new entrants in the grid-and turn-based tactics genre in recent years: Into the Breach. Developed by Subset Games duo Justin Ma and Matthew Davis, Into the Breach is an incredible bite-sized strategy game whose turn-based battle maps are only eight spaces tall and wide. But, hey, if it’s good enough for chess, it’s good enough for you.
You’re out to save humanity from the alien Vek, and will travel repeatedly back in time until you pull it off. You can upgrade your pilots and their mechs, which adds a pinch of RPG spice, but you’ll need to take care of them – permadeath is a thing. These roguelike elements ensure that each campaign across a series of islands is unique.
Each mission is like a kaiju film, with citizens screaming in terror as giant Vek monsters rise up from underground. What marks Into the Breach out from others on this list is that, due to its tiny maps, the optimal path through each level never feels too far from your apprehension, making Into the Breach feel almost more like a puzzle game than a battle game.
Valkyria Chronicles 4
While not grid-based like Fire Emblem, Valkyria Chronicles puts turn-based warfare on a scale, unlike other games on this list. The original boasts a huge roster of characters that you can customize to suit your own approach to combat, a bit like an adventuring party in a JRPG game and a bit like Fire Emblem, with its multiple classes, weapons, and abilities – except you can get over 100 characters in your party in this case.
The latest in the series, Valkyria Chronicles 4, combines long periods of preparation at your home base with a mix of high-level and third-person, turn-based combat spread across huge battlefields. Like its predecessors, Valkyria Chronicles 4 puts you in the shoes of the soldiers you control. You’ll handle where they move, help them dodge enemy fire, and even line up their shots. While it can feel like a third-person shooter in these scenarios, it retains the element of strategic warfare as you jump from unit to unit across the battlefield.
Overland
Overland is about surviving in a post-apocalyptic cel-shaded wasteland. Like Into the Breach, it has small maps and roguelike elements that emphasize the puzzle-solving dimension of grid-based gameplay. While combat is a part of Overland, survival is the main challenge. You need to scavenge for supplies, like gas, and figure out how to get past roadblocks in order to progress. While its story may not be too much like Fire Emblem, it is one of the best apocalypse games, so if doom and gloom is your sort of thing, then this should be right up your street.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Well, if it’s an RPG you’re after, then this is one of our all-time favorite RPG games, so it had to make this list, too. Set in a grungy cyberpunk universe, Shadowrun: Hong Kong (and Dragonfall before it) is an amazing tactical experience with three-dimensional characters, gorgeously gritty maps, and challenging gameplay.
Developer Harebrained Schemes has made three Shadowrun games based on the original tabletop game of the same name. Shadowrun Returns, Dragonfall, and Hong Kong all feature similarly high-quality stories, turn-based combat, and deep world-building.
Wargroove
Wargroove is the indie reincarnation of Advance Wars, one of the icons of the turn-based tactics genre but which, sadly, never came to PC either. Wargroove is a very fine alternative, however; its battles are gigantic, with special flying and aquatic units spread across the map, unique hero units with special abilities, and a fantastical overarching narrative.
What’s even better is that Wargroove has a passionate community full of creators who have used its map creator to build challenges and campaigns of their own. Once you’ve finished this strategy game, there’s also Wargroove 2, which expands on the original in imaginative ways, but we recommend starting with the first part so you don’t get overwhelmed with new mechanics.
Fae Tactics
Published by Humble Games, who are also behind some of our other favorites like Signalis and Unpacking, Fae Tactics is a love letter to Final Fantasy Tactics – a tactical spin-off from the famous RPG series. It tries to combine the best elements from Advance Wars and other games into a grid-based RPG that lays everything out on the map. There are no animation cutaways or separate menus; everything happens on one screen, making Fae Tactics easier to get lost in.
The Banner Saga
The Banner Saga tells a fantastical tale shaped by a series of tough decisions. It’s a story-driven RPG with a mix of grid-based battles and an interactive narrative inspired by Norse mythology – especially its fixation on the end of the world. It’s as bleak as it is beautiful, with gorgeous 2D art reminiscent of classic Disney movies in every frame.
Over the course of three games, you’ll make difficult choices – like whether or not to help strangers starving on the side of the road – which will affect your army’s combat effectiveness, morale, and the story itself. Who knows if those strangers are actually thieves?
Tucked between these decisions are challenging battles against the Dredge, a menacing and mysterious race of stone golems who can easily wipe out your team if you aren’t careful.
Honkai Star Rail
Honkai Star Rail might not be grid-based, but it does still feature strategic turn-based gameplay in its combat, and fills that anime-shaped hole left by the absence of Fire Emblem on PC. Instead of building an army, build a team of four fantasy characters as you explore the Herta space station in this sci-fi RPG game.
If you’re still not sure this is close enough to Fire Emblem for you, take a look at our Honkai Star Rail review, which might not compare it to a Nintendo game, but it might help you decide more clearly if it’s a game for you. Either way, Honkai Star Rail is free-to-play, so there’s really no harm in giving it a go or any of our favorite free PC games, for that matter.
Hopefully, games like Fire Emblem will ease the pain of not being able to play the series on PC, whether you own a Nintendo console or not. If you don’t, and there are other Nintendo-shaped holes in your collection, then we’ve also compiled some great games like Animal Crossing, too. If you give these a try and still have an itch to scratch, then perhaps one of the best PC games in general will hit the spot.