9. Shining Force
When gamers talk about tactical RPGs the names that are most often dropped are Final Fantasy Tactics and the lesser known Shining Force series. The larger Shining series is spread from the PC to several console iterations, but Shining Force 1 and 2 were where the strategy aspect of table top gaming was fully employed. Like the more recognizable Tactics, Shining Force was turn based and focused on putting party members in the right places to be effective. The major differences were mostly based on generation as Tactics used the 3D engine of the PS1 for level design and Shining Force was very much a Genesis game that had to use traditional art and animation techniques to create the illusion of depth. One of the ways it achieved this was its combat animations. While the battle map was flat, upon attack the two opposing sprites would appear on screen for a quick strike animation, a technique that would be incorporated later in Squares Front Mission series. The other major difference was the total lack of character creation and therefore limited level of customization. This is the area that would make an update worthwile.
Update: The Shining Force Saga could afford the developers to bring the story under control so to speak; with so many games across multiple platforms the story is a bit disjointed. A new Shining game could bring the story together for a new jumping on point. There would also be the possibility to do the one thing the Final Fantasy series could never do: not waste all those great graphics on pointless, over thought-out gameplay, seriously it seems like Final Fantasy gets control updates out of boredom and not necessity. Shining Force could finally add beautiful graphics to the turn based RPG formula, complete with a free roaming camera allowing players to see their creations in all their 3D glory. Shining Force should also take advantage of 3D space and do away with the two dimensional tile based movement system, instead using spheres of various sizes to display movement and attack range. The inclusion of a job system would also be beneficial with preexisting characters appearing as NPCs or quest givers.