Strategy games have made a recent renaissance on every major platform, but particularly on the Nintendo Switch with major releases such as Fire Emblem: Three Houses and the upcoming Unicorn Overlord, while most popular strategy games over the last two decades have been large sprawling battlefields on PC such as Civilization and Europa Universalis. The recent trend has been towards testing the limits of this genre on the Nintendo Switch.

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One could easily forget that a litany of prestigious strategy games have found their home on Nintendo consoles since the early 2000s. Nintendo's own reputation has usually been for fun, colorful, and lively games but they have also published a ton of difficult strategy games that not only test the player's tactical acumen but are fun and rewarding to beat. It is no coincidence that some of the best games in the genre are known for their difficulty and intricate gameplay.

5 Pikmin 4

Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 2.97

This game is a delightful experience.Pikmin 4 is a real-time strategy game with tons of exploration, looting, and exciting combat. Players have access to a multitude of customization options, and different classes or types of Pikimins, each with their own niche.

While the base game isn't exactly hard, players should expect tons of challenging levels and hard-to-beat enemies in both the Night Expeditions and the Dandori Levels. The Purple Key challenge, in particular, is one of the hardest parts of the entire franchise. Players who look to optimize their gameplay on higher difficulties will also find it quite tough.

4 Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon

Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.34

Shadow Dragon is probably the hardest game in the Fire Emblem franchise, and consequently, the hardest strategy game published by Nintendo. The DS remake of the original Fire Emblem game follows Prince Marth's journey through five hard difficulty modes, with the final two being extremely difficult. This is an unforgiving and difficult game. Enemy units have tons of movement and super high weapon ranks, making their accuracy really high. Thus, players cannot try to "dodge tank" or luck out. The combination of cavalry, ballisticians, and powerful mages makes every map a grueling exercise.

To top it all off, this game has ambush reinforcements, which spawn in, and attack on the same turn. Players have to account for so much, especially during the first three chapters, which also have some of the hardest bosses in the series. It is very possible that if players lose Ogma early, and Abel and Cain haven't leveled up well, players would have to get the boss to break their weapon to clear these early chapters.

3 Triangle Strategy

Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.62

Triangle Strategy is a recent release in the vein of Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, with the big focus being on players' choices and their moral consequences. On the harder difficulties, however, this is a very hard game, and players can be quickly overwhelmed.

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While there is no perma-death as one would find in Tactics Ogre or Fire Emblem, the hard mode of this game is ostensibly tough. Even the tankiest of units get whittled down quickly, and players need to rely on the supporting cast, particularly Benedict. The reduced damage enemies take, and the in-depth map design complement each other perfectly. Players need to learn how to bait in enemies, switch around enemy focus, and utilize their ranged units like Hughette quickly. Overall, it features some of the best map designs in the genre.

2 Fire Emblem Binding Blade

Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.75

• Release Date: 29th March 2002
• Platform: Gameboy Advance, Wii U, Nintendo Switch
• Developers: Intelligent Systems

The first portable Fire Emblem game was also one of the hardest. Published by Nintendo, Binding Blade follows the story of fan-favorite Roy as he tackles a country-wide invasion by the enigmatic Zephiel with the help of a few staunch advisors.

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Binding Blade can be unforgiving at times, the early levels are difficult, and players have to navigate the weapon triangle, an onslaught of different enemies whilst trying to improve their modest army. The Wyvern Riders in the Ostia maps in particular can be a shock to newcomers. While the game's difficulty does level out, the first 7 or so chapters are extremely difficult and players have to rely on Marcus and Dieck a lot to get through them.

1 Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp

Game FAQ Difficulty Rating: 3.84

The original Advance Wars game is very difficult, to the point where it can get frustrating. While, admittedly, in this remake, the original game isn't as difficult even on the classic difficulty, it still poses a challenge. What edges this remake over Advance Wars 1 is the difficulty spike in the second game.

The sequel has some extremely tough-to-beat levels, and players' wits are tested. There are a few difficulty spikes and if players aren't at the top of their game, they will quickly lag behind, leading to long arduous battles lasting over 40 in-game days. Players have to learn how to micromanage everything. This difficulty ramps up even more on the 'challenge' difficulty level.

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