Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

I've marked this as "completed," but this is the sort of game where you can't really ever complete it. I'm about a quarter of the way through the 100-level Palace of the Dead and am taking a break, but I'm excited to finish it at some point alongside the other multi-level dungeon and the two other versions of the story I didn't complete.

It's a masterpiece. The Reborn edition perfects the game, to the point where it really feels as good as it will ever be. It's difficult to describe how good this version feels to play: it has excellent progression, it has a random element that makes the game fun, and it makes so many quality-of-life changes that it feels modern. It's perfect.

Yasumi Matsuno's writing talent blossomed on Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, that changed gears to a typical mission-based SRPG format without abandoning its outlook. Having established the grim, 'anti-heroic' attitude of the outside observer with Ogre Battle, Quest now applied that philosophy to the hero's journey, with devastating results. Story moments reached new dramatic heights over the debut, punctuated by explosive cutscenes that alternated between fits of clashing ideals and extreme moral choices. It represented the exact opposite values of their contemporaries, bringing about a less idealistic and more cerebral plot apparent in its themes of corruption, greed and the ruling class replete with deceptive characters and tragic tales. If Ogre Battle questioned the goals of war, Tactics Ogre questioned its methods.

Gameplay operated on a similar level of depth, its shift to grid based tactical RPG only increased the customization options, while aided by a more flexible job class & recruitment system. However, the real point of interest is the versatile (and easily breakable) training mechanic - pitting player units against each other in mock battles that further highlights the potential found in its bevy of different systems. Despite trivializing its otherwise formidable mission design, level grinding became less passive repetition and more of an elaborate minigame. Moreover, special items and secret job classes lead to more fruitful experimentation, while new prerequisites for its multiple endings enhanced the gameplay/story dynamic. It's rare for a work to be as genuinely moving as it is mathematical, and Tactics Ogre exceeds on both fronts.

This release - alongside G-Craft's Front Mission released that same year, reinvented SRPGs as a bleak, politically-charged nightmare.

Astonishing writing, dreadfully dull combat. Half the classes are the same and the skills are generic +10 physical/magic type of shit.