Tactics Ogre: The Night of Lodis Review
Tactics Ogre, for SNES and Playstation, has now been reincarnated into a little handheld size on the GBA. You got 40 hours? Well, for this RPG, that might be the time it takes you to do SOME of the added side quests and complete the storyline, which shows that you do need dedication to this game.
Tactics Ogre is a strategy RPG, such examples of the same type of games could be Final Fantasy Tactics for Playstation or any other Tactics Ogre games. The game is slightly different from conventional RPGs with its use of the battle system. You battle on a grid map, which aren’t small, while using seven people of choice from your troop. You can recruit people at villages or, recruit them in story-related events. You can carry up to 32 in your troop, which you’ll need the space for the diverse set of ‘classes’ you can chose from. While gaining levels in the game, you can chose to switch a class of a character. The classes affect the magic/physical/agility ability of that particular character, as well as abilities and appearance on the battlefield. There are 15 different human classes, ranging from soldiers and wizards to ninjas and warlocks. You can also recruit monsters on your team, which range from fairies to dragons. With this many choices in the gameplay of the game, strategy does come into play a lot. This gives you a unique set of characters every time you play, allowing you to create your best team. This also gives a great replay value.
The sound of the game, could get annoying to some. It isn’t ear-splitting, but it does get redundant after long battles. The other sound effects are so life like, its fun. The sound of a sword ripping through an enemy or the sound of your spell creating a casualty is music to my ears. There is even a sound of swooning when a character gets knocked out.
The visuals are pretty good, considering the GBA’s capabilities. The graphics of each character’s sprite change as their class changes. You can even see the weapon in battle, such as a staff or crossbow. The camera is stationary during battle, which may aggravate you if there is an obstacle in the way. The grid on the battle map makes deploying troops easy, plus the topography is interesting to say the least. The ground is detailed with stones, grass, lava, water, wood, cement, or mud depending on the battleground you are on.
Tactics Ogre is a great buy. With such a long storyline and replay value, I needed a couple changes of batteries. The only downside is that the game is a rarity on store shelves (there was a limited shipping thing going on). If you can’t find anything at stores (try to check some store’s websites, some have their current stock of games) go to the internet with e-bay and other online sites. Just one minute of gameplay and you’ll know that it’s worth it.
Visuals: 7.5
Sound: 8
Originality: 9
Replay: 8
Overall: 8