Ogre Battle 64

"All of the good, none of the bad..."

Take the things that made OgreBattle great, take out the things that held it back, throw in a dash of Tactics, and you have OgreBattle 64: A game of truly Lordly Caliber.

Ah, where to begin? Let's see... Way back when in the ''glory days'' of the Super Nintendo, Japanese giant Enix released a game called OgreBattle. OgreBattle was one of the first games to strike a balance between large-scale army combat and single-unit RPG style character development. It wasn't too complicated, nor was it overly simple, and it was fresh, innovative, and fun.

I can't say whether or not OgreBattle was a hit; it depends on your definition of the word. It certainly wasn't a success commercially. This was due in part to Enix's prudent and cautious American publishing tactics; they refused to make one extra copy of a game then they thought they could sell. Thus, OgreBattle became one of the rarest and most expensive SNES games ever (I waited over six months for my copy, and eventually just found one by chance in an out-of-the-way game store. Paid 80 bucks for it too.) Unfortunatley, Enix America closed its doors before the sequal, Tactics Ogre could be translated. It would seem America's Ogre days were over...

But wait! A game publisher by the name of Atlus; who had translated and ported over other obscure games as well; decided OgreBattle was too good of a game to fade away into memory, and ported it to Playstation. Now poeple could buy the game at a decent price and without having to go to Timbuktu to find a copy. Even better, Atlus went on to translate Tactics Ogre, so American gamers could enjoy it as well. And now the third installment in the OgreBattle saga is here, back on Nintendo, faithfully translated by Atlus!

I know, your probably saying, ''Blah blah, who cares? What about the game!?'' Well, hold yer horses, I'm getting to that part!



GAMEPLAY: 10


Like the tagline says, Its all of the good, none of the bad. OgreBattle 64 represents a refinement of a gameplay style that worked well the first time; and is even better now. However, if you are unfamiliar with OgreBattle, here's a rundown:

The game progresses as a series of large scale army battles. First you organize your army into several Units. A Unit consists of up to five individual characters. The characters themselves are standard fantasy fare (Fighters, knights, wizards, griffons, dragons, etc...) with the unique OgreBattle touch. The compisition of each unit is very important; some classes work better together than others, and in certain formations. Fortunatley, the game starts you off by organizing your units for you; although vetern OgreBattlers will no doubt tweak these settings to their own personal tastes.

Once you've got your units its off to war! A battle starts off with you deploying up to ten of your units on the field map. Units can be given various marching orders, and then set off in real-time. However, you can pause the game at any time and still hand out orders; you don't have to be afraid of the game running away from you. The entire map is revealed to you at the beginning of the mission, but enemy troops can only be seen when they are near to your own.

The primary goal in most missions is to liberate towns, defeat enemy units, and then capture the enemie's main base. This can be done at your own pace; unlike the original OgreBattle, your units no longer incurr a deployment cost or daily maintence cost. This really helps to ease the tension that could be present in many battles; its one less thing to worry about.

When one of your units encounters an enemy unit, a skirmish ensues. Battles take place on a separate screen. you cannot directly control your characters, but you can influence their actions with one of four strategies (Attack strongest, attack weakest, etc...). The combatants duke it out with pre-determined attacks; while the greatest factor in determining these attacks is a character's class, their equiped weapons and formation posistions also contribute. You will soon get a feel of where to put whom so that they are most effective in battle.

After all the characters have finished their actions, the skirmish is over and a winner is determined based on who dealt out the most damage. The loser is pushed back a certain distance on the field map, while the victor stands his ground or advances. If all the characters in a unit are wiped out, that unit loses, no matter what.

While OgreBattle's game system was good, it lacked a certain amount of higher-level strategy that one would expect from an army-sim type game. OgreBattle 64 quells these grumblings by adding several new subtleties that can greatly influence the outcome of battle.

In the original, a unit consisted of a front and back row, with up to three characters per row, with five total per unit. OgreBattle 64 adds to this by adding a middle row, making each unit a three by three grid. This really comes into play in battle, becasue now the facing of two fighting units before battle is important. Thus, even if you set up your unit to have all the characters in the proper rows to maximize their attacks, if your unit is flanked or attacked from behind, the formation shifts occordingly, and you may now be up that one certain creek with no paddle... To prevent this, stationary units will pivot to face oncoming enemies, and the facing of units can be controled. This is also incentive to suround a stronghold before attacking it; one unit may attack from the front, acting as a decoy, while another comes right in from behind, hitting th enemie's exposed rear. Finally, its possible to set up units with formations that are defendable from ANY side, due to symetry. For example, you could put four Valkyries in a unit, one in each corner, with fifth character in the middle. No matter what side you were attacked from, the formation would stay the same. The strategic possibilities are endless...

Another new strategic element is the addition of fatigue levels. As a unit moves around and fights, it accumulates fatigue. As this level gets higher, the units combat effectiveness drops, and if the fatigue level gets to high, the unit will be forced to camp and rest. Camping units are at an extreme disadvantge; their visibility is greatly reduced and if they are attacked they enter battler asleep. You can make use of this by waiting for a marching unit to set up camp, and then swoop in for the kill. You can also wear down a tough opponent this way; even if he's trouncing your units, the extensive fighting will soon takes its toll and his fighting prowess will drop. You also have to watch your own fatigue levels, as the enemy AI is well aware of it and will use it to its own advantage.

As you can no doubt imagine, the gameplay in OgreBattle 64 is immersive, complex, rewarding, and fun. The level of depth is even more impressive when you think about the medium: The N64 is not exactly the most RPG-friendly console on the market. Winning battles gives you a real sense of accomplishment, knowing you've both out-fought and out-smarted your opponent. It earns a 10 and then some, and really makes the game.


STORYLINE: 8


If you're familiar with OgreBattle, then you know that that wasn't exactly a story-intensive game. Oh sure, you were given a lot of background info, and there were plenty of characters and dialouge throughout the game, but overall it had a pretty straight-forward goal: You were revolutionaries, and you had to win the revolution...

However, developer Quest has had plenty of practice since then, and OgreBattle 64 does not disappoint. The story is delivered through the use of cut scenes depicted on beautifully rendered backgrounds. Cutscenes contain plenty of dialouge and bits of action (Two people talking, two enemies insulting each other, a prisoner being interrogated/executed...) The cutscenes are usually delivered between battles but can also be seen during battles, when you liberate certain towns or attack certain enemies. The cutscenes are very reminiscent of those in Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics (Also by Quest), fans of those games will feel right at home. In addition, when your units are in a town you can ''Enter'' it, talking to townspeople and gathering even more info. This all really helps to bring the game to life.

But what about the actual story you ask? Well, lets see...


The game takes place on the continent of Zeteginia (same as the first game, sometime later) and deals mainly with the Holy Lodis Empire and the Kingdom of Palatinus. Not too long ago, a new religous sect came into power in Lodis, and soon after begain spreading its creed through force. Once Lodis was converted, the country set its sights on its neighbors; seeking to ''Enlighten'' all it could.

After watching the Lodis Empire crush one of its neighboring countries, the King of Palatinus surrendered to Lodis with almost no resistance. The King signed a treaty that allowed him to keep his throne (with the proper puppet strigns attatched, of course) at the cost of converting his entire Kingdom to Lodis's religion, as well as instituting a rigid caste system that clearly divided upper, middle, and lower class citizens. The King and Nobles were too selfish and greedy to do anything about this, as long as they had their luxuries, they didn't care about the commoners. Of course, this is causing increasingly stronger and stronger unrest among the people, and there's rumors of revolution in the air...

Enter you, Magnus Gallant, a young officer in the southern division of the Palatinean Army. No sooner does he secure his first command when he finds himself embroiled in this new civil struggle. Soon he will have to choose between what he knows is his duty, and what he knows is right...


Sound interesting? Well, like the aformentioned titles, it is very well written and delivered. If you're new to the genre, expect to be wowed and suprised by the numerous complexities and plot twists. If you've played some of these games before, though, the story won't hold as many suprises, at least not at first...

Overall I had to give the storyline an 8, in part because of the minor triteness of it, and also because the translation isn't as good as it could be. Nevertheless, it is nicely done properly fitting to the game, which is all we can really ask for.


GRAPHICS: 9

What is the N64 known for? Why, great looking 3d graphics, of course! This is odd though, because the 3d landscapes in OgreBattle 64 are probably the most plain-looking and un-impressive part of the game. Don't get me wrong, they look good. They just don't look great. They are about as detailed as they need to be, but without a lot of textures. However, this ends up being nice, because you don't have to wonder which type of terrain is which. Plains look like plains, mountains look like mountains, and forests look like forests. The camera can zoom in and out, but you can't rotate it. Still, zoom all the way in and you can get some breathtaking panoramas.

While the field maps are polygonal; the battlefields, towns, and cutscenes are all gorgeous rendered backgrounds, similar to those seen in Zelda 64. These backdrops often contain small animations and touches that add furthur to their beauty. The characters are rendered sprites; and while they look a little wierd at first, once you get used to the style you won't really notice. Also, the spell effects and such during battles are sufficiently bright, flashy, and extravagant, making good use of the system's capabilities.

When you compare it to the original, OgreBattle 64's graphics are about as good as they should be, which is why I gave them a 9.


SOUND: 9

Sometimes, a game's music can be the most or least important part of it, depending on the genre and player. In OgreBattle 64, the music during battles has to be good, or at least it shouldn't be bad, because you have to listen to it looping through many times, during the whole, long battle. Fortunately, the designers really played it safe in OgreBattle 64: Most of the songs are new versions of the music from the first game.

Yep, that's right. Its all the same. I don't know about you, but I love this! It really give you a sense of connection between two games. If a game has a music theme that is good enough for you to notice when it is re-used in a sequal, somebody is doing something right! (I was really pissed that Zelda 64 didn't have the Zelda Overworld music in it...) As soon as I popped in the pak, I recognized the main title theme, as well as the prologue music and the standard battle theme. I nearly had a tear come to my eye as I remembered all my past OgreBattle experiences...

Ah but its not all recycled. There are plenty of new tracks as well, and I think I remember reading that OgreBattle 64's composer was the same person who worked on Final Fantasy Tactics. I beleive I've said enough. Sound gets a 9.


REPLAY VALUE: 9

While I can't vouch for its authenticity, OgreBattle 64 is advertised as having 3 main plot branches and many different endings. However, considering that multiple endings are an OgreBattle trademark, I'm inclined to beleive the hype. Also, this is one of the few games that can really come through on its boasts of play time; it probably WILL take you 50 hours or more to complete.


BOTTOM LINE: 9

This is a great game, really worth waiting for. We asked and it delivers on all accounts. If you're a fan of the original, then you've proabably already got this game! (As well you should.) But if you're looking for a supreme example of a Strategy/RPG and are disappointed by the slim pickings offered so far, look no furthur. OgreBattle will earn a place in your heart among so many other fantastic games.

If you've never played this type of game before, but are interested, I do recomend you try before you buy. However, I'm also confident OgreBattle 64 will turn you into a fan. Just don't blame me when you rack up day after day in late fees because you refuse to bring it back...

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/07/00, Updated 10/07/00