Tactics Ogre

"A rather disappointing game, especially when Matsuno was behind it"

Ah, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. It's a strategy RPG that is very obscure, however, it has garnered a huge cult following. Why wouldn't it, though? It was celebrated in Japan as one of the best strategy RPGs ever made, and it also was made by respectable people. Yasumi Matsuno and the main members of the Quest team, namely Hitoshi Sakimoto and his musician partner, Iwata, are all names that most RPG veterans will recognize. Yes, that's right, the people who made this game also made such great Square titles as Vagrant Story and best of all, the great and legendary Final Fantasy Tactics.

Despite all the praise this game got, however, it didn't deserve any of it. This was a very poorly-done game, and it shows. Obviously Yasumi Matsuno and his team were very inexperienced at the time of the creation of this game, as it shows immensely. Let's break down each category here, shall we?

This game itself was a transition of an SNES strategy RPG, and as you might expect, the graphics are pretty bad. Not because their SNES, no, but they simply reek of no effort whatsoever. The actual battleground and item graphics aren't so bad, but the sprite designs and character portraits are absolutely terrible. Well, perhaps I should rephrase that. The sprite designs aren't what I'd call bad, but in story scenes, when walking, they move at a snail's pace. This wouldn't be so bad, except that it simply looks ridiculous as it takes them about two seconds simply to walk across a tile. Add that they walk about five tiles per story scenes and it's not very pretty. As for the character portraits they are extremely poorly-drawn and reek of bland color palettes. The portraits aren't face pictures of the brilliant artwork of Akihiko Yoshida (the character designer for not only this game, but also FFT and Vagrant Story), but instead just poorly-drawn, hastily put together and downright ugly mug shots.

Next is the sound. This game's soundtrack was composed by Sakimoto and Iwata, so you'd expect some awesome music and this title fortunately delivers. Unfortunately, while the actual compositions are good, the SNES sound quality mars it terribly, leaving a lot to be desired. This game's score is certainly a prime example of Sakimoto and Iwata's abilities though. I'd pick up the orchestrated OST if I were you, but that's off-topic. Back to the review.

The gameplay is absolutely terrible. It's typical strategy-RPG fare, except with a terrible twist. This game is extremely hard, almost to the point of unbalanced, as every class can use whatever equipment they want. And yes, the classes. New classes are gained via stat requirements, unlike FFTs much superior ability system. So in order to gain the classes you want, you'll have to mindlessly power-level. And that is exactly what this game wants you to do. Since this game is so hard, the game has a Training feature, which allows you to gain levels without risk or fear of losing characters. Basically, you place your characters on the map, and have one character face behind, and have the other character relentlessly throw stones at them in order to gain levels. You see, if you don't throw stones, you will get counter-attacked, and sooner or later, the character you want to level up will be sent away from training, and you'll have to start all over again. So in between fighting story battles, you train by constantly throwing rocks at the backs of the characters in order to gain levels.

Yes, this sounds repetitive and is repetitive. Now then, why would you want to do this? Because levels are a very vital part of Tactics Ogre's gameplay. For example, a level 8 character attacks a level 7 character. The level 8 character's attack will severely deplete the level 7 character's health. The level 7 character will counter-attack and will most likely miss. Now if it was a level 8 character fighting a level 8 character the odds would be somewhat even.

Yes, I know this system is extremely flawed. If it was a level 9 character fighting a level 7 character, the level 9 character will most likely kill the level 7 character in one hit. This is hardly what I'd call balanced. And this system is very easy to abuse as you'd might imagine. While you can get good classes early in other strategy RPGs and still have a hard time due to the enemy's terrain advantages and numerical advantages, it wouldn't matter here. If you took one level 11 character against an army of five level 7 characters, the level 11 character could massacre them all without losing any of his health. Of course in other strategy RPGs, this wouldn't be the case but in this game, it is. You could easily power-level your army and gang rape every enemy you would face. Classes don't even matter here, only levels do.

One of the most heralded points of Tactics Ogre is its multiple storylines. At the end of the first chapter, you’re forced to make a decision, which will remain anonymous for spoiler reasons, but suffice to say, it makes a huge difference in the storyline. However, despite these multiple paths, the gameplay is still extremely repetitive and the story is also very bland in all three routes for reasons I’ll discuss below.

As for the story, it's absolutely terrible. On the island continent of Valeria, the Gargastan Kingdom has destroyed the opposing kingdom of Walsta. There is also the kingdom of Bacrum-Valeria, who are supported by the Roslolian Knights of Lodis, aka the Dark Knights, but they are currently neutral. Basically, you play as Denim Powell, a Walstanian. Along with his best friend Vice and sister Kachua, their hometown of Griate was attacked by the leader of the Dark Knights, a man named Lans. However, now, Vice has received word that a knight going by that name is passing by Griate, and they plan to ambush them. Of course, this Lans is actually a different Lans than the Dark Knight, as this one is a Paladin working for the kingdom of Zenobia.

Denim explains his story to Lans, and he also reveals that the Walstanian leader, Duke Ronway, is being held captive, and they wish to free him so they can make a counterstrike against Gargastan for destroying their kingdom. Lans decides to help them, and they end up freeing Ronway. Ronway then makes Denim and his friends part of the Walsta Liberation Army, and they plan to fight against Gargastan. That's only the beginning of the story, but it goes on from there.

The characters are extremely unlikeable, as this game is plagued by numerous examples of bad dialogue followed by forced and stilted drama. For example, Vice, Denim's best friend is a very rash fellow, who loves the sweet aromatic scent of a dead enemy. He also desires to be a war hero. But this is all his personality is. Kachua is sympathetic and caring, but also extremely whiny. Along with these personalities, the characters constantly spout that war is bad, and that it is either right or not right to kill innocents to establish peace. The Dark Knight Lans is basically a grizzled war veteran bitter with life. There is no witty, charming, or appealing dialogue. It all boils down to ''War is bad, but sacrifices must be made.'' or ''War is bad, but you can't kill innocents to achieve your goals!'' And these themes are constantly bombarded in your face all the time, destroying any value that they have.

Most of the enemy characters, the supporting Dark Knights in particular, don't get enough screen time, and when they do, their personalities are so one-sided and they have no depth whatsoever. For example, there is a brother-sister team of enemies that you will have to face, and their lines consist mainly of ''For the honor of our family!'' or ''We must bring glory to our kingdom!'' Unlike the enemies in Final Fantasy Tactics, there are little to no evil deeds that actually differentiate them from the other villains. There were about two or three villains that actually did evil things storyline wise, but other than that, they are all severely lacking. The villains are all talk, but no action, and pretty soon you're wiping the floor with them.

Okay, so maybe the antagonists are lacking in factors of deceit and treachery. Of course, we all know there is much more to antagonists than this. However, I never got the impression that any of them were truly deep. The Dark Knight, Lans Tartare, besides being a grizzled war veteran, also does some pretty unpredictable things for a man that is constantly in your way, things that would make you wonder what his motivations truly are. Unfortunately, these are never really highlighted, and most of the time he is simply barking orders at his subordinates. The only antagonist who I found to be particularly interesting was the loyal soldier, Leonard, whose attitude perfectly reflected the fate of those who are loyal to their lord.

The main character, Denim, is also called a hypocrite by many of his enemies, as they state that he is merely mercilessly killing his enemies under the guise of revolution, and that he is no different from the powers that be that oppress others. And in response to this, Denim simply says, ''I am not a hypocrite.'' like some sort of self-denial. And you know what? Denim never does decide whether or not he's a hypocrite. Ramza from Final Fantasy Tactics made many self-revelations, not only about himself, but also about the nature of war. Denim merely ignores that he is a hypocrite, and blames all of the trouble on the political men pulling the strings. He believes that everyone can live happily with a good ruler, and that there can be a time when poverty cannot exist. He also believes that if he were to be ruler, everyone would be happy.

Final Fantasy Tactics was presented in a much more realistic manner in that poverty, corrupt rulers, and such were a necessary evil in the world, but in Tactics Ogre, the theme of the game is that all the problems in the world are being caused by everyone else, and you’re the only one that can help them. What a brilliant theme, eh? It's akin to a little whiny kid saying that mommy and daddy are bad because they spanked you for being a bad boy, but what the little boy didn't realize is that such punishments are a necessary evil, much like corrupt rulers are a necessary evil in every real-world society. That is NOT what this game preaches. In fact, it paints an image of the exact opposite.

Adding insult to injury to this trash story is that there are very few story scenes at all. On average, you fight three story battles with generic enemy commanders, and then you reach a story scene. Oh, you should be rejoicing, for the story scenes are one of the few moments of the game, but instead, these story scenes are filled with, as mentioned before, bad dialogue, followed by forced and stilted drama, not to mention that most of the story characters that join you only say a few lines before joining you and during the story scenes, they simply hang out and observe the main story conversations. Even better is that the profiles of the characters in the Warren Report (The predecessor to FFT's Brave Story) are utterly bland, making the characters even less likeable.

The director of this game, the great Yasumi Matsuno himself, along with the most skilled experts of his staff, was hired by Square about five or six years later by Square to work for them permanently, and they obviously had much more experience under their belt, as they churned out fabulous titles, such as Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Vagrant Story, and many others. This game, however, is a fine example of Matsuno's skills when he was but an amateur in his field. That, and maybe Square’s immense financial backing was a factor that helped him develop his titles the way they should be.

Either that, or perhaps I'm simply too jaded. There are many people who actually like this game and believe it's story to be totally engrossing. For some reason, however, this never clicked with me. Perhaps this game just isn't for me. However, unfortunately, there is no way to rent this game to see if it fits your tastes, as Atlus stopped production of it a very long time ago, and the only way to obtain this game is by forking out about a hundred bucks on eBay. Either way, however, you will either get two things when you get this game, depending on your tastes: Trash or treasure, and judging from the opinion of the majority of the reviews, you will most likely find treasure in this game. Of course, you can never be sure, but oh well. Maybe I'm simply too cynical about this game, so perhaps you should listen to a different review.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 09/20/03, Updated 09/24/03