Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen

"Difficult to learn, difficult to manage, and worth it... until it gets old."

Let me get this straight, I'm a tough reviewer.

Ogre Battle is an early mix between RPG and real-time strategy. Though not done perfectly, it does is well. No game is perfect. The reason it got an eight is because it is _slow_, a battle can take at least a half-hour, and that's if you don't care about the extras.

Gameplay- 8

You build an army soldiers, magicians and beasts(max 100), separated into groups of five. You pay each one a sum, based on their power and number, to send them in, then control each one. Claim cities (which slowly heal and give money), and claim monasteries (which heal and resurrect your units) and defend them at all costs against the advancing army. Try to get to the boss at the end to end the battle and get your lump sum. Each unit gains exp, and their ali (alignment) and cha (charisma) will go up or down depending on how they fight. This is important, as when they get a high enough level to promote, they will have to be under ali/cha guidelines, they can go evil or good. A simple Fighter can eventually become a Paladin, or an Evil One, doesn't matter, each has its own strengths and weaknesses, you might want to get the evil guy to do the dirty work! Sound confusing? That's only one of 100 troops! Scattered the map are hidden treasures to equip your units with, hidden cities and monasteries, and the occasional random battle (which you can befriend if your lucky). Hero units also show up, extra powerful warriors that you want to lead each unit. Also, tarot cards gained from claimed towns and monasteries act as special magic for each round you choose to use them.

Story- 9.5

Pretty stock. You are the rebel, you are destined to save the world from the evil empire. Sound familiar? It should. But here's the twist- It changes according to your acts. If you go around 'saving' towns with your demons, your reputation will go down. if you do the same with clerics and angels, it goes up. Lose a town, it goes down. Win in less than a day, it goes up, win in over 3 it goes down each day. Lose and you're screwed. Anyway, it changes peoples reactions to you and... the ending. Will you bring the world in to a new age of wonder? Or will you be the harbringer of doom? It all depends on your reputation, your own units ali and cha, and whether you did certain things in the game, like recruit ancient holy warriors. There's even a secret ending for a code.

Sound- 5

Its horrible. Bad music. Bad sounds. The only redeeming value is the voices you hear. ''Fight It Out!'' surprizes you, considering its only SNES, and most developers didn't go to the effort they could have done (like Enix did with this game). Its pretty bad when man, woman, and beast all make the same death moan. This is part of what makes the game boring in time.

Graphics- 6.5

Bad again. A single yellow sprite represents your units in the map and status screen. Battle it gets a little better, spells look cool, and units do as well, but only have like 4 frames of animation. the Mode-7 battle map is nice, though. Oh well, graphics are so pointless to me that I don't even take them into consideration. If a game doesn't do anything you cant do in 3-D, it shouldn't be 3-D I say. Were expecting FFX graphics? I hope not.

Replayability- 5

Low. Very low. If you slog through it, the only reason you might think of doing it again is getting one of the many endings. It gets boring after a while. But don't get me wrong, you'll be satisfied the first time through, its a _very_ long game.

To Buy Or To Rent, That Is The Question?

You cant possibly buy it for what it is worth today. Its an extremely rare game. Upwards of 200$. Cant rent it either, too old. But if the chance ever presents itself, obtain this game!! Or get the ROM, if you want to take the risk. And major risks there are, so don't blame me.

Afterword

Its a great game, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt. But when you break it up, and scrutinize every little bit, it seems weak and brittle, like a cookie, but its still very sweet.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/09/03, Updated 02/09/03