Review by: Jeff Biglete

As a long time fan of the Ogre Battle series, I had mixed feelings when Square-Enix announced it was re-releasing Tactics Ogre on the Playstation Portable. The series has long lived in the shadow of JRPG giants Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, despite its innovative gameplay and engaging stories. I was excited that a new generation of gamers was finally going to be exposed to this underrated title. At the same time, I was very apprehensive on how the remake would be developed.

The original game was released on the Super Famicom (Japan’s Super Nintendo) back in 1995, and much of the original graphics and gameplay mechanics are severely outdated. Would Square-Enix simply release a modern port, maintaining most of the original game, pleasing old school fans but likely alienating new generation gamers? Or would they have to throw out the classic nostalgia in order to present an approachable modern recreation?

Fortunately, we got the best of both worlds.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is the 7th chapter of the Ogre Battle series that takes place on the island nation of Valeria. The death of an heirless monarch quickly plunges the island in revolution amongst several ethnic groups vying for control. The nobility, the Bakram, enlist the help of Dark Knights from an unpopular foreign empire called Lodis. The Galgastani in turn conquer and brutally subjugate a minority ethnic group called the Walister to balance their power against the Bakram. You play as Denam Pavel, a Walister youth, who alongside his sister Catiua and best friend Vyce, rally an army to liberate the Walister people from the Galgastani yoke and avenge his father’s death at the hands of the Dark Knights.

Though the background story of an oppressed people fighting for freedom and the quest to avenge an injustice are fairly common RPG plot devices, Tactics Ogre features a unique non-linear branching storyline. As the story unfolds, the player will have to make key moral decisions that significantly alter the course of the game. Allies and friends in one play-through can become enemies and bitter rivals in the next, all based on your choices. Tactics Ogre fully explores the rights of the individual vs. the greater cause, morality vs. loyalty, and the testing of bonds. The consequences of these tough decisions are dramatically played out, more often than not with tragic endings. The ending of the game can change significantly depending on whom you recruit and what path you followed to unify Valeria.

Many will recognize the strategy-based grid gameplay from RPG favorites Disgaea, Advance Wars, and Final Fantasy Tactics. Units are deployed on a square battlefield grid and through turn based actions and tactical placements engage the opposing army until either the opponent leader or entire enemy army is wiped out. With the original game released over fifteen year ago, the battlefield unit sprites are noticeably outdated. This is the only feature of the game that shows its decade and a half age though, as the PSP remake completely overhauls nearly every aspect of Tactics Ogre for the better.