Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together – Review – PSP

Tactics Ogre is an excellent re-release of the classic game that was released on the Super Famicon in 1995 and later on PlayStation in 1997. The game is the very first game to have Tactics in the title, later to be seen in Final Fantasy Tactics among other games. The story is one of war and sacrifices that follows three characters; one is the main character of the story, Denam, and the other two, Katiua (Denam’s sister) and Vyce, his best friends are on a mission to get revenge on the dark knights for ruining their lives. The story twists into one of many moral choices and is ultimately a very dark story, which draws in the player. Something that is really great about the story is the branching story system. Choices made in the story will create a new story based on those choices, and will ultimately create different endings.

Gameplay: The gameplay in Tactics Ogre is very similar to other games bearing a tactics title. It takes place on a grid and is a turn based strategy game where the higher agility characters move before the lower ones. Different character classes have different movement ranges – some can move farther, some can fly or jump higher, et cetera. A typical battle sees you with a team of around 10 members fighting the enemy. One by one you move the characters on the grid and try to eliminate the enemy or the target. Battle can range anywhere from 10-30 minutes and sometimes longer, especially later in the game. The game plays quite simply, welcoming new players to an easy learning curve, and the wheel of fate system allows you to rewind your moves up to 30 turns if you have made some mistakes. All in all, the gameplay is very rewarding and has just the right amount of challenge. Characters don’t necessarily level up; rather, they gain skill points but the class they are a part of levels up. This can be a good and bad thing, early in the game it works perfectly as new classes are easy to level up and you can create a powerful team. However, this becomes an issue later on when you acquire a new character that is level 1 when your team is level 20. Basically, unless you really want to use that character and class, you won’t waste the time to grind and level that class up after spending so much time on the team you already have. I would give gameplay an 8.5/10.

Graphics/audio: The graphics for Tactics Ogre PSP have been redrawn and updated. They look great on the wide screen PSP. They are very colourful and the landscapes look great. Finishing attacks and magic also looks good. The map has taken a huge overhaul comparing to the past and story scenes have well drawn characters whose faces can alternate between different emotions. Although the graphics do get repetitive because of the type of game it is, the weather effects that happen change the way you view the battle and it changes the gameplay as well. Overall I would give the graphics an 8.5/10.

The sound is a re-updated version of the PlayStation version. The music and sound effects are really well done and very crisp. Major chapters in the story have a narrator who speaks the dialogue. I personally wish there was a little more speaking somehow, but it’s not too big of a deal. With great music that ties everything together really well, you will find yourself just listening for minutes on end because of how addicting the battle themes are. Overall sound is practically perfect so I will give it a 9.5/10.

Conclusion: I have always been a fan of tactic games, but even for me this was a great walk through the past. With just the right amount of updates and interesting gameplay and story elements, Tactics Ogre is a great update to what was already regarded by many as one of the best turn-based strategy games.

Overall score: 8.5/10

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