Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis

Being an account of the tale of the Knight of Lodis, being an all-new chapter in the Ogre Battle Saga, being an excellent strategy RPG for the Game Boy Advance.

This latest chapter in Atlus? long-running Ogre saga follows in the footsteps of games like Shining Force, Final Fantasy Tactics, Hoshigami, and other recent tactical RPGs. Think of it as Advance Wars?advanced.

Pawn of Fun?s Whim
Tactics Ogre, much like the SNES prequel, is essentially a complex game of fantasy RPG chess, where things like terrain positioning, elemental oppositions, and rear vs. frontal assaults are constantly on your mind. You amass a grass roots army (some are culled from the plot line, but most are created from scratch), engage in a series of long turn-based battles on 3D isometric maps, upgrade your characters? stats, evolve them into classes such as knight, witch, ninja, dragon handler, and angel warrior, and repeat. In the case of Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis, your characters earn ?emblems? as they fight (The Sniper Emblem is awarded to characters with high accuracy, for example; the Knight?s Certificate goes to anyone who avoids attacking enemies from behind). These emblems are prerequisites for some of the higher classes; and character classes can be switched at any time. There are no real ?town-wandering? sequences?just long battles and quick stops for supplies?and the plot unfolds through a series of cut scenes in between. This is what Tactics Ogre does, and it does it well; it?s a perfect fit for the GBA.

The Ironically Tiny Epic
For a slow strategy/RPG, the presentation is more than passable. The graphics are clean and colorful, but hardly flashy; the music consists of good, generically epic themes, but the sound effects are minimal. The menus can get a little confusing, however, and there are some questionable button assignments?but after you round the learning curve, you?ll have no trouble at all. The biggest problem here is the story: as a single part of long-running ?saga,? you?ll be hard pressed to care about this generic tale of generic heroes and villains unless you?re really into the Ogre Battle universe. Nobody is really into the Ogre Battle universe.

Obviously, this is not a game for everyone. It?s for stat-mongers and anyone who?s got a genetic proclivity for strategic planning sessions buried deep down in their DNA. But if that describes you, by all means, get this game. It?s rich, long, rewarding, and insanely addictive. You?ll barrel through batteries like you?ve never barreled before.

Comments [0]

post a comment

Post a Comment