It's proof that the PSP isn't dead and is a contender for my personal game of the year.
Tactics Ogre follows a young soldier that returns power of his kingdom to its original ruler. Your heroic deeds are recognised and soon you're given command of an army that embarks on a quest for peace. Aside from the odd pre-rendered cinematic this game is completely un-voiced. But this shouldn't be an issue for anyone since a lot of thought and care has gone into writing of this meaningful tale of war. Yet for all its story telling splendour, the real show stopper is the tangential plotline. What this means is that your choices can change the storyline and determine what future battles you will engage in. This design choice encourages multiple play throughs and the World Tarot system will allow you to explore every possibility without having to start the game again from scratch. Well done Square Enix.
The battles in Tactics Ogre are turn based and take place on a small isometric map. This viewpoint can overshadow some parts of the playing field. But fortunately you can change the prospective to a top down one and adjust the camera's zoom when desired. Some of the battles can go on for more than hour, but fortunately you can save the game at any point making it a portable friendly experience. Now the learning curve for the battle system itself is of the steep kind. You'll have to study the various class types and equipment to great length if you want to get the most out of your army. This high degree of depth will keep the experience engaging and rewarding for many players. Of course some will find this be a major turn off. But don't worry because the designers have implemented a system that can rewind the status of the battle to a maximum of 50 turns if the outcome of your choices isn't satisfying.
With each turn in battle you're able to move a unit a couple of spaces on the board like playing field and perform a single action or use an item from your inventory. Among the performable actions are various attacks and magic spells depending on the class type. If you want to leave control of a unit in the hands of the computer there are various A.I. setting for you to choose from. However this can be a suicidal choice in some instances. But if anyone of your soldiers happens to die, you won't have to worry about building up the experience of their replacements since every soldier in each class type builds up their experience as whole. If you're hungry for more experience the odd random encounter on the map screen will fill your need.
Outside of battles you are able to customise your army and their gear. Which brings me to my only complaint with the game play. Now after each battle you will certainly want to keep your soldiers in top form by updating their gear. There's definitely an impressive selection of items on offer and other options to toy around with. Unfortunately you have to individually assign each new piece of gear for every one of your soldiers and having to do this nearly after every battle is annoying. Not to mention that the needlessly complicated stats and menus make things even more time consuming. But if you're able come to terms with this flaw you'll be able enjoy more than 50 hours of game play. Add to that the additional time spent exploring the multiple tangents in the story and you'll probably have a 100 hour save on your hands.
In the graphics department every sprite and background used in this remake has been drawn from it scratch. However the game still mirrors its Super Nintendo incarnation with the exception of the resolution. This will please purists and those who appreciate the 16-bit era of gaming. Although many gamers will question the simplicity of the visuals and likely be turned off by them. But there is one thing that everyone will agree on and that's how good the soundtrack is. The newly composed compositions are some of the best and most powerful pieces of music ever to be used in a video game.
Tactics Ogre is a well-crafted RPG that's thick with story and has deep game play that requires a major commitment. It's proof that the PSP isn't dead and is a contender for my personal game of the year.
OVERALL RATING – 9/10