Micromanagement at its best, A Long and Thorough Review
***Extensive Review, skip to the Conclusion for an overview of the game***
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Game Play 9.0
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Controls (Good)
>> Every battle in Ogre Battle is very long and can get very complex. So it is nice that you are able to pause the game and give all units commands at any time. The menus are very complex though and it would have been nice if they were more user friendly or had better tutorials. They are quite good for their time though.
Customization (Excellent)
>> This is what makes every Ogre Battle great and what makes up most of this game. You can have up to 100 characters in your army made up of many different classes. Examples of classes in Ogre Battle are knights, wizards, and dragons and each class has the ability to upgrade. With all of these characters you have to form units that can each have up to 5 characters each (a large char. such as a dragon takes up 2 slots). You will also have to select a character to lead each unit. Certain characters can provide stat boosts to the rest of the unit depending on their ability to lead. You can deploy up to 10 units at a time in any given map. This may seem like a lot, but with all of the characters and classes in this game you will have to make some tough decisions about who to use, how to use them, and who to ditch. Each character can equip one item as well. All in all this provides you with and lot of choices and the ability to form an army designed to your playing style, absolutely wonderful.
Battle System (Great)
>> Each battle in OB is played on a large map with your base and the enemy base at opposite ends. If you take the enemies base you win, if the enemy takes your base you lose. However, if you look at the game as a whole it is not that simple. There are also many cities between your base and theirs that the empire is forcibly ruling over. If you want to gain the favor of the people you need to liberate these cities on your way to the enemy base. In addition they will provide you with tarot cards, tributes at the end of each day, give you advice, and sell you items. Which reminds me, you get 1 tarot card each time you liberate a city. Tarot cards can be used in battle, give stat boosts to the unit liberating the city, and have other uses.
When one of your units contacts an enemy you will get into a standard turn based battle, except you won't be able to choose you characters actions. Each characters action, attack order, and number of turns is predetermined by their class. You can give instructions telling your units to attack the strongest (most HP), weakest (least HP), best (highest level i think), or leader character. You can also pause combat at any time to use tarot cards or escape from a battle.
Puzzles & Mini Games (n/a)
>> In Ogre Battle there is 2 different phases. The preparation phase (where you prepare for battle) and the battle phase. That is all there is to Ogre Battle and all dialogue takes place when visiting the maps during or after battle. Therefore, there arn't any mini games or puzzles besides the battles themselves.
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Graphics 8.0
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Background & Environment (Ok)
>> The graphics in OB are obviously out of date, but they were very good in their day and they are still easy to look at. The backgrounds are especially simplistic, but you can tell that a mountain is a mountain and so on so who cares.
Characters (Good)
>> The characters in OB actually pretty detailed, especially during battle. And every class looks very cool.
Special Effects (Great)
>> The in battle spell effects are definitely the best part about the graphics. They will look good even in the eyes of the modern gamer. Just as long as they still have a soft spot for the old school RPG.
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Sound 8.5
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Music (Great)
>> The music for many maps and battles is the same but otherwise great.
Sound Effects (Good)
>> Once again, very solid. I especially liked how dragons roar as they are attacking.
Voice Acting (n/a)
>> Sorry, no voice acting for this classic.
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Story 8.3
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Plot (Good)
>> In this game you are the leader of the rebel forces tasked with uniting the continent and bringing down the evil empire. Nothing special here, but still entertaining.
Characters (Excellent)
>> Though out Ogre Battle you will get several unique characters with abilities above your average soldier. Almost every single unique character has a lot of back story and personality and usually make the best unit leaders. Aside from the gameplay this is the biggest strength in this game.
Writing (Ok)
>> Pretty straight forward and old school, once again nothing special here.
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Value 9.0
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Main Story (Great)
>> The main quest in Ogre Battle will probably last you 40-60 hours. This is long even by RPG standards.
Sidequests & Secrets (Great)
>> After completing a map you can revisit it and all of the towns. Doing this gains you new items, more money, and more story. There are also unlockable maps and characters that can be attained through those maps. It will be essential to get some of the better promotional items for your characters if you want to beat this game.
Replay Value (Great)
>> I don't feel the story is worth experiencing twice, but there are multiple endings you can achieve in this game that are determined by several factors. For instance, there is the option of playing through the game being good or being evil. If you absolutely love the gameplay this gives you a good excuse to play the game again.
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Tilt 8.3
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Cool Factor (Excellent)
>> In OB you can build armies full of Knights, Werewolves, Vampires, Dragons, Angels, Devils, or whatever else and use them to bring down your enemy, enough said.
Fun Factor (Great)
>> Every single battle requires excellent strategy to advance your armies across the map while protecting your base. The enemy AI is also very good and will make you pay if you have an attention lapse. The layout of each map is quite unique and you will have to adjust your battle strategy according. These factors combine for experience that stays fun from start to finish.
Tediousness (Fairly High)
>> Well this is probably the main reason I didn't finish this game as a kid. As good as it is, the gameplay can get repetitive and you will get into a lot of fights. The enemies tactics can also be very annoying. Most of the time when you cripple an enemy unit they will run back to their base and then fully revive. However there is a way to combat this which will be the subject of my tip for for this game.
!!Tip!!- After each encounter the losing party will be pushed back. If you don't want to push an enemy unit back run before the battle is over. This will cause your unit to fall back and then you can use another unit to finish off the enemy. This may not make sense now, but keep this in mind if you decide to play this game.
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Conclusion
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Pros
-Addictingly fun customization and army micromanagement
-Deep and unique battle system
-Wonderful cast of characters
-Long main story, plenty of extras, and high replay value
Cons
-Little to no variety in gameplay
-Complex menus & a lack of tutorials results in a steep learning curve
-Dated Graphics
Gameplay (20%) – 9.0
Graphics (15%) – 8.0
Sound (15%) – 8.5
Story (20%) - 8.3
Value (10%) - 9.0
Tilt (20%) – 8.3
Final Score – 8.5 (rounded up)
>> To be honest, Ogre Battle is actually much more complex than I made it out to be in this review and can be quite intimidating at first. Thus, I suggest using a faq or guide when playing this game. If you know what you are doing it is extremely satisfying to build and adjust your army from start to finish to fit your personality or play style. Whether your army is made up of mostly knights, vampires, dragons, or pixies is your choice. Ogre Battle is a true classic that any fan of customization and micromanagement should play. If you are unsure about this game I would suggest using a ROM to test Ogre Battle out. If you like the combat and customization you should definitely find a copy of this game. If you don't, you probably want to avoid Ogre Battle since there isn't much else to this game.