The difficulty has been toned down quite a bit this time around. I have recently purchased the Tactics Ogre game for PSP, which is a remake of the original because of my love for this game. The Tactics Ogre franchise is notorious for being extremely tough, with permanent character death and sometimes sadistic enemy AI. The game also allows the player to pick different routes which lead to alternate endings which increases the game's replayability. Difficulty wise, i think the game is fair - until you spend a lot of time grinding in the training mode which can be repeated infinitely - then the game becomes a cakewalk. The story is also very interesting which is consistent with the Tactics Ogre franchise.
The gameplay is very unique and has a lot of strategy elements in it: terrain, elements, different classes, weather, etc. The gameplay is very unique and has a lot of This game is a must have for people who are in love with turn-based strategy games like myself.
TACTICS OGRE REVIEW PSP
Honestly to the point where I consider the PSP version to be a different game outside of story (The change is even more drastic than the difference between PSX FFT and FFT:WotL - since the PSP Tactics Ogre has drastic changes to the leveling system, game start, etc.This game is a must have for people who are in love with turn-based strategy games like myself. Just a note: This game is significantly different than it's PSP port, and is more akin to the classic SNES version released in Japan. This game is pretty much the precursor to its more popular cousin: Final Fantasy Tactics. The game is as good as I remember honestly, remembered renting it when I was younger, but could never find a copy to buy at the time. though you can emulate some of these effects, it's not really as intrinsic to the class, so much as what you've bought and the characters you play). The Classes, while not "limited" compared to other games, do feel a bit more generic (there's nothing akin to a Time Mage, a Summoner, a Mathematician, Geomancer, etc. It's an interesting mix of Ogre Universe lore & FFT styles if you are familiar with those games more than this (Ogre Battle - even including staples such as Lans and Warren, and familiar class changes). Really good sprite work, especialy considering it's a SNES title ported to PSX ("excellent" SNES graphics, "Pretty Good" 2D PSX graphics)
Well designed tactical play (one of my favorite factors being the ranged combat, with things such as shooting beyond range at a penalty, range penalty for shooting uphill, range bonus for shooting downhill, and last but not least "throw stone" for if you don't have a ranged weapon on a human character, pick up a rock and throw it at the fools) Mana System keeps mages useful throughout the battle, though they are not "nuke the battlefield" strong. Branching Story (Lawful, Chaotic, Neutral - not necessarily "good/bad/neutral" either) Decent story (about on par with FFT, not an epic, but "Good" by RPG standards) Scaling Difficulty (higher level you are, higher level the enemies are) What is it? A turn-based strategy RPG, similar to more well known titles such as Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, etc.