The storyline follows Lodis soldier Alphonse Loeher as he learns of his country's oppression of the neighbouring land of Ovis and eventually turns against his former comrades. As with Tactics Ogre, the game is mission based, with combat taking place on grid-based battlefields and revolving around character classes and character statistics.
Production began at Quest after the company heard about the GBA hardware, envisioning a portable successor to Tactics Ogre. The aim was to replicate the gameplay and graphic style of Tactics Ogre on the platform while also making a more approachable storyline. Composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata returned from earlier entries. Releasing to strong sales in Japan, the title saw generally positive reviews, with praising going to its graphics, gameplay and storyline. After Quest was absorbed into and rechristened as Square Product Development Division 4, the development team created Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
Gameplay
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis offers a strategic field-and-class based combat system. Although the player starts with a meager army of only six units (with the classes of those units being determined by questions the player answers in the beginning of the game), the army can later blossom to as many as thirty-two.
Each character is unique, being determined by several things: material statistics, of which there are only three, strength, intelligence, and agility; alignment, ranging from chaotic to lawful; and element, based on the four classical elements. Characters can also earn emblems, certificates given after performing a specific feat or reaching a certain checkpoint. These emblems sometimes have no effect, often alter character statistics, some have a negative effect, and a few are required to advance to certain classes.
The game's playable units are divided into several categories; humans, demi-humans, dragons, Beasts, the undead, transcended beings and denizens of the netherworld. The human class is the only category with interchangeable jobs, with each class being marked by a required, or multiple required statistics, and often an emblem. Some classes can only be unlocked by a certain sex, while other classes are reserved only for certain special characters.
Demi-humans, non-humans, and the undead cannot change classes. Although all categories of units in the game can be persuaded in battle, the undead alone cannot be bought. Instead, undead units are created by using a certain spell on deceased units. Dragons change classes in a unique way: after reaching several checkpoints in statistics, a dragon will instantly upgrade into a certain new class, with the class being determined by the dragon's alignment. Once a dragon has upgraded, altering its alignment will automatically change its class.
After customization of the player's party, the group of units (of which the max limit on any story-based level is eight, with quest-based levels having a restriction of five) engage in combat.
Battle takes place on a large, panel-based playing field. The area is composed of terrain types and various height levels, making movement a critical factor. There are several movement types, ranging from simple walking to airborne flight. A character's movement type is determined by the class of that unit, as well as various special equipment which can change movement type. Terrain levels range from basic dirt and grass, to water (in varying depths and types), to impassable terrain, such as lava or blank space.
In actual combat, there are also many variations. Simple melee combat can be performed, either barehanded or with single-ranged weapons, to adjacent panels. This means the attacking unit must be directly next to the target, making mobility a critical ability. Some weapons offer different attack ranges, such as the two-paneled pierce attack of spear and lance weaponry, to the two-paneled selective attack range of the whip.
Ranged attacks require the use of either a bow weapon, or a special ability. With such emphasis on movement, ranged attacks are a certain advantage, as units can be far away from opponents, offering possible immunity to counterattack. Abilities require the use of either S.P. or M.P., which both regenerate at a rate of ten per player phase, and vary in impact sizes (panels).
When all units belonging to a specific force are exhausted, having performed their restrictive one action per phase (which includes both movement and ability usage, from attacks to items), the game changes to the opposing player's phase, and back and forth until certain victory conditions have been met by one player, such as destroying all opposing units.
Ovis is brutally oppressed by the knights of Lodis. Alphonse Loeher is a knight in Rictor Lasanti's military unit, the Order of the Sacred Flame, and he is sent to Ovis. When he is later separated from the main forces, he meets Eleanor Olato and Ivanna Batraal, two locals from whom he eventually learns the truth about the horrific events taking place in Ovis.
Various circumstances lead Alphonse to separate from Rictor's main unit. As the plot unfolds, Alphonse begins to question the actions and motives of Rictor. He then begins his search for answers, starting with Ivanna's uncle, the sinister regent Naris Batraal, and the sacred spear, Longicolnis, which is the only instrument that can pierce the skin of the sacred demon. It is later revealed that Rictor initially knew about the sacred spear and wanted to obtain it for the Lodis empire. About halfway through the game, the player is presented with two choices, which eventually leads to either his renewed trust or a falling out with Rictor. In fact, the player's choice will significantly affect all plot elements that follow.
After assaulting Naris Batraal's stronghold, it is revealed he is in league with the Fallen Angel, Shaher, who was imprisoned in Northern Ovis after being cast out from Heaven. Longicolnis is actually his own demonic horn which is both the only thing which can break his invincible barrier, and what shall allow him to be freed from his icy prison and begin his conquest of Ovis and the outside world.
There are five possible endings in the game (the Game Over scenario, which is gained by losing to the final boss, is also counted). The "A+" ending sequence features one additional scene which details Lans Tartare's past, in addition to the entire "A" ending sequence. To view the A+ ending, several conditions must be met, including completing the game in under 25 hours. The exact ending sequence with which the game presents the player depends on, among other things, the significant choice that the player has made halfway through the game and Eleanor's presence in the final battle. In particular, the "D" ending excludes Eleanor altogether.
Development and release
Production began after series developer Quest Corporation heard about the production of Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. The team decided to make a project that would be a gameplay successor to Tactics Ogre. Many of the gameplay elements were carried directly over and expanded upon from the original. While keeping with the series tradition of mature storytelling, the narrative of The Knight of Lodis was made more approachable for younger audiences than the original Tactics Ogre. The art design was meant to evoke a cute deformed aesthetic for characters, although adhering to the series' established dark aesthetic made creating fields that showed well on the GBA screen a challenge.[1] The music was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata, who had both previously worked on multiple earlier entries in the Ogre Battle series.[2][3] Iwata was pleased to work with Sakimoto again, but found music production challenging due to it being his first job for the GBA hardware.[4]
The Knight of Lodis was announced in August 2000 in Japan.[5] It was promoted in Japan with a live-action commercial featuring a player on a subway becoming a knight in armor.[6] It was released by Nintendo on June 21, 2001 in Japan.[7] It was re-released in the region as part of a budget series of GBA titles on February 2, 2006.[8] A North American version was published by Atlus USA,[9] who previously handled the North American releases of previous Ogre Battle titles.[10][11] It was released in North America on May 7, 2002.[12]
During its first week on sale, The Knight of Lodis sold over 150,000 units, reaching top place in Japanese sales charts.[24] It continued to sell strongly into its second week.[25] According to analytical company Media Create, the game sold just over 284,000 units, becoming one of the top forty best-selling titles of 2001.[26] An alternate estimation places its combined two-week sales at over 340,000 units.[25]
Review aggregate website GameRankings awarded the game a score of 83%, based on 26 critic reviews.[13] Website Metacritic gave it a scored of 88/100 based on 20 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[14] Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu praised the game's narrative and gameplay mechanics as fitting the Ogre series, though noted its lower difficulty compared to earlier titles.[16]
Peer Schneider of IGN noted some archaic design elements and underwhelming music, but generally praised its design and complex narrative.[20] Justin Speer, writing for GameSpot, positively noted its expanded gameplay mechanics despite highlighting its offputting high difficulty, calling it "a worthy addition to the Ogre Battle series".[18]GameSpy's Tim McConnaughy similarly noted its music and high difficulty as low points, but generally praised it as a game to be enjoyed to fans of the genre.[19] The three reviewers for Electronic Gaming Monthly each gave the title high praise, lauding its gameplay mechanics and graphics, but noting pacing issues due to unskippable battle animations and scaling problems with the text on the GBA screen. As part of their review, the game was granted the magazine's Silver Award.[15]
Play Magazine's Michael Hobbs gave the title a perfect score, lauding it as a high quality addition to Quest's game library and essential buy for fans of the genre.[23]RPGamer's Tony Green similarly gave it a perfect score, praising its gameplay and narrative while noting its music and audio as the weakest part of its presentation.[22]GamePro awarded a near-perfect score, praising the graphic presentation and gameplay design, although the reviewer noted the niche appeal due to its deeper gameplay mechanics.[17] The five reviewers for Nintendo Power all gave it high scores, with the review summary praising it for its "masterful RPG and strategic action".[21]
The game was supported in Japan with multiple guidebooks.[27] The first was published by Shogakukan in August 2001,[27][28] and the following two guides released respectively by Mainichi Communications and Famitsu Bunko in September.[27][29][30] The game provided inspiration for a four-panel comedy manga anthology in October 2001, and a standard manga anthology in November. Both were published by Kobunsha.[31][32]
In an interview prior to release, the development staff said that future Ogre Battle or Tactics Ogre projects would be decided upon based on the company's wishes rather than external factors.[1]The Knight of Lodis was the last project produced by Quest Corporation. Due to a number of factors, the company left the game development business and it was bought out and absorbed by Square.[33][34] The Quest development team was restructured to form Square Product Development Division 4, and its first project for Square would be Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, released in 2003 for the GBA.[34][35]
Final Fantasy Tactics is a 1997 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. Released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998 by Sony Computer Entertainment, it is the first game of the Tactics series within the Final Fantasy franchise, and the first entry set in the fictional world later known as Ivalice. The story follows Ramza Beoulve, a highborn cadet placed in the middle of a military conflict known as The Lion War, where two opposing noble factions are coveting the throne of the kingdom.
Final Fantasy Adventure, known in Japan as Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden or simply Seiken Densetsu, and later released in Europe as Mystic Quest, is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Game Boy. It is a spin-off of the Final Fantasy series and the first game in the Mana series. It was re-released by Sunsoft in April 1998.
Yasumi Matsuno is a Japanese video game designer and writer. Matsuno was first introduced to video games in arcades while waiting for the train, and first played Space Invaders and Xevious there. He attended Hosei University for foreign policy but dropped out, and after working for a time as an economic reporter, he joined Quest Corporation.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is a 2003 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. A spin-off of the Final Fantasy series, the game shares several traits with 1997's Final Fantasy Tactics, although it is not a direct sequel. The player assembles a clan of characters, and controls their actions over grid-like battlefields. Players are mostly free to decide the classes, abilities, and statistics of their characters.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is a 1995 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Quest Corporation for the Super Famicom. It was later ported to the Sega Saturn (1996) and the PlayStation (1997), the latter released in North America in 1998 by Atlus USA. The second entry in the Ogre Battle series, the story takes place in the war-torn kingdom of Valeria, where protagonist Denim Powell works in a local resistance force against occupying powers, ending up caught in the ethnic conflicts driving the war. Battles are turn-based, taking place on grid-based maps from an overhead perspective with a focus on positioning and using character class abilities.
Lufia, known as Estpolis Denki in Japan, was a series of role-playing video games developed by Neverland. In Japan, the games were originally published by Taito and later, its now-parent company Square Enix, and after the closing of Taito's North American branch after the release of the first game, Natsume Inc. and Atlus USA in the U.S. While the games are primarily traditional 2D RPGs, they draw on elements from many other genres including action-adventure, monster collecting, and puzzle games. In the 1990s the games were originally developed on the Super NES while the most recent installment, Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals, was developed for the Nintendo DS and was released in 2010 for Japan on February 25 and for North America on October 12. The series currently consists of six games, including this most recent installment.
Hitoshi Sakimoto is a Japanese composer and sound producer. He is best known for scoring the video games Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 80 other games. Sakimoto first played music and video games in elementary school and began composing music professionally in 1988. He joined the video game company Square in 1997. He left Square in 2002 to found Basiscape, a music and sound production company. His music has been played at concerts and published as sheet music.
Tactical role-playing games, also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as simulation RPGs, are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical strategy video games. The formats of tactical RPGs are much like traditional tabletop role-playing games and strategy games in appearance, pacing, and rule structure. Likewise, early tabletop role-playing games are descended from skirmish wargames such as Chainmail, which were primarily concerned with combat.
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen is a 1993 real-time tactical role-playing game developed by Quest Corporation. Originally published for Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Quest in Japan and by Enix America in North America. It is the first installment of the Ogre Battle series. It was directed by Yasumi Matsuno, and designed by Matsuno with Akihiko Yoshida. The story of Ogre Battle focuses on a band of rebels as they lead a revolution against a corrupt reigning Empire, ruled by an evil Empress.
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber is a real-time tactical role-playing game developed by Quest Corporation and localized by Atlus USA for the Nintendo 64. Though conceptually similar to Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, significant gameplay tweaks were implemented to change the game's overall flow. Ogre Battle 64 is the third game in the series, the first two being Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, and Tactics Ogre. Gaidens have been released in Japan, on Game Boy Advance and Neo Geo Pocket Color. Unlike earlier Ogre Battle games, which feature Queen song titles, "Person of Lordly Caliber" is an original title. Ogre Battle 64 was released in Japan, Europe, Australia and North America via the Virtual Console on Wii in early 2010 making it available in Europe and Australia for the first time. In February 2017, it was released for the Wii U Virtual Console in Europe, Australia and North America. It was released for the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan during July.
Ogre Battle, sometimes referred to as Ogre Battle Saga (オウガバトルサーガ), is a series of five tactical role-playing and real-time strategy video games developed by Quest Corporation and is currently owned by Square Enix through Square's acquisition of Quest. There are five original games in the series, one of which has received a remake and a subsequent remaster.
Fire Emblem Gaiden is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Famicom. Released in March 1992, it is the second installment in the Fire Emblem series and the last to be developed for the Famicom. It builds upon the basic turn-based strategy gameplay of the previous title, while including new elements such as a navigable overworld. Set in the same world as its predecessor, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Gaiden follows the battles of two opposing armies on the continent of Valentia, which is torn apart by political strife involving the princess Celica and her childhood friend Alm.
Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia is a 2000 real-time tactical role-playing game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. The game is a spin-off within the Ogre Battle series, originally created by Quest Corporation. The storyline takes place parallel to Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, and follows the path of Prince Tristan of Zenobia during his quest to reclaim his kingdom. As with other Ogre Battle titles, the player controls squads of an army, moving to different parts of the map accomplishing tasks and battling armies encountered on the route. Choices made during the narrative impact the ending.
Magical Chase is a 1991 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed by Quest and published by Palsoft and Turbo Technologies Inc. for the TurboGrafx-16. The game stars a young witch apprentice named Ripple, who broke a promise to her teacher by accidentally releasing six demons from a forbidden book, joined by her star companions Topsy and Turvy on a quest to catch and seal the demons back into the book.
Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible is a role-playing video game series developed by Multimedia Intelligence Transfer, Sega, and Menue, and published by Atlus and Sega for multiple platforms. The first game of the series, Revelations: The Demon Slayer, was released in 1992; this is the only title in the series to have been released in English. After The Demon Slayer, two sequels and five spin-off titles have been released. In the main series titles, players explore the game world and fight monsters in menu-based battles; players can also attempt to recruit monsters to their party, and can fuse two allied monsters into a single new one to try to get stronger monsters. The spin-off title Another Bible is a turn-based strategy game, while Last Bible Special is a role-playing game controlled from a first-person perspective.
Masaharu Iwata is a Japanese video game composer. In high school his musical projects included composing on a synthesizer and playing in a cover band. After graduating from high school he joined Bothtec as a composer. He composed the soundtrack to several games there, beginning with 1987's Bakusou Buggy Ippatsu Yarou. After Bothtec was merged into Quest Corporation, he left to become a freelance composer.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is a 2010 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Japanese company Square Enix. It is a remake of the 1995 Super Famicom title of the same name, second entry in the Ogre Battle series. The remake retains the same strategy RPG gameplay of the original, focusing on turn-based tactical battles and the use of character classes. The game incorporates additional features such as equipment crafting and the ability to revisit branch points in the game's narrative, in addition to multiplayer functionality. The storyline, following the actions of rebel fighter Denam Pavel during a civil war within the kingdom of Valeria, was also expanded with new scenes and characters.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
