Tactics Ogre – Reborn is an upcoming remake of an old 2d tactical RPG game. It has dropped its subtitle “Let Us Cling Together” which was a tribute to Queen’s Freddie Mercury, back in 1995. The game wasn’t released in North America until 1998’s PlayStation port. Which was criticized for long loading times and generally poor performance. The Saturn port was praised, though it remains unavailable outside of Japan.
The storyline was more politically-focused. Compared to the fantasy-rich Ogre Battle – the March of the Black Queen. The gameplay is no longer real-time. Instead, opting for a turn-based style inspired by chess.
Through the Grapevine:
In 2010 a remake was released exclusively for the PlayStation portable. Now a leak has pointed to a November 11th release date on both PS5 and PS4. No PC release is of yet planned. The rumor mill has been running amuck ever since the ‘Geforce Now‘ leak. Here’s a description according to PS Deals.
1. The game portrays the struggle for control over the Valerian Isles.
2. Player choice influences the story. Both in how it unfolds and ends. Multiple paths allow for multiple endings.
3. Fully 3d battlefields for the battles to take place in. The A.I. has been repurposed. Enemies will now adapt to any given situation. Meaning the battle system never grows stale.
4. The PSP remake had a class-wide leveling system. This has been changed to a unit-by-unit one. Go deep with theorycraft. Endless permutations of equipment, magic, skills, and classes are at your fingertips.
A thorough makeover:
5. The U.I. and controls, in Tactics Ogre- Reborn, have been fine-tuned as well. To make it more accessible than ever. Battle pacing too has been sped up. While a new auto-save feature is included.
6. The original pushed 16-bit hardware to its limits. Now, all that delightful retro pixel art is being recreated in High definition.
7. The cut scenes are fully voiced both in English and Japanese. A completely re-recorded soundtrack, featuring actual live musicians!
8. Further down the road you will unlock the World Tarot. Sort of like a rewind mechanism for the story. You don’t have to agonize over the fact that you could have made a different choice. Now you can find out for yourself.
9. Not just the story. You can rewind up to a certain point during combat as well. Thanks to the chariot tarot feature. Because a single decision can alter the course of the game. Players will be encouraged to take more risks.
10. Last but not least there’s an abundance of endgame content. In the form of the 100-level Palace of the Dead.
Buy the PS4 version and you’ll get access to the PS5 version. This won’t work for the disc-less version of the console though.
The publisher Square Enix remains tight-lipped regarding the news.
