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Post by Justinzero on Jan 22, 2009 15:55:36 GMT -5
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Post by Ryu the Grappler on Jan 22, 2009 16:41:20 GMT -5
The Ogre Battle series is one of the few video game series that I truly wanted to get into, but always lost interest. I have both, the SNES original and Ogre Battle 64. With the former, I got too overwhelmed by micromanaging my character's reputation and charisma that I gave up after the first ten chapter, while Ogre Battle 64 didn't really get my attention that much. Tactics Ogre didn't really interest that much either, because I was already spoiled by Final Fantasy Tactics.
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Post by ReyVGM on Jan 22, 2009 17:21:17 GMT -5
Ogre Battle 64 is an amazing game. Much better than the SNES version mainly because it's much faster and you don't fall asleep waiting for an unit to reach its destination.
One thing I really do love about the OB series, is the music. OB64 has a great soundtrack.
As for reputation and charisma, don't stress over that. You just won't be able to get certain items, characters or good endings, but that's ok for a first playthrough. You won't get a "diminished" experience by not caring about the reputation.
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Post by aganar on Jan 22, 2009 17:30:26 GMT -5
Actually, that was probably my biggest complaint about OB64. Not that the charisma system existed, but because the game never bothers to TELL you about it, or that it's important. Ogre Battle 64 is a fantastic game, but I can tell you I wasn't too happy when I sank 40-60 hours into it on my first playthrough only to get the worst ending and have my main character kicked out of the army and die in obscurity because I didn't bother to take notice of the difference between having a town display "Capture" and "Liberation" when I get to it.
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Post by shion on Jan 22, 2009 17:50:36 GMT -5
Ogre Battle 64 is an amazing game. Much better than the SNES version mainly because it's much faster and you don't fall asleep waiting for an unit to reach its destination. Amen. It's a truly fantastic game on pretty much every level.
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Post by Discoalucard on Jan 22, 2009 18:16:17 GMT -5
The Playstation/Saturn ports of Tactics Ogre have some differences, but they just have to do with sound. The Playstation version has worse music and no voiceovers, while the Saturn version has better music (even moreso than the SFC one) and voices. Both versions also have some loading but the Saturn one is better. Unfortunately the only version available officially in English is the Playstation one.
The Playstation port of Ogre Battle features better music, polygonal fight scenes and LOAD TIMES UPON LOAD TIMES. Don't know if the Saturn version was any different/better, but it's dirt cheap on the secondary market! (But also was not localized whereas the Playstation one was.)
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Post by aganar on Jan 22, 2009 19:45:46 GMT -5
Exactly how strict are the quality standards at HG101? I've taken the time to track down an actual copy of Tactics Ogre, so I'll be playing through the thing on a real, physical Playstation, but unless anyone has any qualms about it I don't see myself doing more than trying the Saturn version on a ROM for a level or two just to verify that it has better music, voice acting, and possibly smoother animation. Same goes for the SNES version. Honestly, the changes aren't that big a deal. The game which received more change was Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, since it received extra bits of story, tweaking, and slight graphical updates (IIRC some of your unique characters were given unique sprites rather than generic ones). I DO, in fact, own that on a physical PS1 disk too, now--I didn't when I originally played through the game on an SNES rom--so depending on how big of a deal it is I could theoretically play through it again, but I honestly don't see that happening anytime soon.
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Post by Discoalucard on Jan 22, 2009 20:04:50 GMT -5
Yeah, you can really just play a level or two of the Saturn games just to get the gist of it. You don't need to play each version of each game in its total entirety - you'd never get anything done. I can hook you up with an image of TO for the Saturn, if you want.
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Post by Ganelon on Jan 22, 2009 20:18:42 GMT -5
I think I know nearly everything there is to know about Tactics Ogre (any version) so I can do a thorough write-up on that if that's the only one left. If anyone is going to play Zenobia no Ougi (I'm afraid I don't have the interest to go through it again), note that there are a few path splits in the second half (they're self-evident so it's a matter of time rather than knowledge). I'm a big fan of the series and have every version of every Ogre Battle installment so if anybody needs to test something out on a specific version on the actual system, I wouldn't mind doing that at all. I know the Sega Saturn version of Ogre Battle has voices but don't recall anything else offhand.
Here are the differences between the 3 versions of TO I noticed after playing through every version at least 3 times (copied from my post at the Tactics Ogre Discussion Forums). If someone is writing a guide, feel free to use them at your leisure:
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Post by Ganelon on Jan 22, 2009 20:18:50 GMT -5
Super Famicom (SFC) version, developed by Quest PlayStation (PS) version, ported by Artdink Sega Saturn (SS) version, ported by Riverhillsoft
Visuals: The SFC and PS versions offer fullscreen visuals. The SS version introduces very odd resolutions with cutscenes displayed in a smaller box (like the compressed movies in other SS games) and with maps starting off with the sides cropped (sorta like yoko mode for shooters except not cut as much) and then, when you finally get control, are expanded to add more map to fit the sides without changing the resolution. Thus, all the sprites and portraits appear thinner.
Music: Each version has slightly different music, meaning both the ports have remixed songs. The PS version features simple symphonic tunes whereas the SS version has lower quality synth but often focuses on the harmony in the tunes, making some song sound interestingly different from the other versions.
Sound effects: The SFC and SS versions use the same sound effects. The PS version is brand new and very crisp high quality.
Voice: The SS version exclusively has speech in the most important cutscenes.
Battle saving: The SFC and SS versions offer temporary battle saves that disappear when loaded while the PS version allows permanent battle saving that remain when loaded. The SS version can get around the limitation of lost in-battle saves by using 3rd party memory carts to copy over the save data that contains the battle save.
Save capacity: The SFC version has battery backup with 2 permanent save slots available, 1 battle slot, and additional access to the Turbo File peripheral to store more saves. The PS version offers infinite save slots through the memory card with each save, whether a normal save or battle save, taking up a single block. The SS version offers 3 save slots and a battle slot on the system memory as well as additional saves through the use of a memory cart.
Loading times: The SFC version has no loading at all. Both ports have similar CD access times. However, the PS also takes the longest time to save a game whereas saving in the SFC and SS versions is instantaneous.
Stats: There are slightly different starting stats for Denim form the SFC version to the PS version. I haven't checked the SS version thoroughly.
Options: There's also like a couple more insignificant options on the options screen as well for the ports.
Art gallery: This feature is exclusive to the SS version and is called the Deneb Report. See below for details.
Glitches: The SS version contains an incredible glitch with the Ogre blade's BodyGrab ability that enables the player to obtain any unique leader. This means it's possible to have in your party all enemy leaders with unique portraits/sprites in Chapter 4 after Hell Gate can be accessed. Since this glitch isn't in the other versions, it almost seems intentionally added. See below for my personal notes.
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Post by shion on Jan 22, 2009 20:28:37 GMT -5
Wow, nice detailed write-up. This kinda makes me nostalgic for the days when there were real differences between multi-plat titles, even if some of those differences were irritating from one platform to another.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2009 13:22:40 GMT -5
I wanted to like Tactics Ogre so much, but the game and I just never saw eye to eye. For a title that's supposed to be about amassing an army, it's nigh-impossible to level up your characters. It really is a shame, because the story seemed like a lot of fun, especially in the way it could branch in so many different directions.
Ogre Battle is even more difficult to love, if that's possible. It's a lot like Soul Nomad (or Soul Nomad is like Ogre Battle) in the respect that you can't truly control the actions of your units, so I never felt like I had an honest chance of winning.
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Post by Strider on Jan 23, 2009 18:51:24 GMT -5
Tactics Ogre the original was really frustrating that way, and that aspect of it turned me off to it a lot (fun fact: in an earlier iteration of my existence, I wrote one of the first decent english tactics ogre FAQs). The difficulty of leveling your troops and especilaly the unforgiving AI made progressing really hard at points. I had a much easier time the second run through by relying on undead 'bait' characters.
The GBA Tactics Ogre, for what it's worth, offered a massive improvement on this front. The AI is more forgiving early on (although it gets a littel smarter each chapter), and you can buy expensive single-use items which can revive dead characters from the beginning (you start with a few too), so losing characters isn't as utterly crippling for most of the game.
The GBA Tactics Ogre is actually one of my favorite FFT/TO-alikes.
- HC
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Post by Discoalucard on Jan 23, 2009 20:51:06 GMT -5
I agree with you completely, but it seems like hardcore TO fans really dislike the GBA game.
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Post by Ace Whatever on Jan 24, 2009 2:39:50 GMT -5
Maybe because it lacks about a third or two of the classes from the first game. That's the first big thing I noticed about it.
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