Tactics Ogre: Let Us Play Together

[SirthOsiris]

I mentioned I was doing a Let's Play of Tactics Ogre PSP on another forum. Thought I'd just say 'screw it' and extend the thread here. So excuse me if I copy-paste and something meant for elsewhere turns up here.


Oh hey, Tactics Ogre has a screenshot function. That's coo-

...



Alright, so what is Tactics Ogre? Pretty much, it's the precursor to most, if not all, isometric grid-based Strategy RPGs. I mean the likes of Disgaea, recent Gungnir, and most notably, Final Fantasy Tactics. In fact, TO is considered the spiritual prequel to FFT, as the same group made the game for Squaresoft, and they later made Vagrant Story, the Advance series, and Final Fantasy XII. They, finally, remade the game for the PSP a year ago.
I am a fan. I'm about to finish one run-through, finally, and will start on other paths. Yes, you heard me: the game has three paths, though All Roads Lead to Rhime. What I mean is:
Chapter 1 starts off as normal, with a major decision at the end.
Chapter 2 starts off based on what you did at the end of chapter 1, based on a Law-Chaos axis. Not good and evil, no. No, this is NOT a western RPG. At least one side has another major decision, which can lead into a neutral path in Chapter 3. The events to transpire might also be different, and NPCs can have completely different motives per path.
Chapter 4 is, apparently, the relative same for all three paths. Just, what major NPCs you have in your party can be different. Different decisions can lead to certain NPCs living or dying throughout the story. There IS a major decision to be made here, and the consequences of that is the culmination of all the decisions made up to this point.

NPCs, however, may not matter. I'm doing the usual: asking you for names and characters to add to my army, and only using them. Unless I lack people that are interested, and have to fill the ranks with NPCs to make up for weaknesses. In that sense, this like a challenge: no one really uses generics in this game, at least until they fill the ranks with superior NPCs, who are either stronger, faster, or have access to unique classes. The only named I'll be using is the main character, Denam, unless you want me to save an NPC and it requires a certain character in the squad to get them. I'll probably warn beforehand.
Though I might abandon this plan because, hey, some of the generic designs are nice, and I wanted to use them in my normal playthrough, but NPCs were just so much better. And still had nice designs. Unless people do what I want.


I will only play through a single path, up until the last story dungeon. May or may not do side quests as well.

I'd like for one of each, just for mass variance. Male or female doesn't matter. * indicates that I can make it right now, though it might still be limited.
*Warrior: Standard melee.
*Archer: Standard ranged. Considered one of the best classes in the game. As in overpowered.
*Wizard: Standard mage.
*Cleric: Standard healer.
*Valkyrie: Melee that uses magic.
*Knight: Tank. Can prevent movement past him. Heal magic.
Terror Knight: Knight that uses minor status dark magic. Emphasizes damage with 2-handed swords or hammers.
*Berserker: Melee meant to rush in a kill things, though fragile in that regard.
Swordmaster: Samurai. Has AoE spells requiring fans.
Dragoon: Dragon and Beast killer. Average everywhere else.
Ninja: Attacks with 2 weapons. Overpowered like a baws.
Rogue: Steals things. Ranged or daggers useful.
Fusilier: Gunner. Like an archer using a crossbow. May not be useful. Gotten REALLY late.
Beast Tamer: Tames dragons and beasts, while powering them up. May still want one.
Warlock: Better than the Wizard, slightly, but its only benefit is Draconic Magic. Works with Golems.
Necromancer: Like the warlock, but with undead. Getting this class is a bitch (hopefully not literally). And a half.

If I do not have a class you want, I will make you a kind of precursor class until I have it. Usually a point in the story is required. Note, it will take a bit to level up, as levels are based on class, not unit. As in, if I level one or two people up as a warrior, everyone who turns into a warrior will have that level. New classes will always start at 1.

For weapons, I'd also be looking for a good range. If I can cover all of them, the better; I stopped using hammers in my main playthrough, but I found them useful against armored enemies and dragons. There are, however, a couple weapons that are overpowered. Daggers apparently have a formula where, if someone has a good amount of dexterity, they will do more damage than normal weapons. 2 daggers + double attack + high dexterity = rape face. Just double attack alone is powerful. Bows, also, are powerful, just because they have insane range, as in unlimited based on terrain. However, most story battles put you below the enemy, but usually any cloth-wearers will die in one or two hits. Crossbows mitigate this by not being affected by range.
For spell schools, Tactics Ogre is an odd animal. Sometime in the mid-game, attack spells become rather weak in comparison to melee and archers. However, they make up for this via status effects. Dark and Earth magic are the best, and I'd be looking for at least one person with both, or two with one and the other. Not to say the others may be useless, but those two have the best status effects (petrify, AoE slow, charm, sleep).

There are also lizardmen and hawkmen. Lizardmen are not much different, but hawkmen are worth getting, as they can fly (terrain has no meaning to them). Not sure if I can change their names, though. I have to recruit them in battle. Otherwise, if something direly needs a hawkman because I suck so much, I'll just use Canopus, a hawkman NPC you get in the first real battle.

There are also races in the game. By races, I mean different people. You start off in the Walister, and go up against Galgastani and Bakram soldiers. Having one race fight its kin can make relations with that nation... awkward. More than likely, I'll try to avoid Galgastan and Bakram, as you end up fighting a crapton of them eventually. At the beginning, you can only hire Walister and Galgastani units, so it doesn't really matter; I'll probably just make everyone Walister.
You can also choose to be lawful, neutral or chaotic. These also bring up another facet of choices in the game: loyalty. If loyalty is low enough, units will leave the army. This depends both on how much they fight (killing their own nation, ranking up in skills/weapons, dying), and decisions made that make Denam seem more chaotic or lawful. If you don't care, I'll just make you neutral.

There are two more; the lich and the divine knight. The lich is the most powerful caster in the game, but requires I traverse the special dungeons, which I might not do.

After the tutorial, I start off with 30,000 goth. Each new recruit costs 2,000, so I can get all 11, at least. Denam is going to be a melee class, as a couple times he ends up in situations anything else would probably die in. Each recruit starts at level 1 (except for warriors at 3, due to having two in 3 battles), with no skills, no equipment, 100 skill points (enough for two spell schools or weapon types), and 2/10 slots unlocked.

I will try to explain the story as it comes along, but will post for every choice, to be made by you, especially end-of-chapter decisions. So, there will be spoilers. I will try to screenshot when I can as well. Probably for character introductions and such, but always for major decisions. It will be a time consuming process, though.
As for when I do this? Probably when I feel interest is good. More than likely once I finish the game the first time through, which should be soon (one dungeon left). Maybe June would be good, when school is done and I have time on my hands.

Well, time for a real introductory post, neh? Thought I'd make this to advertise and collect more people for generics. Or just say to hell with it and make everyone Touhou characters or whatever I choose.







This is historical background definitely plays if you wait long enough. Tried looking for it not on someone else's LP, but no luck. All you need is somewhere up to 2:52, otherwise you're getting someone else's voice.
Pretty much, Dorgalua united the people of Valeria into a single, strong kingdom, and urged them to become one in marriage. But on his death, the unity shattered. The Bakram, helped by the Dark Knights Loslorien of Lodis, took the northern half. Brantyn Morne was urged by Lanselot Tartaros, high champion of the Knights, to not expand recklessly, and took heed of the advice. This allowed the south to fight itself, with the Galgastani in the west and the Walister in the east and south. The Galgastani, the most numerous clan in Valeria, decided to invade and wipe out the Walister, leaving them with meager land and resources. A resistance was formed, but upon the capture of their leader, hope seemed lost. Peace finally settled on the creation of the Galgastani Kingdom, though for how long and for what worth would be decided.
The basis for the story is actually very recent, and should probably shed some light on what the Galgastan called a 'blood war'; we in the 21st century call it Ethnic Cleansing, which if it sounds like genocide, it actually is. The director plainly stated the inspiration for the story of Tactics Ogre took directly from the uprisings around Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1995.


And that brings us here.


This music plays for the menu screen. It's an image of clouds separating while the lines in the first video play out. If the music quality sounds familiar, well...

From what I can gather, Xytegenia was an empire that existed long ago. Something of a golden age for another continent. The Second Empire was taken down by the group that later formed Xenobia, and the Xenobian Kingdom was founded. I THINK this is actually the story for Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, the first in the series.
This obviously has no bearing on the plot. No siree.
New game.

So, what shall we name our He is a young man of 18 living in the Walister town of Golyat, on an island south of the major Valerian continent. The original name is Denam, after the material for jeans (the writer knows this). But what shall we name him for this playtrough? Nothing too obscene; the story is quite serious. Ramza would be too obvious. Or we can just keep him Denam.

Birthday has no real effect on the game, so whatever date is good. I'll just use when the other forum was founded, January 13th.
After this, we get to the tarot cards. You get a random selection of 5 cards, each with 3 choices. These choices will affect the stats of Denam, whether to make him more focused on being a warrior or being a mage. Since I'd prefer Denam to be a melee class, since he gets into a couple duels, I'll just use a guide to pick the best stats for him. Otherwise we'll be here all day trying to screenshot, post and pick each choice. So I'll make the choices, and shot each.

And I'll leave it at that until I begin. I keep saying 'soon,' which hopefully won't be Valve Time soon.

Current Army:
Kairose (Kiera): Valkyrie, Sword, Neutral, Female
Hiroari: Terrorknight, Hammer, Chaotic, Male
Trig: Rogue, Crossbow/Dagger, Male, Neutral
Shippou: Knight, Sword, Male, Neutral
C (Oni Makoto): Berserker, Fist, Male, Chaotic
Saiyu: Swordmaster, Female, Chaotic
Kino: Enchantress, ?, Female, Chaotic
Mimi: Ninja, Katana, Female, Law
Aporia: Priest, Male, Neutral
Shallots: Archer, Bow, Female, Neutral
Sirth: Warlock, Earth, Male, Law

[Skele Von Mann]

Name him Siegmund.

[SirthOsiris]

Siegmund, eh?

This is giving me some ideas here, man, and they fit quite nicely.

[Kinokokao]

You know, its strange I've never played Tactics Ogre, considering what a huuuuuge fan I am of Ogre Battle MotBQ and OB64:PoLC

[Skele Von Mann]

Well TO is different than those two games, being the predecessor to Final Fantasy Tactics.

[SirthOsiris]

[Kinokokao]

Haha, yeah. I recognize the play style is entirely different. Which is a great sadness. I mean, are there even any other games ever that use the same play style as classic Ogre Battle?

[Skele Von Mann]

Bahamut Lagoon has something like that, though it's more like a strategy RPG with several 4 man parties (and a dragon)

[SirthOsiris]

Kino, I'm conscripting you as an Enchantress, because.

Which might just turn me into a priest to keep balance. How about that.

Still looking for a couple more, mostly a female ninja, bow archer, and probably one more of anything (thinking ranged here, so probably a warlock. Or I can go that if someone sees themselves as a holy man/woman). Denam might just go the Warrior/Dragoon route.

[Kinokokao]

Sweet. If she's not already an NPC, name my character Deneb. If the real Deneb is in this game, I'll think up a different name.

[Skele Von Mann]

She is, but only at the end of the game and has some really annoying requirements



More so if you want her special class.

[Kinokokao]

Balls.

All right, then. Just name the Enchantress Kino.

[SirthOsiris]

[Kinokokao]

... the Phoenix

[SirthOsiris]

I was looking for a blog for more neutral ground for this, and found I already had one. Might be a good idea?