is a series of five
tactical role-playing and
real-time strategy
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that does not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time." By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, tur ...
video games developed by
Quest Corporation
was a Japanese video game company founded in 1988. Quest is best known for its critically acclaimed tactical role-playing game series '' Ogre Battle''.
In 1990 Quest was merged with the company Bothtec, the latter focusing on the development o ...
and is currently owned by
Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...
through
Square's acquisition of Quest. There are five main games in the series, starting with the release of ''
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen'' in 1993.
Overview
The first video game in the series, ''
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen'', was released in 1993 for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...
in Japan, and two years later in North America. The title was a
real-time strategy
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that does not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time." By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, tur ...
role playing game, set in a
medieval fantasy world. The second game in the series, ''
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together'', was released in 1995 in Japan. It was a turn-based
tactical role-playing game making use of
isometric graphics, and the title is largely considered to be "exceptionally influential" to the genre. Two subsequent games in the ''Ogre Battle'' series – ''
Ogre Battle 64'' and ''
Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia'' – follow the real-time strategy gameplay of the original title in the franchise, while ''
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis'' follows the turn-based tactical role-playing gameplay elements of the second game in the series.
''The Knight of Lodis'', released in 2001, is the last original release in the franchise. In 2010, ''Tactics Ogre'' was remade for the
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...
as ''
Tactics Ogre: Wheel of Fortune'', but the characters, story and setting are identical to the 1995 release. The creator of the series,
Yasumi Matsuno
is a Japanese video game designer and writer. Matsuno was first introduced to video games in arcade game, arcades while waiting for the train, and first played ''Space Invaders'' and ''Xevious'' there. He attended Hosei University for foreign ...
, directed the remake of the game. Matsuno was also responsible for another highly influential title, ''
Final Fantasy Tactics'', originally released in 1997. Though the title bears no relation to the ''Ogre Battle'' series, ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' is considered by some critics to be a spiritual successor to ''Tactics Ogre''. As of 2016, the franchise mostly remains active through re-releases of the first two games for the Nintendo's
Virtual Console
The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...
service in Japan, North America and Europe.
Both "Ogre Battle" and "The March of the Black Queen" were titles to
Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
songs from their 1974 album ''
Queen II
''Queen II'' is the second studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 8 March 1974 by EMI Records in the UK and
Elektra Records in the US. It was recorded at Trident Studios and Langham 1 Studios, London, in August 1973 ...
''. In addition, "Let Us Cling Together" is the subtitle to their song "
Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" from 1976's ''
A Day at the Races''.
Video games
Main series
Side stories
Related software
A prerelease demo of ''Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together'' was made available in early October 1995 for the
Super Famicom
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...
add-on
Satellaview
The is a satellite modem peripheral produced by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Famicom in 1995. Containing 1 megabyte of ROM space and an additional 512 kB of RAM, Satellaview allowed players to download games, maga ...
. It consists of a battle in a preset map where the player has full control over two opposing teams, similar to the training mode in the full version of game.
In 1996, Bothtec Corporation released in Japan a CD-ROM containing a collection of images and artwork used in ''Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together''. The package is titled ''Tactics Ogre Complete Works'' and also includes icons, wallpapers, databases and a screen saver. It is available for
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...
and
Mac OS
Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc. in a succession of two major series.
In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the classic Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software. The system ...
.
Reception
Sales
The series has sold over 2 million copies worldwide, placing it among the
best-selling Japanese role-playing game franchises.
Critical reception
Among critics, the series was acclaimed both in Japan and North America. According to the
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
, the SNES release of ''March of the Black Queen'' has an average aggregate rating of 84%, while the PlayStation port of ''Let Us Cling Together'' has an average of 81%. ''Ogre Battle 64'' has an average of 86% and ''The Knight of Lodis'' 84%. In Japan, gaming magazine
Weekly Famitsu scored the Super Famicom releases of ''March of the Black Queen'' and ''Let Us Cling Together'' 33/40 and 34/40, respectively.
[Ne.jp]
accessed on February 23, 2019 The magazine also provided high scores for ''Ogre Battle 64'' (33/40) and ''The Knight of Lodis'' (34/40), while ''Prince of Zenobia'' received a slightly lower score, 28/40.
The PSP remake of ''Let Us Cling Together'' is the most critically acclaimed release in the series, with an average of 88% at GameRankings and a score of 36/40 from Weekly Famitsu.
, GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
, accessed 2011-02-18Geimin.net
(archived from the original, in Japanese) October 24, 2016, accessed on March 17, 2018
See also
* List of Square Enix video game franchises
* '' Final Fantasy Tactics''
* '' Unicorn Overlord''
Notes
References
{{Square Enix franchises
Square Enix franchises
Video game franchises introduced in 1993
Video games developed in Japan
Japanese brands
category:Tactical role-playing video games by series