Ogre Battle

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For the Queen song, see Queen II.
Ogre Battle
The Ogre Battle logo used in Ogre Battle 64
Genre(s)Tactical role-playing, real-time strategy
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Creator(s)Yasumi Matsuno
Platform(s)EZweb, Game Boy Advance, iMode, Microsoft Windows, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Nintendo 64, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation Portable, Sega Saturn, Super NES
First releaseOgre Battle: The March of the Black Queen
March 12, 1993
Latest releaseTactics Ogre: Reborn
November 11, 2022

Ogre Battle[a] 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 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 in Japan, and two years later in North America. The title was a real-time strategy role playing game, set in a medieval fantasy world.[1] 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.[2][3] 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 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, 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.[4] As of 2016, the franchise mostly remains active through re-releases of the first two games for the Nintendo's Virtual Console service in Japan, North America and Europe.

Both "Ogre Battle" and "The March of the Black Queen" were titles to Queen songs from their 1974 album Queen II. 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

Title Original release date

Japan

North America

PAL region

Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen March 12, 1993 (SFC) May 1995 (SNES) July 3, 2009 (Wii VC)
Notes:
Tactics Ogre October 6, 1995 (SFC) May 1, 1998 (PS) February 25, 2011 (PSP)
Notes:
Ogre Battle 64 July 14, 1999 (N64) October 7, 2000 (N64) March 26, 2010 (Wii VC)
Notes:
  • Real-time strategy game.
  • Released on Nintendo 64 in 1999; this version was later released for Wii Virtual Console (2010) and Wii U Virtual Console (2017).
  • Originally released in Japan under the title Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber (オウガバトル64 パーソン・オブ・ロードリー・キャリバー, Ōga Batoru Rokujūyon: Pāson Obu Rōdorī Kyaribā).
  • The English subtitle translates to Japanese as Shidōshataru Utsuwa o Motsu Mono (指導者たる器を持つ者).

Side stories

Title Original release date

Japan

North America

PAL region

Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia June 22, 2000 (NGPC) — —
Notes:
  • Real-time strategy game.
  • Side story originally titled Prince no Shō: Let us walk on together, so as not lose our way (プリンスの章 Let us walk on together, so as not lose our way).
  • Released on Neo Geo Pocket Color in 2000.
  • Originally released in Japan under the title Legend of Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia (伝説のオウガバトル外伝 ゼノビアの皇子, Densetsu no Ōga Batoru Gaiden: Zenobia no Ōji).
  • Only game in the series not to be released outside of Japan.
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis June 21, 2001 (GBA) May 7, 2002 (GBA) —
Notes:
  • Tactical role-playing game.
  • Side story originally titled Ovis no Shō: Lodis no Kishi (オウィスの章 ローディスの騎士).
  • Released on Game Boy Advance in 2001.
  • Originally released in Japan under the title Tactics Ogre Gaiden (タクティクスオウガ外伝, Takutikusu Ōga Gaiden).

A prerelease demo of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together was made available in early October 1995 for the Super Famicom add-on Satellaview. 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.[5]

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 and Mac OS.[6][7]

Reception

Sales

The series has sold over 2 million copies worldwide,[8] placing it among the best-selling Japanese role-playing game franchises.

Sales
Title Year Console Japan USA Total Ref.
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen 1993 SNES 400,000 400,000 [9]
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together 1995 SFC 515,311 — 515,311 [10]
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen - Limited Edition 1996 PS 59,817 47,655 107,472 [10][11]
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen 1996 SS 48,449 — 48,449 [10]
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together 1996 SS 78,993 — 78,993 [12]
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together 1997 PS 13,963 16,940 30,903 [10][11]
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber 1999 N64 200,770 76,529 277,299 [13][14][10]
Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia 2000 NGPC 14,283 — 14,283 [15]
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis 2001 GBA 282,838 100,390 383,228 [16][17][10]
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together 2010 PSP 279,207 Unknown 279,207 [10]
Total sales: 2,135,145

Critical reception

Among critics, the series was acclaimed both in Japan and North America. According to the review aggregator GameRankings, 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%.[18][19] Ogre Battle 64 has an average of 86% and The Knight of Lodis 84%.[20] 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.[21][22] 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.[23][24] 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.[25][26][27]

Critical reception from publications which reviewed five or more entries in the series
Release Publication score
Title Year Platform EGM Famitsu GameInformer GamePro GameSpot IGN
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen 1993 SNES 31.5/40[28] 33/40[29] 6.75/10[30] 15/20[31] – 9/10[32]
1996 PS 30/40[33] 32/40[34] 6.5/10[30] 16.5/20[35] 7.8/10[36] 6/10[37]
1996 SS – 28/40[38] – – – –
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together 1995 SNES – 34/40[39] – – – –
1996 SS – 30/40[40] – – – –
1997 PS 33/40[41] 31/40[42] 8/10[30] 4.5/5[43] 7.9/10[44] –
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber 1999 N64 25/30[45] 33/40[46] 9/10[30] 13/20[47] 9.1/10[48] 8.8/10[49]
Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia 2000 NGPC – 28/40[50] – – – –
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis 2001 GBA 24.5/30[51] 34/40[52] 8/10[30] 4.5/5[53] 9.1/10[54] 8.5/10[55]
Tactics Ogre: Wheel of Fate 2010 PSP 7/10[56] 36/40[57] 9/10[30] 4.5/5[58] 9/10[59] 8.5/10[60]
Tactics Ogre: Reborn 2022 Microsoft Windows – – – – – –
2022 Nintendo Switch – – – – 8/10[61] –
2022 PlayStation 4 – – – – – –
2022 PlayStation 5 – – – – – –

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: オウガバトル, Hepburn: Ōga Batoru

References

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  2. ^ Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together – Staff Review
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  4. ^ Top 10 Spiritual Successor Video Games
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  6. ^ Quest's Official Website (in Japanese).
  7. ^ Suruga-Ya (in Japanese).
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