Brontoforumus Archive

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:


This board has been fossilized.
You are reading an archive of Brontoforumus, a.k.a. The Worst Forums Ever, from 2008 to early 2014.  Registration and posting (for most members) has been disabled here to discourage spambots from taking over.  Old members can still log in to view boards, PMs, etc.

The new message board is at http://brontoforum.us.

Pages: [1] 2 3 4

Author Topic: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen  (Read 8710 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Norondor

  • Where I'm at is: Fuck you, get shot
  • Tested
  • Karma: 30
  • Posts: 4184
    • View Profile
Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« on: February 16, 2011, 01:44:34 AM »

I procrastinated a little over a day on what to post about this game. I figuratively can't think of enough ways to praise it. Here are a few "from the files!"

  • It feels like the sequel that Final Fantasy Tactics actually deserves -- none of that A2 junk -- but Tactics Ogre came first! You can't explain that!
  • The developers included what i feel must literally (literally) be the single best, most genre-appropriate feature since people started making videogames, of any type.
  • Parish gave it an A+.
  • This is probably where all the worthwhile ideas and good gameplay that FF13 and FF14 lacked ultimately ended up.
  • If you don't get it, I'll throw a rock at you.

Here's a truly ludicrous amount of notable gameplay changes/improvements.


# Battles are now in a true 3D field, but you can't rotate the camera. You can only change views between isometric and top down.
# More classes to choose from and whole class system is revamped/rebalanced.
# CHARIOT (Combat History And Refined Implementation Of Tactics) and WORLD (Ways Of Reordering Life's Destiny) system is now available.
# The CHARIOT system allows you to rewind up to 50 turns in battle without having to restart the entire battle over. The game keeps track of how many battles you win without using CHARIOT, but I'm not sure if there is a penalty for abusing CHARIOT too much.
# The WORLD system: After beating the game, you can go backwards to certain Anchor Points in the storyline. This allows you to witness different story paths without having to replay the entire game.
# Training Mode is gone.
# Characters no longer have specific elements.
# Leveling is per class, not per character. Even at the same level, old characters that you've been leveling will be stronger than a newly joined character.
# There are no more alignment and gender restrictions on class changing.
# Demi-human and some monsters now have the option to class change too.
# Class changes now require license cards, which are used up during the process, but there are no other requirements for a class change.
# Each class no longer has a best weapon.
# The Magic system has been revamped. Some new spells were added.
# Movement has been reduced. Normally you can move 4 steps, slow units can only move 3 steps.
# New characters were added, but some characters will no longer join.
# There are some named generics that will be mentioned in the Warren Report. They don't have a special portait, but they do have better stats than a normal generic.
# A certain character now joins in the Lawful route as well. They won't leave even if you choose the Neutral route, but their loyalty will be lowered.
# What you can recruit from the shop is now limited to Human only. Demi-humans and monsters are only can be recruited on the battle field. You need specific recruit skills for specific demi-humans and monsters.
# You can inherit dead character's spell and skills, but you need to have Silver Coins.
# A skill system has been added.
# Each weapon now has new unique Finishing Blows.
# You can now equip up to 5 pieces of equipment (4 if you're using a two-handed weapon)
# A crafting system has been added and can be accessed in the shop. You can customize equipment or create new items from Chapter 2 onwards if you have the necessary Recipies.
# Equipment now have class and level restrictions.
# The gun has been weakened a lot and like the crossbow, they can't shoot beyond a certain range.
# Some accessories like the Warp Ring only last for a short time when used in battle. They won't break by using it, but the number of uses are limited per battle.
# Characters can now memorize a limitless number of spells. Just use a scroll, which will lost when used, to learn more.
# You now need to equip spell specific skills in order to be able to cast them.
# There are now 8 elements (Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Ice, Thunder, Light, Dark) instead of 6.
# Magic range and area are now affected by INT and MND (MEN in the old versions). Weather doesn't affect the range.
# Projection magic can't hit targets standing directly next to caster unless you aim somewhere behind the target then you may hit a target that's right next to the caster.
# Undead now need to be knocked out before Exorcism takes effect.
# Some spells no longer affect the whole map.
# Certain spells now require Catalysts to cast.
# Healing now damages the Undead.
# Except for basic items, you need to learn a skill to use higher grade items.
# A Tarot Card you picked up can be used later through the Items interface.
# Items no longer needed to be equipped. Just choose command to bring up list.
# Some items are no longer automatically used in battle (Warp/Teleport Stone etc.)
# Orbs no longer affect whole map.
# Even if you can't cast spells, you can just use a similar scroll for same effect. Ex: A Berserker can cast Exorcism, but you need to stock up scrolls to do it. Using scrolls does not need MP or Catalysts. This might be a cheap and quick way to cast magic depending on the situation.
# When characters are knocked out in battle, they must be revived within 3 turns. If you fail to revive a character, they will be removed from the battle and lose one life.
# Each character now have 3 lives. Lose all 3 and they will be dead forever.
# You can bring up to 12 units to battle instead of the original 10. L-size units now count as 1 unit.
# You can now save during battle.
# If it is not story battle, you can retreat at any time. You don't lose recruited characters and treasure by retreating.
# You need to learn different recruit skills to recruit specific units.
# Petrify is now timed. It doesn't last for the entire whole battle now.
# Treasure drops are now randomized.
# Tree, Rock and Barrels etc.. on the map can be destroyed.
# Items that you can pick up in battle are limited to consumables only, but these can be picked up every battle. The odds can be improved with some skills. Luck has nothing to do with it now.
# Elemental Affinities are no longer attached to a character. They can be learned and assigned through skills.
# Character alignments no longer influence the availability of job classes.
# The number of characters you can bring into battle is now 12 instead of 10.
# Classes are no longer gender locked. For example, male Valkyries are named Rune Fencers.
# Class levels are no longer tied to each individual character. As a result, you can assign a fresh recruit to a leveled class without having to level that specific character. Individual characters gain skillpoints instead, which are used to learn class skills.
# All the classes have been rebalanced. Some classes that weren't very useful in the original game have been improved. Some classes were renamed or removed for a more balanced class.
# Non-human races now have their own unique class trees. Stat growths are still dependent on that character's class at level up, which occur after a battle is over.
# All story battles are at fixed levels until you beat the game. If your party is unreasonably higher in level than a particular story battle's level cap, the enemy participants of that battle will scale to your highest level member. After you beat the game, all story battles will scale in New Game+.
# Random encounters have been added to the World Map. All random battles scale with to your party's level, but they can be skipped.
Logged

Rico

  • Tested
  • Karma: 18
  • Posts: 1916
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2011, 05:31:25 AM »

I didn't know this was coming out for PSP. I prefer the regular Ogre games over the Tactics ones just because Ogre Battle was pretty unique and a gameplay style I enjoy, but I will definitely have to find my PSP at some point and get this.
Logged

norn

  • Tested
  • Karma: 6
  • Posts: 132
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2011, 11:41:25 AM »

I purchased a PSP solely so I could play this, the definitive version of my favorite video game. I hadn't read much on the changes, but the entirety of that list gets my dick hard. Waiting for Amazon's glacial international shipping is going to make for a rough two weeks.

I didn't know this was coming out for PSP. I prefer the regular Ogre games over the Tactics ones just because Ogre Battle was pretty unique and a gameplay style I enjoy, but I will definitely have to find my PSP at some point and get this.
Surely if we all purchase TOPSP it will show Square-Enix that they should make more Ogre games and they will welcome Matsuno back with open arms to facilitate this. That's how things work, right? Wait, why am I crying... ?
Logged

Zach

  • Tested
  • Karma: 29
  • Posts: 712
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2011, 03:07:10 PM »

The developers included what i feel must literally (literally) be the single best, most genre-appropriate feature since people started making videogames, of any type.

Leveling the class instead of the character
Team-based experience, right? That's what has been blowing my mind since I've started playing. I'm about 40 hours into it, and while it isn't quite an A+, it is excellent. Time-warped spiritual successor to Final Fantasy Tactics is exactly right.

Crafting's boring and a lot of the finishing blow pairings seem random (why is the L3 bow finisher a fire attack that deals crushing damage and charm? Were this a NIS game and it was a pun, maybe...) but that's about it.

Has anyone said anything about the multiplayer mode yet?
Logged

Rico

  • Tested
  • Karma: 18
  • Posts: 1916
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2011, 03:49:54 PM »

I purchased a PSP solely so I could play this, the definitive version of my favorite video game. I hadn't read much on the changes, but the entirety of that list gets my dick hard. Waiting for Amazon's glacial international shipping is going to make for a rough two weeks.
Free Amazon Prime account. Two days. Enjoy your hellgate.
Logged

Norondor

  • Where I'm at is: Fuck you, get shot
  • Tested
  • Karma: 30
  • Posts: 4184
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #5 on: February 16, 2011, 08:07:46 PM »

The developers included what i feel must literally (literally) be the single best, most genre-appropriate feature since people started making videogames, of any type.

Leveling the class instead of the character
Team-based experience, right?

No, man. That's great too! But i was thinking of Chariot. It's the best thing to have in a TRPG, ever.
Logged

sei

  • Tested
  • Karma: 25
  • Posts: 2085
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2011, 02:33:18 PM »

Got a rundown of how useful/situational different classes are?
Logged

Norondor

  • Where I'm at is: Fuck you, get shot
  • Tested
  • Karma: 30
  • Posts: 4184
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2011, 03:21:34 PM »

they are basically all good for exactly what they look like they are for.

For all the classes i have so far...

Warrior is good for getting your weapon skills up for later jobs in the early game, they have a broadly-useful TP power, Mighty Strike, which is just straight-up bonus damage for 40 TP, and they get access to all passive physical bonus abilities a few levels earlier than other classes. They can also always use any weapons and armor at the lowest-possible level of all classes.

Archer is hot, like fire, and are actually one of the best damage-dealers in the game. You'd never believe it, but it's true. Elevation matters a lot -- get Trajectory to see exactly what your control of the battlefield looks like and pop mages in two hits (or less, with TP!)

Valkyrie/Rune Knight is the true jack of all trades class, which basically means they don't do very good damage, but there are still good reasons to train them if you like them. They can learn any kind of magic, but can't use status spells or indirect nukes, just projectiles and en-spells and elemental resistance buffs. That's actually super good though! They can also learn Heal if you get them Divine Magic skill. Their basic TP ability lets them just go off on their own and never worry about dying, and later they learn how to make barricades that take a long time to break down.

Cleric is Cleric. Their only offensive power is a highly-accurate Silence, which you should get. Attune Light doesn't increase healing -- nothing does, AFAIK.

Mage is Mage. Get Dark Magic, always. Don't worry about other elements for a bit, but look at what status spells the other schools get later and pick the ones you think look good. Since they're good at inflicting statuses, for the love of Pete get Spellstrike.

ADVANCED JOBS (of which i am aware)

[spoiler]Knight has battlefield control with Rampart Aura, which makes units lose all their move if they pass within one square of you (there are higher ranks, too). They can learn heals (later than Clerics) and en-light, and that's about all for their magical abilities. Naturally, they're tanky tank tankers, with their first TP ability giving them 90% damage resist (!) for one turn.

Berserker uses HAMMAR or fists to do pretty good damage. They notably have a TP ability that makes them hit all tiles in front of and to the sides of them when they attack, which is... a mixed blessing. Usually, enemies don't stand close enough to make any use of it. They do have good stats, though.

Terror Knight is basically Knight, but with access to basic Dark Magic, which is more useful, but only if you spend the skill slots on Attune Dark and Spellstrike to actually land any spells... with the exception of en-dark and dark protection, the latter of which helps prevent annoying statuses like Stun and Charm! They also have Rampart Aura and can use TP to inflict a minor atk+def down with their melee hits, which stacks with both Breach and Weaken, which is really nice.

Beastmaster sucks ass, but you know what doesn't suck? DRAGONS DON'T SUCK.

Dragoon is one of the only really situational jobs. Their TP abilities let them kill dragons and monsters dead, dead, dead, but they're basically only as good as Warriors against humans. Except Warriors have Mighty Strike, so technically they're worse. Still, it's worth keeping the class leveled, juuuuust in case.

Thief is only barely worth using, in my estimation, but i'm probably just being unfair. They have Steal, of course, for 50 TP -- it's not that accurate, and doesn't strip enemies, but does give you high-class items when used, usually far better than anything you could expect to actually get from the battle. Stealing from monsters usually seems to give you high-rank healing items, or rare materials -- either way that's awesome. They have a SHIT-TON of other TP abilities, from a self-haste to a ranged wind spell that blinds people, but they're incredibly expensive to train.

Ninzya/Ku no ichi is of course the dual-wielder job. Their magic is unique to their class, and uses reagents instead of MP, and the reagents are actually pretty expensive in the early game, at 200 goth a pop. Their best ones cause debuffs or enchant their weapon to add statuses on hit (100% of the time, unresistable...!!!) Their elemental nukes are pretty much garbage (they can hit multiple times though, if you feel lucky). The ninja's first TP ability gives them 100% accuracy on Ninjutsu, which is fucking great since their first spell inflicts Bind at 5 squares out!

Wardancer is a class i don't actually have as such, but i have fought a couple of 'em. They are basically FFT samurai, with spells that consume reagents and have smart targeting, again similar to FFT. No idea on TP skills.[/spoiler]
Logged

Norondor

  • Where I'm at is: Fuck you, get shot
  • Tested
  • Karma: 30
  • Posts: 4184
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #8 on: February 17, 2011, 03:33:15 PM »

Honestly, one of the best features of this game is that there are no false choices. Every class, and every skill, is worthwhile.
Logged

Zach

  • Tested
  • Karma: 29
  • Posts: 712
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #9 on: February 17, 2011, 05:36:41 PM »

Everything you say about archers is true.

I eventually phased out my [spoiler]Berserker[/spoiler].

[spoiler]My thief is equipped with the Charm blowgun. A lot of annoying enemies are suspectable to Charm.

I didn't expect to be using a beastmaster, but between a dragon and a griffin, I'm happy.

Swordmasters are what happens when game designers like bards, but not music. They have buffs and debuffs in the form of fan dances. They also deal intense katana damage. Their defense isn't great, but they're classy all around.[/spoiler]
Logged

Norondor

  • Where I'm at is: Fuck you, get shot
  • Tested
  • Karma: 30
  • Posts: 4184
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #10 on: February 17, 2011, 06:14:15 PM »

Oh, i forgot to mention: when picking elements for your Mages to learn for purposes of buffing spells, it's useful to note that this game is FF11 Tactics. All the element-to-buff associations apply intact.

Also, it turns out that Steal just has a flat 41% chance of success in all circumstances.
Logged

Mothra

  • ┐('~`;)┌ w/e
  • Admin
  • Tested
  • Karma: -62198
  • Posts: 3778
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #11 on: February 18, 2011, 01:17:07 AM »

How useful/worth the headache is it to recruit monsters? Easily my favorite thing about Knights of Lodis was having half a team of demons.
Logged

Norondor

  • Where I'm at is: Fuck you, get shot
  • Tested
  • Karma: 30
  • Posts: 4184
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #12 on: February 18, 2011, 02:53:01 AM »

they're horrifyingly strong.
Logged

sei

  • Tested
  • Karma: 25
  • Posts: 2085
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #13 on: February 18, 2011, 01:24:00 PM »

Thanks.

Man, my fucking kingdom for a fitting room feature.

In shop... "Did I remember to get that archer some sleeves?"

FIVE MENUS LATER
Logged

Zach

  • Tested
  • Karma: 29
  • Posts: 712
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #14 on: February 18, 2011, 01:28:12 PM »

At least you know where your archer keeps his armies.
Logged

Rico

  • Tested
  • Karma: 18
  • Posts: 1916
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #15 on: February 18, 2011, 01:32:23 PM »

I can't find my PSP. I guess it got bored from not being used for a year and wandered off.
Logged

Norondor

  • Where I'm at is: Fuck you, get shot
  • Tested
  • Karma: 30
  • Posts: 4184
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #16 on: February 18, 2011, 02:31:49 PM »

Man, my fucking kingdom for a fitting room feature.

yeah, that and crafting are the only two complaints i have about the game. and i LIKE crafting, i just don't know why they bother having a failure chance if i'm just going to reload until i don't fail.
Logged

Joxam

  • The Transformizzle
  • Admin
  • Tested
  • Karma: -65493
  • Posts: 2188
    • View Profile
    • Shadowrun
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #17 on: February 18, 2011, 02:55:37 PM »

omg this game is sooooooooo good.
Logged

sei

  • Tested
  • Karma: 25
  • Posts: 2085
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #18 on: February 18, 2011, 05:06:58 PM »

Man, my fucking kingdom for a fitting room feature.

yeah, that and crafting are the only two complaints i have about the game. and i LIKE crafting, i just don't know why they bother having a failure chance if i'm just going to reload until i don't fail.
"Well, we didn't want CHARIOT to rob you of your reloading nostalgia..."
Logged

Norondor

  • Where I'm at is: Fuck you, get shot
  • Tested
  • Karma: 30
  • Posts: 4184
    • View Profile
Re: Tactics Ogre: The Very Best of Queen
« Reply #19 on: February 18, 2011, 05:09:24 PM »

yeah i kind of made that joke to myself earlier. in addition to chariot and world, we also have "just restart the fucking game over and over"
Logged
Pages: [1] 2 3 4