Forgotten Gems is an everyday column about notable video games which have moved out of the general public eye and will not be simply accessible anymore. To see all the opposite video games I’ve coated up to now, remember to take a look at the 11 earlier problems with Forgotten Gems in our Columns part.
I can’t have a look at the field artwork for Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen with out “listening to” Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. From its iconic predominant theme to the cheers and jeers sounds when liberating cities, and the muffled “combat it out” and “thanks!” voice samples – all of it comes proper again. I haven’t performed this – now sadly obscure – SNES technique RPG in three many years, however booting up the dusty Japanese cartridge on my Tremendous Nt immediately jogs my memory why I skipped pesky, non-essential issues like sleep once I first introduced it residence.
Like so many issues, my love affair with the Ogre Battle sequence began in 1993 throughout my faculty years in Japan. I had devoured Last Fantasy IV and V, and with the following installment in my favourite RPG sequence nonetheless a yr off, I used to be on the lookout for something to fill the void. Ogre Battle’s cowl artwork instantly referred to as to me. No shock, actually – it’s the early work of a future grasp of character design: Akihiko Yoshida. Chances are you’ll not know his title, however you most likely know Vaan and Ashe from Last Fantasy XII and have little doubt seen Yoshida’s artwork type in all the pieces from Vagrant Story and Bravely Default, to Nier Automata.
Developed and printed by Tokyo-based Quest, with assist from Nintendo, Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen confronted some powerful odds: specifically, a vibrant and crowded RPG scene dominated by Sq. and Enix (nonetheless two separate corporations on the time). But by some means, this just about unknown studio landed a vital and monetary hit that immediately turned heads – and finally led to Enix itself bringing the sport to the US.
If I had written this column a number of months in the past, as deliberate, I’d’ve advised you that Ogre Battle was each the beginning and the tip of a sub-genre department on the evolutionary tree of roleplaying video games. Gamers don’t management a personality or a celebration on an overworld map, they management a number of groups in actual time. There aren’t any random battles. As a substitute, enemies transfer internationally in plain view, similar to the participant’s models. And when two teams stumble upon one another, the display switches to an isometric show with the person models duking it out in turn-based fight. However you’re not really in direct management – battles are largely automated, with the location and lessons of the characters figuring out their assaults and defensive strikes. As a substitute, you assume the position of an all-powerful strategist, intervening with ways modifications and by enjoying magical tarot playing cards that you just gather in the course of the exploration part.
It’s a daring departure from Nintendo’s slower-paced, turn-based gameplay in Fireplace Emblem and Sq.’s influential active-time battle system that was affecting the design of each different RPG in improvement. Though you possibly can pause the motion throughout each overworld exploration and battle screens, Ogre Battle feels quick and relentless by comparability, driving you to make decisions and modify your technique on the fly like in a contemporary real-time technique recreation.
On prime of the fight and exploration parts, there may be an financial component – freed cities earn you cash that you could finance further unit deployments – in addition to the intelligent, however generally hard-to-understand interconnected repute and alignment techniques. You could be extra lawful and lift a personality’s alignment by attacking enemies of upper degree or of decrease alignment, or descend in direction of chaos by selecting on these of decrease degree or extra lawful than you. Take an excessive amount of time throughout your conquests and your repute – recognized within the Japanese model of Ogre Battle by the awesomely flowery title “Chaos Body” (later adopted by the localized sequels, too) – will drop by the day. In the meantime, liberating or capturing cities with characters of excessive or low alignment will equally affect your repute on the planet of Ogre Battle, which finally impacts what characters you possibly can recruit and what ending you’ll get.
Even though you by no means immediately management a singular character, every warrior has an in depth set of stats, together with RPG staples like Power, Agility, Intelligence, Charisma, Luck, and hitpoints, along with the aforementioned alignment. Plus, there are lots of totally different character lessons – together with highly effective monsters that trigger quite a lot of injury however can not lead a celebration. It’s a surprisingly deep system, on condition that its predominant gameplay loop unfolds in actual time. Effectively, accelerated real-time with totally different velocity settings – and there’s even a day/evening cycle that impacts sure models. Have a vampire in your group? Through the daytime, you don’t! You simply have somebody snoozing in a coffin who can’t assault. If that sounds daunting, know that it does take a little bit of time to get into and perceive all of it, with even knowledgeable gamers making an attempt to puzzle out all of the nuances over a number of playthroughs on learn how to grasp the repute system and get the most effective ending.
Seems like the start of a brand new, lasting sequence that may certainly be round without end, proper? That is Forgotten Gems, keep in mind?
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen offered greater than half one million copies – a fifth of that through a PlayStation restricted version re-release some three years after its Tremendous NES debut in 1993. However creator Yasumi Matsuno had massive plans for his new roleplaying saga, even earlier than it emerged as a shock hit. March of the Black Queen is subtitled Episode V and was meant to be the primary story in a seven story saga, with chapters I-IV appearing as prequels.
As a newly-minted fan, I didn’t know all that and searched in useless for the earlier video games – there was no web within the early ‘90s to inform me “5 actually means first”. However I additionally didn’t have to attend lengthy for a sequel to Ogre Battle to be introduced. However as an alternative of a direct sequel and a sixth or a prequel episode, the following Ogre Battle recreation can be Techniques Ogre: Episode VII.
In the event you’ve performed Techniques Ogre, it’s an enormous departure from the unique Ogre Battle in all the pieces from the story give attention to politics over excessive fantasy to its slower-paced, chess-like gameplay. Which can relate to a personality trait of Matsuno’s that he himself has highlighted in interviews with the Japanese press over time: he tends to get bored together with his creations, even when gamers don’t.
Impressed by video games like Solstice and Landstalker whereas ending up improvement of Ogre Battle, Matsuno fell in love with the thought of constructing an isometric motion recreation. That recreation concept morphed right into a full-fledged pitch for an Ogre Battle Saga recreation referred to as Lancelot: Any person to Love, which might finally flip into Techniques Ogre: The Bequest of King Dorghalla, earlier than deciding on the ultimate, as soon as once more Queen-inspired, subtitle: Allow us to Cling Collectively.
“Somebody will make one thing higher, so I will make one thing totally different”, Matsuno stated in a 2018 interview with DenFamiNicoGamer when requested concerning the change from Battle to Techniques. “It might be an odd analogy, however the first Alien, which was made by Ridley Scott, and the second movie, which was made by James Cameron, have fully totally different ‘tastes’, proper? It modified from being a sci-fi horror film set in area to an motion and conflict film. I actually like that transition.”
“When making a sequel to Ogre Battle, I deliberately aimed to create a very totally different type of recreation somewhat than a ‘2’. I did not have any specific proof, however I used to be satisfied that hardcore followers would most likely be extra pleased with that.”
Sadly, no one actually stepped as much as make a “higher Ogre Battle”. I used to be initially disillusioned within the new route the Ogre Battle sequence took by abandoning its real-time roots, however grew to understand it and the various video games prefer it which have adopted over time (Last Fantasy Techniques, Octopath Traveler, and Triangle Technique, to call just some). Matsuno left Quest after Techniques Ogre shipped and joined the corporate he was initially competing with: Sq.. At Sq., he would go on to make Last Fantasy Techniques and Vagrant Story, earlier than transferring on once more to, erm, redder pastures, reminiscent of engaged on slash-fest MadWorld from PlatinumGames.
However regardless of its creator’s departure, the core Ogre sequence wasn’t over but. Quest programmer Tatsuya Azeyagi changed Matsuno within the director’s chair and led a group with Megami Tensei Gaiden designer Koji Takino to fill the hole between Ogre Battle and Techniques Ogre. The sport: Ogre Battle 64: Individual of Lordly Caliber, the sixth chapter within the saga. Printed by Atlus and Nintendo, the wonderful and bold sequel featured polygonal maps and 3D-modeled, pre-rendered character sprites a la Donkey Kong Nation and clocked in on the second-biggest N64 cartridge with 40MB/320 megabits, second solely to Resident Evil 2’s 64MB cart.
In the event you’re up-to-date on Nintendo 64 historical past, the larger the cartridge dimension, the larger the chance for the writer as a result of cartridges needed to be manufactured – and paid for – approach prematurely. That requires advance money and might imply betting the studio’s future on a single recreation’s success. The end result was that Ogre Battle 64 was unattainable to seek out upon launch. It offered a extra modest 200,000 models, however given the constructive evaluations and phrase of mouth, its destiny was little doubt precipitated much less by avid gamers not being and extra by it not being out there to buy. I vividly keep in mind the various pissed off letters we obtained at IGN64 throughout these days.
Quest wanted cash. It sublicensed Ogre Battle to SNK, who had been on the lookout for scorching properties to adapt for the brand new NeoGeo Pocket Coloration handheld system, a succesful and underappreciated competitor to the Sport Boy Advance. The end result was that Ogre Battle immediately noticed a little bit of a renaissance. Two “aspect story” (Gaiden) video games from two totally different builders adopted Ogre 64 in fast succession: SNK’s Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia for NGPC and Quest’s personal Techniques: Ogre: The Knight of Lodis for Sport Boy Advance. Each video games’ tales run parallel to the occasions within the very first recreation, Episode V, with the GBA title bridging the occasions between Episode V and VI.
The NGPC title – extra of an imitation of the unique than a recreation that might rekindle the flame – was a mere blip on the radar, whereas the GBA Techniques Ogre noticed respectable gross sales, definitely for a method title, with greater than 380k models offered by way of. Sure, it outperformed its 64-bit brother regardless of the GBA’s wealthy RPG and technique library and a complete lack of them on Nintendo 64. Was I the one one who most well-liked the basic Ogre Battles to the isometric ways selection?
However what appeared like a rebirth really proved to be the tip of the road. In 2002, Sq. acquired Quest – and regardless of our wildest desires of a reunited group working collectively to lastly give us the primary 4 chapters of the story, we solely bought a Techniques Ogre remake for PSP – and later, with little or no fanfare, a brand new tackle the identical recreation once more through a 2022 remaster referred to as Techniques Ogre Reborn.
However earlier than I go away you on one other downer of an ending as a result of no one is engaged on one other true Ogre Battle recreation (not less than, that we all know of) and by some means, neither the SNES authentic nor its N64 sequel are simply accessible, have you ever heard of Vanillaware? Effectively, the saints behind Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown appear to have a comfortable spot for Ogre Battle as effectively. Unicorn Overlord arrived as an absolute spotlight for SRPG followers in early 2024. In the event you missed it, give it a shot! When it was first revealed in Nintendo’s September 2023 Direct, I needed to do a double take as a result of I genuinely thought it was a brand new Ogre Battle recreation.
So maybe Matsuno was proper all alongside – it simply took a number of years to get there. Maybe anyone did finally make “one thing higher” and a promising new RPG sub-genre continues underneath the banner of a brand new queen.
However again to the basic Ogre Battle RTSRPG titles. In case you misplaced rely, the 16-bit Techniques Ogre – which was by no means localized on Tremendous NES – bought a Saturn version in Japan, then a translated large launch on PlayStation, then it was remade for PSP, and at last remade once more in 2022 on all the pieces however Xbox. Sadly, the unique Ogre Battle was final seen within the west on the Wii Digital Console in 2009, although Wii U and 3DS noticed Digital Console editions in Japan in 2013 and 2017, respectively. Ogre Battle 64 hit the Digital Console on Wii in 2010 and noticed a late launch on Wii U within the US in 2017, as effectively. Neither title has seen multi-platform or compilation releases nor an announcement for Nintendo Change On-line. On condition that Sq. titles have been totally absent from Nintendo’s subscription service, it’s unlikely we’ll see them added anytime quickly.
Which leaves the opportunity of a future compilation – or, the old style solution to legally play them on the platforms they had been launched on. Dangerous information, of us. The unique Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen cartridge instructions a worth of virtually $200 (unfastened) on eBay. Ogre Battle: Individual of Lordly Caliber is a steal, by comparability, costing $100 for simply the cartridge (no field or guide).
A replica of Ogre Battle Gaiden for NeoGeo Pocket Coloration could possibly be yours for simply $30, then again – and because of the brand new NGPC core and converter you possibly can play it on the Analog Pocket’s beautiful display, too, in case you personal this improbable retro handheld. On the whole, Japanese variations of all three Ogre video games are approach cheaper since extra carts had been manufactured, however know that you may’t swap the in-game textual content to English.
What about you? Are you interested by replaying both one of many three Ogre Battle video games on a contemporary gadget? Or are you content material with the torch passing to Unicorn Overlord as Sq.’s prime medieval-based technique RPG sequence?
Peer Schneider heads up IGN’s Guides, Instruments, and Map Genie groups and hopes to in the future see Sq. deliver again Matsuno to offer us Ogre Battle: Episode I – The Present Should Go On.
