Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber was developed by
Quest, and released in the US by
Atlus on
October 10, 2000 for the
Nintendo 64. By the time the game was released, the
N64 was well on its way to the
grave, and this, combined with the small print run, makes this game fairly rare.
Emulation is also difficult, due to the sad state of N64 emulation and the
obscurity of this game.
The Holy Lodis Empire is rumored to be planning the
domination of the entire
continent of Zeteginia. Magnus Gallant, the
protagonist and a young
officer recently graduated from the military
academy, is assigned to the Southern
Division of the Palatinean
Army, where he
witnesses the
plight of the lower class, oppressed by the
Empire and treated as
expendable livestock.
The nobles have shed their pride and their
nationalism, their only concern being the protection of their status by showing
loyalty to the Lodis
Empire. The members of the upper class are in constant
discord among themselves, selfishly striving for a better lifestyle, while the
lower classes live in despair, stripped of everything. The
unbearable rage of resentment caused by this disparity reigns over the southern region of Palatinus.
In the midst of
social disorder, Magnus thwarts the
abduction of the Prince by a band of lower class
rebels. This is a turning point for Magnus, and for the entire
kingdom of Palatinus. Magnus raises the flag of
revolution against the kingdom of Palatinus, hoping to rid the land of the Holy Lodis Empire and regain freedom for all people.
In the course of this
revolution, Magnus is forced to deal with the Bolmaukans, a historically opressed people in the west of the Palatinea, to deal with the
manipulations of the new Zeteginean order to the south, and, above all else, the raw
power of the
Lodis Empire. (And, no, "deal with" isn't neccessarily a
euphemism for "
slaughter".)
A great deal of this story is
mutable. What kind of
leader Magnus becomes can change based on his actions and reputation, much like the original
Ogre Battle. There's also a set of key decisions that decide how Magnus will come to terms with the Zetegineans and their
leader,
Destin Faroda, ranging from earning the loyalties of the heroes of the Zeteginean
Revolution (the events of
Ogre Battle), to having those same heroes make a last stand to prevent Magnus from asserting his
despotic rule over Palatinea.
The game plays almost exactly like the original
Ogre Battle. Units, which are very similar to parties in most
RPGs, are fielded on an area
map, given orders to move, pursue enemies, etc., until they run into an
enemy. Once in combat, the action is very
hands off, with the player only able to order their unit in a
general way (attack most
effective, weakest enemy, strongest enemy, or enemy leader), or, after a timer bar has filled, order the unit to
retreat or
unleash an Elem Pedra.
Elem Pedras are similar to the
tarot cards from the original
Ogre Battle. The enemy force is blasted with an attack of the
element matching the Pedra (you start with one, and can find three more corresponding to the other elements, plus one for
Bane and one for
Light.) It takes a certain time outside of battle for an Elem Pedra to
recharge after being used, and a battle has to run for quite a while before you can use one anyway. Gone are the days where one could easily
flay one's enemies with a handful of tarot cards.
The
class system is reminiscent of
Seiken Densetsu 3, with a set of class chains based on
gender, although it's not as
rigid. (A
knight with sufficient
intelligence and low enough
alignment could change to a
wizard freely, for example.) Character classes are unlocked by finding the needed
equipment for that class (after that, all but the rarest equipment can be bought as needed for new
promotions). Once a class is unlocked, any
character of sufficient
stats and appropriate
gender and
alignment can change to that class.
Each class has a set of attacks based on their
location in a unit's
3x3 grid, and most classes are best suited to a certain position.
Melee characters, like
knights and pikemen, do best in the front line, and spellcasters, like
wizards, tend to fare better in the back. There are characters that do well anywhere, like
valkyries and
dragons, but they are the
exception, rather than the rule. New to Ogre Battle 64 is the ability to
flank your opponents, rendering most formations less effective by attacking from the side or
rear.
The pacing and difficulty aren't nearly as
daunting as in
Ogre Battle, but the game is by no means short or easy. Each battle is, at the very least, an even fight, and as the game goes on, the battles become more and more difficult. You're generally outmatched in level and class by your enemies, plus the fact that, in almost every
stage, there's a boss unit that
outmatches your army, and requires some outthinking to defeat.
The
graphics are a mixed bag. The character models on the battle map are
ugly even for the
N64, but the battle models and the cut scene models are all stylized
CG sprites, and are works of art. Even with the obvious signs of heavy
compression, the
backgrounds of cut scenes and whatnot feel alive, with lots of
ambient elements, like swaying grass and clouds of dust.
Arguably the best
RPG on the
N64 (only
Paper Mario competes),
Ogre Battle 64 definitely delivers the
strategy RPG goodness, as well as delivering a
complex,
multithreaded story that delivers
shocks all the way until the end, truly living up to the
reputation of the
Ogre Battle saga.
Ogre Battle || Ogre Battle Gaiden || Ogre Battle 64 || Tactics Ogre Gaiden: The Knight of Lodis || Tactics Ogre