Tactics Ogre Reborn Review

I played the original Tactics Ogre on the PS1 since 1998 and it's my single-most favorite game. I spent hundreds of hours with the original release. While I love this game, it is dated by today's standards. The equipment and inventory system was mixed. 

Each character had 4 slots to use for equipment and consumable items. Need to bring some MP boosting items for your mages? 

Well you're going to sacrifice equipping a wand/robe/ring/headgear for one consumable item. While the customizability was fun; albeit impractical; have a Cleric equipped with a spear? 

You can do it. The leveling system was earned PER action in battle; cast a heal = earn exp, hit an enemy = earn exp. Of course you earned more exp if your target was a higher level than yourself.

I also played and really liked the additional story content, World system of the PSP remake in 2010. However, I was not a fan of the skill grind, or the class level system. 

Class level system meant your characters did not have individual levels; the class they were had levels. 

So instead of hiring a fresh recruit to level up as a dedicated caster or melee, you hire a new recruit and when you switch them to the class you want they'll instantly be the level of your current class. 

Each new class introduced starts at level one and must be leveled up and earn skill points for that class to unlock its abilities. 

While this was annoying at least earning exp was PER battle conclusion. 

Experience points are evenly distributed to the classes in the battle (multiples of the same class earned more - this could be annoying when your enemies' levels scaled to your highest class level).

Now comes, Reborn.

Oh boy, it polishes up what the PSP remake did and returns to the original's character levels instead of class levels. 

In addition, the skill point grind is removed; your class unlocks abilities at varying character levels (albeit, at the loss of customization with cross-class skills learned from other classes). 

For the old school original diehards; you can grind out weapon skill levels (which are capped at your character level).

One change that has pros and cons is the union level. Your characters' levels are capped and will incrementally increase the level cap as the story progresses. 

This is a pro in that your enemies won't be higher level with much better equipment that you would have, but can be a con if you're stuck on a particularly challenging story encounter at level cap - you can no longer out-level your way out of a difficult encounter.

Finally, the voice acting. For the most part, the voice acting is great - but there are a few characters that just sound a little mousy. 

It's a small gripe, but it's a welcome change for me as my eyesight isn't quite what it was when I played the original 24 years ago.

If you've never played Tactics Ogre, but you're a fan of the isometric strategy RPG genre; get this game. It has been often imitated, but never duplicated. The closest was Final Fantasy Tactics; but even that gem pales in comparison. 

Your protagonist in Tactics Ogre can make decisions that impact the story path you take, the characters you can recruit. 

In one path, you'll have a staunch ally with a character - but in the other they're your sworn enemy. Or a character may decline joining you due to the choices you made previously. 

This is where the World system comes into play, after you complete the story for the first time this system is unlocked. 

World lets you travel back to 'anchor points' in the story before/after several decisions you have previously made. 

This lets you go back to playthrough the other fork in the roads you previously diverged from - with all your already recruited characters/levels/equipment obtained!

So have fun and rest assured that a blind playthrough can be exceptionally fun, because when you're done you can go back to try and save this character, or recruit another.