Since I wrote about Final Fantasy 3’s 30th anniversary here on GamePlan’s Compass, I decided to relive experiences I had with old games, which were abandoned in some dark corner of my memory.
In this context, I had a veritable Final Fantasy marathon playing every game in the main series. This marathon lasted over a year and can be followed on my twitch channel.
Having finished that, I turned my attention to the Ogre Battle Saga.
Now that I also finished an Ogre Battle saga marathon, where I finished all the saga games on stream, from October 2022 to January 2023, I decided to write about this IP and also about how it was for me to revisit these games, so let’s go!
Much more than just a handful of games with their titles inspired by songs created by the band Queen, Ogre Battle stands out as one of the most important games in the segment of games that apply turn-based strategy and RPG elements to their gameplay.
The praise you will find here in this text is due to the natural evolution of the Ogre Battle saga with each game released, combined with a strong vision of the future by its game designers and the courage to implement things never seen before for the genre.
But first of all, before I start talking about my love for these games, let’s talk about what Ogre Battle Saga actually is.
First, it is necessary to make an important distinction here, since there are two types of games within the franchise that are very different despite both being set in the same universe.
The games in this franchise are divided into two very distinct styles of gameplay. To differentiate them, Quest, developer of the games at the time, divided them into two different titles: Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre.
Games titled Ogre Battle feature more tactical gameplay, as these games allow players to assemble squadrons of units and determine which paths they will take to defeat the enemy. Games with the title of Tactics Ogre are more focused on individual battles, presented as if they were a diorama, since each unit is controlled individually by the players.
Despite the great difference in gameplay, the story of the games in the Ogre Battle saga have common themes regardless of whether it is an Ogre Battle or a Tactics Ogre, and usually deal with the aftermath of a battle between the forces of heaven and the underworld, known as the Ogre Battle, which took place millennia ago.
Other themes that are not central to the stories of these games, but that permeate the scripts of the games and are noticed by the players, such as camaraderie, loyalty, faith, friendship, love, hate, sacrifice, choice, among others, are deeply explored in each game. The exploration of these themes can occur in a rudimentary or more polished way, according to the quality of the Hardware available at the time.
And speaking of themes and narratives, it’s interesting for us to take a quick look at the development of the first Ogre Battle for the SNES, not only because he was responsible for creating the saga, but also because it has some very interesting specificities.
Developed by Quest for Super Nintendo in 1993, Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen marks the beginning of the Ogre Battle saga and although this was the first IP title to be released, this game takes place in the fifth chapter of the epic created by the game designer Yasumi Matsuno.
It’s an interesting decision to start the story at such an advanced chapter, in addition to being quite challenging, since giving the necessary context in a Super Nintendo game to make it interesting for players is hardly something successful in the industry.
Fortunately – or unfortunately for some – the first Ogre Battle surprisingly lacks as strong a focus on the game’s story. As a product of its time, Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen chooses to focus on gameplay above all else. Something customary in the industry especially during the 90s.
That doesn’t mean the game doesn’t offer the necessary context for those players most interested in the history of the era of Zeteginia to delve into a deep lore, with a rich history. Telling this story, however, is not the main objective of the game, but presenting a differentiated and revolutionary gameplay.
The Ogre Battle saga has some incredible nuances in its narrative that interest me a lot, especially now that I’ve replayed the first IP game 25 years after my first experience with it. It’s impressive how our life experiences and maturity change our view of a game and how much we enjoy or dislike it.
Anyway, enough context. Time to really start writing down what it was like to revisit every game, from start to finish, in the Ogre Battle saga and what my current take on this franchise is and what it means to me.
To that end, I will divide this article into four sections from here. I thought it better to divide this text into parts and concentrate my writing on the facets of this game that had the most impact on me during my marathon.
While writing these sections I will delve into the following sections: Gameplay, Story, and Gamefeel.
As this article will be divided into parts (in case it wasn’t clear from the title, hehe), I decided to divide it as follows:
Part 01 – This little introduction about the Ogre Battle Saga
Part 02 – The story of the Ogre Battle saga told in a way to create as few spoilers as possible.
Part 03 – Gameplay and Gamefeel, telling my experience with the game in general.
So hang in there, broder, and come with me to revisit the Ogre Battle saga and see the profound impact of this franchise that is so little discussed and appreciated in the next few chapters!
