Square Enix is capping off its return to the strategy RPG genre this year with a remaster of one of the best — Tactics Ogre: Reborn. And many outlets and YouTubers got some hands-on time with the game prior to its launch on 11th November. And it’s looking good — particularly on the Switch (thanks Gematsu!).
While the game is going multiplatform for this remaster — which is an enhanced port of the 2010 PSP remake of the Super Famicom game — the chance to replicate that PSP feeling by playing handheld? That’s what we’re all after, isn’t it? Early impressions seem very positive from the get-go across all platforms, and it’ll be interesting to see how it fares today after being one of the genre’s biggest titles for years.
Gaming Boulevard shows us what the game looks and sounds like on the Switch OLED — even if it is from an over-the-shoulder type perspective. And you can see just how well the colours pop here.
Genesis VII runs through one of the game’s early battles, showing off the game’s multiple menus and new features, including the game’s options. For what it’s worth, from these videos, we think it runs pretty darn perfectly on the Switch, both in the menus and combat.
The Warren Report (an in-game encyclopaedia), the shop menu, the save menu, and the world map all get a pretty thorough run-through, as does the battle prep. This also gives us a good look at the game’s new sprite work, which has been enhanced from the PSP re-release rather than going HD-2D.
All of the sections here have been helpfully timestamped, so get watching!
Lastly, though not Switch-specific, Boomstick Gaming has broken down all of the huge differences between Tactics Ogre: Reborn and its previous releases. It’s not just a simple graphical remaster — many of the game’s mechanics have been reworked, including the skill and spell system. Some skills will now be available much earlier, making those tough early battles a bit easier for those who may struggle with the SRPG genre.
The Elemental system from the original Super Famicom release is also back — when creating Denam, your main character, his main element will be determined by selecting a particular God. Now, you’ll also be able to assign each of your unit’s elements as you recruit them, too. If you match a character’s element with magic or skills with the same property, you’ll be able to enhance that move’s power.
And, with the before and after comparisons, we can see the upgrades Square Enix has made to all of the game’s menus, all of which feel much more concise and colourful — still with a lot of text and numbers, of course, but it all feels much more digestible.
It’s not long until Tactics Ogre: Reborn marches onto Switch amidst Square Enix’s huge swathe of recent releases. The game is out on 11th November, just in time for some fireside tactical RPG drama.
There are plenty of details already out about the game, including a recent interview with producer Hiroaki Kato, as well as a rundown of many of the new customisation features coming to this rerelease.
