Tactics Ogre: Reborn

I loved this game and think you should play it if you like tactical RPGs or even just Final Fantasy Tactics. I basically like all of Matsuno's work, so go ahead and buy Final Fantasy 12 while you're at it. Gameplay: If you have played Final Fantasy Tactics, this will feel familiar, though the battle system seems to be a little bit deeper in this game. I never played the original, so I don't really understand the gripes about the card system or number of skills you can equip. Customization did sometimes seem a little limited in the sense that most classes have a few must-have skills in my opinion, which left less room to experiment with the others. But this doesn't seem like a huge deal to me. I liked the large variety of classes and that the game doesn't really hold your hand too much. For example, I was grinding in a dungeon toward the end of the game and happened to discover by accident that I could recruit a necromancer, which then led me to discover that I can turn my griffons into zombies with the necromancer. This then caused me to develop an entirely new battle strategy that involved wide-spread battlefield disruption instead of the battles of attrition I had been waging with dragons because the zombie griffons automatically resurrect themselves after a period of time and so I didn't need to fear permanently losing them. Very cool that it felt like I figured that out on my own. Writing: This is one of the few games with a large amount of dialogue that I don't think reads as incredibly juvenile, cheesy, or simple. I think the characters, the plot as a whole, and the decisions you make along the way are interesting and compelling. Even the most ridiculous character in the game (the protagonist's sister) can be read in a way that adds tons of texture and depth to her psychology. There is a confrontation with the divine, as in many JRPGs, but again it is done so much better than in other games--where it seems awkwardly stuffed into the latter half of the plot. The human, political drama never feels like it is hijacked by some out of left field god slaying duty. Really great work! Graphics: I really like the art style used here, though I can't help but sometimes think that this, artistically, feels like a generic Final Fantasy Tactics. Only a few classes have visually interesting styles, like the necromancer, for instance. The one that grinds my gears about this game--and Tactics as well--is that unique units come to take up a large portion of your party (unless you intentionally go generics only and miss out on the minor story beats), but their costumes don't change with their classes. As far as gripes go, this is minor, but I wish the cool costumes for the various classes transferred onto the unique units. Technical: Runs great on Bazzite--no crashes or performance issues.