Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber

Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
Developer(s)	Quest Dual Corporation
Publisher(s)	Nintendo 64 JP Quest NA Atlus Virtual Console Square Enix
Distributor(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Tatsuya Azeyagi
Composer(s)	Hayato Matsuo Masaharu Iwata Hitoshi Sakimoto
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64, Virtual Console
Release date(s)	July 14, 1999 Nintendo 64 JP July 14, 1999 NA October 7, 2000 Virtual Console JP January 26, 2010 NA March 29, 2010 EU March 26, 2010
Genre(s)	Strategy RPG Real-time tactics
Mode(s)	Single-player

Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber (オウガバトル64 Person of Lordly Caliber Ōga Batoru Rokujūyon Pāson obu rōdorī Kyaribā), sequel to Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, is a real-time strategy role-playing video game developed by Quest and published by Atlus for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. Though conceptually similar to the original Ogre Battle, significant game play tweaks were implemented to improve the game's overall flow.

Ogre Battle 64 is the third game in the series, the first two being Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, and Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. Gaidens have been released in Japan, on Game Boy Advance and Neo Geo Pocket Color. Ogre Battle 64 was released via the North American Virtual Console on Wii on March 29, 2010, and presently remains as the only third-party Nintendo 64 title available on Virtual Console.

In terms of chronology, Ogre Battle 64 takes place around the same time as Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, both titles being direct sequels to Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen.

Story

Set as the 6th chapter in overall Ogre Saga, the story follows Magnus Gallant, a recent graduate of the Ischka Military Academy, and fledgling captain in Palatinus' Southern region, Alba. As civil war erupts in the country, Magnus eventually decides to join the revolution with its leader, Frederick Raskin, first liberating the southern region with the Zenobians' aid, then Nirdam and uniting with them, then returning the Eastern Region of Capitrium to the Orthodox church, and finally marching on the capital of Latium. However, along the way, Magnus' battalion, the Blue Knights, finds its enemies escalating, from the puppet kingdom of Palatinus, to the might of the Holy Lodis Empire, to the Dark Hordes of the Netherworld.

There are six possible Endings, some where Magnus gets expelled from the revolutionary army, because they consider him a "monster" who settles everything by force, realizing his actions are naught he disappears and people forget about the great general who once saved them, thus ensuring Palatinus' destruction. In another he is named "General Magnus Gallant, the guardian of Palatinus." And the last, where Frederick dies in the war against the tribes Of the East of Gallea and Zeteginia, who wanted to invade Palatinus right after Lodis weakened it, he is named: "Magnus Gallant, The Paladian King." His rule forever to be remembered and his son Aeneas Gallant takes the throne, following his father's footsteps.

See also Person of Lordly Caliber - Locations.

Characters

• Magnus Gallant: Main protagonist of the story. He is the commander of the Blue Knights, a military unit. He starts as an apprentice officer in the southern division. As such he is involved in the taming of a little rebellion in the southern region. But he soon discover the true face of the kingdom and decide to join the revolution along with his unit. He is young, he hungers for equality and he has a great potential.
• Destin Faroda: The protagonist of Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. Destin is a wanderer who fights for liberty. He once liberated Xenobia and, after refusing to help rule the kingdom, traveled to the Holy Lodis Empire. He is a gifted fighter and tactician, as proven by his mighty feats.
• Frederick Raskin: Leader of the rebellion, he is called a "bleeding heart idealist" by his comrades. A merchant turned politician, Fredrick seeks to abolish the class system, and usher in a new era of equality.
• Yumil Dulmare: Prince of the kingdom of Palatinus. Yumi was the best friend of Magnus, before he departed to the military academy.

For more characters see Person of Lordly Caliber - Characters

Gameplay

Unit formations

Ogre Battle is real-time strategy role-playing game. Magnus, the protagonist, commands a battalion of up to 50 troops. Members of the battalion are sectioned off into units, by the player. Each unit must consist of a leader. Any character can be dubbed leader, minus most non-human entities, soldiers and basic classes like the Fighter, Amazon or Ninja. Gorgons and Saturos are the main exceptions to this rule. Each unit, including the leader, has a maximum of five members. Units are used to battle enemy units, which follow the same structural formation.

Storyline structure and objectives

The game is divided into several chapters, each chapter serving as a mission with specific objectives outlined by the battalion's adviser, Hugo. Although suggestions for how the battalions units may be mobilized are given, it is not required to follow Hugo's advice so long as the main objective is completed. Most objectives require capturing an enemy stronghold with any unit or defeating a particularly strong unit.

Battle

"When two units meet, a skirmish ensues, and the game switches to an isometric view of the pre-rendered battlefield. Characters make their attacks in semi-real time, meaning multiple characters act at once, which is a bit more exciting than turn-based battles." Gamespot said of the battle system, noting the how the vast array of attacks, critical hits, and parries colors the combat situations. The unit is disbanded once each member dies. If at any point Magnus Gallant dies, a game over screen is shown and the game cycles back to the main menu.

See also:

• Person of Lordly Caliber - Weapons
• Person of Lordly Caliber - Equipment
• Person of Lordly Caliber - Items
• Person of Lordly Caliber - Special Characters
• Person of Lordly Caliber - Abilities

Classes

One of the trademarks of the series is the class system. Each character belongs to a certain class, and the vast majority can be changed into different classes. The classes determine the type of attacks the character can use in battle, what equipment it can carry, as well as effects on the unit's statistics. Many classes are most efficient in certain positions of a unit. All classes are divided into 3 major groups: male, female, and non-human.

See also Person of Lordly Caliber - Classes.

Reception

The game was generally well received by critics. It received a 9.1 from GameSpot, an 8.8 from IGN and several reviews in that range from other sources, and was rated the 111th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list. Reviewing the Virtual Console re-release, IGN gave the game a 9.0, stating that it "was (and still is) lordly indeed."

In Japan, Famitsu magazine scored the game a 33 out of 40.

Music

See Person of Lordly Caliber - Music.

Trivia

• This is one of the three titles which does not reference Queen, the others being Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis and Ogre Battle Gaiden.
• Danika's dialogue in the ending and the low Chaos Frame epilogue hint and show Rashidi's return and reincarnation, respectively. Despite the obvious cliffhanger, no future games in the series have followed through with it; and given the development team's current condition at Square Enix, it might never be.

External Links

• Official Japanese website