When an older game is remastered, it gives developers an opportunity to tune up a classic with bells and whistles, making it more palpable for modern gamers. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together has never looked or played better than it does in the 2022 re-release, Tactics Ogre: Reborn.
Even though it is the best version of the emotionally charged cult classic, it is not perfect. If just a few things had been changed or added, it could have ascended to new heights. While we lament that the entries below are just a wishlist and not features included in the final product, it is difficult to complain about the game we did get, and we cannot recommend it enough.
7 Saving In The Middle Of Battle
As it is now, it is pretty easy to correct errors and strive for victory with the tarot wheel. You can rewind multiple times to any turn within the last 50. On top of that, if it doesn't work out the way you wanted to, you can always rewind again to the prior attempt.
The ability to save in the middle of a battle would have made it a touch more user-friendly. You'd be surprised how fast 50 turns go when between 15 and 25 units are involved in any given skirmish. Saving in the middle of a battle would let you bookmark and return to key moments. As it is now, you can leave the game and pick up from the same turn in a battle, but this is not a perfect system for marking down a specific turn.
6 A Way To Use Other Class' Skills
Tactic Ogre's spiritual kin, Final Fantasy Tactics has a system where you can use one other job's skill regardless of what job the unit has. This allows for more customization of each unit and interesting situations like a Ninja who summons. Tactics Ogre: Reborn is a little stricter with its classes and does not allow you to do this.
It is unfortunate because giving melee classes the Meditate skill would really help in a lot of situations. To be fair, skills and magic also work differently since spells are bought from a shop, not from the menu with special skill points.
5 A Way To Play With The Original Game's Balance
This being the second re-release, arguably third if you count the PlayStation port as the first re-release, you should expect the systems and combat to be well-balanced and smooth. While this might make for an objectively better game, some players might want to experience the title as close to the original form as possible.
Why not give us the option to play the game as it was originally made? As long as they gave us plenty of warning and notice as to what it meant, having the choice to do this would have been great for preservation's sake. You can at least still find this game on the PSP, though older versions will be more challenging to locate.
4 More Side Quests Earlier In The Game
For a game with no freely explorable world map, Tactics Ogre: Reborn actually has quite a few side quests. They are accessible through the menu. Once you read certain entries from the Talk tab in the Warren Report, an area on the map will open up, leading to a battle or a cinematic.
While we are thankful for all the ones that already exist, they are all mostly relegated to the back half of the game. It would be nice if the first half of the adventure had a few side quests you could do to beef up the party. Even though the early hours are not too challenging, some players new to the genre still might get stuck, and some side quests will alleviate the boredom of grinding.
3 Animated Cutscenes Like Final Fantasy Tactics: War Of The Lions
If you played Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions on the PSP, you would remember the beautiful hand-drawn cinematics with full voice acting. They added a depth to the world the primitive sprites could not possibly have achieved. It is unfortunate to see these completely absent from Tactics Ogre: Reborn.
This story is filled with dramatic moments just ripe for a more detailed interpretation. To its credit, the writing does enough to elicit a reaction without animated cutscenes.
2 Multiplayer
The PSP edition had a multiplayer component where you fight other players' parties over the Internet. This feature is nowhere to be seen in Reborn. While balance will always be an issue when putting multiplayer into RPGs, some competitive or cooperative mode will always be welcome.
Something as simple as letting two players control the party in battle would have gone a long way toward increasing the game's value. If the developer had gone the extra mile, there would have been specific cooperative dungeons.
1 Deeper Lore And Developer Commentary
Tactics Ogre: Reborn takes place in a massive world where several other games are also set. The Warren Report does a great job of laying out extra information about the characters and lore. The re-release could have been extra special by adding more lore for you to read.
Some behind-the-scenes information about the other games in the franchise and notes from the original creators would have helped it feel more complete. It's hard to complain about how fleshed-out the world is already, but the option to dive deeper into it would have been appreciated.