Ogre Battle 64

Other products by Atlus Software

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00004R8WH
• Media: Game Cartridge
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,098 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com Review
Nintendo 64 gamers have been waiting a long time for a true role-playing game to come along for their system. Now that wait is over. Like a good book, Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber will hold your attention until you either fall asleep on the couch or finish that last chapter.

Prior adventures in the Ogre series have left gamers wanting more--much more. Very few role-playing games (both then and now) have had such expansive depth. The series has allowed players to tweak every character, create specialized forces, and command them in battles through three different story lines.

Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber carries forth this formula in both creating and commanding your forces, not to mention choosing from multiple endings. The object is to face ogres, defeat them, and bring peace to the Netherworld. Each mission has a winning condition, which entails capturing an enemy position. A briefing before each mission supplies you with objectives and a map.

Unfortunately, not everything is happy in Ogre land. The music and sound effects have a lot in common with older SNES titles, which is to say they're not quite up to snuff. Graphically, some of the character animations are stiff, and the tiny icons are difficult to see.

Apart from those small gripes, patience is your biggest hurdle in this game. Like most RPGs, Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber is at times tedious. With more than four endings as well as three main paths to make your way through, any attempt to complete this game will greatly test your stamina. Ultimately, this is a masterpiece of sorts that only true RPG fans will be able to enjoy. --Todd Mowatt

Pros:

• Customizable characters
• Multiple endings

Cons:

• Poor music and sound effects
• Tiny icons are hard to read

Product Description
In this installment of the Ogre Battle series, players assume the role of Magnus Gallant, a young military officer in a time of social unrest. Your mission is to form alliances and battle your way to victory. Using the game's real-time battle system, you command your army through numerous battles, and as your forces grow stronger, you decide the fate of the Palatinus kingdom.

Ogre Battle 64 features a cartridge-save system that allows you to store up to three separate files, 3-D field maps, and a special tutorial mode to enhance your battle skills. And, with more than 50 hours of gameplay and different possible endings, Ogre Battle 64 is likely to take up long-term residency in your console.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why would anyone give this less than 5 stars..., October 12, 2000

By	David S Trammell (Baton Rouge, LA United States) - See all my reviews

First... any fan of the original two games including spin-offs of either (like FF tactics) will be very happy with this game. Stop reading and order it now. I'll try to explain why in a way that someone who's never played the series can understand.

This game combines elements from many different genres with classic D&D style theme. The story is very detailed and on the level with FF tactics, much more detailed than the original OB. Of course, the most important thing to consider is gameplay. So here goes.

You are in command of a growing regiment of troops that can include everything from knights, archers and wizards to dragons, other "monsters" and even the undead. You command your troops from an "overhead" position guiding units of up to 5 troops around the battle areas to take strategic positions, liberate towns and conquer your enemy.

Battle takes place when your unit meets with an enemy. This may come as a shock, but you don't directly control any of your troops in battle, they attack the enemy according to the way you previously set up the unit. For example, as battle starts initiative is automatically deterimined by row: your first row which might contain two knights launches an attack. As the first knight is swinging his sword the next knight is already moving towards his target and the rest of the battle follows suit. Thus, the battles are much more fluid when compared to the original game and most importantly the vile balance destroying tarot cards were removed and replaced with something which can be used much less.. in fact, I havn't had a chance to use it yet. Don't be worried about the lack of direct control if you havn't played the original OB, you'll find that setting up your units to fight effectively is just as rewarding, if not more so than the tedious task of choosing individual targets yourself. The possibilities are much more detailed in battle now. The grid you set your units up on is 3x3 which adds a middle row to the original front and back. As old fans know, different classes fight differently depending on which row they are in. Sometimes the number of attacks they perform is different, sometimes the attack itself will change. Obviously, the front row provides better offense and the back defense; the front row *generally*, allows for more short range and nonmagic attacks while the back row usually allows more ranged attacks to be performed.

In a game like this it's the little details that make or break the game and OB64 is just full of great little details in all things. One thing old fans will love is the suspend features. Some of the later battles can get quite long... the suspend feature lets you pause the game in the middle of battle basically and turn the system off to pick up where you left of later. Unlike a save function, you are forced to quit when you use it and the data is eliminated when you start up again so that you can't cheat. Another little thing, if you have 2 or 3 wizards in the same row in battle, they may combine their magic to create entirely new spells. In the battle and story scenes the beautiful rendered backgrounds come alive with grass blowing in the wind, little things moving in the back ground and excellent use of light and shadows on the characters. The animation is extremely excellent with small hand gestures and such being animated very explicitly. This game really has a lot of character and no flaws that come to mind. To a new comer especially, there is a little bit of a learning curve before you can truly master the game, but what game of this type doesn't require a little.. "work".. from you.

A final word about the music. Some of the music is used from the classic games but it's been given a "64" polish and sounds great still. We know the N64 isn't a CD player and I think Quest did a great job with the N64's limited sound capability. In fact the quality sounds great, the only thing I can't vouch for yet is the quality of the compositions themselves since I havn't been all that for into the game yet.

Bottom line... buy this !now! unless you have adverse reactions to RPG's/strategies. You won't be dissappointed.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars King of Strat/RP Games, November 21, 2000

By	shadowed heart (United States) - See all my reviews

If you are thinking about buying this game, one thing you need to consider above all else. Ogre Battle series is 70% strategy and 30% Role Playing. With that in mind, here is my review...

Since this is a strategy game more than RP, I gave it 4 Stars for one reason alone. It is not as challenging as the first Ogre Battle (March of the Black Queen). Do not get me wrong, it can be challenging at times and even frustrating at times but the 1st OB was much harder. Example: the bosses in this game are far easier. The first OB for the SNES still stands out in my mind w/ bosses like the Gemini Twins, Diablo, etc.

Another thing to consider... if you are someone who HAS TO have complete control during a fight, than it is a good bet you will *not* enjoy this game. You are basically a general of a battilion giving orders and watching them carry out those orders. The best part of the game is designing your army. You can create a battle unit to emplore all your favorite classes (e.g. Princess which provides extra attack, Lich for brute dark magic, Dragoon for sheer strength, Paladin for his holy attacks, Black Knight for evil attacks, etc.) Combine these characters to make an army you want! And you have plenty of choices, I could waste a lot time just spewing all the characters in this game. You can pair up wizards to make spells combine for a different spell (e.g. Earth and Fire combine for Lava Shot) and more damage. That is the attraction and the strategy part.

The other attraction is the storyline, which is better than the 1st OB. It is not the best storyline across all games, but it is also modifable. Sometimes a small decision you make costs the life of someone dear. There are 3 MAIN endings to the game. There can be small differences in those endings depending on the storyline characters you recruit. This is what gives the game a replay value ...to try different routes in the game and see different endings and different story points and try for other storyline characters ...in my next game I am going for Biske (a werewolf boss).

There are A LOT of nuisances to this game. More than you can imagine. Stuff like removing a character from a unit will lower the morale of the unit ...but you can not see the morale of a unit (i.e. hidden from you). So, read the Internet, DO NOT buy the Prima Strategy Guide unless you really want it. It has some incorrect information and not enough of the good information. Visit OB64 websites, not prima guide! Personal websites, not business websites. I don't know if I can legally post mine here so I am not going to chance it. Also, read the manual and Hugo's Report (in the game). The game has a nice feature of letting you view past movies and good advice - take advantage of that.

It is a GREAT game, but mostly for people who love strategy games like Romance of the III Kingdoms and even RP gamers. I play all types (action, racing, rpg, strategy, fighting), but I will say this... I enjoy strategy and RP games more than fighting (got silly after the 2nd Street Fighter). Someone who loves 1st person shooters and fighting games above all else may be irritated more than enthralled. Then again I probably couldn't count all the hours I have wasted playing Bond in the dorm rooms!

Your decision, not mine but I provided my inputs ...make up your own mind.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well, there goes my weekend..., October 10, 2000

By	Rob Damm (Brick, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

My wife bought this game for me, and although I probably wouldn't have picked it for myself, I gave it a chance. It turned out to be one of those games that is kind of tough to get into at first, but once you do, impossible to put down. This game ate up a big chunk of my time the first weekend I had it, and I play for a little while every night after work. The storyline is just amazing; It's like a good fantasy novel. I find myself playing to find out what's going to happen next. The ability to choose and answer questions that alter the story and your character's alignment really gets you involved. The battle system is really simple, and everything is explained within the game. At first, I thought I was going to get bored because you don't have a lot of control over the actual battle, but it turns out that choosing classes, formation and equipment is just as much fun. Also, there are many missions where you must dispatch other units, which adds to the strategy.

All, in all, hightly reccomended. There aren't many N64 games that have real long-term single-player value. This one does.