Tactics Ogre - The Knights of Lodis

It seems to be my place of late to point out RPGs that I am truly excited about but that seem to get passed right over in lieu of better marketed, more established franchises. I guess since I have been playing RPGs since long before it was "cool" to, I have a knack for keeping my ear to the ground when it comes to any RPG releases at all.

Holy smokes, how did I manage to completely miss this game? Despite what I heard when it was first released (that it was good!), I had no idea that Tactics Ogre - The Knights of Lodis would play so darn much like Final Fantasy Tactics, one of my all time favorite, strategy RPGs. Published by Atlus, this surprisingly deep strategy title was so darn rare when it came out (and I was so darn broke) that I very nearly skipped right over it. I am thankful for the chance to redeem myself.

I played the first Ogre Battle several times on the SNES and then a couple of times when I was older on the PS1. Despite using guides, practicing and being a fairly experienced strategy RPG'er, I still couldn't get around to finishing the game due to it's amazing difficulty and huge side quests. Eventually I gave up, despite loving the game to pieces.

The Knights of Lodis (considered a "Gaiden" game in the series) moves away from the usual Ogre Battle style of gameplay and ends up playing almost exactly like Final Fantasy Tactics. While I did not enjoy the GBA version of Tactics (for whatever reason), this game seems more akin to the first Tactics and I am truly enjoying it.

All of the staples are there to make this a great game. Despite some clunky graphics (who cares!), the politically intriguing plot, class building system and addictive turn based strategy engine are all soundly in place. Even the music is enjoyable at this point.

I will eventually write a review up for this one but for now I would highly encourage anyone who enjoys portable SRPG games to give it a try. It seems like it may very well be the spiritual sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics that Tactics Advance robbed me of.

Comments (2) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 3.6.2006

Guess who's back, back again...

Wow, it sure has been a while. My apologies for my absenteeism, it has been an insane couple of weeks months. Between moving on to a new job, writing a new book, moving into a new house and finalizing/launching both iTradeVideoGames.com and iTradeAnime.com, I have been darn close to burn out mode. I have been trying to sneak in as much gaming as possible while still keeping somewhat active and am somewhat succeeding. I finally found a gym in my new home town of Okotoks of which I am very glad and have managed to arrange my schedule so I have a bit of time for gaming/writing; whatever I am jonesing for more :). In today's case, I am feeling a little like writing :).

On the handheld front I have been enjoying a variety of games. First and foremost, the new Mario & Luigi. I love it as much as I can love a game that tries to live up to its prequel but have to admit that it does not quite measure up. Despite fun, quirky graphics, amazing gameplay and a fan-service type storyline I just can't get past the fact that Superstar Saga is simply better. The sequel is simply too linear to me and feels less like an RPG and more like an action platformer with RPG elements. Don't let that dissuade you however, it is still highly enjoyable.

I have also been playing an interesting combination of Lumines and Popolocrois for the PSP, Castlevania Circle of the Moon for GBA and Super Mario 64 DS. Since I have only played a tiny bit of all of them, I am only able to give initial impressions.

Mario DS is totally not doing it for me, it just seems so slow after Mario Sunshine. I am giving it a try but the control scheme is really starting to irk me.

Lumines I have only played twice and while the music is fantastic and the gameplay fun, I have yet to get addicted as it seems most people have. I think I may be suffering from "oh man, it's gotta be good" syndrome. I may have had my expectations set a little high. You never know though, I'll continue trying it out.

Popolocrois is quite frankly boring the crap out of me. I have truly turned into an RPG graphics whore lately (Grandia 3 and Dragon Quest 8, *drooool*) and Popolocrois is very ugly. And slow. With a boring plot. I really want to love this game but am having major issues with not knowing where to go, general dislike of the control scheme (the PSP analog "stick" is terrible) and utter disgust at the load times. Oh well, at least it is a fairly deep RPG for my PSP.

Castlevania - Circle of the moon did a 180 on me. At first I couldn't believe how slow it seemed compared to Dawn of Souls. But then, over time, that stopped bothering me and I really started to fall back into vampire hunting and exploring mode. I am quite enjoying it but having a few boss issues. No worries, a couple more levels and they will fall...

On the PS2 front, I am completely, utterly spoiled. I finished off Dragon Quest 8 (after a measly 90 hours of gameplay or so) and have to conclude that it is by far and away the best RPG I have played in years. The last game I can remember enjoying even close to this much is Final Fantasy X and I am pretty sure Dragon Quest 8 smokes it. The graphics are the finest I have yet to see in an RPG, the music is wonderful, the gameplay is so polished I can see my reflection in it and even the storyline is top notch. I can't say enough about this game, if you like RPGS you will fall head over heels in love with this. Look for a full review soon (spoiler: it will be getting a 10/10).

After DQ8 I had sort of a chain effect going on. I started playing Wild Arms Alter Code Echo (the original Wild Arms is one of my favorite games of all time), but it paled so badly in comparison to Dragon Quest 8 that I ditched it for Tales of Legendia. Despite mediocre reviews, I was quite enjoying TOL (love the battle system and I also like the art style). Then Grandia III came out and I couldn't help myself from picking it up and playing it immediately. My wife was in Vietnam for her brother's wedding so my lonely arse was kept company by digital Grandia splendor.

I am about 35 hours into the game and very near the end I think. The game is utter beauty as far as graphics are concerned, the fighting engine is amazing (natch) but, yes, the storyline is a bit lacking. It doesn't bother me too much though, I think the story is passable if a bit on the cheesy side for me. Great game overall however, definitely worth your time.

Well, work is (unfortunately) calling me back. And so, to the grind I must return. Feels great to be blogging again, I hope to return to my steady flow of putting down words based upon my digital adventures. Hope all of you are well, catch you soon!

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 3.1.2006

Announcing the launch of iTradeVideoGames.com!

Hello everyone, sorry for my seemingly prolonged absence. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are all excited about the holidays and the sweet games coming out (I am particularly stoked for Animal Crossing - Wide World and Mario & Luigi). I can assure you that I have not been idle in the downtime. I have been working hard on a gaming website that I think will revolutionize the way we purchase and trade games. I have finally unveiled and launched iTradeVideoGames.com!

iTradeVideoGames.com is a site designed to provide an alternate means of keeping up to date with the latest of games. I love to play a good variety of games, but frequently find myself losing huge amounts of money by trading the game back into EB Games or wherever afterwards for a huge loss. It seems that they enjoy selling me the game and then milking me for all its worth when I go to trade it in for something else. iTradeVideoGames aims to stop that concept dead in its tracks. iTradeVideoGames works by allowing you to sell your games to other interested gamers in the community for very close to current market value! You can then take the equity you have received from the game and purchase a game from a like minded gamer! Through the system, you can quickly form a solid friend listing that will allow you to never pay full price, or lose equity in a game again!

I am excited to be able to bring such a system to you (I worked very hard to get it going), the gaming community, and I hope that you will all sign up and join me in saving your hard earned gamer dollars. For more information, click here or check out the features list here. Also, I would love to see you sign up for free and then add me as a friend in my personal profile. Take care all, hope to see you soon!

Comments (2) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 11.29.2005

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