Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis [ a ] is a tactical role-playing game developed by Quest Corporation for the Game Boy Advance ( GBA ). It was published in Japan by Nintendo in 2001, and in North America by Atlus USA in 2002. It is a by-product of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, acting as a prequel to the rest of the Ogre Battle serial. It was the last video recording game developed by Quest before their acquisition by Square. The storyline follows Lodis soldier Alphonse Loeher as he learns of his state ‘s oppression of the neighbor land of Ovis and finally turns against his erstwhile comrades. As with Tactics Ogre, the game is mission based, with battle taking place on grid-based battlefields and revolving about quality classes and character statistics. production began at Quest after the company learn about the GBA hardware, envisioning a portable successor to Tactics Ogre. The draw a bead on was to replicate the gameplay and graphic dash of Tactics Ogre on the platform while besides making a more accessible storyline. Composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata returned from earlier entries. Releasing to strong sales in Japan, the deed saw by and large positivist reviews, with praising going to its graphics, gameplay and storyline. After Quest was absorbed into and rechristened as Square Product Development Division 4, the development team created Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
Gameplay
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis offers a strategic field-and-class based battle system. Although the actor starts with a meager army of only six units ( with the classes of those units being determined by questions the player answers in the begin of the game ), the army can late blossom to a many as thirty-two. Each character is unique, being determined by respective things : substantial statistics, of which there are entirely three, intensity, intelligence, and agility ; alignment, ranging from chaotic to lawful ; and chemical element, based on the four authoritative elements. Characters can besides earn emblems, certificates given after performing a specific feat or reaching a certain checkpoint. These emblems sometimes have no effect, much change character statistics, some have a veto effect, and a few are required to advance to certain classes. The game ‘s playable units are divided into several categories ; humans, demi-humans, dragons, Beasts, the undead, transcended beings and denizens of the hell. The human class is the only category with exchangeable jobs, with each class being marked by a ask, or multiple want statistics, and much an emblem. Some classes can only be unlocked by a sealed sex, while other classes are reserved merely for certain particular characters. Demi-humans, non-humans, and the undead can not change classes. Although all categories of units in the game can be persuaded in battle, the undead alone can not be bought. rather, undead units are created by using a certain spell on dead person units. Dragons change classes in a unique way : after reaching respective checkpoints in statistics, a draco will instantaneously upgrade into a certain new class, with the class being determined by the dragon ‘s alliance. once a dragon has upgraded, altering its conjunction will mechanically change its class. After customization of the player ‘s party, the group of units ( of which the soap limit on any story-based degree is eight, with quest-based levels having a restriction of five ) hire in fight. Battle takes place on a large, panel-based play plain. The area is composed of terrain types and respective altitude levels, making bowel movement a critical component. There are several drift types, ranging from childlike walking to airborne flight. A character ‘s campaign type is determined by the class of that unit, arsenic well as versatile special equipment which can change motion character. terrain levels range from basic crap and grass, to water ( in varying depths and types ), to impassable terrain, such as lava or space space. In actual battle, there are besides many variations. childlike melee fight can be performed, either barehanded or with single-ranged weapons, to adjacent panels. This means the attacking unit must be directly next to the target, making mobility a critical ability. Some weapons offer unlike attack ranges, such as the two-paneled pierce attack of spear and lance weaponry, to the two-paneled selective attack roll of the whip. rate attacks require the use of either a bow weapon, or a limited ability. With such stress on movement, ranged attacks are a certain advantage, as units can be far away from opponents, offering possible exemption to counterattack. Abilities require the use of either S.P. or M.P., which both regenerate at a rate of ten per musician phase, and change in impingement sizes ( panels ). When all units belonging to a specific effect are exhausted, having performed their restrictive one action per phase ( which includes both movement and ability custom, from attacks to items ), the game changes to the opposing player ‘s phase, and second and away until certain victory conditions have been met by one musician, such as destroying all opposing units .
plot
This game is a side fib set before the events of Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen and Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber. Ovis is viciously oppressed by the knights of Lodis. Alphonse Loeher is a knight in Rictor Lasanti ‘s military whole, the order of the Sacred Flame, and he is sent to Ovis. When he is late separated from the main forces, he meets Eleanor Olato and Ivanna Batraal, two locals from whom he finally learns the truth about the awful events taking station in Ovis.
assorted circumstances lead Alphonse to separate from Rictor ‘s chief whole. As the plot unfolds, Alphonse begins to question the actions and motives of Rictor. He then begins his search for answers, starting with Ivanna ‘s uncle, the baleful regent Naris Batraal, and the consecrated spear, Longicolnis, which is the alone instrument that can pierce the bark of the sacred demon. It is later revealed that Rictor initially knew about the sacred spear and wanted to obtain it for the Lodis empire. About halfway through the game, the player is presented with two choices, which finally leads to either his renewed trust or a falling out with Rictor. In fact, the player ‘s choice will importantly affect all plot elements that follow. After assaulting Naris Batraal ‘s stronghold, it is revealed he is in league with the Fallen Angel, Shaher, who was imprisoned in Northern Ovis after being cast out from Heaven. Longicolnis is actually his own demonic horn which is both the entirely thing which can break his invincible barrier, and what shall allow him to be freed from his frigid prison and begin his seduction of Ovis and the outside world. There are five possible endings in the game ( the Game Over scenario, which is gained by losing to the final examination party boss, is besides counted ). The “ A+ ” ending sequence features one extra scene which details Lans Tartare ‘s past, in addition to the entire “ a ” ending sequence. To view the A+ ending, respective conditions must be met, including completing the game in under 25 hours. The demand ending sequence with which the game presents the player depends on, among other things, the significant choice that the musician has made halfway through the game and Eleanor ‘s presence in the concluding battle. In finical, the “ D ” ending excludes Eleanor wholly .
Development and release
product began after series developer Quest Corporation heard about the production of Nintendo ‘s Game Boy Advance. The team decided to make a visualize that would be a gameplay successor to Tactics Ogre. Many of the gameplay elements were carried directly over and expanded upon from the original. While keeping with the series tradition of senesce storytelling, the narrative of The Knight of Lodis was made more approachable for younger audiences than the original Tactics Ogre. The artwork design was meant to evoke a cunning deformed aesthetic for characters, although adhering to the series ‘ established dark aesthetic made creating fields that showed well on the GBA screen a challenge. [ 1 ] The music was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata, who had both previously worked on multiple earlier entries in the Ogre Battle series. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Iwata was pleased to work with Sakimoto again, but found music production challenging due to it being his first job for the GBA hardware. [ 4 ] The Knight of Lodis was announced in August 2000 in Japan. [ 5 ] It was promoted in Japan with a populate action commercial have a player on a underpass becoming a knight in armor. [ 6 ] It was released by Nintendo on June 21, 2001 in Japan. [ 7 ] It re-released in the area as depart of a budget serial of GBA titles on February 2, 2006. [ 8 ] It was announced for release in North America in January 2002 from Atlus USA. [ 9 ] Atlus USA had previously handled the north american english releases of previous Ogre Battle titles. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] It released in North America on May 7, 2002 .
reception
During its first week on sale, The Knight of Lodis sold over 150,000 units, reaching top space in japanese sales charts. [ 24 ] It continued to sell strongly into its second week. [ 25 ] According to analytic caller Media Create, the game sold merely over 284,000 units, becoming one of the top forty best-selling titles of 2001. [ 26 ] An alternate estimate places its combine two-week sales at over 340,000 units. [ 25 ] Review aggregate web site GameRankings awarded the crippled a score of 83 %, based on 26 critic reviews. [ 13 ] Website Metacritic gave it a scored of 88/100 based on 20 reviews, indicating “ by and large favorable reviews ”. [ 14 ] japanese gaming magazine Famitsu praised the game ‘s narrative and gameplay mechanics as fitting the Ogre series, though noted its lower difficulty compared to earlier titles. [ 16 ] Peer Schneider of IGN noted some archaic design elements and underwhelming music, but generally praised its design and complex narrative. [ 20 ] Justin Speer, writing for GameSpot, positively noted its expand gameplay mechanics despite highlighting its offputting high difficulty, calling it “ a worthy addition to the Ogre Battle series ”. [ 19 ] GameSpy ‘s Tim McConnaughy similarly noted its music and high difficulty as moo points, but generally praised it as a game to be enjoyed to fans of the genre. [ 18 ] The three reviewers for Electronic Gaming Monthly each gave the title high praise, lauding its gameplay mechanics and graphics, but noting pacing issues due to unskippable battle animations and scaling problems with the textbook on the GBA screen. As part of their review, the game was granted the magazine ‘s Silver Award. [ 15 ] Play Magazine ‘s Michael Hobbs gave the title a perfective score, lauding it as a high choice addition to Quest ‘s game library and essential buy for fans of the genre. [ 23 ] RPGamer ‘s Tony Green similarly gave it a perfect score, praising its gameplay and narrative while noting its music and audio as the weakest depart of its presentation. [ 22 ] GamePro awarded a near-perfect score, praising the graphic presentation and gameplay design, although the commentator noted the recess solicitation due to its thick gameplay mechanics. [ 17 ] The five reviewers for Nintendo Power all gave it high scores, with the review summary praise it for its “ consummate RPG and strategic military action ”. [ 21 ]
bequest
The bet on was supported in Japan with multiple guidebooks. [ 27 ] The first gear was published by Shogakukan in August 2001, [ 27 ] [ 28 ] and the follow two guides released respectively by Mainichi Communications and Famitsu Bunko in September. [ 27 ] [ 29 ] [ 30 ] The game provided inspiration for a four-panel drollery manga anthology in October 2001, and a standard manga anthology in November. Both were published by Kobunsha. [ 31 ] [ 32 ]
Read more: Death
In an interview prior to release, the development staff said that future Ogre Battle or Tactics Ogre projects would be decided upon based on the company ‘s wishes rather than external factors. [ 1 ] The Knight of Lodis was the last project produced by Quest Corporation. Due to a number of factors, the party left the bet on exploitation business and it was bought out and absorbed by Square. [ 33 ] [ 34 ] The Quest development team was restructured to form Square Product Development Division 4, and its first project for Square would be Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, released in 2003 for the GBA. [ 34 ] [ 35 ]
