History VideoGame / TacticsOgre

** The Chaos Route in the SNES/PSX/Saturn version, if only for being the only way to recruit Arycelle and all four of the Phoraena sisters in the same playthrough. This was also the only route you could unlock the unique Shaman class with.

* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler:Haborym and Ozma]] were initially engaged for political reasons but grew to love each other. Despite the former being branded as a wanted criminal, the latter never stopped loving him.

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Subverted, especially in chapters 2+. [[spoiler: Especially on the Law side, where the protagonist decides UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans and slaughters thousands of his own countrymen under a FalseFlagOperation.]]

** As noted under {{Expy}}, Swordmasters have a few things in common with [[Franchise/StarWars Jedi]], complete with force-throwing rocks, the standard male Swordmasters looking like Alec Guinness, and Haborym looking like Ewan [=MacGregor=]. Toned down in the PSP version where only the outfit and hairstyle are similar.

* NamesTheSame: InUniverse, Lanselot Hamilton shares a name with Lanselot Tartaros; in fact, Denam, Vyce and Catiua mistaking the former for the latter is the very first event of the plot.

** A rare justified example - The Fireseal. Evidently, [[http://luct.tacticsogre.com/tips.html#fireseal Quest held a contest]] to see who could get the fire seal first, awarding an ogre-battle style battle helmet to the winner.

* OneSteveLimit: Averted, Lanselot Hamilton the white knight and Lanselot Tartaros the black knight. Denam and friends even attack Lanselot Hamilton in the first battle in Tactics Ogre because they heard a "knight named Lanselot" is coming.
** The game will check your current battle party and make sure not to duplicate the names of anyone you brought, but does not check the party members who are not on the map. Thus, you will occasionally fight an enemy with the same name as someone in your army.

* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler: Haborym and Ozma]] were initially engaged for political reasons but grew to love each other. Despite the former being branded as a wanted criminal, the latter never stopped loving him.

%%* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Dorgalua

* SheatheYourSword: Going alone and unarmed to Brigantes lets you skip the battle. If you don't, you kill some of the people you're trying to negotiate with, and get told [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot that he could have avoided that.]] (It's true!)

** As noted under {{Expy}}, Swordmasters have a few things in common with [[Franchise/StarWars Jedi]], complete with force-throwing rocks, the standard male Swordmasters looking like Alec Guinness, and Haborym looking like Ewan [=MacGregor=]. Toned down in the PSP version where only the outfit and hairstyle is similar.

** In the PSP Remake, he spends most of the fight running away while his soldiers (almost all tanky types designed to make it hard for you to get to him) do all the work. His dialogue is all about trying to convince you that [[WeCanRuleTogether You can Rule Together]]. While he did [[TookALevelInBadass Take a level in badass]] and can actually hurt you, he's still a SquishyWizard.

* SnakePeople: Reptile females as known as Lamia, an OneGenderRace of humanoid snakes, with their upper torso resembling a human woman, but they have snake hair and their lower body is a snake tail. They tend to specialize in magic more than their [[LizardFolk male counterpart]], having the same classes as them plus Enchantress and Witch. They're even rarer than lizardman, only found as enemies in a few maps and they can be recruited with the Coax skill.

** The Chaos Route in the SNES/PSX/Saturn version, if only for being able to recruit Arycelle and all four of the Phoraena sisters.
** The Law path has the most benefits for following than either of the other paths in the PSP and Reborn version. You get more route-exclusive unique characters than the other paths, three of whom (Vyce, Ravness, and [[spoiler:Ozma]]) are the only ones who get special additional scenes when doing any Coda scenarios. And it is the path with Denam at his most {{Antihero}}-ness (considering he [[spoiler:takes part in the massacre of his fellow countrymen who didn't want to fight in a false flag operation to goad others to war]]). The only downside is you don't get Cerya and Cistina who are available in both other paths and Cressida who is only available in Chaos. There are a some other semi-uniques (characters with unique portraits but otherwise recolored generic unit sprites) that are unavailable in Law, but what you do get generally outshines everything you don't get.

* VideoGameRemake: Three actually. The original ''Let Us Cling Together'' was a [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Famicom]] game that [[NoExportForYou never left Japan.]] The PSX remake did, and the translation was handled by Creator/{{Atlus}}. This remake was more or less a straight-up port, with very bad slowdown as well as BlindIdiotTranslation, but still highly playable and sought-out by collectors. In 2010 the game was remade for the PSP, and in addition to the retranslated script, new features include the Chariot system by which up to 50 previous actions can be rewound in battle, a new leveling system and numerous adjustments to classes and class balance. And finally, ''Tactics Ogre: Reborn'' was announced for release on the Playstation 4, Playstation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch in 2022, and features full HD visuals, further adjustments to game balance, and full voice acting.

* ArbitraryMinimumRange: Averted, as a unit could fire a bow at point blank. Given that for some quirk in the code it can't be countered it is a way to help the player since the game is NintendoHard.
** The PSP version, however, plays it straight, and won't let you fire bows and crossbows from up close unless your target happens to be [[ViolationOfCommonSense in the arrow's trajectory to another target]]. No one said you couldn't be creative.

* AnnoyingArrows: ''Very'' averted, especially in ''Let Us Cling Together.'' Archers are widely considered ridiculously overpowered, and for good reason. This has been mostly scaled back in ''Reborn'', however: Heavily armored units tend to come with gear that resists piercing attacks, and it's not uncommon for an archer to be unable to scratch the bulkier units in the game without either Finishing Moves or the late game elemental weapons.

* ArbitraryMinimumRange: Averted, as an archer could fire a bow at point blank. Given that for some quirk in the code it can't be countered it is a way to help the player since the game is NintendoHard.

* SquishyWizard: Wizard units deal excessive amounts of damage but tend to die easily.

* SummonMagic: Subject to MagikarpPower via the Valkyrie/Rune Fencer class; while initially weak, the class gains a skill to cast magic for 0 MP by using TP. The summon spells themselves are not that easy to get, though.

*** [[spoiler: Deneb's recruitment process has been dramatically simplified and only requires you unlock one of each orb type and upgrade relics thrice in her secret shop if you'd also like to get her special Wicce Job.]]

* ArtificialStupidity: The AI is amazingly thick. To wit:

* BadassLongcoat: Azelstan's.

* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Lans Hamilton spends a few months being tortured in jail, and the only autonomous action he ever takes again after being freed is to scream in agony when he hears his dead wife's music box]]. You end up leaving him like that, since you can't do anything for him anyway. [[spoiler: This can be avoided via TimeTravel in the PSP version]]
%%* DiscOneFinalBoss

* DoggedNiceGuy: In Tactics Ogre, judging from final chapter death quote; Folcust to Cistina. Arycelle might be a 'Dogged Nice Girl' for Leonar. Also Vyce to Catiua, but only in Lawful route, since in Chaotic route, you don't associate Vyce with 'nice'.

** Recruiting Sherri. You have to fight her in Chapter four, and are told not to kill her when you do, because Olivya and her dad (Or her other two sisters if you have them) believe she can be saved. Killing the squishy wizard is easy to do by mistake, but you can retry that. However, for some reason, when you ''do'' reduce her HP to about 20, she vanishes and...guess what? She didn't join. For no discernible reason, you have to go to Balmamusa, enter training, make it rain somehow, and then leave to trigger the event where she joins. And no one told you that in order to trigger that, you need to keep Olivya's loyalty high, which might not be a problem since she joined with high loyalty in the first place, but for some people who accidentally got her loyalty lowered...

* IHateYouVampireDad: Subverted. Nybeth the Necromancer tried to bring his son back to life using Forbidden Magic. However his son comes back as an undead knight, with no memory or personality. It's for this reason his daughter Orias hates him.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Played in the PSP remake, Presance attempted to use Exorcism on living Undead... only to fail because the new system requires that undead be knocked out first before being exorcised. He remarks that it's been 15 years since he fought an undead as an excuse, [[FridgeBrilliance which is the real time difference between the remake and the original's release.]] [[spoiler:However, in Orias' case in the Chaos route, this got her fatally wounded by the undead as she failed to exorcise and it wounded her to the point she succumbed to the wounds and die.]]

* LightIsNotGood: Lanselot Tartaros is Light elemental, and the leader of the Knights Loslorien, living up to the position admirably. You're also pitted against angels in a post game dungeon who are exclusively Light elemental, and also vengeful and hostile to mortals intruding on the ruins.
* LimitBreak: Added in the PSP Version.
** "Star Tiara" in the GaidenGame.
* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Zig-zagged across the various editions

%%* MagicIsMental

* SnakesAreSexy: Lamia Matriarchs are considered to be an InhumanlyBeautifulRace with their upper torso being that of an attractive woman with snake hair. They're also always topless, though their sprite is NippleAndDimed while their portrait only shows them from [[ShouldersUpNudity the shoulders up]]. They even have a skill that illustrates their status as a HeadTurningBeauty: The 'Irresistible Beauty' skill which forces all enemies on the map to look in the direction of the unit if they fail to save against it, possibly leaving them open to being flanked. The Gorgon variant can combine this with their DeadlyGaze skill 'Evil Eye' which [[TakenForGranite petrifies]] anyone facing the Gorgon]].
* SquishyWizard: Wizard units deal excessive amounts of damage, but tend to die easily.

* StoryBranchFavoritism: Oddly enough, the Law path has the most benefits for following than either of the other paths in the PSP and Reborn version. You get more route-exclusive unique characters than the other paths, three of whom (Vyce, Ravness, and [[spoiler:Ozma]]) are the only ones who get special additional scenes when doing any Coda scenarios. And it is the path with Denam at his most {{Antihero}}-ness (considering he [[spoiler:takes part in the massacre of his fellow countrymen who didn't want to fight in a false flag operation to goad others to war]]). The only downside is you don't get Cerya and Cistina who are available in both other paths and Cressida who is only available in Chaos. There are a some other semi-uniques (characters with unique portraits but otherwise recolored generic unit sprites) that are unavailable in Law, but what you do get generally outshines everything you don't get.
* StraightForTheCommander: Makes this trope the only way you or the enemy operates (specially in the Chaos Route Rime Battle where the Commander and a guest are in the middle of the heat and the army has to play Catch up, a really bad moment if the player has made said unit a SquishyWizard).

** The final Coda has you going back back in time to stop the Golyat massacre; and fight all of the Roslolian Dark Knights. This seems to be more of WhatIf that didn't actually happen; as you go back to the regular timeline after. But you do get to keep any drops...

* VideoGameRemake: Three actually. The original Let Us Cling Together was a [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Famicom]] game that [[NoExportForYou never left Japan.]] The PSX remake did and the translation was handled by Creator/{{Atlus}}. This remake was more or less a straight-up port, with very bad slowdown as well as BlindIdiotTranslation, but still highly playable and sought-out by collectors. In 2010 the game was remade for the PSP, and in addition to the retranslated script, new features include the Chariot system by which up to 50 previous actions can be rewound in battle, a new leveling system and numerous adjustments to classes and class balance. And finally, ''Tactics Ogre: Reborn'' has been announced for release on the Playstation 4, Playstation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch in 2022, and will feature full HD visuals, further adjustments to game balance, and full voice acting.

* WarIsHell: Yup. No matter which route Denam walks down, it's impossible to keep his hands clean. [[WarIsHell war affects]] ''[[WarIsHell everybody]]''- these aren't just bad people who raised their swords against you for no apparent reason - they're people with families and often quite understandable and sympathetic reasons to fight. The remake goes out of its way and gives you ''profiles on the Warren Report'' detailing the lives of some of these guys you kill.

* WhatIf: The World System works like this, letting you change your choices throughout the story. [[spoiler: Coda / Postgame Chapters 3 and 4 explicitly uses this, though noncanonically. Namely what if you could have saved Lancelot Hamilton from being captured and tortured into insanity, what if you could find and save Warren on the other side of the chaos gate after his HeroicSacrifice, and finally, what if you could have stopped Lodis from razing Denam's home town, bonus points (and an InfinityPlusOne weapon) if you win with just Denam, Kachua, and Vyce.]]

** Non-unique PlayerMooks can do this with the Ogre Sword dropped by some of the BonusBoss.

** The AI will specifically ''not'' target the target! Specifically, if a map objective is "defeat the leader," you're far better off switching to manual, as the target will be the last thing to die, due to it having higher stats and the AI prioritizing squishier targets.
*** It also works in the opposite way: AI characters aren't really good at defending their leader, and the leader itself is always acting like any other character. Even when outnumbered, you can easily lure the target out of the enemy squad and finish it off with ranged attacks.

** Some abilities simply cannot be used by the AI, ''at all'', making equipping a character with them a waste of time. This tends to be status inducing attacks and abilities, making some classes completely useless under AI control.

* BonusLevelOfHell: It will test your patience more than your skill, but the Palace of the Dead has 115 floors, and there's a fight on all of them (except the 3 shops). The EXP and SP rewards are also pitifully low on each floor. In the original, it was appropriately translated as ''Hell Gate'', and serves as something of an evil counterpart to the Hanging Gardens (originally called Eden).

* DumpStat: ''Reborn'' renders Agility and Avoidance - stats that help you dodge magic and physical attacks - these. The base hit chance of all spells and attacks are so high that these stats serve very little purpose in this iteration of the game. It also makes the many "Use an attack with 100% hit chance%" missions trivial.

* LizardFolk: Reptile males as known as Lizardmen, an OneGenderRace of humanoid lizards. They have high strength and vitality, but low agility and avoidance, thus they tend to focus on physical classes (Warrior, Berserker, Juggernaut, Hoplite, and Patriarch). What little info on them seems to show they're [[BarbarianTribe barbaric warriors]]. They're mainly found as enemies, but they can be recruited with the Coax skill.

* StoryBranchFavoritism: Oddly enough, the Law path has the most benefits for following than either of the other paths in the PSP version. You get more route-exclusive unique characters than the other paths, three of whom (Vyce, Ravness, and [[spoiler:Ozma]]) are the only ones who get special additional scenes when doing any Coda scenarios. And it is the path with Denam at his most {{Antihero}}-ness (considering he [[spoiler:takes part in the massacre of his fellow countrymen who didn't want to fight in a false flag operation to goad others to war]]). The only downside is you don't get Cerya and Cistina who are available in both other paths (which means, you lose half of the bonus dungeons for the Shaman questline) and Cressida who is only available in Chaos. There are a some other semi-uniques (characters with unique portraits but otherwise recolored generic unit sprites) that are unavailable in Law, but what you do get generally outshines everything you don't get.

* StoryBranchFavoritism: Oddly enough, the Law path has the most benefits for following than either of the other paths in the PSP version. You get 3 unique characters unavailable on any other path (Vyce, Ravness, and [[spoiler:Ozma]]), and they're the only ones who get special additional scenes when doing any Coda scenarios. And it is the path with Denam at his most {{Antihero}}-ness (considering he [[spoiler:takes part in the massacre of his fellow countrymen who didn't want to fight in a false flag operation to goad others to war]]). The only downside is you don't get Cerya and Cistina who are available in both other paths (which means, you lose half of the bonus dungeons for the Shaman questline) and Cressida who is only available in Chaos. There are a some other semi-uniques (characters with unique portraits but otherwise recolored generic unit sprites) that are unavailable in Law, but what you do get generally outshines everything you don't get.

*** Random drops from the Pharompa Wildwood no longer include crafting recipes that drop from hyper specific enemies - these are instead guaranteed rewards from special dungeons.

** This troper's favorite is "Conceded Ganb" in the Warren Report.

*** However, some people actually claimed that the [=PSX=] translation was ''better'' because of the name changes[[note]]A particular case is Denam and Vyce; [[WordOfGod they were originally named Denim and Vice, over a]] ''[[WordOfGod jeans pants theme]]''.[[/note]]. Even though some of them don't make much sense such as Gilbald or Arycelle, when the original was supposed to be "Alocer". (It was localized as "Aloser" originally.)

** In grand ''VideoGame/OgreBattle'' tradition, several villains do this. Deneb as always, although we don't ever meet her original body (she denies it to Canopus; but her "death" quote still says otherwise). Serene seems to be the only one to get permanently destroyed; and her host was sad about that. There's also Georges Sekendorff and Beelzemuth in the Palace of the Dead; killing the latter's body doesn't bother her; she's sure some other group of heroes will come down soon enough. AllThereInTheManual reveals that Rudlum, found in the Palace of the Dead, is the villain Albeleo from the original ''VideoGame/OgreBattle'' game; also body surfing.

* NeutralNoLonger: There are a few maps with powerful, overleveled neutral dragons just hanging about. Ordinarily they do nothing, simplying maneuvering the battlefield. The moment one side is careless with their spells or abilities and strikes them however, they'll turn on them and assist the other.

* DecapitatedArmy: Most missions have taking out the leader of the opposing force as the sole goal--and in certain ridiculously dangerous ambush situations, doing so is the ''only'' possible way (short of ludicrous level-grinding) to get through the battle without permanently losing one of your soldiers.
** This is probably what the game ''wants'' the player to do, since every enemy death lowers the player's Chaos Frame. Going straight for the leaders directly results in higher Chaos Frame due to fewer battle-murders.
** Level grinding doesn't help too much -- enemy levels scale with yours up to a certain cap (usually "Chapter # x 10" -- so level 30 cap for Chapter 3, for example). Gear and Passive Skills become vastly important, but ultimately sending Canopus in with a crossbow to assassinate the enemy leader is the best strategy 90% of the time, ''especially'' during the various escort quests.
** This is the response when [[spoiler:Balbatos/Barbatos is executed; having lost the support of his own people.]]

** Oz starts off this way in the lawful route. And then you both get reinforcements...seems like a precursor to what became ThatOneBoss in its CreatorDrivenSuccessor, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics''.

* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: The background of the inner conflict between the Valeria Liberation Front at first. Cerya is quite the realist and will dirty her hand to achieve her goal, while Cistina (and Folcust and Bayin) is more of the idealist and refuses to create a nation out of bloodshed.

** In the original version of the game, your own army is always at risk of permanent death.

* BottomlessPit: A common hazard in many different dungeons and battlegrounds. In the original and ''Reborn'', letting a unit fall to their death meant they were [[FinalDeath instantly dead.]] The PSP version simply has a character lose a life, instead.

* BottomlessPit: A common hazard in many different dungeons and battlegrounds.
* BraggingRightsReward: Finishing the final Coda with only Denam, Catiua, and Vyce and then [[spoiler: killing Lanselot Tarteros last, without letting him run away, gives you a chance to get his sword, Ambicion. This was the weapon he got from the FallenAngel in ''VideoGame/TacticsOgreTheKnightOfLodis'']]. You REALLY don't need it if you can accomplish this.
* BreatherEpisode: Deneb's side quests is relatively more light hearted than the whole game.

* BottomlessPit: And they are insta-kill for non-flying characters who fall in.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: Sort of. During a normal playthrough, you should end the game around level 20ish. Your classes should all still have skills to learn even at this point, but if you grind enough to be able to learn all your skills, you will be overleveled for the final dungeon. However, that is just for the base New Game. New Game Plus makes enemies keep leveling with you. AND you are going to need those levels if you want to even consider taking on the bonus dungeons and content. Level 20 will not get you very far in the Palace of the Dead. Definitely won't get you far in the Coda content.

* BonusLevelOfHell: It will test your patience more than your skill, but the Palace of the Dead has 115 floors, and there's a fight on all of them (except the 3 shops). The EXP and SP rewards are also pitifully low on each floor. In the original, it was appropriately translated as ''Hell Gate''.

** The PSP version turns it into a labyrinth, while at least not demanding you to finish all floors, and even putting two shops around for you to recharge. In exchange, there are ''fifteen new floors'' you get to access during the second Coda episode. Luckily it was made more merciful in the PSP remake and ''Reborn'' by allowing the player to start from deeper with every twenty-five levels cleared.

** The PSP version turns it into a labyrinth, while at least not demanding you to finish all floors, and even putting two shops around for you to recharge. In exchange, there are ''fifteen new floors'' you get to access during the second Coda episode.

** ''Reborn'' fixed this by buffing magic and letting spell usage contribute to weapon mastery, allowing a Valkyrie/Rune Fencer to be a useful JackOfAllTrades while Terror Knights can be debuff monsters

* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Magic is very powerful, especially the hidden ''Dragon Magic''. However, Warriors tend to be able to keep up, especially Ninjas and Archers. Amusingly, the strongest Melee and Ranged combat skill layouts involve giving those characters elemental weapons and the elemental support skills (at face value meant for magic using characters) -- making them into an odd melee version of a spellcaster!

* StoryBranchFavoritism: Oddly enough, the Law path has the most benefits for following than either of the other paths in the PSP version. You get 3 unique characters unavailable on any other path (Vyce, Ravness, and [[spoiler:Ozma]]), and they're the only ones who get special additional scenes when doing any Coda scenarios. And it is the path with Denam at his most {{Antihero}}-ness (considering he [[spoiler:takes part in the massacre of his fellow countrymen who didn't want to fight in a false flag operation to goad others to war]]). The only downside is you don't get Ceyra and Cistina who are available in both other paths and Cressida who is only available in Chaos. There are a some other semi-uniques (characters with unique portraits but otherwise recolored generic unit sprites) that are unavailable in Law, but what you do get generally outshines everything you don't get.

* ObviousRulesPatch: ''Reborn'' removes TP and instead has Finishing Moves cast from the Mana pool like every other skill. To counterbalance this and keep the player from stocking up on Magic Leaves to nuke everything they encounter, they, and any other MP restoring items aside from a single item that only recovers 10% of your HP and MP, can not be purchased from shops.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
** A large part of Reborn was addressing frustrating aspects of the PSP version:
*** Crafting has been completely overhauled, removing the crafting animation, failure chance, and even letting you upgrade items alredy equipped by your party.
*** Random drops from the Pharompa Wildwood no longer include crafting recipes that drop from hyper specific enemies - these are instead guaranteed rewards from special dungeons.
*** [[spoiler: Deneb's recruitment process has been dramatically simplified and only requires you unlock one of each orb type and upgrade relics thrice in her secret shop if you'd also like to get her special Wicce Job.]]
*** While still something of a grind at higher levels, weapon skills are the only ones that need to be manually improved by using them, and now improve dramatically faster than they did in the PSP version. Offensive magic also improves all equipped weapon skills simultaneously.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: ''Reborn'' adds several new features and revamps after some criticism of the PSP remake's systems.
** It completely revamps and streamlines class levels by making character levels class levels. A character can switch from a Fighter to a Terror Knight at level twenty and have the same skills as someone who had it since level one, the only difference being their weapon level. The whole revamp avoids gobs of grinding to get a character up to speed.
** Crafting no longer has a failure rate
** Finishing Moves can now be gained by using magic, making hybrid classes a lot more viable.

* HelloInsertNameHere: In games without voice acting (SFC, PSX, PSP), you can rename Denam with whatever you like. In ''Reborn'', [[AvertedTrope Denam cannot be re-named]]. This is because voice acting is involved and the game won't skip out parts where it has to mention the protagonist's name.

* HelloInsertName: In games without voice acting (SFC, PSX, PSP), you can rename Denam with whatever you like. In ''Reborn'', [[AvertedTrope Denam cannot be re-named]]. This is because voice acting is involved and the game won't skip out parts where it has to mention the protagonist's name.