Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is a 2010 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Japanese company Square Enix. It is a remake of the 1995 Super Famicom (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) title of the same name, second entry in the Ogre Battle series. The remake retains the same strategy RPG gameplay of the original, focusing on turn-based tactical battles and the use of character classes. The game incorporates additional features such as equipment crafting and the ability to revisit branch points in the game's narrative, in addition to multiplayer functionality. The storyline, following the actions of rebel fighter Denam Pavel during a civil war within the kingdom of Valeria, was also expanded with new scenes and characters.

The remake was conceived following the release of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (2007), taking four years to complete. It was directed by original artist Hiroshi Minagawa, who assembled most of the original staff including writer and designer Yasumi Matsuno, and composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata. Original artist Akihiko Yoshida returned to supervise the art direction, with many characters redesigned by Tsubasa Masao. The English localization was handled by Alexander O. Smith and Joseph Reeder, who had worked with Matsuno on games set in the Ivalice universe. Downloadable content based around the new gameplay systems was released for free in Japan post-release, and bundled into the Western release. Releasing to strong sales in Japan and North America, the remake met with a positive reception from journalists.

A remastered version, titled Tactics Ogre: Reborn, was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows on November 11, 2022. It contains revised battle mechanics, remastered sound and music and full English and Japanese voice acting.

Content and gameplay

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is a PlayStation Portable (PSP) remake of the 1995 Super Famicom (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) title of the same name. While the remake features gameplay changes, the central narrative remains the same. Tactics Ogre is set in the island kingdom of Valeria, once riven with war between its three ethnic groups but united under the Dynast-King Dorgalua Oberyth. Following Dorgalua's death without an heir, the ethnic groups splintered and began fighting for the throne. They divided into the aristocratic Bakram led by the Regent Brantyn, the populous Galgastani led by Hierophant Balbatos, and the less-populous Walister led by Duke Ronwey. The Bakram and Galgastani divide Valeria between them and oppress the Walister people. The narrative follows members of the Walister resistance−protagonist Denam Pavel, his sister Catiua, and childhood friend Vyce−as they rebel against their oppressors with the help of a Xenobian mercenary group led by Lanselot Hamilton. Starting with the opening chapter, the storyline branches based on choices made by Denam, leading to different character interactions and endings.

The game uses a turn-based battle system in zones selected from an overworld map, with enemy forces being controlled by the game's artificial intelligence (AI). New playable characters or units either join the party or can be recruited during the story. Units are placed across a grid-based level, with players able to switch between the default overhead diagonal view, and a top-down view with flattened topography. Using a variety of weapons, the player can move and attack, use items, and perform magic using a pool of magic points which charge up from nothing over the course of a battle. The turn order is dictated by each unit's speed statistic and current weight. The terrain and current weather along with the current character class also influence a unit's range and movement abilities. Once a town is available following its liberation or capture, the shop can be used to buy new equipment and items, and synthesize those from materials gathered from missions. Victory rewards are experience points to raise character class level, skill points to upgrade and unlock abilities, and items and in-game money. The game features a form of multiplayer, where players can download other player-created teams and face them in a separate arena. All characters are set at the same level, allowing for fair competition, and the enemy team is AI controlled.

The original game featured a series of morality-based questions before starting the game, with the remake incorporating Major Arcana tarot cards. Each answer grants five of 22 randomly selected tarots which impact Denam's statistical strengths and weaknesses. A feature carried over from the original game are tarot cards dropped by enemies, acting as consumable items which impact a unit's abilities for a short period. Two new features themed after tarot cards are the Chariot and World systems. The Chariot system records the player's progress up to fifty turns back, allowing them to undo up to that many moves and redo that section of the battle. The World system, accessed through a lore database called the Warren Report once the player has gone through the campaign once, allows the player to enter decision points in the narrative and play through alternate routes without starting the game over again.

Development

The original Tactics Ogre was developed by Quest Corporation as part of the Ogre Battle series, directly following the success of Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen. Production was led by series creator Yasumi Matsuno, who acted as director, writer and designer. Following the release of Tactics Ogre, Matsuno and a number of staff members moved to Square (predecessor of Square Enix) and developed Final Fantasy Tactics (1997), going on to develop multiple titles in its universe of Ivalice. Quest Corporation continued production on the Ogre Battle series until it was purchased and absorbed into Square following the release of Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis (2002). Matsuno remained at the company until 2005, when he left during the production of Final Fantasy XII citing ill health.

Concept work for a remake of Tactics Ogre began in May 2007 at Square Enix following the release of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, an updated port of Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSP. A remake had been demanded both by fans and staff, with Square Enix approving it when suggested by Hiroshi Minagawa, one of the original game's artists. At this early stage, it was to be a faithful remake with minimal changes. Minagawa wanted to reassemble as much of the original staff as possible for the project. This included bringing back Matsuno, who by this time was working in a freelance capacity with Sega and PlatinumGames on MadWorld. Matsuno initially refused, but when Minagawa changed the plan so the remake would include changes for modern audiences, he agreed to join the project. Minagawa described Matsuno's presence on the remake's development team as "essential".

Minagawa took on the role of director. His main role was to organize the in-house staff and coordinate with the team divisions. Matsuno returned as designer and writer. Other returning staff included original artist Akihiko Yoshida, and composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata. Matsuno played a role in gathering the original staff after coming on board. It took a year to get all the staff together for the project and ensure their schedules were free, then three years to develop the game. It was produced by Eisuke Yokoyama, who had previously worked on Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. The programmer was Takashi Katano. Alongside the returning staff members, the team included people who had worked on Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber and Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis, some who had worked on the Final Fantasy Tactics series, and staff members completely new to the series. Minagawa commented that the new staff members, fans of the original game, remembered the smaller details better than the original developers. The "compact" nature of the team allowed small detailed adjustments to the game without causing problems.

Design Rather than describing it as a remake or a remaster, Matsuno defined the remake as a "re-imagining" of the original title. The PSP was chosen as the game's platform to provide an "intimate" viewing experience, and to give players with busy lives easy access to it. The gameplay was rebalanced compared to the original, increasing the party size, adding new recruitable characters, altering weapon statistics, and reworking the class system to be both more varied and be independent of units to allow for continued use after a unit's death. The developers included additional tutorial information compared to the original, but incorporated it contextually so it was not forced on players while also allowing genre beginners to enjoy the game. Character recruitment was also rebalanced, although it ended up being more difficult than in the original.

During the second half of production, the Chariot and World systems were added in at Matsuno's suggestion, giving players more freedom to both rectify mistakes and play other story routes. The Chariot system was meant as a tool for beginners, but the gameplay was adjusted so there was a random element that would alter the actions of enemies, preventing players from exploiting the system. This also carried over into any attempts by players to use save states, preserving the general challenge. An early plan was for players to be able to go back 100 moves in the Chariot system, but was deemed too generous and reduced to the final count of fifty. Minagawa felt that he and Matsuno were able to include almost everything they wanted to, comparing it to an omnibus edition of the original game.

While keeping the graphics faithful to the Super Famicom original, the team stopped short of making the game look "cheap" by reproducing the graphics without any updates. The increased resolution and hardware specifications of the PSP allowed the UI displays to be expanded, and the text to be redone for legibility. The fields and stages were rebuilt in 3D, with 2D character sprites overlaid and painted to appear like classic pixel art. The artwork was managed by Yoshida, but much of the character art and other artistic elements were reworked by Tsubasa Masao, an artist known for his work on Metal Gear Acid and Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light. Masao's work focused on redesigning the characters while retaining recognizable features from their original designs, including facial features and general clothing. Minagawa also helped with the art design.

While the original game featured 300,000 characters of writing, the remake's expansions pushed this number to over 700,000, more than the script for Final Fantasy XII. In addition to new work, Matsuno was also able to rewrite his earlier work. He wrote the additions to the main scenario himself, but due to the volume of work he created rough scenarios for a team of writers to work on for side content, doing small rewrites where necessary. The team included Kazuhiro Kataoka, who had worked on Ogre Battle 64; Yuichi Murasawa and Kyoko Kitahara, who had written both Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis and titles within the Ivalice series; Motoharu Tanaka, whose work included Final Fantasy entries and Parasite Eve; and Tsuyoshi Tomooka of The Last Remnant. Other staff again worked on supplementary material such as the Warren Report. Matsuno also created the concepts for new characters and gave them to other writers. Matsuno raised the ages of several younger characters, partly to be more acceptable in the Western market. He originally planned to raise Denam's age to 23, but as this would have clashed with the story's themes of youthful rebellion, he settled on making him 18.

Music