Massive Tactics Ogre: Reborn blowout shares new gameplay, characters, classics and MUCH more

■ Skills

As a unit’s level increases, a greater variety of skills become available for each class. You can assign a unit up to four skills, giving them unique abilities depending on the skills assigned. Skills are categorized into four types: Action, Support, Auto, and Special.

Action

These skills can be executed at any time, similar to a weapon attack or magic. Assigned skills appear as an action under the “Skills” menu. Action skills require MP to use. Some give weapons a 100% hit rate and guarantee critical hits, while others enable you to recruit enemy units to join your party.

Support

Simply assigning these skills provides a passive benefit to the unit. Some support skills increase max HP or MP, while others will automatically trigger counter attacks when attacked.

Auto

The effects of these skills have a chance to trigger automatically when a unit becomes active. No MP is consumed when they trigger. There are auto skills that increase MP recovery, and others that increase the distance of ranged attacks. The trigger rate of auto skills can be increased by acquiring skill trigger rate buff cards or by reaching a certain unit level.

Special

These are unique skills that only certain races can use. Assigned skills appear as an action in the “Act” menu. Special skills require MP to perform. These are skills such as breath attacks by dragon units and other damage-dealing attacks that apply debuffs.

The skills that can be acquired differ depending on the unit’s class and race. Here are some of the skills that highlight the flavor they add to each class.

Wizard

Wizards are adept at using offensive and debuff magic, so they learn skills that focus on using magic more effectively. This includes skills that restore MP or extend the range of spells, allowing units to further specialize in offensive and support magic.

Rune Fencer / Valkyrie

Rune fencers and valkyries have a variety of weapons and magic at their disposal and learn skills to support themselves during battle. This class has a good balance of offensive and defensive skills, ranging from those that support magic to those that increase resistance to debuffs.

Knight

Knights act as a shield that can hold off enemy attacks. They excel at defense and can acquire skills that reduce damage dealt to friendly units. Knights learn skills that can be relied upon for leading the way and closing in on the enemy, such as those that can stop an enemy that approaches within a certain range, or reduce damage to their allies until the next turn

Ninja / Kunoichi

Ninja and kunoichi are extremely nimble, with a long range of movement and the ability to traverse large elevation differences with ease. They acquire skills that reduce the enemy’s strength with their quick movements, such as the “Double Attack” skill that can be used when two one-handed melee weapons are equipped, and a skill that increases the hit rate of the next ninjutsu move to 100%.

■ The Battlefield

The battlefield contains various elements that affect combat, such as weather and terrain. If you can make good use of these elements, it’s possible to gain an advantage in battle.

Terrain

Aside from the interiors and exteriors of buildings, such as forts, castles, and aqueducts, there is special terrain, such as plains, snowfields, and volcanoes. There can be various types of terrain within the same battlefield that have different effects on units. A typical effect pertains to hit rate, where the terrain of the tile the unit is standing on affects the hit rate of melee and ranged attacks.

Weather

It may rain or snow on outdoor battlefields. The weather will change from time to time during battle, with rain falling heavily at times or snow ceasing. The worse the weather, the worse the visibility and the lower the accuracy of your attacks. Weather also affects the cost of movement on some terrains, affecting the maneuvering and tactics of both your army and the enemy.

Buried Treasures

When units end their turn on certain tiles, they may find items. Items are buried in various locations, some of which can be found by destroying obstacles or by burning grass or snowfields to expose the ground.

What Happens on the Battlefield

Various events occur in battle depending on the situation, such as the appearance of units under attack and surrounded by enemies, or special conversations between certain characters. The story can change dramatically depending on your actions and choices in such situations.

—Appearance of Units in Need of Rescue

Occasionally, units under enemy attack may appear on the battlefield. If you are able to keep the unit under attack on their feet and finish the battle with the target unit alive, you may see a change in the story that follows.

—Occurrence of Special Conversations

During battles, special conversation events may occur when certain characters are present. For example, if you’re preparing for a battle with a certain character who has history with others in your party, you may want to select those characters to send into battle on the Battle Party Screen.

Recurring Units

One way to gather new units for your party is to hire them from the shop, but you can also persuade many hostile units you meet in battle to join you and put these formerly hostile units—and their powerful skills and special moves—to use within your own army. In order to successfully recruit an enemy unit, you need a recruiting skill (an action skill) that corresponds to the unit you are recruiting, with recruiting skills of different classes needed depending on the race of the unit you’re trying to recruit.

It’s not just humans who can join your party; monsters you face in battle can be recruited and trained as well. You can change the name of a unit when you hire them in a shop, or persuade them to join you in battle.

Items Found During Battle

Battle Cards or Bags of Loot will appear in battle. You can pick up Battle Cards and Bags of Loot by moving to the tile where they appear and selecting “End Turn.”

Battle Cards: These cards have mystical powers. When acquired, the card’s effect is applied to the unit. There are three types of card effects, as follows.

—Buff Card

These cards temporarily enhance the unit that acquires them, appearing at random after a certain amount of time passes, an obstacle is broken, or grassy or snowy fields are cleared with fire magic or the like. Acquired buff cards stack, and one unit can gain the effects of up to four cards. A unit can also hold multiple cards with the same effect. In this case, the effect increases each time. If you obtain a new buff card with four cards already stacked, the oldest card is discarded and the effect of the discarded card is lost.

—Reset Card

These cards reset the effects of any buff cards that the unit has previously acquired, appearing at random after a certain amount of time passes, an obstacle is broken, or grassy or snowy fields are cleared with fire magic or the like. The reset triggers as soon as the card is obtained and does not stack. You can use this to your advantage by knocking back enemy units to a tile with a reset card to remove their card buffs.

—Stat Card

When you defeat an enemy unit, either a stat card or a bag of loot will appear. If a stat card drops, it will permanently increase the stats of the unit that picks it up by a small amount. The effect triggers as soon as it is obtained and does not count toward the 4 buff cards a unit can hold.

Bags of Loot: Bags of loot contains the equipment and consumables used by defeated enemy units. When you acquire them, they will be added to your party’s inventory.

■ Wheel of Fortune

In Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, the first game in the Ogre Battle Saga, the 22 major arcana tarot cards were a hallmark of the game’s tactics, visuals, and lore. Those tarot cards inspired the “Wheel of Fortune” system introduced in Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, a feature also found in this latest entry.

Using the Wheel of Fortune, you can save characters you couldn’t save before or recruit characters who didn’t join your party because of choices you made, allowing you to experience parts of the story you might not otherwise have seen.

■ The Chariot Tarot

In tactical RPGs, there are many situations that require a high level of concentration and patience, as the actions you choose could have irreversible negative effects on your subsequent moves. If you make a mistake, you might have to start all over again from the beginning.

In Tactics Ogre: Reborn, the Chariot Tarot allows you to go back through your previous actions and re-play from any turn of your choice. The number of moves you can rewind within a battle using the Chariot Tarot is fixed at 10 turns at the start of the game, but this will increase as the game progresses. If you want to change the outcome, rewind and try a different course of action.

■ The World Tarot

This game contains a branching story where you will often need to make key decisions that have a huge impact on how the game unfolds. However, due to the nature of the tactical RPG genre, your total playtime can become rather extensive should you try to experience the entire story. The World Tarot, which can be used after meeting certain conditions, allows you to go back in time to a specific point in the story and choose a different route than the one you have taken thus far.

■ Class Introductions

Beast Tamer

The beast tamer is able to train beasts and dragons and unleash their hidden potential.

Dragoon

A warrior with a special talent for slaying beasts and dragons.

Swordmaster

A melee attacker and master of the two-handed katana. Able to dance powerful war dances.

Warlock / Witch

Part mage, part scholar, the warlock or witch learns much of their trade from ancient writings. They are able to control golems and unleash their true potential.

Fusilier

The fusilier can wield all of the powerful ranged weapons that give them their name.

■ Character Introductions

Leonar Reci Rimon (voiced by Daniel Bonjour in English, Masashi Tamaki in Japanese)

“If a man wants power, he must claim it for himself. No noble will do that for him.”

A Walister who captains the Knights of Almorica. 27 years old. He serves as the right hand of Duke Ronwey, and is a vital member of the Resistance. At first glance, he appears no more than a stern soldier, recalcitrant in his ways, but he is in fact one of the duke’s most trusted councilors and strategists. His mother was killed by the Galgastani in the preceding turmoil.

Ravness Loxaerion (voiced by Helen Kennedy Turner in English, Rika Fukami in Japanese)

“Make no mistake, I have high hopes for you.”

A Walister who serves with the Knights of Almorica. 23 years old. She is next in command to Sir Leonar. She has been a close supporter of Duke Ronwey, and is among his most trusted advisors. Though known for her calm demeanor, she stubbornly opposes the use of underhanded tactics.

Arycelle Dania (voiced by Stephanie Sheh in English, Chie Nakamura in Japanese)

“Oh, I’ll have your head, but I am no headhunter. You’ll pay in blood for what you did in Balmamusa!”

A Walister hailing from Krysaro who serves the Walister Resistance. 19 years old. She and her brother took up arms with the Resistance after their parents died in the first engagement between Galgastani and Walister forces. Both were accomplished archers, among the best the Resistance had in the field, and they were never stationed far from the front lines.

Hobyrim Vandam (voiced by Gideon Emery in English, Hiroki Touchi in Japanese)

“I might not be able to see, but my sword is truer than most.”

A blind swordsman from a foreign land. 31 years old. It seems he is connected to the Dark Knights somehow, but he will not speak on the matter.

The Phoraena Sisters

—Cerya Phoraena (voiced by Julie Nathanson in English, Mayumi Sako in Japanese)

“Without feet firmly upon the ground, you will drift.”

A Bakram who leads the Liberation Front. 26 years old. She once spread the teachings of the Order of Philaha, worshippers of the Great Father, but left after losing faith in religion. She went on to form the Liberation Front, aiming to end the war by revolutionary means.

—Cistina Phoraena (voiced by Courtenay Taylor in English, Ayano Hamaguchi in Japanese)

“Then we share common cause. Let us fight together.”

A Bakram formerly with the Liberation Front. 20 years old. She is the third-eldest of four daughters born to Mreuva Phoraena, a former archiereus in the Order of Philaha. After Abuna Brantyn ousted her father from power and her mother died, she parted ways with the Order and joined her sister Cerya in forming the Liberation Front.

—Olivya Phoraena (voiced by Madeline Curry in English, Sumi Shimamoto in Japanese)

“What you are, who you are, has no bearing on who you will become!”

A Bakram who was once a sibyl of the Order of Philaha. 18 years old. She is the youngest of four daughters born to Mreuva Phoraena, a former archiereus in the Order of Philaha. After escaping political strife in Heim, she continued to pass on the teachings of the Order with her father. She joined the upper echelons of the Order upon her father’s disappearance.

—Sherri Phoraena (voiced by Abby Trott in English, Maria Kawamura in Japanese)

“Mother’s blood is on our father’s hands!”

A Bakram who was once a follower of the Order of Philaha. 24 years old. She is the second-eldest of four daughters born to Mreuva Phoraena, a former archiereus in the Order. Once a missionary, she chose a different calling upon the death of her mother, which left her disillusioned with her faith.

Diego Galet Azelstan (voiced by Frank Todaro in English, Kenji Fukuda in Japanese)

“Diego may be a man of the sea, but he can hold his own on shifting deck or solid ground.”

A legendary Galgastani pirate. In his younger days he was known to all who sailed the seas of the Valerian Isles. He was greatly feared for the abandon with which he snatched away both cargo and lives. Then one day he took to the shore and disappeared.

Xaebos Ronsenbach (voiced by Darin De Paul in English, Naoya Uchida in Japanese)

“To make it so, we need only win. It is the victor who pens the tale!”

A Galgastani who once led the Knights of Galgastan. 30 years old. He served directly under Balbatos, hunting down the Hierophant’s enemies at home and suppressing the Walister. Though an arrogant man, his bravery in battle cannot be doubted. His manner is rough, and his words direct, but his concern for his men and countrymen is second to none. A fearsome commander, he is nonetheless admired as a staunch and steadfast ally.

Hektor Didarro (voiced by Jason Spisak in English, Tokuyoshi Kawashima in Japanese)

“We do not sell friends, not even for the unkindest price. Would you do any different?”

A Galgastani who serves his clan in battle. He is a knight of House Didarro, a family of note in Coritanae. They have served the Lord of Coritanae for many generations, and are fiercely loyal to the Kingdom of Galgastan. Hektor was garrisoned at Brigantys Castle under High Commander Xaebos.

Dukas Windelband Gatialo (voiced by Ben Diskin in English, Yasuhiro Mamiya in Japanese)

“We are strong! We bloody our hands with the toils of victory! There is no shame in triumph!”

A Galgastani who serves his clan in battle. He is a close associate of Hierophant Balbatos, and one of his most trusted commanders. He also played a large role in carrying out the blood war. He openly states his opinion that the Galgastani are superior to other peoples, and is particularly savage towards non-Galgastani on the field of battle.

Nybeth Obdilord (voiced by Keith Silverstein in English, Mitsuru Miyamotoin Japanese)

A Galgastani who serves the Kingdom of Galgastan. 50 years old. He was consul to Almorica while it was under Galgastani control; however, it appears he left his duties to another in his service, and was rarely seen in public.

Cressida Lauya Zurbaran (voiced by Nicole Tompkins in English, Yuka Adachi in Japanese)

“You mean to say that I defile the bodies and souls of the departed.”

A Galgastani who once served her clan in battle. 27 years old. Together with her mother, Cassandra, and sister, Moldova, she practices necromancy under the Necromancer Nybeth, believing that reviving the flesh of the dead by calling their souls back to the transient world serves to dispel their feelings of regret.