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There exists a phenomenon called Tactical Role-Playing Games. Contrary to its name, it's got nothing to do with people whacking each other with fake swords or rolling dices. In this case the term "Role-Playing Game", usually abbreviated to RPG, merely denotes relation with the videogame genre of the same name, where the player assumes control of an ill-matched group of individuals who traverse the land in search of misadventures. Tactical RPGs are set apart from traditional ones by a dominance of large-scale battles. They work in a way similar to chess, but instead of a flat board they have a terrain rich with landmarks and in place of a featureless pieces are vivid personalities with an array of ever-changing traits.
1990's Fire Emblem is widely accepted as the progenitor of TRPG. It was the first game to mix the aforementioned elements. The innovative mechanics were quickly noticed and mass-produced by other companies. Such games as Super Robot Wars, Shining Force and Langrisser gained considerable popularity and spawned numerous sequels, and Fire Emblem itself is going strong up to this day - a new game bearing this title is released every few years.
Second episode of Ogre Battle Saga - Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (released in 1995), demonstrated a different approach to the idea. Battles became less sketchy and smaller in scale. For Fire Emblem and its followers, it's common for battles to take place in the entire region. In Tactics Ogre, however, they rarely take up more than a street or a hill. In order to show the clashes in full detail, camera view was switched to isometric. This approach became de facto standart with the release of most popular RPG series' tactical spin-off - Final Fantasy Tactics (1997). It's worth noting that the core of the game's development team consisted of people who made Tactics Ogre.
The following years saw the growth of the genre accompanied by diversity. For example, the main feature of Front Mission series are highly customizable mechs with each part having its own durability meter. Nippon Ichi Software is known for their humorous, lighthearted games (La Pucelle, Disgaea etc.) that mock everything from story cliches to gameplay components (maximum level is 9999). Current generation of consoles has little to show in terms of hard-boiled turn-based action, but even Valkyria Chronicles alone is a significant advance for the genre. Hopefully, progress won't stop at this point and we'll see many more praiseworthy TRPGs in the future. Recent and upcoming releases 25.02.11 Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together [EU] [PSP] [сайт] |
![Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon and Sword of Light [NES]](/images/screens/fire_emblem_00.png "Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon and Sword of Light [NES]")
![Final Fantasy Tactics [PS]](/images/screens/fft_00.jpg "Final Fantasy Tactics [PS]")
![Valkyria Chronicle [PS3]](/images/screens/valkyria_chron_00.jpg "Valkyria Chronicle [PS3]")
