Tactical role-playing game
A tactical role-playing game (usually simply called tactical RPG, sometimes referred to as strategy role-playing game) is a type of computer game or video role-playing game (RPG) in which the focus of the gameplay is on making tactical decisions in battles. In some sense, they may be viewed as a hybrid of traditional role-playing games with turn-based strategy games.
Comparison with traditional RPGs
Tactical RPGs differ from traditional RPGs in several ways.
- Tactical RPGs tend to feature battles of larger scope than standard RPGs. In a typical RPGs, players control a party of typically six characters or less (eg. Final Fantasy IV has parties of up to five characters, Suikoden has parties of up to six characters, Final Fantasy X has parties of up to three characters although characters can be subbed-in during combat) fighting against a similarly sized pack of enemy characters or monsters. T/RPGs are more open-ended, and frequently feature battles between six player characters and eight or more computer-controlled enemies. In Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, the player can command several parties of up to five characters each, allowing for a battle to occur between two armies of 25 characters or more. Recent Super Robot Wars games feature a squad system that allows players to group units into platoons; the final mission of Alpha 2 allows, in theory, 76 player units on the map.
- In a typical console RPG, combat takes place on a static screen and does not make allowances for maneuvering, positioning, outflanking, etc. In T/RPGs, combat takes place on a map, generally an isometric grid like a chessboard, across which characters can move. Each square typically represents a type of terrain and has attributes like relative height, magical energy type, ease of movement across it, etc--a cliff wall might be difficult to negotiate, for instance, while a castle rampart may have stairs. Finally, the direction of attack often has an impact on damage and accuracy (in one game, Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth, attacks to the rear were literally hundreds of times stronger). In short, proper maneuvering is of extreme importance in T/RPGs, whereas the significance of maneuvering in a standard console RPG is often completely removed.
- Typical RPG battles, varying from game to game, are either turn-based (most Dragon Quests, Final Fantasy X) or real-time (Tales of Symphonia, Final Fantasy VIII). Tactical RPGs are generally turn-based, to allow the player time to evaluate complexity and plan their strategies. Some T/RPGs have a real-time element, such as Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen.
- Some standard console RPGs have removed the emphasis on character class (Final Fantasy VIII), and do not allow for much flexibility in terms of each character's combat role. The healers always act as healers, and the fighters always act as fighters, for instance. T/RPGs, on the other hand, tend to offer much more flexibility in allowing the player to choose each character's class and even provide mechanics for a character to switch classes over the course of the game. Several influential T/RPGs including (Final Fantasy Tactics) give the player the option to customize a character's abilities from among various classes that the character has gained levels in rather than limiting the options to only the character's current class. This allows the player to create hybridized soldiers who are proficient at several things at once.
History
Many early Western RPGs used a highly-tactical form of combat, such as parts of the Ultima series, which introduced party-based, tiled combat in Ultima III: Exodus. Conventionally, however, the term Tactical RPG refers to the distinct subgenre that was born in Japan. The early origins of Tactical RPGs are difficult to trace from the American side of the Pacific since so much of the genre developed in Japan.
8-bit/16-bit Generation
It is generally accepted that Nintendo released the first tactical RPG, Fire Emblem for the Famicom (NES), created by Intelligent Systems. Released in Japan in 1990, Fire Emblem was an archetype for the whole genre, establishing gameplay elements that are still used in tactical RPGs today. Combining the basic RPG concepts from games like Dragon Quest and simple turn-based strategy elements, Nintendo created a hit game, which has spawned many sequels and imitators. It was not until the release of Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken for the Game Boy Advance, many years later, that the series was formally introduced to non-Asian gamers.
Among the first imitators was Langrisser by NCS/Masaya, first released for the Mega Drive/Sega Genesis in 1991. It was translated for U.S. release and retitled Warsong. The Langrisser series differed from Fire Emblem in that it used a unique general-soldier structure instead of controlling main characters. Langrisser, too, spawned many sequels, none of which were brought to North America.
Another influential early tactical RPG was Sega's Shining Force for the Sega Genesis, which was released in 1992. Shining Force used even more RPG elements than earlier games, allowing you to walk around towns and talk to people and buy weapons. Shining Force was the first experience many Western gamers had with the genre.
One game released solely in Japan for the SNES, Bahamut Lagoon (which was later translated into English by the DeJap team), began Squaresoft's (now Square-Enix) famous series of tactical RPGs.
Four games from the Ogre Battle series have been released in North America: Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen was released for Super Nintendo Entertainment System and is more of a real-time strategy game in which the player forms CRPG-like character parties that are moved around a map in real-time. When two parties meet, the combat plays out with minimal user interaction. A later release, Tactics Ogre was originally a Super Famicom game that was not released outside of Japan. It was later ported to the Sony PlayStation, along with Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen. Both of the PlayStation rereleases were marketed in North America by Atlus, as was Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber, for the Nintendo 64.
Tactics Ogre is a much more direct influence on the sort of tactical RPGs that gamers recognise today such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Not only are characters moved individually on a grid, but the view is isometric, and the order of combat is calculated for each character individually. Although this game defined the genre in many ways, it is not widely recognized by American gamers because it was released to American audiences several years out of date. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance actually uses a version of the Tactics Ogre game engine. A sequel to the original Tactics Ogre, Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis was later released for the Game Boy Advance.
32-bit/Modern Generation
The 32-bit era saw many influential tactical RPGs, such as Konami's Vandal Hearts, Square's Final Fantasy Tactics and Front Mission 3 and Sega's Shining Force 3, considered by many to be the pinnacle of the genre.
Vandal Hearts was an early PlayStation title that helped popularlize tactical RPGs in the US. It was released by Konami and featured a 3D isometric map that could be rotated by the player. A sequel was subsequently released, also for the PlayStation, and Konami has announced a third title in development for the Nintendo DS.
Final Fantasy Tactics arguably did the most to bring tactical RPGs to the United States. Developed by former employees of Quest, the developer responsible for the Ogre Battle series, it combined many elements of the Final Fantasy series with Tactics Ogre-style gameplay. Because it bore the popular Final Fantasy brand name, many RPG fans played it who might not have otherwise been enticed.
In more recent times, a loyal American fan-base has been established by Nippon Ichi, makers of the popular PlayStation 2 games La Pucelle Tactics, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, and Phantom Brave. Of these games, Disgaea has been the most successful to date, and was actually the first Nippon Ichi game released in the US even though La Pucelle was developed and released first in Japan.
Tactical RPGs are more popular today than ever, as more companies have recognized the large audience these types of games, especially on the PlayStation 2. Games like La Pucelle: Tactics and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, which Atlus re-released due to high demand, have become genuine cult hits.
Popularity
Many tactical RPGs can be both extremely time-consuming and extremely difficult. Hence, the appeal of most tactical RPGs is to hardcore, not casual, computer and video gamers. Tactical RPGs are quite popular in Japan but have not enjoyed the same degree of success in the United States.
That having been said, the audience for Tactical RPGs has grown substantially over the last decade, and PlayStation 2 titles including Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Stella Deus have enjoyed a suprising measure of popularity, as have hand-held wargames including Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA) and the Advance Wars series of games (GBA and Ninendo DS). Japanese console games such as these are no longer nearly as rare a commodity in North America as they were during the 1990s.