Killing Eve Recently Hit the Netflix Top 10 — Here's Why the Finale Is Better Than You Remember
Killing Eve's series finale was wildly unpopular with fans, but there was more merit to it than some may remember.
Doctor Who: Season 1, Episodes 1 & 2 Review
The beginning of Doctor Who’s latest “Season 1” is wonderfully welcoming to newcomers, but still gleefully leans into the ridiculous, choosing unapologetic fun at every opportunity. It’s a great start to the new era.
https://www.ign.com/articles/doctor-who-season-1-episode-1-2-review
The Lord of the Rings Hobbits (and Legolas) Reunite in Wholesome Night Out Photos
The Lord of the Rings cast reunited over the weekend and shared some wholesome photos of all four hobbits (and Legolas) enjoying a cheeky night out in England.
PlayStation Reverses Course on Helldivers 2 PSN Account Requirement
PlayStation has walked back the PSN account requirement for Helldivers 2, telling fans "we've heard your feedback" and saying "we're still learning what's best for PC players."
https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-reverses-course-on-helldivers-2-psn-account-requirement
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5 RTX 4070 SUPER Gaming PC Is 1440p Gaming Ready for $1340
The best price right now for a prebuilt RTX 4070 SUPER gaming PC
Chance Perdomo’s Gen V Role Will Not Be Recast
Season two storylines are being recrafted.
https://www.ign.com/articles/chance-perdomos-gen-v-role-will-not-be-recast
Where to Watch Game of Thrones Online in 2024
Our up-to-date streaming guide on how to watch all of Game of Thrones online.
https://www.ign.com/articles/where-to-stream-game-of-thrones
Helldivers 2 Pulled From 177 Countries Due to PSN Linking Requirement, Arrowhead 'Talking Solutions'
Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt says studio is "talking solutions" with PlayStation as Helldivers 2 is pulled from 177 countries due to PSN linking requirement.
Lord of the Rings Fans Mourn King Théoden Actor Bernard Hill, Dead at 79
Fans are mourning actor Bernard Hill, who found fame as King Théoden in Lord of the Rings as well as Captain Smith in Titanic. Hill died Sunday at 79.
It's Time for You To Watch Interview with the Vampire
Streaming Wars is a weekly opinion column by IGN’s Streaming Editor, Amelia Emberwing. To read the last entry, check out How Dead Boy Detectives Carved Out Its Own World in the Sandman Universe.
The AMC series Interview with the Vampire didn’t so much burst onto the scene in 2022 as it did saunter into the conversation. It hit in October, meaning it went up against the weekly releases of heavy hitters like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, House of the Dragon, and The Boys, and a large hunk of the general audience wasn’t even aware of AMC+ yet. I’m a strong proponent for the majority of the shows the Anne Rice adaptation went up against, of course, but I am also here to tell you that AMC’s Interview with the Vampire absolutely rips — sometimes literally — and that it’s well past time for you to check it out.
While the series adapts the same book that the film of the same name did back in 1994, it does so with its own spin while still acknowledging the original, fateful interview with (very human) reporter Daniel Malloy (played by Christian Slater in the film and Eric Bogosian in the current series). Louis de Pointe du Lac is now played by a Black man (Jacob Anderson) — meaning that he is very much not the plantation owner formerly described, but a brothel owner instead (the reason for the former fabrication is explained in-story). And his origins aren’t the only thing he changed from his first interview with Malloy back in ‘94.
This contemporary continuation/retelling revitalizes Rice’s original story from 1976 in ways that I never anticipated. Playing both in the past and the present is always fun — especially when the present in the story reflects current times — but I don’t know that anyone was quite ready for just how hard this new chapter of Interview with the Vampire goes. From the cast, to the story, to the gore, to the subtext becoming, well… text, there isn’t a single area where the series doesn’t excel. And I swear that when I wrote the line “subtext becoming text” it wasn’t intentionally a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference, Giles just follows me around in life I guess.
While the writing and directing of the series are absolutely superb, it’s the performances that take Interview with the Vampire to new heights. There is a key reason that brought Louis back into Malloy’s life — one that I won’t spoil here in a column telling you to watch for yourself — and Bogosian’s portrayal as something as simple as the confidante archetype elevates Louis’ new narration in ways I never would have expected. Meanwhile, Sam Reid is so good as Lestat that he frequently makes me forget that I have hated his character for the entirety of my life. He is just so perfectly bitchy that you can’t help but love him, even as the terrible monster he is. Anderson adds a depth to Louis that had otherwise been missing in on-screen adaptations, making him more than a sad sack and bringing new layers to the character with each passing story as he orates to Malloy. And then there’s Claudia. Dear, dear Claudia. In Season 1 she is played by Bailey Bass, but the actress had to vacate the role in Season 2 due to scheduling reasons. Delainey Hayles will be taking over this upcoming season, and I am confident that she will elevate the series in her own way.
And, listen… in addition to all of that praise, it’s also wonderfully gory and hella gay. There’s just so much to love here!
Why am I here telling you that it’s time to catch up on Interview with the Vampire before Season 2 hits next week? Because I care about your happiness. And because I want it to get 20 more seasons. But let’s pretend that it’s mostly the first one.
I can hear you now, with all of your objections. “Amelia, there’s so much TV right now… I can’t.” “AMC stopped producing good shows after it put all of its focus in The Walking Dead.” “I don’t have cable anymore.” All nonsense! Especially now that Season 2 is premiering in May with far less competition than its debut.
Ok, I actually think there is a hair of validity to The Walking Dead tidbit (Better Call Saul and Preacher innocent), but Interview with the Vampire is a completely different team and AMC’s answer to actively trying to find its next flagship show! So, please know that, as someone who also broke up with The Walking Dead (aggressively), I could not recommend IWTV more. Not all AMC series are created equal! And besides, vampires are the superior undead anyway.
As for the other two imaginary objections above, it is an undeniable fact that there are too many damn shows right now. However, that means that prioritizing the best of the best should be of the highest importance. I assure you that Interview with the Vampire is just that. I cannot stress how impeccable Season 1 of the series was and, if our Season 2 review is to be believed, there’s no sophomore slump in sight for this next chapter.
Don’t have cable anymore? Who does?! (I do…) The series streams on AMC+ (It’s nine bucks a month and they have a week free trial). And if you’re wondering if one show can be enough to justify a streaming service subscription for the duration of a season, I am here to tell you that this one is.
But why not use that one week free trial to find out for yourself? Now is the perfect time to binge that first season before Season 2 hits on Sunday, May 12. It means you won’t have to go through the same agony that the rest of us who watched Season 1 did while we waited for the next part of the story to hit! And if you need one final point to drive home just how exceptional this continuation has been, take into account that the majority of fans who watched the first season know exactly where this story is going thanks to the book and film, but we’ve been begging for the second season from the moment the credits rolled on the finale of the first.
https://www.ign.com/articles/its-time-for-you-to-watch-interview-with-the-vampire
It's Time for You To Watch Interview with the Vampire
Streaming Wars is a weekly opinion column by IGN’s Streaming Editor, Amelia Emberwing. To read the last entry, check out How Dead Boy Detectives Carved Out Its Own World in the Sandman Universe.
The AMC series Interview with the Vampire didn’t so much burst onto the scene in 2022 as it did saunter into the conversation. It hit in October, meaning it went up against the weekly releases of heavy hitters like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, House of the Dragon, and The Boys, and a large hunk of the general audience wasn’t even aware of AMC+ yet. I’m a strong proponent for the majority of the shows the Anne Rice adaptation went up against, of course, but I am also here to tell you that AMC’s Interview with the Vampire absolutely rips — sometimes literally — and that it’s well past time for you to check it out.
While the series adapts the same book that the film of the same name did back in 1994, it does so with its own spin while still acknowledging the original, fateful interview with (very human) reporter Daniel Malloy (played by Christian Slater in the film and Eric Bogosian in the current series). Louis de Pointe du Lac is now played by a Black man (Jacob Anderson) — meaning that he is very much not the plantation owner formerly described, but a brothel owner instead (the reason for the former fabrication is explained in-story). And his origins aren’t the only thing he changed from his first interview with Malloy back in ‘94.
This contemporary continuation/retelling revitalizes Rice’s original story from 1976 in ways that I never anticipated. Playing both in the past and the present is always fun — especially when the present in the story reflects current times — but I don’t know that anyone was quite ready for just how hard this new chapter of Interview with the Vampire goes. From the cast, to the story, to the gore, to the subtext becoming, well… text, there isn’t a single area where the series doesn’t excel. And I swear that when I wrote the line “subtext becoming text” it wasn’t intentionally a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference, Giles just follows me around in life I guess.
While the writing and directing of the series are absolutely superb, it’s the performances that take Interview with the Vampire to new heights. There is a key reason that brought Louis back into Malloy’s life — one that I won’t spoil here in a column telling you to watch for yourself — and Bogosian’s portrayal as something as simple as the confidante archetype elevates Louis’ new narration in ways I never would have expected. Meanwhile, Sam Reid is so good as Lestat that he frequently makes me forget that I have hated his character for the entirety of my life. He is just so perfectly bitchy that you can’t help but love him, even as the terrible monster he is. Anderson adds a depth to Louis that had otherwise been missing in on-screen adaptations, making him more than a sad sack and bringing new layers to the character with each passing story as he orates to Malloy. And then there’s Claudia. Dear, dear Claudia. In Season 1 she is played by Bailey Bass, but the actress had to vacate the role in Season 2 due to scheduling reasons. Delainey Hayles will be taking over this upcoming season, and I am confident that she will elevate the series in her own way.
And, listen… in addition to all of that praise, it’s also wonderfully gory and hella gay. There’s just so much to love here!
Why am I here telling you that it’s time to catch up on Interview with the Vampire before Season 2 hits next week? Because I care about your happiness. And because I want it to get 20 more seasons. But let’s pretend that it’s mostly the first one.
I can hear you now, with all of your objections. “Amelia, there’s so much TV right now… I can’t.” “AMC stopped producing good shows after it put all of its focus in The Walking Dead.” “I don’t have cable anymore.” All nonsense! Especially now that Season 2 is premiering in May with far less competition than its debut.
Ok, I actually think there is a hair of validity to The Walking Dead tidbit (Better Call Saul and Preacher innocent), but Interview with the Vampire is a completely different team and AMC’s answer to actively trying to find its next flagship show! So, please know that, as someone who also broke up with The Walking Dead (aggressively), I could not recommend IWTV more. Not all AMC series are created equal! And besides, vampires are the superior undead anyway.
As for the other two imaginary objections above, it is an undeniable fact that there are too many damn shows right now. However, that means that prioritizing the best of the best should be of the highest importance. I assure you that Interview with the Vampire is just that. I cannot stress how impeccable Season 1 of the series was and, if our Season 2 review is to be believed, there’s no sophomore slump in sight for this next chapter.
Don’t have cable anymore? Who does?! (I do…) The series streams on AMC+ (It’s nine bucks a month and they have a week free trial). And if you’re wondering if one show can be enough to justify a streaming service subscription for the duration of a season, I am here to tell you that this one is.
But why not use that one week free trial to find out for yourself? Now is the perfect time to binge that first season before Season 2 hits on Sunday, May 12. It means you won’t have to go through the same agony that the rest of us who watched Season 1 did while we waited for the next part of the story to hit! And if you need one final point to drive home just how exceptional this continuation has been, take into account that the majority of fans who watched the first season know exactly where this story is going thanks to the book and film, but we’ve been begging for the second season from the moment the credits rolled on the finale of the first.
https://www.ign.com/articles/its-time-for-you-to-watch-interview-with-the-vampire
PS5 Pro: Everything We Know About PlayStation's Next Console
Will you be buying Sony's premium PS5?
Star Wars: The Acolyte Trailer Sees High Republic-Era Jedi Face Off Against New Dark Side Forces
Our newest trailer for The Acolyte is here, revealing more conflict in the Star Wars universe as the dark side begins to cut down the Jedi.
The HP OMEN 16 RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop Is Down to $999.99
Looking for an RTX 4060 laptop for under $1000? Right now HP has the HP OMEN 16 Intel Core i7 GeForce RTX 4060 gaming laptop for only $999.99 after a $600 instant discount. This is a great price for an HP OMEN laptop, which is a premium model over it's more budget-minded Victus. It's currently less expensive than comparable models from Dell and Lenovo. We normally see it on sale for about $1100-$1300.
HP OMEN 16 RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop for $999.99
The HP OMEN 16 laptop features a 16" 1080p IPS display, Intel Core i7-13700HX CPU, GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM, and a 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD. The 13th gen Intel Core i7-13700HX "Raptor Lake" processor features a max boost clock of 5GHz with 16 cores, 24 threads, and a 30MB cache. It's a powerful CPU that will chew through gaming and productivity tasks and won't bottleneck your GPU.
The RTX 4060 sits between the RTX 3070 and the RTX 3070 Ti so it's definitely no slouch in terms of gaming performance. This is a very capable, current generation GPU that can easily run games on the native 1080p display even at high or maximum settings.
Looking for alternatives? Check out our picks for the best gaming laptops of 2024.
https://www.ign.com/articles/best-gaming-laptop-deals-2024-hp-omen-16-geforce-rtx-4060
Where to Watch Every Kung Fu Panda Movie Online in 2024
Our up-to-date streaming guide on how to watch all of the Kung Fu Panda movies online.
https://www.ign.com/articles/where-to-stream-kung-fu-panda-movies
Score an Alienware Aurora R15 GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming PC for Only $1449.99
An excellent 1080p and 1440p gaming rig
Daily Deals: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, LEGO Star Wars The Child
May 4th is here, which means it is officially Star Wars Day! To celebrate, all kinds of Star Wars games, toys, and products are available on sale today! The best deals for Saturday, May 4, include Star Wars Outlaws, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Nintendo Switch OLED, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and more.
Get a $15 Gift Card with a Star Wars Outlaws Pre-Order
To celebrate Star Wars Day, Best Buy is offering a $15 gift card with the pre-order of Star Wars Outlaws. This applies to all versions of the game across platforms. The game is set to release on August 30, so be sure to get your pre-order in now for a free gift card!
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for $25
What better way to celebrate Star Wars Day than to pick up Star Wars Jedi: Survivor at a discount? Right now, Amazon has the title available for just $25, which is the lowest we've seen it so far. Set after the events of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Cal Kestis has become a powerful Jedi, traveling through the galaxy to maintain peace. With new force abilities, lightsabers, and melee combat options, Survivor is an excellent sequel and a title any Star Wars fan should try out.
Nintendo Switch OLED for $314.99
Woot currently has the White Joy-Con Nintendo Switch OLED Model for $314.99. If you've yet to pick up a Switch console, the OLED Model is the one you should aim to buy. With a gorgeous OLED screen, games on Switch pop and look vibrant. Additionally, the new reworked kickstand makes this device much easier to play in tabletop mode.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga for $19.99
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga recreates all nine films into one incredible LEGO experience! Hundreds of characters are playable, with massive planets to explore and complete quests across. If you were a fan of the Complete Saga game, the Skywalker Saga makes everything grander.
Star Wars The Black Series Axe Woves Premium Electronic Helmet for $86.99
If you enjoy cosplaying or even buying replicas for your home, Amazon has an amazing deal on the Star Wars The Black Series Axe Woves helmet. Modeled after its appearance on The Mandalorian, this helmet features an illuminated heads-up display, an adjustable headband, and plenty more.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition for $20
Walmart has The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition for $20 right now. This title is the expanded and ultimate version of the massive RPG, with improved visuals, load times, and textures for Xbox Series X. The game even includes items inspired by the hit Netflix series, so you can experience the ultimate version of this beloved title.
Save 31% Off LEGO Star Wars The Child
For Star Wars Day, this LEGO Star Wars The Child set is on sale! The Child, known as Grogu, is a prominent character in The Mandalorian series. Joined by Din Djarin, the two set out across many missions throughout the galaxy. This LEGO set even includes a tiny minifigure of Grogu!
This May the 4th, Remember That Luke Skywalker Owes Everything to a Talking Flea
It's Star Wars Day, everyone! In honor of May the 4th, this most auspicious day, let's take some time to celebrate and honor one of the galaxy's greatest heroes: no, not Luke, not Leia, not Rey or any of them. I'm talking about Lugubrious Mote.
Forgotten Gems: The Legendary Ogre Battle
Forgotten Gems is a regular column about notable games that have moved out of the public eye and may not be easily accessible anymore. To see all the other games I've covered so far, be sure to check out the 11 previous issues of Forgotten Gems in our Columns section.
I can’t look at the box art for Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen without “hearing” Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. From its iconic main theme to the cheers and jeers sounds when liberating towns, and the muffled “fight it out” and “thank you!” voice samples – it all comes right back. I haven’t played this – now sadly obscure – SNES strategy RPG in three decades, but booting up the dusty Japanese cartridge on my Super Nt instantly reminds me why I skipped pesky, non-essential things like sleep when I first brought it home.
Like so many things, my love affair with the Ogre Battle series started in 1993 during my college years in Japan. I had devoured Final Fantasy IV and V, and with the next installment in my favorite RPG series still a year off, I was looking for anything to fill the void. Ogre Battle’s cover art immediately called to me. No surprise, really – it’s the early work of a future master of character design: Akihiko Yoshida. You may not know his name, but you probably know Vaan and Ashe from Final Fantasy XII and have no doubt seen Yoshida’s art style in everything from Vagrant Story and Bravely Default, to Nier Automata.
Developed and published by Tokyo-based Quest, with support from Nintendo, Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen faced some tough odds: namely, a vibrant and crowded RPG scene dominated by Square and Enix (still two separate companies at the time). Yet somehow, this virtually unknown studio landed a critical and financial hit that instantly turned heads – and eventually led to Enix itself bringing the game to the US.
Is This the World We Created...?
If I had written this column a few months ago, as planned, I would’ve told you that Ogre Battle was both the start and the end of a sub-genre branch on the evolutionary tree of roleplaying games. Players don’t control a character or a party on an overworld map, they control multiple teams in real time. There aren’t any random battles. Instead, enemies move across the world in plain view, just like the player’s units. And when two groups bump into each other, the screen switches to an isometric display with the individual units duking it out in turn-based combat. But you’re not actually in direct control – battles are largely automatic, with the placement and classes of the characters determining their attacks and defensive moves. Instead, you assume the role of an omnipotent strategist, intervening with tactics changes and by playing magical tarot cards that you collect during the exploration phase.
It’s a bold departure from Nintendo’s slower-paced, turn-based gameplay in Fire Emblem and Square’s influential active-time battle system that was affecting the design of every other RPG in development. Although you can pause the action during both overworld exploration and battle screens, Ogre Battle feels fast and relentless by comparison, driving you to make choices and adjust your strategy on the fly like in a modern real-time strategy game.
On top of the combat and exploration elements, there is an economic element – freed towns earn you money that you need to finance additional unit deployments – as well as the clever, but sometimes hard-to-understand interconnected reputation and alignment systems. You can be more lawful and raise a character’s alignment by attacking enemies of higher level or of lower alignment, or descend towards chaos by picking on those of lower level or more lawful than you. Take too much time during your conquests and your reputation – known in the Japanese version of Ogre Battle by the awesomely flowery name “Chaos Frame” (later adopted by the localized sequels, too) – will drop by the day. Meanwhile, liberating or capturing towns with characters of high or low alignment will similarly influence your reputation in the world of Ogre Battle, which ultimately impacts what characters you can recruit and what ending you’ll get.
Some Killer Queen References
Ogre Battle lead Yasumi Matsuno is a huge fan of the British band Queen. Besides in-game names like the "Vultan" class or the "Ryhan" Sea, Queen songs influenced all of the early game titles:
"Ogre Battle" is named after Freddy Mercury's 1974 song of the same name, on the Queen II album.
"The March of the Black Queen" is a song from the same album.
"Let Us Cling Together" is the English title of Queen’s “Te wo Toriatte” (literally “Hand in Hand”) – inaccurately, but officially titled Teo Torriate), a 1976 track written by Brian May. Featured on the album A Day at the Races, Queen specifically produced the song for its considerable Japanese fanbase.
But Queen songs weren’t the only things referenced in Matsuno’s games. His love for the Alien movies is apparent in the possible name selections of Ripley and Newt, as well as The Thing’s MacReady. Sadly, subsequent Ogre releases broke with the Queen naming tradition and used -- admittedly legally more defensible -- original subtitles.
Despite the fact that you never directly control a singular character, each warrior has a detailed set of stats, including RPG staples like Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Charisma, Luck, and hitpoints, in addition to the aforementioned alignment. Plus, there are many different character classes – including powerful monsters that cause a lot of damage but cannot lead a party. It’s a surprisingly deep system, given that its main gameplay loop unfolds in real time. Well, accelerated real-time with different speed settings – and there’s even a day/night cycle that affects certain units. Have a vampire on your team? During the daytime, you don’t! You just have someone snoozing in a coffin who can’t attack. If that sounds daunting, know that it does take a bit of time to get into and understand it all, with even expert players trying to puzzle out all the nuances over multiple playthroughs on how to master the reputation system and get the best ending.
Sounds like the beginning of a new, lasting series that would surely be around forever, right? This is Forgotten Gems, remember?
Breakthru
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen sold more than half a million copies – a fifth of that via a PlayStation limited edition re-release some three years after its Super NES debut in 1993. But creator Yasumi Matsuno had big plans for his new roleplaying saga, even before it emerged as a surprise hit. March of the Black Queen is subtitled Episode V and was meant to be the first story in a seven story saga, with chapters I-IV acting as prequels.
As a newly-minted fan, I didn’t know all that and searched in vain for the previous games – there was no internet in the early ‘90s to tell me “five really means first”. But I also didn’t have to wait long for a sequel to Ogre Battle to be announced. But instead of a direct sequel and a sixth or a prequel episode, the next Ogre Battle game would be Tactics Ogre: Episode VII.
If you’ve played Tactics Ogre, you know it’s a huge departure from the original Ogre Battle in everything from the story focus on politics over high fantasy to its slower-paced, chess-like gameplay. Which may relate to a character trait of Matsuno’s that he himself has highlighted in interviews with the Japanese press over the years: he tends to get bored with his creations, even if players don’t.
Someone will make something better, so I'll make something different." -- Yasumi Matsuno
Inspired by games like Solstice and Landstalker while finishing up development of Ogre Battle, Matsuno fell in love with the idea of making an isometric action game. That game idea morphed into a full-fledged pitch for an Ogre Battle Saga game called Lancelot: Somebody to Love, which would eventually turn into Tactics Ogre: The Bequest of King Dorghalla, before settling on the final, once again Queen-inspired, subtitle: Let us Cling Together.
Under Pressure
“Someone will make something better, so I'll make something different”, Matsuno said in a 2018 interview with DenFamiNicoGamer when asked about the change from Battle to Tactics. “It may be a strange analogy, but the first Alien, which was made by Ridley Scott, and the second film, which was made by James Cameron, have completely different ‘tastes’, right? It changed from being a sci-fi horror movie set in space to an action and war movie. I really like that transition."
"When making a sequel to Ogre Battle, I intentionally aimed to create a completely different style of game rather than a ‘2’. I didn't have any particular proof, but I was convinced that hardcore fans would probably be more happy with that.”
Unfortunately, nobody really stepped up to make a “better Ogre Battle”. I was initially disappointed in the new direction the Ogre Battle series took by abandoning its real-time roots, but grew to appreciate it and the many games like it that have followed over the years (Final Fantasy Tactics, Octopath Traveler, and Triangle Strategy, to name just a few). Matsuno left Quest after Tactics Ogre shipped and joined the company he was initially competing with: Square. At Square, he would go on to make Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, before moving on again to, erm, redder pastures, such as working on slash-fest MadWorld from PlatinumGames.
The Quest for Another Ogre Battle
While there are plenty of quality turn-based strategy/tactical roleplaying series, including Fire Emblem, Valkyria Chronicles, and Disgaea, to mention just a few, there were really no contemporary competitors to the classic real-time Ogre Battle formula.
One game that attempted to merge unit tactics, roleplaying, and real-time gameplay came from developer Genki, notably published by Nintendo in Japan: Napoleon. Despite its historical title, this 2001 Game Boy Advance game literally features ogres. Units move in real-time on the map screen but the player also directly controls the commander, Napoleon, himself. Nintendo’s own Pikmin used a similar approach later that year -- but to much better effect. Nintendo’s attempt to create an "ogre-like" ended up as a dead end. It’s just nowhere near as good. It did see see a French release a few months later under the name L’aigle de Guerre and was promptly forgotten.
Don’t Stop Me Now
But despite its creator’s departure, the core Ogre series wasn’t over yet. Quest programmer Tatsuya Azeyagi replaced Matsuno in the director’s chair and led a team with Megami Tensei Gaiden designer Koji Takino to fill the gap between Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre. The game: Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber, the sixth chapter in the saga. Published by Atlus and Nintendo, the excellent and ambitious sequel featured polygonal maps and 3D-modeled, pre-rendered character sprites a la Donkey Kong Country and clocked in on the second-biggest N64 cartridge with 40MB/320 megabits, second only to Resident Evil 2’s 64MB cart.
If you’re up-to-date on Nintendo 64 history, the bigger the cartridge size, the bigger the risk for the publisher because cartridges had to be manufactured – and paid for – way in advance. That requires advance cash and can mean betting the studio’s future on a single game’s success. The result was that Ogre Battle 64 was impossible to find upon launch. It sold a more modest 200,000 units, but given the positive reviews and word of mouth, its fate was no doubt caused less by gamers not being interested and more by it not being available to purchase. I vividly remember the many frustrated letters we received at IGN64 during those days.
Quest needed money. It sublicensed Ogre Battle to SNK, who were looking for hot properties to adapt for the new NeoGeo Pocket Color handheld system, a capable and underappreciated competitor to the Game Boy Advance. The result was that Ogre Battle suddenly saw a bit of a renaissance. Two “side story” (Gaiden) games from two different developers followed Ogre 64 in quick succession: SNK’s Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia for NGPC and Quest’s own Tactics: Ogre: The Knight of Lodis for Game Boy Advance. Both games’ stories run parallel to the events in the very first game, Episode V, with the GBA title bridging the events between Episode V and VI.
All Dead, All Dead
The NGPC title – more of an imitation of the original than a game that could rekindle the flame – was a mere blip on the radar, while the GBA Tactics Ogre saw respectable sales, certainly for a strategy title, with more than 380k units sold through. Yes, it outperformed its 64-bit brother despite the GBA’s rich RPG and strategy library and a total lack of them on Nintendo 64. Was I the only one who preferred the classic Ogre Battles to the isometric tactics variety?
But what seemed like a rebirth actually proved to be the end of the line. In 2002, Square acquired Quest – and despite our wildest dreams of a reunited team working together to finally give us the first four chapters of the story, we only got a Tactics Ogre remake for PSP – and later, with very little fanfare, a new take on the same game again via a 2022 remaster called Tactics Ogre Reborn.
The Miracle
But before I leave you on another downer of an ending because nobody is working on another true Ogre Battle game (at least, that we know of) and somehow, neither the SNES original nor its N64 sequel are easily accessible, have you heard of Vanillaware? Well, the saints behind Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown seem to have a soft spot for Ogre Battle as well. Unicorn Overlord arrived as an absolute highlight for SRPG fans in early 2024. If you missed it, give it a shot! When it was first revealed in Nintendo's September 2023 Direct, I had to do a double take because I genuinely thought it was a new Ogre Battle game.
So perhaps Matsuno was right all along – it just took a few years to get there. Somebody did make “something better” and a promising new RPG sub-genre continues under the banner of a new queen.
Where can you play it now?
But back to the classic Ogre Battle RTSRPG titles. In case you lost count, the 16-bit Tactics Ogre – which was never localized on Super NES – got a Saturn edition in Japan, then a translated wide release on PlayStation, then it was remade for PSP, and finally remade again in 2022 on everything but Xbox. Sadly, the original Ogre Battle was last seen in the west on the Wii Virtual Console in 2009, though Wii U and 3DS saw Virtual Console editions in Japan in 2013 and 2017, respectively. Ogre Battle 64 hit the Virtual Console on Wii in 2010 and saw a late release on Wii U in the US in 2017, as well. Neither title has seen multi-platform or compilation releases nor an announcement for Nintendo Switch Online. Given that Square titles have been entirely absent from Nintendo’s subscription service, it’s unlikely we’ll see them added anytime soon.
Which leaves the possibility of a future compilation – or, the old-fashioned way to legally play them on the platforms they were released on. Bad news, folks. The original Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen cartridge commands a price of almost $200 (loose) on eBay. Ogre Battle: Person of Lordly Caliber is a steal, by comparison, costing $100 for just the cartridge (no box or manual). A copy of Ogre Battle Gaiden for NeoGeo Pocket Color could be yours for just $30, on the other hand – and thanks to the new NGPC core and converter you can play it on the Analog Pocket's gorgeous screen, too, if you own this fantastic retro handheld. In general, Japanese versions of all three Ogre games are way cheaper since more carts were manufactured, but know that you can’t switch the in-game text to English.
What about you? Are you interested in replaying either one of the three Ogre Battle games on a modern device? Or are you content with the torch passing to Unicorn Overlord as Square’s prime medieval-based strategy RPG series?
Peer Schneider heads up IGN's Guides, Tools, and Map Genie teams and hopes to one day see Square bring back Matsuno to give us Ogre Battle: Episode I - The Show Must Go On.
https://www.ign.com/articles/forgotten-gems-the-legendary-ogre-battle
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