Tactics Ogre: Reborn is a re-release of the 1995 cult classic Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together. The original game is the spiritual predecessor of Final Fantasy Tactics since they share similar gameplay and were both directed and written by Yasumi Matsuno.
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If you like Final Fantasy Tactics and have yet to play Tactics Ogre, then you should absolutely buy this remaster and experience this classic for yourself. Is Tactics Ogre necessarily better than Final Fantasy Tactics, though? We will weigh which one ultimately takes the cake. Even though only one can win, you cannot go wrong playing either of them if you are interested in turn-based tactical RPGs.
At the end of every battle in Tactics Ogre: Reborn, experience is shared evenly among every unit, removing the need for time-consuming grinding. In Final Fantasy Tactics, experience is earned with each turn after an action is taken.
While this direct and individual approach to experience creates more unique characters, it also means some jobs get left behind if they do not act every turn. Players end up using actions for no reason other than to ensure they receive experience. With Tactics Ogre's system, lower-level units can catch up just by being in the battle without directly participating.
7 Final Fantasy Tactics - Job System
Final Fantasy Tactics has you unlocking jobs by leveling up prior jobs. More complex jobs can only be unlocked after bringing several different ones up to a certain level, forcing you to use jobs you might not otherwise have paid attention to.
Players can also use at least one other ability from a different job at any time, making for a more interesting character customization. Tactics Ogre: Reborn has you switching jobs using cards either bought or collected during battles. Abilities and spells are also bought from the shops. The experimentation and work to unlock new jobs are more rewarding in Final Fantasy Tactics.
6 Tactics Ogre: Reborn - Story
Even by today's standards, Tactic Ogre tells an incredibly dark fantasy tale. Its story focuses on political strife, its effect on personal relationships, and the question of how far one should go to fight even for a just cause. It eschews the tropes of everything boiling down to ancient magic, a curse, or some crystal somewhere that holds all the power.
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The branching paths force you to make hard decisions with consequences that may cost the lives or trust of the people closest to the protagonist. Even being on the right side in a war, the protagonist's hands are red with blood nonetheless. Its successor similarly tells a heartbreaking tale filled with drama, but the later chapters fall back on some predictable JRPG tropes, making it less impactful.
5 Final Fantasy Tactics - No Level Cap
This one can go either way, depending on the type of gamer you are. Final Fantasy Tactics does not have a level cap, and enemies scale to your level regardless of power. This means you need to carefully consider the balance of your team and the jobs and abilities you choose.
At the same time, you never feel like the game is punishing you for training too much. While grinding job points to buy stronger abilities, you still level up and become stronger. Of course, this also means that the higher level you are, the harder it will be for lower-level units to catch up.
4 Tactics Ogre: Reborn - Gameplay Balance
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It is extremely easy to break Final Fantasy Tactics and quickly become overpowered if you know what you're doing. It's not necessarily a negative because it's still fun to wipe the floor with even the hardest bosses.
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The level cap and tighter restrictions on what jobs can use which abilities mean you need to find the right strategy on the battlefield to win. If you lose a battle five times, there is only so much training you can do, forcing you to assess your equipment and abilities to try and get the upper hand.
3 Final Fantasy Tactics - Hand-Drawn Cutscenes
The PSP re-release of Final Fantasy Tactics added beautiful cutscenes with a hand-drawn art style. They also had full voice acting and helped give players a better connection to the characters and world. Strangely enough, nothing similar was put in for Tactics Ogre: Reborn.
All of the cinematics are fully voiced, but it would have been nice to get cutscenes done in a similar animated style to help us see how the world looks outside the isometric view and the 16-bit graphics. Square used to add anime intros and cutscenes to many of their re-releases, but that does not seem to be the case here.
2 Tactics Ogre: Reborn - Quality-Of-Life Improvements
Tactics Ogre: Reborn streamlines a lot of the systems in the game to make it move smoother than prior versions. Crafting is a lot more automatic and does not take as much time to sort through the UI to find what you need. You can also leave a quick save in the middle of a battle and pick up from that same turn later.
The Chariot Tarot allows you to rewind several turns and try something different in the battle. Final Fantasy Tactics is user-friendly but does not go the extra mile like Tactics Ogre: Reborn does.
1 Verdict - Tactics Ogre: Reborn
Final Fantasy Tactics has the name recognition behind it and builds upon the systems established in the 1995 game, but Tactics Ogre's darker tale, branching narrative, and subtle improvements added to the 2022 re-release give it the edge. However, any potential modern update of Final Fantasy Tactics could bring these same changes and even the playing field. The fact Tactics Ogre: Reborn is playable on all modern systems also gives it a priority to anyone interested in diving into one of these two games today.
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