Release Date: September 27, 1996
Hybrid JRPG and a strategy game in which we travel across the continent of Zetegenia to overthrow the bloody rule of the emperor. While we move around the tactical map in real time, clashes involving various units (from humans to mythical creatures like griffins or vampires) take place in turn-based mode. Depending on our actions, history can end in one of thirteen ways.
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen is a hybrid of a strategy game and jRPG developed by Quest. The title first appeared on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System console, and over time it was also released on PS1.
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen takes place on the fantasy continent of Zetegenia. Twenty-five years ago, Empress Endora managed to conquer it and rules with an iron fist. A part of Zetegenia's population has formed a resistance movement known as the Liberation Army. The player takes on the role of the leader of the revolution and their goal is to overthrow the tyranny.
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, starts with an unusual process of character creation, in which we answer various questions to define our character. In this way, we can lead a righteous hero, a rotten daredevil, or a hero trying to remain neutral; moreover, the answers we give determine the protagonist's basic skills and which units will be assigned to them.
After this peculiar psychothest we can start the adventure. The game takes place on two levels; on the map of the world we manage our character and subordinates, as well as select equipment, save and load the state of the game and finally choose missions. After performing the last of these activities we are moved to the tactical map, where we move in real time, observing the hero from above. On each of the maps our primary goal is to defeat the boss and capture the enemy fortress.
This is where the lion's share of the game takes place, during which we free cities and temples from the enemy's rule and staff them with our subordinates (so as to provide them with protection in case of an attack). Units were differentiated in of specialization - our army can include humans (like a warrior and an Amazon), as well as fantastic beings like dragons, angels, giants, demons or griffins. Each of them has individual skills, and their combat potential can be increased, not only by leveling them up, but also by changing their specializations. It is worth ing that maintaining the units costs money - the currency is generated, for example, by the cities belonging to us; we should also visit town for information or to replenish stocks.
After encountering enemy forces we are moved to a separate screen - during turn-based battles in which three to five units can take part (the number of units varies depending on the size of the creatures composing them), our role is limited to the selection of general tactics and the use of spells, shown as tarot cards.
The story has a non-linear course, and on our decisions and reputation depends which of its thirteen endings we will see. The latter is influenced both by the character of our avatar, the units we use in battle as well as various seemingly trivial moves; for example, liberating the city with the use of "evil" units, such as werewolves or vampires will not make us popular, as will the elimination of opponents who are at a lower level than we are.
Due to the fact that Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen debuted on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the pixel visuals were no longer impressive at the time of its release. However, the whole thing has been improved compared to the original - casting spells is accompanied by more beautiful visual effects, and characters and monsters have more details.
Platforms:
PlayStation 1
Developer: Quest
Publisher: Square Enix
Age restrictions: 12+
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