R P G A M E R . C O M   -   E D I T O R I A L S

Time to Try a New Tactic

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Michael Cunningham
PUBLIC RELATIONS

Anyone that knows me has heard me going on and on about my enjoyment of Rondo of Swords. Sure, Rondo had its flaws, especially the fact that it looked like a Game Boy Advance game, but it took the tactical RPG genre in a new direction. I'm not here to drone on about Rondo. I want to express my disappointment with the realm of tactical RPGs of late. Honestly, it's like no one is even trying anymore as the market is flooded with mediocre tactical games with little to no innovation. There have been some exceptions to this rule: Yggdra Union, Rondo of Swords, and a few others that attempted a real-time approach. However, in the area of turn-based tactical RPGs, the likes of Spectral Force 3, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Luminous Arc, and Drone Tactics are what we get. I'm not saying that these games are bad, they just do little to innovate the subgenre.

Most modern tactical RPGs just do little to break apart from the pack in terms of story AND in terms gameplay. It seems as if they can hit one area, but not both. Is everyone so afraid of not being able to top, or even match, Yasumi Matsuno (director and scenario/game designer for Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together and Final Fantasy Tactics) that they aren't willing to try? Matsuno's tactical RPGs featured both story depth and solid, innovative gameplay, but since then so few have been willing to touch the story side. There have been a few decent attempts, but even Matsuno's own creation of Final Fantasy Tactics, now out of his hands, has been turned into a series with no focus on story. The gameplay is fairly solid in the two Tactics Advance games, but they both seem to suffer from an attempt at variety by offering a ton of classes in what I call Disgaea Syndrome. A lot of the classes overlap, and in the end mask variety beneath overwhelming options. Very few at all have even attempted to touch story.

Please tell me I'm not alone here. When a company develops a tactical RPG and goes, "gameplay first, story second," I stand up and say, "No, they can both go hand in hand." Don't try to tell me that developers can't be creative anymore, because they can. And if you're going to develop a tactical RPG with a deep, engaging story, don't just copy and paste the gameplay from somewhere else. Originality people, there is no excuse for not having it. It is time to use new tactics.