Tactical role-playing game

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A tactical role-playing game (sometimes referred to as tactical RPG, Tactics RPG a strategy role-playing game or S-RPG) is a type of video game which incorporates elements of traditional computer or console role-playing games and turn-based strategy games. This genre is also known as turn-based tactics, and is the computer and video games equivalent of tactical wargaming and table-top role-playing. In Japan these games are known as "Simulation RPGs", a designation which might seem peculiar to native English speakers.

1 History
2 Popularity
3 Notable games in the tactical computer role-playing-game genre
4 Notable game companies
5 See also

[edit] History

Many early Western computer role-playing games 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.

All tactical RPGs are descendents of table-top role-playing games, such as Chainmail, which were mainly tactical in their original form. Indeed the very format of a T/CRPG is like a tabletop RPG in its appearance, pacing and rule structure.

[edit] 8-bit/16-bit Generation

Gameplay map screen from Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.

Gameplay from Langrisser II.

Gameplay from Bahamut Lagoon.

It is generally accepted that Nintendo released and published the first tactical RPG, Fire Emblem for the Famicom (NES), created and developed 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 CRPGs today (although a number of these elements were taken from Ultima III). Combining the basic console 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 North American 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.

Master of Monsters (MoM) was a unique title by SystemSoft. Where Langrisser and Fire Emblem used a square-based grid, MoM used the first true hex-based grid. Players could choose one of 4 different Lords to defend their Towers and areas on the grid by building an army of creatures to destroy the opponent armies. This game had a sequel for the Playstation called Master of Monsters: Disciples of Gaia, which had limited success and was bogged down by slow gameplay.

The first game in the very successful and long-running Super Robot Wars series came out for the Game Boy in 1991 and is thus another early example of the genre.

Another influential early tactical RPG was Sega's Shining Force for the Sega Genesis, which was released in 1992. Shining Force used even more console 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 line 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 computer role-playing game-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 re-releases 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 recognize today such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. It was also the first to bear the name "Tactics" in the tile, a term gamers would come to associate with the genre. 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 shared some staff members with Tactics Ogre and shares many of its gameplay elements. A sequel to the original Tactics Ogre, Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis was later released for the Game Boy Advance.

[edit] 32-bit/Modern Generation

Front Mission

Phantom Brave, battle sequence.

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 North America. 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 CRPG 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, Phantom Brave, Makai Kingdom, and Disgaea 2. Of these games, Disgaea has been the most successful to date, and was actually the first Nippon Ichi game released in North America 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 of these types of games, particularly Atlus and Nintendo. La Pucelle: Tactics and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, which Atlus re-released due to high demand and have become genuine cult hits for the Playstation 2.

Silent Storm for the PC

[edit] Tactical RPGs on the PC

Many (often ignored) Western PC games have utilized this genre for years, as well. Differences include a tendency toward a stronger military theme without many of the Fantasy elements found in their console (and mainly Japanese) counterparts, as well as greater freedom when interacting with the surrounding environment. Notable examples include the X-COM series, the Jagged Alliance series and the Silent Storm series.

The Battle for Wesnoth is an open-source, multi-platform tactical RPG that is very much in the style of the more popular console variants.

The Temple of Elemental Evil hearkens back to tactical RPGs' table-top roots by implementing the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition ruleset.

[edit] 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 said, the audience for tactical RPGs has grown substantially over the last decade, and PS1 and PS2 titles including Suikoden Tactics, Vanguard Bandits, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity have enjoyed a surprising measure of popularity, as have hand-held wargames including Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA) and the Advance Wars series of games (GBA and Nintendo DS). Japanese console games such as these are no longer nearly as rare a commodity in North America as they were during the 1990s.