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Classic Culture GameCube Interview MMORPG PC PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3 Podcast Poll Portable Preview Random Review Spore Stuff Wii XboxDecember 18, 2005
Advance Wars Circa 1991
Turn-based tactical combat fans are a "special" sort of gamer. You are the type of person who just loves Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, Tactics Ogre, Disgaea, and the impossibly-long PS1 Final Fantasy Tactics (has anyone finished this game?). You can pore over the smallest character stats for hours, carefully planning each of your characters development so that they're maximized to the point of perfection. You are the hardest of the hardcore tactical gamer, and you know who you are.
I myself used to be one of these gamers, but with less free time and a biggest selection of quality titles these sorts of games don't quite suck me in like they used to. However of all the turn-based RPSs I have played over the years my absolute favorite is the virtually unknown Warsong for the Sega Genesis. I was always upset that Warsong came and went as I thought it could have made an excellent series if given a chance.
Well, it turns out that Warsong did indeed continue to live a long and prosperous life, just not in the US. Named Lungrisser in Japan it was a massive success and went on to spawn multiple sequels across multiple formats. What made me think of this obscure game? Game import site NTSC-UK recently put up a feature detailing the history of Lungrisser/Warsong. Also make sure to check out Hardcore Gaming 101's excellent synopsis of the Langrisser/Warsong series.
Definitely check out those articles and if you're really adventurous give Warsong a try (if you can find it). Of course the years haven't been kind to this game and most modern games of this genre play better ... but I don't care and I still love this game. Maybe because when it first came out almost fifteen years ago it was one of the only turn-based RPG on the market (the other being the excellent Military Madness for the TurboGrafx-16) so I didn't really have much of a choice back then to scratch my tactical combat itch. So give Warsong a try and witness the great-grandfather of all turn-based tactical combat games.
Ah, Tactics Ogre... Memories...
Posted by PineappleTheHun at December 18, 2005 07:59 PMI finished Final Fantasy Tactics. And yes it was LONGGGGGGGG.
Posted by jedi55555 at December 18, 2005 10:12 PMA new Fire Emblem came out for the GameCube recently. I am enjoying it.
Played and beat FFT a few times actually. My favorite game besides FF7. There are easy ways to level up that makes the game about 9/10 as long, that is AFTER you do that. :D
Posted by Chris at December 19, 2005 01:41 AMStrategy RPGs are the thinking man's game of choice. I have spent countless hours playing these games and loved every second. Final Fanasy Tactics is my favorite game of all time. No other game created provides the depth of character and gameplay of FFT !!!
Posted by Shikaeshi at December 19, 2005 06:00 AMWho beat Final Fantasy Tactics, You may ask?
I, for one! :D
Hell, I even beat the crap out of the final boss with just one character... ;)
I loved Advance wars for the Advance and all kinds of other wargames... Anyone else here still have the ORIGIONAL Panzer Dragoon 3.5 floppies? hehehe
Posted by Psilontech at December 19, 2005 10:14 AMGoes for quite a bit on ebay I see... I never knew of Warsong, but I played (the possibly equally unknown) Dark Wizard for SegaCD quite a bit. The Shining Force games are of course excellent.
But the console offerings pale in hardcoreness to the PC Hex gaming crowd, I think. Korsun Pocket... anything by John Tiller... the Combat Mission series (ok, not hex based, but still seriously in depth).
And what about KOEI's games? Nobunaga's Ambition, Bandit Kings of Ancient China (LOVED this one), Ghengis Khan, and of course the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms series - these games taught me so much about history - anybody who says games are worthless gets pointed to them.
Posted by T-BirD at December 19, 2005 09:17 PMYes, Warsong! Too bad none of the other games came over the Pacific. I've heard they were excellent.
I've played through Warsong at least a dozen times. The promotion system gives it a ton a of replayability by giving you the option to go back and choose a different class when you promote your characters at level 10.
Posted by radjago at December 20, 2005 12:46 AMActually I would find that FFT wasn't as long (or hard) as Tactics Ogre. In fact, FFT is Disney Land compared to how tough Tactics Ogre is, just because of how casualties are handled. In FFT, you had a team of 4 or 5 fairly tough peoples with white mages and pheonix downs right from the get go. Also, you had 3 full turns to bring someone back before they were gone for ever. But in Tactics Ogre, you had a team of 12 or so usually, and if the enemy's team of 12 decided to quarter back sack one character all in one turn, that character took a dirt nap. You also couldn't revive ANYONE until about half way through the game (when you get your upgraded clerics who can rez people), which meant if you lost anyone, you either had to reset the mission and try it again, or re train your losses (which could take hours).
There was a stat glitch in this game that by using the undead then the dragon magic revive thing, you could make an army of invincible storm troopers all with 999 of everything, but let's just assume you weren't cheating :)
Posted by Mezorin at December 27, 2005 12:39 PMWarsong -
I spent many many hours in the early nineties playing this.
I am working on a documentary about 8 bit music and through my research remembered this game.
The music is incredible in it - sweeping - cinematic - operatic.
The game was so well done from a gameplay angle. Also the colors were nice and characters looked cool.
I think I still have a copy in some other city.
If anyone has any links to the MP3's of WARSONG please email me
cheers
thrift
Posted by Scott Thrift at February 24, 2006 07:31 PMWARSONG is my favorite game of all time...
I played it as a kid and beat it after weeks and weeks of trying, and in the process fell in love with the characters, storyline and gameplay. I have since then beat it numerous times, and was wondering if there are any spin-off games or homebrew...anything? I found a game called battle for wesnoth that was similar...
Posted by locke_demos at November 2, 2006 03:05 PM