Xygor Gaming has reviewed Tactics Ogre: Reborn:

Tactics Ogre: Reborn - The Greatest RPG Remake Ever? - Xygor Gaming

RPG Site interviewed the dev team of Tactics Ogre: Reborn:

Tactics Ogre: Reborn Interview - How Square Enix approached revisiting a beloved classic RPG

Of the slew of RPGs that were released late last year, only one can be described as one of the most well-regarded RPGs ever made. Tactics Ogre: Reborn is not the first time that the seminal tactical RPG has been re-released, but it now stands in a spot where years of praise, critique, and feedback can be taken into consideration as Square Enix looked to repackage the best version of its "crown jewel" in what will easily be the most available version of the game for new audiences for the foreseeable future.
After its launch, RPG Site had a chance to ask some questions to the development team of Tactics Ogre: Reborn, including producer Hiroaki Kato, director Takashi Katano, and lead game designer Naoyuki Takahashi.

RPG Site (to Hiroaki Kato): What is your history with Tactics Ogre before working on Tactics Ogre Reborn, and how did the project come about initially?

Hiroaki Kato (Producer): My history with Tactics Ogre goes back 28 years to when I did some debugging work on the original SNES game. I can remember looking at all the elements that made up the game — the system, the story, the visuals, the music — and being amazed at the quality of it all. I thought to myself, “this game is going to go down in history”. I can still remember it like it was yesterday.
I also worked on the PSP version as Project Manager, so this is now the third time that I’ve been involved in the development of this game. I’d really wanted to revisit the development of Tactics Ogre at some point, paying attention to the feedback from people who had played the PSP version around the time of its launch. The real turning point came during development for 2017’s Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, which I oversaw. We made a lot of enhancements over the original Final Fantasy XII, including boosting the game’s visual performance, recording new audio to improve the sound design, revising the battle design, and just generally improving the overall playability.
At that time, I thought to myself, “I think we now know everything we need to know to be able to make a new Tactics Ogre game”, and that prompted us to start development.

RPG Site: With Tactics Ogre being such a well-regarded genre classic, how did you approach developing a new version with so many adjustments?  What was the prevailing philosophy in the development?

Takashi Katano (Director): Tactics Ogre: Reborn uses the PSP version, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, as its base. We reviewed the feedback from players, and at the start of the project, all the developers involved played the PSP game and shared their thoughts on things that could be improved. We also had discussions with Yasumi Matsuno, who designed the original game, about what kind of improvements we could make.
There were some decisions that were unanimous, for example, using the unit-leveling system from the original SNES instead of the class-leveling system used in Let Us Cling Together, and ulimately, we pinned down our approach after a number of discussions on how best to make Reborn into a title that people would enjoy.

RPG Site: Tactics Ogre Reborn has many changes from previous releases of the game. One of the most notable additions is that of the buff/debuff cards that randomly appear on the battlefield. How did the idea come about for the inclusion of these cards? Additionally, was there any consideration to give players an option to turn these off or adjust their spawn rates?

Naoyuki Takahashi (Lead Game Designer): A lot of changes were made to enhance or tweak the battle system, so that players would be rewarded for good strategy. The reason we’ve tweaked strategies for customising and building your forces that depend on skills or items since the previous games and bolstered certain class characteristics was because we wanted players to adapt and think about their party formation. We thought that buff cards were a good way to encourage players to strategize on the fly once the battle had already started.

[...]

IndieVoice reviewed Tactics Ogre: Reborn:

Classic Tactical RPG Returns! Welcome back, Tactics Ogre! Game Review

Version 1.0.3.0 of Tactics Ogre: Reborn is now available:

Version 1.0.3.0 Now Available

Patch 1.0.3.0 has now been released for Tactics Ogre: Reborn.

Update contents:

• Save stability improvements
• Bug fix to address game launch failure under certain conditions
• Various minor bug fixes and general stability improvements

PS:

The game runs now on older CPUs without AVX instruction set, too.

GamingBolt reviewed Tactics Ogre: Reborn:

Tactics Ogre: Reborn Review – From the Ashes

The granddaddy of tactics RPGs returns, and once again, it demands attention.

Tactics Ogre: Reborn Review – From the Ashes

There are very few games that you can legitimately hold up as titles that single-handedly created entire genres or subgenres, but one that has perhaps been a little unfairly overlooked over the years is Tactics Ogre. Essentially the progenitor of what has become known as the traditional turn-based isometric strategy RPG, since its SNES launch in 1995, the game never really got the kind of mainstream recognition that many others that followed in its footsteps did. The fact that its 2010 remake was a PSP exclusively didn’t exactly help matters either.

But at long last, after years of demands from a relatively small but decidedly vocal fanbase, the series is finally back. Square Enix has released Tactics Ogre: Reborn, another remastered launch for the 1995 original- and it’s fair to say that series fans will find it worth the wait, while newcomers, too, will find more than enough to fall in love with. Whether you’re looking for a captivating story with genuinely engrossing choice-and-consequence mechanics or a mechanically dense strategy RPG that gives you oodles of control over every aspect of your party, you’re likely to find it here.

[...]

While Tactics Ogre: Reborn does a mostly excellent job of updating and refining the original title’s gameplay and mechanics, one area where it feels like a disappointing step back is the visuals. To put it bluntly, it feels like the visual style and personality of Tactics Ogre have been largely sucked out of this version, with character models that look too smooth and rounded and environments that are full of assets that seem to have been ripped out of a mobile game. It’s particularly disappointing to see because something like an HD-2D aesthetic would have been a particularly good fit for this game.

But though its visual update is a disappointing one, it’s not nearly enough to overcome the fact that Tactics Ogre: Reborn is still an excellently retooled and refreshed version of what is, in no vague terms, a legendary RPG. For fans of strategy RPGs, Tactics Ogre is almost required reading, but for years, circumstances have made it so that it hasn’t exactly been easily accessible to the masses. Now, Square Enix has brought a new and improved version of the game that, in spite of its visual woes, shines a bright and flattering light on it. If you have any interest in this genre, to not give Tactics Ogre: Reborn would be a big mistake.

Score: 8/10

RPG Site reviewed Tactics Ogre: Reborn:

Tactics Ogre: Reborn Review

Although Tactics Ogre: Reborn is technically a remake of a remake, it is one that I’ve welcomed ever since it was finally announced (after a series of leaks). Tactics Ogre is one of the most wonderful strategy RPGs I’ve ever played - both the original version and its first remake on PSP. It has one of the most compelling narratives I’ve seen in an RPG, and its cast is superb in fleshing out its tale.

Despite my love for Tactics Ogre, I know that these aren’t perfect games. Each of the previous versions were cumbersome or frustrating in its own way, so I hoped Tactics Ogre: Reborn would serve as the “definitive” edition for this excellent strategy RPG at last; naturally, Reborn will be the version that’s easiest to play as time goes on, due to its availability on modern PlayStation & Nintendo platforms, as well as PC.

[...]

Tactics Ogre: Reborn is largely an excellent modern version of the classic strategy RPG. There are a myriad of improvements and enhancements to make it the most user-friendly version yet without compromising its difficulty. It is sometimes a delightfully brutal experience that pushed me to think carefully about my every move, though a lot of the gameplay alterations introduced in Tactics Ogre: Reborn didn’t jive with me for the most part. The primary suspects are the universally inflated stat values across the board and the new temporary stat increase cards among other nitpicks. Everything that I love about Tactics Ogre outside of its battle system remains intact with the branching narrative system, the ways you can recruit characters, and the overall presentation of one of the most interesting narratives in video game history.

Score: 8/10

Kotaku checked out Tactics Ogre: Reborn:

Tactics Ogre: Reborn Is The Best Version Of An All-Time Classic Strategy RPG

Final Fantasy Tactics' lesser-known predecessor gets an almost flawless remaster

The original Tactics Ogre proved that RPG chess was not only fun, it could also be morally ambiguous, beautifully written, and deeply compelling. Nearly 30 years later, Tactics Ogre: Reborn has managed to safely transport a masterpiece into the modern era while sprucing it up enough so that it’s still a joy to play. I was worried the remaster, with its smoothed-over pixel art and other tweaks, would tarnish what I love about the classic tactics game. Instead, I’m hooked all over again.

Tactics Ogre: Reborn, out Friday on PlayStation, PC, and Switch, is the grittier, more granular predecessor to Final Fantasy Tactics (both were directed by Yasumi Matsuno of Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII acclaim). Where Final Fantasy Tactics—released in the U.S. in January 1998—focused on manipulating an over-powered job system to break the game with dual-wielding ninjas and massive summons, Tactics Ogre (which hit U.S. shores soon after despite first releasing in Japan a few years earlier) reveled in slower-moving battles of attrition where positioning and terrain matter as much as character classes. And while both offer surprisingly mature tales of class politics and the corruption of power, Tactics Ogre lets players make a handful of choices along the way and then sit with the consequences at the end of the game. It’s not as approachable as Final Fantasy Tactics, but its Realpolitik approach to war and revolution resonate as strongly as ever.

[...]

Fortunately, I spent most of my five hours with the Switch version so far easily overlooking it. In motion, it’s hardly noticeable, especially when you’re busy calculating hit percentages and damage tradeoffs. As with everything else on the OLED screen, the colors really pop, and the package as a whole feels meaningfully improved from the PSP version in every other way. Some old games take you back to the past, but Reborn feels like it’s transporting Tactics Ogre into the present, where it belongs. 

The tactical RPG Tactics Ogre: Reborn will be released today:

Tactics Ogre: Reborn

Tactics Ogre, crown jewel of the tactical role-playing genre, is reborn!

Based on the 2010 release, the game features improved graphics and sound, as well as updated game design, bringing to life a new Tactics Ogre that remains true to its roots. Tactics Ogre veterans will experience a game that surpasses their fondest memories, while players new to Tactics Ogre will discover a game unlike any they've ever played. Reborn and deeper than ever, the game enables players to immerse themselves in the world and intrigue of Tactics Ogre like never before.

The Story
The Valerian Isles, jewels of the Obero Sea. Long a center of naval commerce, the people of the isles struggled throughout history for dominion over her shores.
Finally there rose a man to put an end to this conflict: Dorgalua Oberyth. But history would know him as the "Dynast-King." King Dorgalua strove to stamp out the hatred among the people of the isles, and for fully half a century, Valeria knew prosperity.

Yet upon the king's death, civil war erupted anew as three factions vied for control: the Bakram, who comprised much of Valeria's nobility; the Galgastani, whose people made up the majority of the isles' population; and the Walister, who numbered but few.

The isles were soon divided between the Bakram and Galgastani, and an uneasy peace settled across the land. Yet none believed the calm would last...

Tactics Ogre: Reborn Features

• Your choices affect how the story unfolds, and even how it ends, with a game system that allows for multiple paths through the game and multiple endings. The story takes place through the eyes of a young man named Denam. The decisions he makes will alter the fate of those around him, and shift the course of Valeria's history.
• Fight pitched tactical battles on three-dimensional battlefields. The completely revamped AI enables enemies to adapt their tactics to the situation, providing a battle system that always keeps you thinking and never grows old.
• The class-wide level management system used in Tactics Ogre (2010) has changed to a unit-by-unit level system. Theorycraft your way through endless combinations of classes, equipment, skills, and magic.
• Enjoy numerous playability improvements, such as a quicker pace of battle, auto save, and a complete overhaul to the controls and UI to make it easier to get into the game than ever.
• The unparalleled details of the characters and backgrounds from the original Tactics Ogre (1995) have been recreated in high definition, while the detailed pixel art that gives the game its unique feel has been preserved and enhanced.
• The cutscenes are fully voiced in English and Japanese, and all of the music has been rerecorded with live performances! The voices bring new life to the complex motivations of the characters that make up the factions and shifting political alliances of this epic story.
• When you advance far enough in the game you'll unlock the World Tarot, enabling you to travel back in the story with the power of your forces intact; an incredibly useful feature in a game where your choices have such a huge impact on how the story unfolds. If you wonder what a different choice would have led to, now you can find out!
• Traveling back isn't limited to the story; the Chariot Tarot lets you rewind up to a certain number of moves during battle. In a game of tactical battles where a single mistake can mean the difference between victory and defeat, you can play without worrying that you'll back yourself into a corner.
• Enjoy a wealth of endgame content such as the 100-level Palace of the Dead. A world of endless stories and intrigue awaits!

Mortismal Gaming reviewed Tactics Ogre: Reborn:

Tactics Ogre: Reborn - Review After 100%

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:15 Major Changes
• 05:47 Initial Choices
• 06:34 Story Set Up
• 08:05 World Tarot (NG +)
• 08:35 Optional Dungeons
• 09:58 Gameplay Loop
• 10:15 Progression Systems
• 14:52 Combat
• 20:16 Steam Deck Compatibility
• 21:01 Positives/Negatives
• 23:23 Conclusion
• 24:39 Wrap Up

Noisy Pixel checked out the upcoming Tactics Ogre: Reborn:

Tactics Ogre Reborn Review – Put The World to Rights Once More

Back at the beginning of this year, Square Enix and Artdink released Triangle Strategy, a strategy RPG that drew heavy inspiration from the 1995 Super Famicon game Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. Some people on the Square Enix team responsible for greenlighting things thought it was thus only fitting to rerelease an updated version of that original game with Tactics Ogre Reborn.

While Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together has seen several rereleases on the Sega Saturn, PlayStation 1, and PlayStation Portable, Tactics Ogre Reborn, a vastly inferior name, let’s be honest, will see the game come to PC and Nintendo Switch as well as PlayStation 4 and 5. I tried to play this game once when I was much younger and dropped it after I didn’t get very far. Then I just sort of forgot about it. So now’s a great time to try again and put the world to rights once more.

[...]

Tactics Ogre Reborn is a remake that filled me with joy and nostalgia for something I couldn’t even get close to beating as a kid. It’s an enriching experience with some of the best strategy gameplay around. I hope this leads to remakes of other Ogre Battle games and maybe Final Fantasy Tactics titles while they’re at it.

Score: 9.5/10

TitaniumLegman discusses the latest Tactics Ogre: Reborn news:

Tactics Ogre: Reborn | Relic Equipment, Dungeons, Stat Cards and More

Tactics Ogre: Reborn | All The Latest Information You Need to Know

Here's the story trailer for the upcoming Tactics Ogre: Reborn:

Tactics Ogre: Reborn | Story Trailer

Mortismal Gaming checked out chapter 1 of Tactics Ogre: Reborn:

Tactics Ogre: Reborn - Early Preview

Square Enix explains how character creation works in Tactics Ogre: Reborn:

Ready for a little update on Tactics Ogre: Reborn?

Last time we gave you a general overview, revealing the story, characters and new enhancements coming to this tactical RPG classic. Today, we want to get into the nitty-gritty and talk about some of its different gameplay systems.

In many ways, Tactics Ogre was the trendsetter for tactical RPGs, with many subsequent games - both from Square Enix and other companies - taking inspiration from its systems. It’s a testament to the depth of the systems in the game and the quality of the execution of those ideas, that many still consider the game to be one of the crown jewels of the genre.

In Tactics Ogre: Reborn , some elements remain the same, while others have been refined even further to offer the best version of the game yet! We’ll go into some of the enhancements at a later date - for now, let’s take a look at some of the basics of gameplay.
Tarot Cards and Character Creation

Tarot cards are traditionally associated with fortune telling, but they’re also deeply connected to the Ogre Battle series.

In Tactics Ogre they play an important role - not just in gameplay, but also in character creation.

[...]