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So doing a write up on Tactics Ogre may be a little un fare do to the fact this is the best game I have ever played to date, no its not the prettiest, and no its not the best story and with that you may be asking then why the hell is it the best game you ever played, well its simple its the most tactical strategic game to date and showed every game company how to do it right. Now you may think that Final Fantasy Tactics started this genere but the truth is Ogre Battle was the first attempt and although good it wasnt a true turn based strategy game, first iff you moved in real time and when battles occured with the famous ( fight it out ) phrase you really didnt have control of the fighting, you pretty much set up the formation then use the tarrot cards to give you the advantage, but then they released Tactics Ogre which captured the feel and characters of the Ogre Battle series but gave you the turn based strategy that we all love and know today.

Quest's Tactics Ogre—the game that practically created a genre—had been tearing up the Japanese gaming scene for two years before coming stateside. By the time this Ogre Battle spin-off was ported to North America, it brought with it a reputation for addictive game play, a stunning orchestral score and an engaging storyline reminiscent of previous role-playing games such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI. Though it was largely ignored upon release in 1997, it soon became a staple of the PSX library, in part because of the success of the game it influenced, Final Fantasy Tactics.Today, copies are hard to come by and highly sought after by collectors.

So back to the question which everyone seems to think that Final Fantasy Tactics was the one that made the genere but the fact is Tactics Ogre made the genere and Final Fantasy Tactics was actually made by alot of the same guys who made Tactics Ogre and FFT was released after Tactics Ogre, and the reason it looks alot like TO is because it was made by the same team.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (????????? Takutikusu ?ga?) is a Japanese tactical role-playing game created by Quest. The game was originally released in 1995 on the Super Famicom in Japan and then re-released on the Sega Saturn in 1996 and the PlayStation in1997.[4] An enhanced port of the game developed by the original development team was released on February 15, 2011 for the PSP. In some regions, notably Japan, the remake was retitled as Tactics Ogre: Wheel of Fate

 

Though Let Us Cling Together is the second entry released in the Ogre Battle franchise, it featured dramatically different gameplay than its predecessor. While Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen was more akin to a grand strategy RPG, Let Us Cling Together was a more intimate squad-based isometric tactical RPG. Let Us Cling Together, then, launched a sub-series within the franchise with Tactics Ogre being used to distinguish the two forms of gameplay in later sequels (notablyTactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis).

 The story in a nutshell goes like this, After generations of war between the various ethnic groups, King Dogare brought peace to the land of Valeria. When the king dies Valeria is split into three different groups, each claiming the throne. You take the role of a young boy as he embarks on a quest to save the land from turmoil and assume the throne. You will have to journey throughout the land and recruit members for an army. Once recruited, the members will gain experience through the turn-based battles. Up to 10 party members can participate in any battle. Eventually, the characters can change classes and learn skills that are specific to each class. However, you will have to make sure your party is balanced or you will face certain doom. Will you be able to save the world from chaos in TACTICS OGRE?

Tactics Ogre is one of those rarest of gems in the RPG world: a direct port of an older title that never saw the light of day in the US. Originally published in Japan in late 1995, a possible US version fell victim to the closure of Enix's American office, and those few gamers awaiting this sequel to the cult favorite Ogre Battle had to give up hope. Luckily, those always eccentric folks at Artdink saw fit to port the title, which was a fairly big hit in Japan, over to the PlayStation and Saturn in '97. Atlus, with the US re-release of Ogre Battle under its belt, picked up the US rights and quietly brought Tactics Ogre to North American shores with little fanfare and to less reward. Coming a mere four months after Final Fantasy Tactics, the English release probably couldn't have had worse timing. Though both Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics were made by essentially the same development team, this wasn't widely known to the general gaming populous, who only saw TO as a FFT "clone" with sub-par graphics and an eerily similar plot. But gamers lucky enough to snag a copy found an epic that could still hold its own, and in some ways surpass, its unofficial "sequel." 

 

   Tactics Ogre, the seventh episode in the "Ogre Battle Saga," is the story of Denim Powell, a member of the Walstanian ethnic minority. After the death of King Dolgare, the island of Valeria is experiencing a power vacuum, as the separate regions of Gargastan in the south and Bacrum in the north vie for control. Gargastan unleashes a policy of "ethnic cleansing" upon the Walstanians in the far south, moving the survivors into concentration camps. From the town of Griate, Denim and a small group of allies begin an uprising to free the Walstanian leader, Duke Ronway, and bring self-rule to his people. So now you see why Tactics Ogre is my all time favorite game and Final Fantasy Tactics is my second and both were made by the same team and this is why there my first and second game choice of all games and systems.