The days of Zenobia are growing dark and cold--evil is running rampant over the entire continent. Shadows of men roam the streets, whispering of the demise of their great King. The trusted Sage Rashidi fell prey to the evils of power, and then in its grip, Rashidi slew Gran, the mighty King. Rashidi then joined forces with Empress Endora, and their reign of terror spread to the entire continent. Thus, the Zetegenian Empire was born.
It's been nearly a quarter of a century since the reign of terror began. The Empire rules with neither justice nor compassion. The last remaining members of the rebellion are gathering on the outskirts of Sharom. The rebellion is greatly outnumbered by the mighty Empire, and there seems no way to defeat such an evil power. However, secrets carried through the wind tell of a great wizard, "Warren" who may be willing to help you. Choose your path wisely, listen carefully to the people, and gain their confidence. If you are not careful, all will have been in vain. You will have toppled an evil Empire, only to start one of your own.
Areas displaying a flag have been freed, and those
with Swords are ready for you to explore and liberate.
Once you've arrived in an area, deploy several units--some
to liberate towns and some to fight enemy troops.
Upon encountering an enemy unit, you will enter the
Battle Screen. The side that inflicts the most damage wins.
Liberate towns to receive a healthy tribute. Enemy
troops can retake a town though, if you don't watch it!
When entering a new area, the Boss' location is displayed.
When you think your forces are ready, go for the boss!
The character you will play is the head of the rebel forces, and is also known as the Opinion Leader. Choosing New Game option at the Title Screen will call the wise man Warren, who will perform a character reading of your personality with Tarot cards. Warren will ask you six questions, as well as your sex. Based upon your answers, your hero's character will be formed.
A menu is displayed upon first entering the Main Map screen. Here, you may choose Edit Units, Monitor and Data. Press B Button to remove the menu. Move the cursor to an area and press A Button. You may fight in areas marked with a sword. Areas which have already been liberated are marked with a flag. Press X Button to display the menu again.
A worthy leader has been created to lead the rebel forces to victory, and that leader is you! Let the battle begin...
Click in the Unit Icon and select Move. The cursor then becomes a flag. Place the flag on the location you wish to move a unit to and press A. In later stages, you will use this command to move several of your units. When you have many units moving at one tie, you may click on a unit and choose the View Destination command to view where that party is headed.
Liberating a city is as simple as moving a unit. Place a flag on the city with the Move Unit command.
Sometimes, your units will come across hidden towns. These towns can provide important information, so be sure to send a Unit to check out suspicious areas.
Pay attention to he Boss' location when it is displayed at the beginning of the stage. When you fell that your forces are up to the challenge, head for the Boss!
Although it is entirely possible to play Ogre Battle with the units as they come, it is best to customize each party for maximum effectiveness. Some characters fight better together than others.
Select the Edit Units icon while on the Main Map screen to get to this menu. All characters will be displayed--those in units and those which are in your character pool.
The steps you take to remove or add a character are similar. Read on, fearless warrior, for all the details.
When a unit leader is removed, the unit is disbanded. New units may be formed with the Add Character command.
You may position the characters any way you like within a unit. Check each characters front/back attack skills to decide which row is best. While starting out, keep the leaders in your parties in the back row to protect them from attack.
Character size-Characters are either large (L) or small (s). A unit may contain five small characters or a combination of large and small. Each large character takes up the space of two small ones.
Cost-This is the cost of deploying the character and its daily wage.
Next level-Characters gain experience points after a battle. This shows the points needed to advance one level.
Front/back-Characters attack differently on the front line then when in the back.
Move-Shows the terrain or method of travel this units uses most effectively.
Leader OK-Some characters cannot be unit leaders regardless of their Charisma.
Item equip-This shows if a character is equipped with an item, and what type it is.
Luk (Luck)-A lucky character will be able to avoid attacks more often, and has a better chance of finding items in defeated enemy units.
Ali (Alignment)-The higher a character's Alignment is, the more he/she cares for others.
Cha (Charisma)-The Charisma level determines how well a character is able to lead units
Int (Intelligence)-This affects your ability to cast and protect against spells
Agi (Agility)-Characters with high Agility will successfully hit opponents in battle more often
Str (Strength)-The higher the character's Strength, the more damage he will inflict in battle
Alignment-When liberating towns, the Alignment of the liberating unit should be higher than the town's morality level.
Class Compatibility-Characters in a unit with very different Compatibility cannot fight to their maximum potential.
Charisma-A high Charisma level means that you are a good and effective leader, a will raise your reputation.
Your Reputation-Finishing the game with a good reputation will be one of the factors in getting the best ending of the game.
To ensure that you're getting the most effectiveness when building units, try following these guidelines.
Type A: City-Liberation Unit: To build a good reputation with the people of the area, liberate cities with a party of high Alignment.
Type B: Enemy-Attacking Unit: Characters of low Alignment and those with muscle should go out and take care of the enemy troops.
Type C: City-Defending Unit: Place balanced units in liberated cities. Use units with strong characters in the front ranks to ward off physical attacks.
Type D: Terrain-Battle Unit: Build parties with characters of a common terrain type, and send them to fight in the most suitable areas.
Valna is the first shop you happen upon, so don't spend all your money in one place. If you're not careful, you could go bankrupt. It's not necessary to buy the more expensive Items right now. Stick with the useful, inexpensive Items like Cure and Heal.
Below are some hints which are especially helpful when you have units deployed out on the Area Map screen.
It's important to keep units in liberated towns in order to defend them. Also, characters can recover hit points as long as the unit stays in the city.
Form units whose members have common terrain preferences, then send the mountain, plains and water units to areas in which they fight most effectively.
Characters of a high alignment fight better in the day time, and those of a low alignment prefer the night.
If a good reputation concerns you, be careful who you fight. If you must fight enemies weaker than your party, one option is to defeat only their leader.
Before going somewhere far away from a temple, it's wise to buy a "Revive" item from one of the shops. Use this item to bring a character back to life, anywhere! If you can afford to lose the deceased character forever with all of their experience, then erase the character and recruit a new one in a nearby city.
You will notice that occasionally a neutral character appears in battle. If you quickly press the A Button at the start of battle, you will have the option of recruiting that character into your party.
The Legend of Ogre Battle says that the four gods of the Sky Islands are alive and waiting for you to visit them. To reach their floating worlds, you must have the "Brunhild" sword. Use it to discover each of the four Chaos Gates. The gates are passages to the floating worlds of the gods. Look for them in out-of-the-way places: between mountains, on small islands, etc.
The course of Ogre Battle is as diverse and challenging as you wish to make it. With 12 different possibilities, the ending will prove to be no less unique or unpredictable!
Finishing the game with a full, or near full, reputation meter is just one of the criteria in getting the best ending.
The maximum Strength, Agility and Intelligence are 255, and the maximum Charisma, Alignment and Luck is 100.
Seeing the best ending also depends upon discovering all of the special treasures and items scattered throughout the game.
As important as finding hidden items is finding and talking to all of the various characters along the way. Many key characters must join your forces in order for you to reach the best ending.