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130-774: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is a 2009 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Atlus for the Nintendo DS . It is a spin-off within the wider Megami Tensei series. An expanded version subtitled Overclocked was released on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan and North America by Atlus in 2011, and in Europe by Ghostlight in 2013. Following a group of teenagers in Tokyo who are trapped inside

260-513: A map in real-time. When two parties meet, the combat plays out with minimal user interaction. The game is notable for introducing a moral alignment system that not only affects the gameplay but where tactical and strategic decisions influence the outcome of a non-linear branching storyline, which is affected by factors such as the moral alignments of the troops used to liberate a city, whether to keep certain liberated cities guarded, making popular or unpopular decisions, concentrating power among just

390-413: A "Very Positive" rating on Steam. The open source, cross-platform X-COM -clone UFO: Alien Invasion is also under development. The Battle for Wesnoth (2005) is another Master of Monsters and Warsong clone, released under an open source license for multiple platforms. It is also continually updated. The tactical isometric cyberpunk/fantasy RPG, Shadowrun Returns (2013), was funded via

520-608: A New Game Plus mode which allows the player to explore alternate endings. Many games increase the difficulty in a New Game Plus mode, such as those in the Mega Man Battle Network series and Borderlands series. Others use the feature to advance the plot. In Astro Boy: Omega Factor , the player uses the game's Stage Select mechanism, explained in-story as a form of time travel, to avert disaster, while in Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem ,

650-428: A Turn Cost, which impacts the character's placement in the battle's turn order timeline. In combat, the game switches to a first-person view for a turn-based battle: each side is given one round of turns: actions include standard physical attacks, skills which cost health (HP) or magic (MP) to cast and can either deal damage, heal or alter statistics, or using items. The player can select an auto-battle option, or control

780-745: A certain number of turns, that the player must accomplish before the next map will become available. In between battles, players can access their characters to equip them, change classes, train them, depending on the game. A number of early role-playing video games used a tactical form of combat, such as Tunnels of Doom (1982) and Ultima III: Exodus (1983), as well as The Dragon and Princess (1982) and Bokosuka Wars (1983), which introduced party-based, tiled combat to America and Japan, respectively. Further, tactical RPGs are descendants of tabletop role-playing games and wargames , such as Dungeons & Dragons and Chainmail , which were mainly tactical in their original form. Nevertheless, much of

910-460: A combat system where, following a random encounter , the game transitioned to a separate, graphical, overhead battle screen, and tactical turn-based combat ensued. That same year, Tunnels of Doom used a similar combat system, as did Ultima III: Exodus released in 1983. During the 8-bit era, Bokosuka Wars , a computer game developed by Koji Sumii for the Sharp X1 in 1983 and ported to

1040-514: A concept still used in recent games such as Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor , and Final Promise Story . It was not until the release of Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade for the Game Boy Advance , many years later, that the series was introduced to Western gamers, who until then were more familiar with localized precursors like Nobunaga's Ambition , as well as later tactical RPGs partially influenced by Fire Emblem , including

1170-575: A death clock system where each character has a specified time of death, with the player's actions and choices having consequences on who lives and dies. Infinite Space (2009) by PlatinumGames , for the Nintendo DS, is a hybrid of tactical role-playing, real-time strategy and space simulator elements, and features a non-linear branching narrative with numerous choices that can have dramatic consequences, and an epic scale spanning hundreds of planets. Radiant Historia , released by Atlus for

1300-422: A different ending and there are over 75 possible scenarios. Langrisser III introduced a relationship system similar to dating sims . Depending on the player's choices and actions, the feelings of the female allies will change towards the player character , who will end up with the female ally he is closest with. Master of Monsters was a unique title by SystemSoft . Where Langrisser and Fire Emblem used

1430-492: A fan of the series, readily agreed to work on the Devil Survivor characters. The design direction he was given was "modern", with Kotō gathering research material for Yasuda so the characters would appear fashionable. Yasuda was told that due to hardware limitations, each main character could only have three distinct body poses with around ten facial expressions, so he made the body poses as expressive as possible and gave

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1560-431: A few units, making deals with thieves, and a general sense of justice. These factors lead to one of 13 possible endings, alongside other factors such as how many and which units are used, how battles are fought, the army's reputation, player character's alignment and charisma, and secrets discovered. The sequel, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together , was originally a 1995 SNES game that was not released outside Japan. It

1690-513: A genre the Metal Gear series is normally known for, along with tactical role-playing inspired by the likes of Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics , infused with card gameplay found in games like Konami's own Yu-Gi-Oh! series. In addition to a turn-based tactical combat layer, the X-COM series also possesses a real-time 3D strategic layer, complete with global defensive map as well as

1820-543: A government lockdown following an invasion of demons, the gameplay is divided between story events tied to an in-game clock, and tactical grid-based combat with a turn-based battle system. Which events and battles are completed can unlock different endings. Devil Survivor was developed by veterans of the Growlanser series, with the goal being to expand the Megami Tensei series to a wider audience. Its gameplay

1950-462: A hit, which spawned many sequels and imitators. It introduced unique features such as how the characters were not interchangeable pawns but each of them were unique, in terms of both class and stats, and how a character who runs out of hit points would usually remain dead forever. The latter mechanic was used to introduce a non-linear storyline to the genre, where different multiple endings are possible depending on which characters are alive or dead,

2080-449: A limited cover system , and real-time hazards, such as interception fire and landmines . The game has been described as "the missing link between Final Fantasy Tactics and Full Spectrum Warrior ". In 2004, Konami released Metal Gear Acid , which combined the stealth game elements of the Metal Gear series with turn-based tactical RPG gameplay of games like Fire Emblem , Final Fantasy Tactics , and Disgaea , along with

2210-414: A major effect on the timeline. The player can return to certain points in history and live through certain events again to make different choices and see different possible outcomes on the timeline. The player can also travel back and forth between two parallel timelines, and can obtain many possible parallel endings . Square Enix 's PSP version of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together , released around

2340-417: A natural disaster. An aspect of the scenario was there being no "correct" choice for players, with no examples of black and white moral alignments. During early development, the narrative was a lot more straightforward with simple choices and the protagonist barely appeared on-screen, but the team changed it so the protagonist had a greater personal presence and more realistic dialogue options. Atsuno's character

2470-402: A peaceful world under angelic rule, Yuzu wants to escape the lockdown, Atsuro to end it in some other way, while Gin wants to banish the demons and return Tokyo to normal. Depending on the choices made during the seven days, and the characters the protagonist saves, different endings are unlocked on the seventh day. An early ending is unlocked by following civilian demon tamers through a break in

2600-626: A programmer who created the COMP's demon summoning functions; and Amane Kuzuryu of the Shomonkai religious cult. One day the protagonist, and his friends Atsuro and Yuzu, are given modified electronic devices called COMPS by the protagonist's cousin Naoya. Shortly afterwards, a demon outbreak occurs, prompting the lockdown of Tokyo and trapping many including the three within the Yamanote Line. In

2730-421: A real-time strategy, action RPG, and strategy RPG. Like an RPG, the player can explore the world, purchase items, and level up, and like a strategy video game , it focuses on recruiting soldiers and fighting against large armies rather than small parties. The game's "Gochyakyara" ("Multiple Characters") system let the player control one character at a time while the others are controlled by computer AI that follow

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2860-585: A representative of God; with Naoya as the Demon Overlord to declare war on Heaven; with Atsuro to reprogram the COMPs and enslave demons in service of a third technological revolution; or with Gin and Haru to permanently banish demons from the human realm while still passing the trial. The "8th Day" scenario of Overclocked depicts new events following Yuzu's, Naoya's and Amane's endings. In Yuzu's path, following their escape and being branded as terrorists by

2990-496: A square-based grid, Master of Monsters used a hexagonal grid. Players could choose one of four different Lords to defend their Towers and areas on the grid by building an army of creatures to destroy the opposing armies. This game had a sequel for the PlayStation called Master of Monsters: Disciples of Gaia , which had limited success and was criticized for its slow gameplay. Both Warsong and Master of Monsters were cited as

3120-440: A successful crowd-sourced Kickstarter campaign that raised a total of $ 1.9 million for development. The game is based on the popular Shadowrun pen-and-paper setting by Jordan Weisman , and features tactical combat in a world filled with cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures. Two sequels, Shadowrun: Dragonfall (2014) and Shadowrun: Hong Kong (2015) quickly followed. An online tactical game not directly related to

3250-491: A technology tree that the player must research in order to unlock new weapons and armor. Jagged Alliance 2 features a country sector map with fortified towns and roving bands of enemies that must be defeated before entering the capital city of Meduna. Knights in the Nightmare (2009) combines elements of traditional tactical RPGs with bullet hell –style shoot 'em up gameplay. Sega's Valkyria Chronicles (2008) blurs

3380-509: A wave of games that combine the RPG and dating sim genres, including Thousand Arms in 1998, Riviera: The Promised Land in 2002, and Luminous Arc in 2007. Final Fantasy Tactics was arguably the most responsible for bringing tactical RPGs to North America. Developed by former employees of Quest , the developer responsible for the Ogre Battle series, it combined many elements of

3510-465: Is a spin-off of the Fallout series of CRPGs by Interplay Entertainment developed by Australian company Micro Forté . Unusual for the genre is the option to choose between real-time and turn-based play, or between "Continuous Turn-Based Mode" (CTB), "Individual Turn-Based Mode" (ITB), and "Squad Turn-Based Mode" (STB) modes as the developers put it. The game even allows the player to switch modes in

3640-460: Is a tactical RPG by Polish developer Metropolis Software featuring elements of survival horror . It is also the first title in a series featuring the main character, Cole Sullivan. Later titles in the series were third-person shooters . The game's reception was mixed. Vantage Master is a series of tactical RPGs similar to Master of Monsters developed and published by Nihon Falcom for Microsoft Windows, beginning in 1997. The first game in

3770-565: Is a tactical RPG co-developed by Russian companies Novik & Co and Nival Interactive , and published by CDV . It is set in the Silent Storm universe and follows the events in the main series. After this came Night Watch (2006) and its sequel, Day Watch (2007), also by Nival Interactive, but instead based on the Russian novels and films of the same name. All three games received mediocre-to-poor review scores despite utilizing

3900-470: Is an unlockable video game mode available in some video game titles that allows the player to restart the game's story with all or some of the items or experience gained in the first playthrough. New Game Plus modes are typically unlocked after completing the game's story at least once and sometimes contain certain features not normally available in the initial playthrough , such as increased difficulty, altered combat or encounters, and more. The term

4030-425: Is divided into two modes: location visits and story sequences which take up half an hour of the in-game timer, and combat encounters either tied to the story or within a free battle arena. All characters are portrayed using sprite-based graphics on the field and static character portraits during dialogue. Some story events take place at the same time, with choosing one removing the other. The player can also skip time to

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor - Misplaced Pages Continue

4160-453: Is most notable for its unique take on the concept of non-linear branching storylines, which it combines with the concepts of time travel and parallel universes , expanding on the Chrono series. Radiant Historia takes it much further by giving players the freedom to travel backwards and forwards through a timeline to alter the course of history, with each of their choices and actions having

4290-602: Is set in modern day Tokyo within the Yamanote Line . Due to the game's events, which see an outbreak of demons, the Japanese government and Self-Defense Forces place the area within the Yamanote Line into lockdown under the pretence of a major gas leak, cutting off electricity and basic services. The situation worsens when people use a program in their COMPs, small portable gaming devices, to make contracts with demons and use them to fight both other demons and humans within

4420-662: Is the lack of exploration; for instance, Final Fantasy Tactics does away with the third-person exploration of towns and dungeons that is typical in a Final Fantasy game. Instead of exploration, there is an emphasis on battle strategy. Players are able to build and train characters to use in battle, utilizing different classes, including warriors and magic users, depending on the game. Characters normally gain experience points from battle and grow stronger, and are awarded secondary experience points which can be used to advance in specific character classes. Battles have specific winning conditions, such as defeating all enemies or surviving

4550-485: The Final Fantasy series with Tactics Ogre -style gameplay. It also expanded on the isometric grid combat of Tactics Ogre by allowing players to freely rotate the camera around the battlefield rather than keeping the camera in a fixed position. The storyline of Final Fantasy Tactics was also more linear than its predecessor, in order to provide a deeper epic narrative. Thanks to Hiroyuki Ito , lead designer on

4680-469: The Book of Revelation , proved troublesome for the team as they needed to keep the scenarios consistent while allowing for different paths and choice variations. Haduki remembered the staff member in charge of arranging and testing scenario paths being "in tears" from the work load. Late in development, a bug that blocked off Amane's path necessitated a complete recheck and some scenes had to be removed. Yasuda,

4810-429: The Nintendo DS in 2010, combined the gameplay of traditional RPG titles with a highly tactical grid combat system, with several unique features such as a queue allowing party members to switch turns and perform combo attacks when near each other on the queue, and the manipulation of enemy positions by knocking a target onto another grid space and attack multiple targets when enemies fall onto the same grid space. The game

4940-493: The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) by ASCII in 1985, was responsible for laying the foundations for the tactical RPG genre, or "simulation RPG" genre as it is known in Japan, with its blend of role-playing and strategy game elements. The game revolves around a king who must recruit soldiers and lead his army against overwhelming enemy forces, while each unit gains experience and levels up along

5070-580: The Overclocked "8th Day" scenario. A new opening theme "Soul Survive", sung by Haru's voice actress Junko Minagawa , was composed by Ryota Kozuka as a counterpart to Asano's original theme. Teppei Kobayashi wrote the lyrics, while Toshiki Konishi performed the guitar part. A soundtrack album was released on November 25, 2011. The album was reissued digitally worldwide on January 15, 2024, with this release including "Reset". During its first week in Japan, Devil Survivor sold over 55,000 units and ranking as

5200-499: The PlayStation 3 utilizes the seventh-generation console processing power by using a distinctive anime/watercolor art style, as well as incorporating third-person tactical shooter elements. After selecting a character in the overhead map view, the player manually controls him/her from a third-person view. This mechanic allows for, among others: free movement to a certain range, manual aiming with extra damage for headshots,

5330-757: The Shining and Ogre series and Final Fantasy Tactics , and Nippon Ichi games like Disgaea . During the 16-bit generation, among the first imitators was Langrisser by NCS/Masaya, first released for the Mega Drive / 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 general-soldier structure instead of controlling main characters. Langrisser , too, spawned many sequels, none of which were brought to North America. Langrisser set itself apart from other tactical RPGs in its time with larger-scale battles, where

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor - Misplaced Pages Continue

5460-739: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Bahamut Lagoon , began Square's (now Square Enix ) famous line of tactical RPGs. Four games from the Ogre Battle series have been released in North America . The first was Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen was released for the SNES in 1993 and was more of a real-time strategy RPG in which the player forms character parties that are moved around

5590-427: The player character 's relationship with other characters and in turn the characters' performance in battle, the direction of the storyline, and the ending. Later games in the series added several variations, including an action gauge that can be raised up or down depending on the situation, and a gauge that the player can manipulate using the analog stick depending on the situation. The success of Sakura Wars led to

5720-475: The "8th Day" scenarios. Takada called this the largest amount of voice acting in an Atlus game to date, and some staff were concerned that it would not fit onto the cartridge ROM. Due to his large role in the narrative, Atsuro had the largest amount of dedicated voice acting. The music was primarily composed by Takami Asano of Japanese rock band Godiego , with additional tracks by Atlus composers Kenichi Tsuchiya and Atsushi Kitajoh. Asano had to adjust his music for

5850-529: The ESRB gave the game a "Teen" rating. It released in the region on June 23. When writing the story, Haduki approached it like a light novel , alongside wanting to preserve the series' established dark tone. The death clock was one of several elements intended to add suspense to the story. The theme of the game was "survival", inspired by the enclosed setting, and the team researched actual disaster protocol in Japan and survival techniques people were advised to use in

5980-588: The Japanese government knew of the event and has put in contingency plans to destroy Tokyo before the apocalypse can be triggered. Naoya and the protagonist meet on the fifth day, when Naoya reveals he and the Shomonkai created the COMPs to trigger demon summonings and trigger the lockdown, with Naoya seeking to have the protagonist ascend the Throne of Bel. Depending on the route, Naoya and the protagonist are revealed to be incarnations of Cain and Abel , with Naoya seeking vengeance for Cain's downfall. Amane seeks to create

6110-541: The Nintendo Famicom in 1990, Fire Emblem would become an archetype for the whole genre, establishing gameplay elements that are still used in tactical RPGs today, though many of these elements were influenced by earlier RPGs and strategy games . Combining the basic concepts from games like Dragon Quest and simple turn-based strategy elements that the development team gained experience with in their 1988 release Famicom Wars , Intelligent Systems created

6240-460: The PlayStation 2. In 2001, Sakura Wars 3 for the Dreamcast introduced a new combat system that incorporates action elements, and abandons the use of grids in favour of allowing each character to move around freely across the battlefield but with a limited number of moves each turn illustrated using a bar at the bottom of the screen. This type of combat system would later be the basis for

6370-572: The PlayStation Portable has a strategic command-based battle system where enemies learn from previous skirmishes. The characters can also die permanently during gameplay which in turn affects the game's storyline. Many Western PC games have utilized this genre for years, as well. Western games tend to have stronger military themes, without many of the fantasy elements often found in their console (and mainly Japanese) counterparts, as well as greater freedom of movement when interacting with

6500-562: The Third Reich (2005) - both by Irrational Games - are two examples of comic book superhero tactical RPGs that are played in real-time instead of turns. Both games received favorable reviews from critics. Paradise Cracked (2003), COPS 2170: The Power of Law (2005), Metalheart: Replicants Rampage (2004) and Shadow Vault (2004) are poorly received tactical RPGs by MiST Land South , Akella and Mayhem Studios of Russia and Slovakia, respectively. Paradise Cracked

6630-531: The ability to affect the relationship points between different units/characters. This in turn affected both the gameplay and storyline, with the different possible relationships in the first generation of the game's plot leading to different units/characters appearing during the second generation, ultimately leading to different possible outcomes to the storyline. The 32-bit era saw many influential tactical RPGs, such as Konami 's 1996 Vandal Hearts series , which feature branching storylines that can be altered by

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6760-431: The aftermath, vigilante groups emerge, the COMPs are shown able to recruit friendly demons to fight enemies, and the protagonist becomes able to see counters over people's heads indicating when they will die. Using this skill the protagonist can change the fate of multiple characters including Haru and Keisuke. Early on the three learn from Keisuke that everyone within the quarantine will die within seven days. After defeating

6890-448: The area chosen for the game's events. The sprite designs were intended to be realistically expressive, with the team looking to the sprite artwork of Revelations: Persona as a reference. The COMPs were originally going to be modified mobile phones, but this was scrapped to maintain the premise of complete communication cut-off. Kotō elaborated that Nintendo wanted them modelled on the DS, which

7020-474: The background and environmental art. The characters were designed by Suzuhito Yasuda , known for his illustration work on light novels including Durarara!! . Series artist Kazuma Kaneko returned to design new demons. The aim was to create a beginner-friendly tactical game, with a new style in story and art design compared to other Megami Tensei titles. The DS was chosen due to its large casual gamer audience and dual screen system. The time management element

7150-493: The battle manually. Both player and enemy parties consist of a leader and two other fighters, with the leader's defeat automatically winning the battle. Landing critical hits or exploiting weaknesses grants an extra combat round. The game ends if a predetermined battle condition is failed, or all characters are defeated. Combat rewards the in-game currency Macca and experience points to all party members, with actions such as eliminating all members of an enemy team and how much damage

7280-662: The character units, a concept which would be adapted and popularized by later console-based series like Fire Emblem . Unlike many other early titles in the genre, Master of Monsters made its way to the west via a port to the Sega Genesis in 1991, albeit only in North America. However, the genre did not become prolific until Nintendo published the game that set the template for tactical wargame RPGs, Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi . Developed by Intelligent Systems and released exclusively in Japan for

7410-424: The combat and how the story pulled him along, but faulted the chance element of combat encounters and low graphical quality. Mark Bozen of IGN enjoyed the story and praised the blending of tactical RPG elements with established Megami Tensei mechanics, additionally giving praise to the art design despite a lack of variety and faulted the soundtrack's repetitive nature. Michael Cunningham of RPGamer again praised

7540-549: The combat system in Valkyria Chronicles , developed by much of the same team in 2008. The Sakura Wars series would not be released in the West until the fifth game, Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (2005). The Front Mission series also continued on to the PlayStation 2, with Front Mission 4 and 5 , the latter of which never saw a Western release, but a fan translation. The Game Boy Advance would also see

7670-560: The combination of moves between characters, and the capture of NPCs and having them play on your side. Sega 's Sakura Wars , released for the Sega Saturn in 1996, combined tactical RPG combat with dating sim and visual novel elements, introducing a real-time branching choice system where, during an event or conversation, the player must choose an action or dialogue choice within a time limit, or not to respond at all within that time. The player's choice, or lack thereof, affects

7800-532: The company calls "Smart Pause Mode" in an attempt to heighten realism; Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge began its life as Jagged Alliance 3D before Strategy First withdrew the rights to the series name; Jagged Alliance: Back in Action is a 3D, real-time remake of Jagged Alliance 2 . Lastly, Jagged Alliance: Flashback was released in 2014 following a successful Kickstarter . The developer Full Control gained notoriety, however, for feuding with its backers, and

7930-489: The company stopped making games shortly thereafter. Additional titles inspired by X-COM include UFO: Aftermath (2003), UFO: Aftershock (2005), UFO: Afterlight (2007) and UFO: Extraterrestrials (2007) by Czech developers ALTAR Interactive and Chaos Concept; as well as Xenonauts (2014) by Goldhawk Interactive. ALTAR's UFO series features real-time play; Chaos Concept's UFO: Extraterrestrials received only mixed reviews; and Xenonauts currently has

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8060-670: The demon outright. Demon Fusion is done through the Cathedral of Shadows, where two demons can be fused to create a new demon: the demon can either be in the party roster or summoned from the Demon Compendium for a price. As part of the Fusion, the player can choose skills the new demon will inherit from its parent demons. The game's overall story is non-linear, and choices made earlier in the game can affect which characters and battles are available in later sections and which ending

8190-454: The development of tactical RPGs has diverged on each side of the Pacific, and the term "tactical RPG" is sometimes reserved only for those titles that were created in Japan. One of the earliest Japanese RPGs , Koei 's The Dragon and Princess , was released on NEC 's PC-8001 home computer platform in 1982. This game can also be considered a precursor to the tactical RPG genre. It used

8320-442: The freedom to choose their own destiny, with difficult moral decisions, such as whether to follow a Lawful path by upholding the oath of loyalty and slaughter civilian non-player characters on the leader's command, or follow the chaotic path by following a personal sense of justice and rebelling, or instead follow a more neutral path. Such factors affect the game's ending, which is also affected by decisions such as whether to obtain

8450-406: The game's new spin on the established Megami Tensei combat system which also noting its high difficulty. GameSpot 's Lark Anderson gave much praise to the combat design, story, and amount of story choices and customization. His main complaint was that the clear marking of storyline missions made other events and locations "completely useless". Joe Juba, writing for Game Informer , enjoyed

8580-481: The game, it also successfully implemented a modified job system , previously used in Final Fantasy V , which allowed the player to change a unit's character class at any time during the game and learn new abilities from job points earned with each class. The game was acclaimed for both its highly tactical gameplay and its well-written storyline that touches on issues such as class, privilege, religion, and politics. The game's reputation led to other developers adding

8710-456: The gameplay overall and liked the new story elements, but called it overly difficult in some areas and negatively mentioned the lack of 3D graphical elements. Cassandra Ramos of RPGamer enjoyed the combat and storyline, and praised the additions to the soundtrack, but faulted the updated New Game+ mechanic compared to the original. IGN 's Audrey Drake still praised the game as well-designed and challenging with an enjoyable story, but faulted

8840-542: The government, the party return to the lockdown and defeat Belberith, patron of the Shomonkai: depending on the completion of a side quest, demons either continue to invade or are barred from the world. In Naoya's route, the protagonist's party must fight the angel Metatron, who is prolonging the lockdown to hunt the new Demon Overlord: the protagonist's actions of either killing or sparing Metatron's agents influence how he rules Earth after defeating Metatron. In Amane's route,

8970-408: The highly regarded Silent Storm engine . Other titles inspired by Jagged Alliance include Brigade E5: New Jagged Union (2006) and its sequel, simply titled 7.62 (2007), by Russian developer Apeiron; Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge (2007) by GFI Russia; and Jagged Alliance: Back in Action by bitComposer Games. The Brigade E5 series incorporates an innovative hybrid real-time system

9100-566: The inspirations behind the 2005 turn-based strategy computer RPG, The Battle for Wesnoth . The first game in the long-running Super Robot Wars series is another early example of the genre, initially released for the Game Boy in 1991. 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

9230-642: The lack of gameplay additions and graphical updates. Patrick Elliot of Nintendo Life praised the addition of the 8th Day scenario and voice acting, but felt players of the original would not be impressed due to the lack of graphical and gameplay updates. Official Nintendo Magazine 's Joe Skrebels disliked the "dated" visuals and lack of variety in the soundtrack, but was otherwise positive about its storyline and challenging gameplay design. A standalone sequel to Devil Survivor , Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 began in 2009 and last two years. Returning team members included Tanaka, Kotō, and Yasuda. The game

9360-439: The last game. Key items that are related to the story are normally removed so they cannot ruin the game's progression, and are given back to the player at the time they are needed; likewise, characters that the player acquires throughout the story will also not appear until their scheduled place and time, but will get the enhanced stats from the previous playthrough. Games with multiple endings, such as Chrono Trigger , may feature

9490-482: The leader, and where battles are large-scale with characters sometimes filling an entire screen. Master of Monsters , developed by SystemSoft and released in 1989 for the MSX2 , added fantasy characters and magic attacks to the gameplay of the wartime combat Daisenryaku series, which had instead opted for tanks, planes, and other vehicles of real-world modern combat. Master of Monsters also added experience bars for

9620-417: The limited sound capacities of the DS. The opening vocal theme "Reset" was sung by Aya Ishihara, with lyrics by Hirth. A soundtrack album for the game, Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor Original Remix Soundtrack , was published by Lantis with the music produced by Asano. For this release, Asano re-recorded the tracks with new guitar performances and instrumentation. Asano returned to compose two new tracks for

9750-408: The line between a role-playing game, turn-based grand strategy wargame , and simulation video game . Similarly, Kure Software Koubou's Silver Ghost (1988) combined elements of both tactical RPGs and action RPGs, while Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen (1993) blurred the line between a tactical RPG and a real-time strategy. Metal Gear Acid (2004) blurs the line between a stealth game ,

9880-439: The line even further by incorporating tactical RPG gameplay with both real-time strategy and third-person tactical shooter elements, including over-the-shoulder manual aiming and a cover system . This has led to the game being described by one source as "the missing link between Final Fantasy Tactics and Full Spectrum Warrior ". In an interview with Eurogamer, X-COM developer Julian Gollop mentioned how surprised he

10010-502: The lockdown area. When the demons appear, everyone gets a "Death Clock", a unusually-invisible timer counting down seven days when everyone within the Yamanote Line will die. The game's silent protagonist is a high school student who receives exclusive warning messages from his COMP's Laplace Mail service, and can see the Death Clock counters. The protagonist is joined by his high school friends, Atsuro Kihara and Yuzu Tanikawa. During

10140-491: The middle of play. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics, though was not as well-received as the series' more traditional RPG titles. Soldiers of Anarchy (2002) is a squad-based real-time tactics computer game by German developer Silver Style Entertainment . Gameplay involves squad tactics, vehicles and a wide variety of weapons and ammunition. The game received mixed reviews from critics. Freedom Force (2002) and its sequel, Freedom Force vs.

10270-633: The most powerful class, which can only be acquired by making a tragic sacrifice. Another feature was "Warren's Report", a type of database on the land, people, encounters and races of Valeria (similar to, but much more expansive than, the troves of knowledge in Mass Effect ). Although this game defined the genre in many ways, it was not widely recognized by American gamers because it was released to American audiences several years later. Final Fantasy Tactics shared some staff members with Tactics Ogre and shares many of its gameplay elements. A prequel to

10400-435: The most successful to date, and was the second Nippon Ichi game released in North America, the first being Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (published by Atlus). Throughout this generation, companies have recognized the large audience and popularity 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, have become cult hits for

10530-416: The new cover art. While Overclocked did not use 3D graphics, the graphics and art assets were upgraded with higher detail, with Kaneko redrawing his new demon artwork. Takada's wish for the port was to both include additional elements and improvements based on feedback, and make the game available to a wider audience. The game featured 20,000 lines of voiced dialogue: 15,000 in the original story, and 5,000 in

10660-502: The next main story battle. Combat is divided into two halves: the combat arena viewed from a top-down perspective on a grid, and battles between parties which are portrayed in first person: combat information is split between the Nintendo DS 's two screens. The player controls up to four units made up of a human character and two assigned demons, who are positioned before the start of battle and can move, perform special out-of-battle skills, and engage in combat once per turn. Each action has

10790-607: The original Tactics Ogre , Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis , was later released for the Game Boy Advance. A remake of Let Us Cling Together was later released for the PSP in 2011. In 1996, the tactical role-playing game Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War also featured a non-linear branching storyline, but instead of using an alignment system, it used a relationship system resembling dating sims that gave players

10920-620: The player can assign these skills across all human characters. The party's first demons are recruited during the prologue battle after defeating them. Demons level up alongside the human characters, and can be taugnt new skills using magnatite earned from battles. The two ways of gaining new demons are the Demon Auction House, and Demon Fusion. At the Auction House, the player bids against AI-controlled characters for demons using macca, either outbidding other parties or buying

11050-414: The player could control over thirty units at one time and fight against scores of enemies. Since Der Langrisser in 1994, the series offered non-linear branching paths and multiple endings . The player's choices and actions affected which of four different paths they followed, either aligning themselves with one of three different factions or fighting against all of them. Each of the four paths leads to

11180-791: The player defeats three different final bosses, one in each playthrough, to access the true ending. Some New Game Plus variations alter established gameplay. This includes unlocking new characters, such as in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ; new areas, such as in Parasite Eve ; new items, such as in the Metal Gear series; new challenges, such as in the .hack series, or new weapon and armor upgrades, like in God of War II 's Bonus Mode and God of War (2018) 's New Game+ mode. Games that connect to online marketplaces may require

11310-487: The player to complete a New Game Plus game to obtain certain achievements , such as the "Calamity Kid" achievement in the game Bastion . Others may require or be required by additional purchases in the form of downloadable content , such as in Yakuza: Like a Dragon . Final Fantasy XIV is a MMORPG with an extensive story line called the "main scenario quest" or colloquially the "MSQ". A New Game Plus option

11440-601: The player to progress through the game and the story in whatever order they wish. In addition, instead of having separate screens or maps for exploration and battle, the game features a seamless transition between exploration and battle. This time period also saw the Western debut of Fire Emblem in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (simply titled Fire Emblem outside Japan). On seventh-generation consoles, Sega 's Valkyria Chronicles (2008) for

11570-533: The player to walk around towns and talk to people and buy weapons. It spawned sequels, Shining Force II for Sega Genesis and Shining Force CD for Sega CD, besides the Shining Force Gaiden 1, 2 and 3 for Sega Game Gear and Shining Force III for Sega Saturn. The game's creator, Camelot Software Planning 's Hiroyuki Takahashi, cited Kure Software Koubou's 1988 tactical RPG, Silver Ghost , as his inspiration. One game released solely in Japan for

11700-440: The player typically controls a finite party and battles a similar number of enemies. Like other RPGs, death is usually temporary, but this genre incorporates strategic gameplay such as tactical movement on an isometric grid . Unlike traditional RPGs which are traditionally single-player, some tactical RPGs feature multiplayer play, such as Final Fantasy Tactics . A distinct difference between tactical RPGs and traditional RPGs

11830-410: The player unlocks. There is a New Game Plus unlockable upon completing the game, with its implementation being different depending on the version of Devil Survivor : the original release automatically carries over some elements into a new campaign, while the expanded Overclocked release has players use points awarded by completing tasks during the playthrough to select their bonuses. Devil Survivor

11960-534: The player's dialogue choices that lead to different endings, as well as Sega's 1997 Shining Force 3 , SCEI 's Arc the Lad Collection (1996–1999), and Square's 1997 Final Fantasy Tactics and 1999 Front Mission 3 . Konami's Vandal Hearts was an early PlayStation title that helped popularize tactical RPGs in the US. It was released by Konami and featured a 3D isometric map that could be rotated by

12090-496: The player. A sequel was subsequently released, also for the PlayStation. One of the first 32-bit tactical RPGs, Guardian War , was developed by Micro Cabin and released in 1993 on the Panasonic 3DO . While the game lacked in story, it included many game mechanics that are seen throughout many of the 32-bit tactical RPGs; like isometric camera rotation, interchangeable and hybridization of "jobs" or "classes" for each character,

12220-415: The players had to direct, oversee and command multiple characters. Unlike later tactical RPGs, however, Silver Ghost was not turn-based , but instead used real-time strategy and action role-playing game elements. It also featured a point-and-click interface, to control the characters using a cursor. A similar game released by Kure Software Koubo that same year was First Queen , a unique hybrid between

12350-465: The powerful demon Beldr, the protagonist is recruited into the War of Bel, an effort by humans including the Shomonkai cult and their priestess Amane to gain access to the mystical Throne of Bel. The lockdown is revealed to have been triggered by a planned battle between factions, with the aim of judging humanity's worth. If the demons remain in Tokyo by the seventh day, the angels will destroy humanity, while

12480-522: The previous three games, Shadowrun Chronicles: Boston Lockdown , was released to less-than-positive reviews in 2015. In 2014 the tactical RPG Blackguards based on the German The Dark Eye pen-and-paper setting was released to mixed or average reviews. A sequel, Blackguards 2 , was released one year later. In 2014, The Banner Saga was released, the first chapter of a TRPG trilogy that would lead to two sequels . 2015 saw

12610-491: The protagonist's efforts to further God's rule are resisted by Japan's creator deity Okuninushi , who demands that the protagonist guide Naoya to salvation: the protagonist succeeds and Naoya helps defeat Okuninushi. Devil Survivor was produced by Megami Tensei developer Atlus . Multiple staff were veterans of the Growlanser series, including director and producer Shinjiro Takada, scenario writer Yoh Haduki, and art director Akiko Kotō. Media.Vision assisted in creating

12740-402: The quarantine, failing the trial and costing humanity its free will. A second similar ending on the seventh day has Yuzu convince the protagonist to break through the quarantine by force, allowing demons to escape and trigger the apocalypse. If the protagonist chooses to approach the Throne of Bel, the demon invasion is stopped in multiple ways: the protagonist can side with Amane and the angels as

12870-722: The random-draw, forethought and resource management appeal of card battles like in Konami's own Yu-Gi-Oh! games (1999 onwards). Developer Kuju Entertainment released Dungeons & Dragons Tactics for the PlayStation Portable in 2007. The game intended to adapt the rules and mechanics of the popular table-top role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons , but suffered from a poor interface and awkward camera controls. The Atlus title Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (2009) blended together both traditional and tactical RPG gameplay along with non-linear adventure game elements. It also featured an innovative demon auction system and

13000-425: The region. The original Devil Survivor garnered a score of 84 out of 100 from review aggregate website Metacritic , indicating generally positive reviews. In its review, Japanese magazine Famitsu noted the slower and more strategic approach to the series combat elements as an enjoyable change, with one reviewer calling combat "difficult but exquisitely balanced". Jeremy Parish, writing for 1Up.com , praised

13130-604: The release of Invisible, Inc. for OS X, Windows and Linux. It has been described as a "tactical RPG that mixes stealth with procedural generation", since it introduces elements of espionage and roguelike gameplay. It received generally favorable scores from reviewers. A version for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch has been released. In March 2017 the German indie developer Overhype Studios released its tactical RPG Battle Brothers out of Early Access to generally favorable reviews. This mercenary company simulation

13260-507: The release of Rebelstar: Tactical Command (2005) by X-COM creators, Nick and Julian Gollop . The game would be highly praised for adapting the combat mechanics of the highly detailed and acclaimed PC strategy series, but would also receive criticism for sub-par presentation, a lackluster storyline, and lack of link-mode support. The game ended up receiving an average score of 77.83% at GameRankings . In early 2006, Idea Factory 's Blazing Souls featured nonlinear gameplay that allows

13390-615: The same developer, Julian Gollop . They did not, however, feature the statistical character development and strategic map of the later series. Bokosuka Wars (1983), a game regarded as the progenitor of the strategy/simulation RPG genre, is also difficult to clearly define. While often referred to as a strategy/simulation RPG, it is also sometimes referred to as a prototype real-time strategy , an early reverse tower defense game, and an early action role-playing game . Nobunaga's Ambition (1983) and later Koei titles as well as Capcom's Destiny of an Emperor (1989) have blurred

13520-526: The same time, featured a similar "World" system that allows players to revisit key plot points and make different choices to see how the story unfolds differently. Atlus title Growlanser IV: Wayfarer of the Time (2012) features a unique battle system that blends turn-based and real-time strategy. The player controls each character in turn, but the actions play out in real-time. Imageepoch 's title Saigo no Yakusoku no Monogatari ( Final Promise Story ) for

13650-400: The series was never released outside Japan , South Korea and Taiwan . The latest game, Vantage Master Portable for the PSP , was released on April 24, 2008. Jagged Alliance is a tactical turn-based RPG series developed by Sir-Tech Canada released in 1995, with a sequel released in 1999 . A third game in the series , developed by Haemimont Games and published by THQ Nordic ,

13780-402: The seven days they meet and can team up with a number of other characters including Atsuno's timid school friend Keisuke Takagi, cosplay idol Midori Komaki, gang leader Tadashi "Kaido" Nikaido, pop singer Yoshino "Haru" Haruzawa, bar owner Eiji "Gin" Kamiya, elementary school teacher Mari Mochizuki, and Self-Defense Forces soldier Misaki Izuna. Key characters are Naoya, the protagonist's cousin and

13910-412: The story and overall gameplay design, but felt a lack of variety in the artwork and music. Devil Survivor Overclocked held a score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic , a lower but still positive score. Famitsu praised the additions and changes made to Overclocked , with one reviewer praising the 8th Day scenario as an addition that "really powers up the plot." GamesRadar 's Henry Gilbert enjoyed

14040-721: The surrounding environment. Notable examples include the Jagged Alliance series (1994-2018) and the Silent Storm series (2003-2005), with many titles owing considerably to the X-COM series (1994-2016) of strategy games. In fact, Western PC games in the genre were largely defined by X-COM in much the same way as Eastern console games were by Fire Emblem . Lords of Chaos (1990) came about when Julian Gollop wanted to add more role-playing elements to his 1985 video game Chaos: The Battle of Wizards , which

14170-451: The team detailed notes on which faces to match to a pose. One proposed character, a "celebrity" journalist dubbed Mai who would show the public reaction to the lockdown, had to be cut due to difficulties fitting her into the story. With one exception of a large temple, the game's real world locations were drawn from across Tokyo. Different members of staff including Haduki and Kotō went on journeys to ensure their correlation to each other within

14300-518: The team only just managed to accomplish before the production deadline. An enhanced version of the game, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked , was developed by Atlus for the Nintendo 3DS . In addition to updated graphics and voice acting, Overclocked includes new demons, a rebalanced easy difficulty setting, and a new scenario dubbed "The 8th Day" which follows from certain endings. Overclocked

14430-481: The third best-selling game of that week. In a financial report in October 2009, Atlus revealed sales totals for Japan and North America. The Japanese release had sold over 110,000 units against expectations of 100,000, while in North America it sold over 40,000 units against expectations of 25,000. Overclocked had first-week sales of over 21,000 units in Japan, and by the end of the year had reached over 39,000 units in

14560-469: The way. It is also considered to be an early prototype real-time strategy game. Another notable early example of the genre was Kure Software Koubou 's 1988 PC-8801 strategy RPG, Silver Ghost , which was cited by Camelot Software Planning 's Hiroyuki Takahashi as inspiration for the Shining series of tactical RPGs. According to Takahashi, Silver Ghost was a simulation action type of game where

14690-577: The word "Tactics" to their titles to indicate the tactical RPG genre. It was later ported to the PSP as Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions and is still regarded as one of the greatest tactical RPGs of all time. On sixth-generation consoles, a loyal American fan-base has been established by Nippon Ichi , makers of the PlayStation 2 games La Pucelle: Tactics , Phantom Brave , and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness . Of these games, Disgaea has been

14820-478: Was also praised, but critics noted a lack of new features. The game was adapted into multiple other media including a manga. A sequel, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 , was released in 2011. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is a tactical role-playing game in which players take on the role of a silent protagonist after they are trapped in a lockdown within Tokyo . The game takes place across seven days, and

14950-496: Was also the first to bear the name "Tactics" in the title, 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. The game also expanded the non-linear alignment system of its predecessor, with three types of alignments for each unit: Lawful, Neutral, and Chaos, neither of which are portrayed as necessarily good or bad. The game gives players

15080-440: Was announced in October 2008. It was released on January 15, 2009. The Japanese release used the title Megami Ibunroku , previously used for Revelations: Persona ; the title was intended to denote it as a spin-off with direct ties to the main series. The game was localized by Atlus USA, with veteran staff Nich Maragos and Scott Strichart taking part. In contrast with earlier Megami Tensei titles which were given high age ratings,

15210-461: Was carried over from the Growlanser series. The demon auctions, and pace of both story and free battles were designed to give players both an easier tactical experience and easy access to demon fusion. Balancing the demons to be fair while maintaining the tactical elements proved difficult. According to Kotō, the team were continuously pushing against the DS's vRAM limitations. Devil Survivor

15340-449: Was coined in the 1995 role-playing video game Chrono Trigger , but examples can be found in earlier games, such as Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei , The Legend of Zelda , Ghosts 'n Goblins , and Super Mario Bros. . This play mode is most often found in role-playing video games, where starting a New Game Plus will usually have the player characters start the new game with the statistics and equipment with which they ended

15470-682: Was described as a "cleverly constructed, carefully balanced board game". Other games combine similar mechanics, but typically belong in other genres. Tactical wargames such as the Steel Panthers series (1995–2006) sometimes combine tactical military combat with RPG-derived unit advancement. Avalon Hill's Squad Leader (2000), a man-to-man wargame utilizing the Soldiers at War engine, has also been compared (unfavorably) to X-COM and Jagged Alliance . Rebelstar (1984) and Laser Squad (1988) were precursors to X-COM created by

15600-503: Was how close Valkyria Chronicles was in design to his cancelled game Dreamland Chronicles . Infinite Space (2009) by PlatinumGames is a hybrid of tactical RPG, real-time strategy, and space simulator . The 3rd Birthday (2010), the third game in the Parasite Eve series, features a unique blend of action role-playing game , real-time tactical RPG, survival horror and third-person tactical shooter elements. New Game Plus New Game Plus , also New Game+ ( NG+ ),

15730-542: Was inspired by cyberpunk works such as The Matrix , Blade Runner , Ghost in the Shell , and Philip K. Dick novels; and Metalheart: Replicants Rampage is a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk tactical RPG inspired by Jagged Alliance , Syndicate , and Fallout . COPS 2170: The Power of Law is set in the same "Reality 4.13" universe that first appeared in Paradise Cracked . Hammer & Sickle (2005)

15860-426: Was intended as a guiding force for the player. The final scenario was much larger than initially planned, with the team's programmer having to expand the game's ROM capacity twice. The main story also went through multiple revisions, with the pre-lockdown messages alone being rewritten six times for clarity and pacing. The seven day time limit, a reference to both the creation myth in the Book of Genesis and elements of

15990-520: Was later ported to the 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's gameplay is more similar to the genre of tactical RPGs that Final Fantasy Tactics belongs to (which was developed by former members of Quest and created/written/directed by Yasumi Matsuno ), complete with battles taking place on isometric grids. It

16120-485: Was more of a tactical wargame. Incubation: Time Is Running Out (1997), part of the Battle Isle series, was one of the first strategy titles to use fully 3D graphics and support hardware acceleration on the 3dfx Voodoo . Other titles in the series are mainly tactical wargames featuring vehicle combat and base capturing. The game was generally well received by critics. Gorky 17 (1999, a.k.a. Odium )

16250-575: Was released first in North America by Atlus on August 23, 2011. It released in Japan by Atlus on September 1. Overclocked was released in Europe by Ghostlight on March 29, 2013. The European release launched with bugs including game freezing and crashes related to demon summoning and the demon auction house. Ghostlight worked with Atlus and Nintendo to create a patch to address the issues, releasing it in May. Takada returned as director, Haduki as scenario writer, and Kotō as art director. Yasuda returned to design

16380-721: Was released in 2011 in Japan, 2012 in North America, and 2013 in Europe. An expanded version for the 3DS, subtitled Record Breaker , was released worldwide in 2015. A drama CD based on the game was published by Frontier Works in August 2009. Two light novel anthologies were published by Harvest Publishing in August and September 2009, featuring stories contributed by Norimitsu Kaihō , Narumi Takadaira, Osamu Murata and Nanamon. A manga adaptation written and illustrated by Satoru Matsuba and released in Kodansha 's Monthly Shōnen Sirius magazine. The manga ran from May 2012 to February 2016. It

16510-455: Was released in 2023. Shadow Watch (2000) is a video game adaptation of the Tom Clancy's Power Plays novel of the same name developed by Red Storm Entertainment . It has also been compared to X-COM , though it features a different action point system and is missing the latter game's upgradable units. The game's reception was mixed. Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (2001)

16640-444: Was released in eight volumes between April 2013 and April 2016 by Kodansha. Kodansha released the manga in North America, releasing its eight volumes between September 2015 and November 2016. Tactical role-playing game This subgenre of role-playing video games principally refers to games which incorporate elements from strategy video games as an alternative to traditional role-playing game (RPG) systems. Like standard RPGs,

16770-447: Was reworked to appeal to newcomers, and the character were designed by light novel artist Suzuhito Yasuda . The storyline, which was inspired by Biblical texts, caused problems due to its size and structure. The music was primarily composed by Takami Asano of Japanese rock band Godiego . Sales exceeded Atlus's expectations, and the game was praised for its storyline and gameplay design, though its graphics drew mixed reactions. Overclocked

16900-429: Was taken impacting the reward. Upon leveling up, the protagonist is allocated skill points which can be allocated by the player to adjust their statistics, with other characters and demons having pre-determined statistical gains. Human characters gain new active and passive skills from enemies using Skill Crack, where they target a skill from a specified unit, then must defeat that unit with the assigned squad. Once cracked,

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