Duke Reivier's Grand Game Emporium

 Tactics Ogre is, for the uninitiated, an isometric psuedo 3D strategy RPG about an island kingdom plunged in ethnic conflict, civil war, and general chaos. Our dear protagonists ostensibly try to fight for the survival of their own ethnicity at first, but things get complicated and weird fast. Gripping storyline aside, this is a game that gives you lots of fun tools, letting you mock almost anything and everything, up to the final boss himself! Let me demonstrate... Before we begin Give everyone a bow and a herb, recruit one extra chaotic male and lawful female human, and two gryphons, both chaotic. The humans can be any element, but the gryphons should only be air based. All of the above can be purchased from the starting shops, just keep walking back and forth and checking the shops if they don't show up. Fight it Out! So, we're going to ignore the training session for as long as possible. Training is boring and we're trying to have fun. To do this, we'll intentional...

Note: This article contains spoilers for Legend of Dragoon.  Most RPGs define their combat systems by the choice they offer. The difference between a fighter and wizard is not just their stats, but also what verbs they pick. In large part, combat depth is achieved by providing many relevant choices to the player. RPGs sometimes mix things up by limiting said choices. The idea, presumably, is that the player will be challenged out of their comfort zone by being forced into a smaller skillset. However, this also poses challenges for the designer, since it limits the valid space for both sides. Limiting the player also means limiting the opposition, since there are fewer situations the player can handle with their reduced skillset.  It is no surprise then, that many designers fail to make enjoyable challenges out of such restrictions. Often even in good RPGs, they end up being slogs where your party is gimped and either fights against ridiculously weak opposition, or is curbstomp...