Square Enix has been on quite the tear recently, reviving a slew of classic Japanese roleplaying games. Besides plucking titles from its extensive back catalogue to remaster, the publisher is thrusting dusty franchises back into the spotlight, as seen with the recent announcement of Valkyrie Elysium.
Now another series looks like it could return. Square Enix has just trademarked Tactics Ogre: Reborn, with JRPG fans speculating that the long dormant saga could be due for some kind of remastered collection.
The name “Reborn” certainly hints at Square remastering one or more Tactics Ogre games, though there’s a slim chance a sequel could be in the works. Likened to Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem, there have only been a handful of Tactics Ogre games, the last being a remake of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, which launched in 2010 exclusively for the Sony PSP.
JRPG sleuths have been expecting this announcement, of course. It lines up with the recent NVIDIA GeForce NOW leak, which outed a string of Square Enix games which have now either been announced or released. One of those leaked items was a Final Fantasy IX remake – we’re praying this is still in development.
The most recent Square classic to undergo the remaster treatment was Chrono Cross, the 1999 successor to beloved RPG, Chrono Trigger. Having just launched, in our review of Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, Miguel scored the game a 6/10. Here’s what our resident JRPG expert had to say:
Chrono Cross is an incredible game that has been deserving a remaster for far too long. It’s a shame that, after all these years, it had to arrive in such a sorry state. The Radical Dreamers Edition does some minor work in improving and upgrading the experience, but with such poor optimisation, it’s a headache to enjoy the experience. Longtime fans might be able to forgive the issues and savour the incredible visual novel side-story Radical Dreamers, but a game as iconic as this deserves better.
If you can’t wait to get your strategy RPG fix, Square recently launched Triangle Strategy for the Nintendo Switch – here’s what we thought.
