The game begins with the seer Warren using Tarot cards to ask a series of questions to determine your suitability as leader of the revolution. There are several questions out of a fixed set which are randomly asked, each of which is associated with one of the twenty-two Tarot cards of the Major Arcana. Each question has three possible answers: one righteous, one evil, and one neutral. After you finish answering the questions, Warren wishes luck for the revolution and the game begins.
Modes of play
Ogre Battle has two main modes of play, the world map and the tactical map. On the world map, the player can manage his characters changing their class, re-ordering them into different units, and erasing them. The player can also save and load the game, as well as manage items. In addition, the world map is where the player chooses the next stage, which can either be an already completed stage or a new stage.
Tactical map
Once the player has selected a stage, action shifts to the tactical map. Here, the player can deploy units and move them around. Each unit has a cost associated with it which must be paid to deploy the unit and every day at noon thereafter. There is a limit on the number of units which can be deployed at one time. Time passes on the tactical map alternating between day and night. Characters with high alignment fight better during the day while those with low alignment fight better at night. There are also towns and temples which can be liberated by units. Upon liberation, a random tarot card is drawn which can affect either the liberating unit's statistics or the reputation parameter. In addition, liberated towns provide income every noon which can be used to buy items (some towns have shops which can be used when a unit is stationed there) or pay for unit costs. In addition, there are often hidden towns, temples, or items which can be found by moving a unit close to the appropriate location.
Battle
One of the most important aspects of the tactical map is combat with enemy units. Each stage has a number of enemy units which attempt to re-capture the player's towns and temples. If a player's unit gets too close to an enemy unit, a battle ensues. During a battle, the view shifts to a close up view of the two combatant units. Characters alternate taking actions with the battle ending after one round of combat (many units can attack multiple times per round). The unit which caused the most damage is the victor and forces the other unit to retreat. During a battle, a player does not directly control their unit, but selects a tactic for the unit to follow (Best, Strong, Weak, Leader) which the characters follow when choosing who to attack. The player can also use stored tarot cards (which can cause damage or have a special effect), retreat, or change tactics during a battle.
World Map
Classes
One of the most important aspects of Ogre Battle is the class system. Each character has a class which determines the characteristics of that character. There are over 75 different classes available in Ogre Battle, but any given character is limited to a subset depending on their race. For instance, human characters can either be male (fighter) or female (amazon). There are also Dragons, Wyrms, Pumpkins, Angels, Giants, Hellhounds, Octopuses, Hawk Men, Demons, Gryphons, Mermaids, Golems and Undead class trees. Within a tree, there are usually level, alignment, and often charisma requirements. In addition, some classes also require the use of a special item. Finally, the two human class trees are unique in that they have the most branches in their tree and characters can be demoted to move along a different path.
Apart from statistic increases at level-up, a character's class also determines how the character moves and fights. Each character has a terrain type where they move fastest and fight the best (some classes also get additional attacks), with flying characters able to move quickly over all terrain. In addition, each class has a set of attacks characters can perform, ranging from physical attacks targeting one opponent to magical attacks targeting a whole unit.
Alignment
In Ogre Battle alignment indicates how good or evil a character is. The scale runs from 0 to 100, the higher the number, the more good the character is. When characters with high alignment liberate towns, it will raise your reputation (High charisma is also required). Characters with high alignment will be weak against dark attacks but strong against white attacks. They will fight better in the day and worse at night. Alignment can be built by defeating enemies stronger than yourself, defeating ghosts and other dark creatures, and drawing tarot cards which raise your alignment stats. Once your alignment is high it is recommended that you not exceed the level of the enemies you are fighting, keep even with them. Characters which naturally start out with high alignment include clerics, knights, angels, and samurais. Alignment will drop when you defeat high alignment characters such as clerics and angels or when you defeat characters who are much weaker than you.
Low alignment characters are more evil. They fight better at night and are weak against light attacks. Liberating towns with these type of characters will lower your reputation, especially if their charisma is also low. There is nothing wrong with having these types of characters. A good mix of high and low alignment soldiers is the best way to beat the game. Just keep low alignment characters with low and high with high. Do not liberate towns with them unless you want an undesirable ending. One benefit of using low alignment characters is that you can raise your levels as high as you want and don't have to worry about lowering your alignment because it is already at rock bottom. Just use your low alignment characters to slaughter enemy units while your high alignment characters travel the map liberating towns. Characters with naturally low alignment include ghosts, skeletons, and demons. Human characters such as wizards and ninjas have moderately low alignment but they can go either way. Evil Ones are human characters with very low alignment.
Levels
There are thirty levels to be played, five of which aren't required to beat the game. The map where you choose a location does not progress linearly and so some variation is possible in how the stages are played.
The non-required levels are:
- Muspelm, Organa and Shiguld: are special stages that can only be unlocked by completing a sidequest.
- Dragon's Haven: This final stage is accessed by naming your hero "Fireseal" at the beginning of the game.
- Easter egg stage.
Note that the game can be completed without finishing all the stages. There are twelve different endings to the main game, depending on the conduct of the player during the course of the game.