In comparison to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, I must admit that I do much prefer what Final Fantasy is offering. In all, I think that Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis is a pretty solid tactics-based RPG. After a battle, you can tinker with your party and purchase new items, but I love the story of this game and would have loved for there to be more exploration so I could really get myself invested into this world. Ok, so this is a tactics RPG, but I do feel that you could be allowed to do a bit more exploration. There is also a tad of slowdown when there are lots of characters on the screen at the same time.
On one hand, I really like this, but on the other I feel that as a portable game the battles could be a bit quicker. The combat is where the fun is and the battles can go on for a very long time. You can level up, buy new items and stuff at a shop and in general do what you would expect in a good RPG. You need to have a decent squad on the battlefield to have the best chance of victory. Like most other tactics-based RPG games, you have many different classes. I do feel that Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis does a decent enough job of easing you into the mechanics of the game just make sure you pay attention to what it tells you to do in the early part of the game or you will end up without a clue! I got my butt handed to me time and time again before I got the hang of things. There are some people who say that this is a bit on the easy side, but I would have to disagree with that. It is very well done and there are branching paths as well as multiple endings. You are sent to a place called Ovis and while there you realize the person you serve is not who you thought he was and you start to question if you are on the right side. The main guy you play as is called, Alphonse and he is a knight in a military unit led by Rictor. I was actually surprised at how deep and interesting the story in Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis was.
I feel that for more hardcore strategy style gamers, this is probably the better game in all honesty with you. This is a tactics-based game and it is near impossible not to compare it to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis is another game in the Ogre Battle series.