Ivo wrote:SRPGs are quite clearly one of my favorite genres. I like stuff like Advance Wars as well, but I like the more pronounced RPG elements. And between the Fire Emblem and the FFT / Tactics Ogre style, I favor Tactics Ogre.
Knight of Lodis was amazing and I found it so much better than FFTA (I also liked FFTA though, I know some people really dislike the laws and so on though). I played KoL twice back to back, to check out the 2nd storyline. So worth it.
So about the original... It is probably the pinnacle of SRPGs for me given that I preferred KoL over Fire Emblem. I've been wanting to play it. I have this sort of issue in this kind of situation, I am a bit afraid I might not like it, and I am also a bit afraid I will like it a lot and then there aren't more Tactics Ogre games. Perhaps I should play the original and then I still have the PSP remake.
Also loved X-Com, although that has so much more than just the great tactical RPG battles. I would really like to see a refined X-Com battle system in a game focusing just on that. They could put a re-telling of the UFO story with well designed missions and have the equipment improve in a fixed "Chapter" progression. They naturally could implement different classes with the psi abilities being sort of equivalent to Magic and so on. I think it would work really well provided it was developed properly. But there isn't a big fan base for this kind of game, sadly.
Ivo.
So you haven't played the original LuCT? I can't stress enough how it's even more darker, serious, and mature than what I saw of KOL, much better, and believe me I will still say KOL was amazing from what I played and I might even put the story above FFT's, but LuCT completely blows it out of the water.
I don't know if KOL had this, but LuCT has great replayability too. I know it'll be one I will revisit a lot, because it has three main paths, Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic. The paths really do switch the story up a lot and along the way there's still some decisions and choices you have to make throughout that can alter things greatly as well, like a key character dying or joining you. Stuff to that extreme. Simply put I almost can't believe it's an SNES game, there was so much to it. In the final chapter there was a 100 floor optional dungeon that you have to complete 3 times to get the best magic out of it, I only got up to floor 50 on my first run and called it quits though. But the game lasted 60 hours for me which is by far the longest SNES RPG I've played, most others only take like 30. And it was 60 hours well worth it. For the incredible story and the difficulty was through the roof, but the game was so good I pressed on and it was very rewarding conquering it.
I don't think I'd say it has the best SRPG story I've ever seen, but simply one of the best RPG stories in general that I've ever seen.
So yeah Ivo I can't stress it enough, the game is one of the best RPG's I've ever played in terms of both story and gameplay. Extremely challenging but well worth it for the incredible story and characters.
Maybe this will convince you! 
(by the way the music is another thing I can't believe is on the SNES, so damn good! And I think I said it earlier in this thread but there's like probably 30 different battle themes or something, lol. The game is just HUGE in every way).
Personally I would recommend the SNES version over the PSX one, no loading and better sound effects.
Also don't forget it's all related to the Ogre Battle franchise. Even if they look extremely different, you still have more games of that universe to play.
