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So I just finished #TacticsOgre after not having played it in a very long time and noticed some details that I hadn't remembered that made me realize how much of the Ogre games' lore is now a part of Ivalice (I apologize beforehand for my ramblings)
Though Vagrant Story has undeniable references to FFT, from namedropping or making allusion to people like Agrias, Delita, Orlandeau, Ajora and mentions the Zodiac Brave Story, it also has numerous references to the Ogre games as well. Almost the entire bestiary is full of them.
The majority of the monsters you fight, from the skeletons and teleporting ghosts to the lizardmen, liches, wyverns, golems and ogres, they're all straight out of Tactics Ogre and Ogre Battle. Even monsters that may bear a resemblance to something from FF Tactics came from TO.
Specially so with the undead, which are very common foes in TO, healing spells harm them in both, and both games have a spell to exorcise the undead as well.
Moreover, many of the enemy descriptions mention the Underworld, which features prominently in Ogre lore, and it's where the ogres and demons reside. Furthermore, the description of the ogres in VS says "Demons that fought humans in mythic times."
Which is precisely what the Ogre Battle was, in Ogre lore. The description in VS is literally almost word for word what TO says about it. (Note that this is the reworked translation, which means the connections to VS are intentional, as I'll continue to show)
Another link between the two games is the Last Crusader enemy. It mentions it was "once the special raiment of the Holy Knights", alluding to, of course, the Holy Knights of Xenobia, once captained by the famous Lanselot Hamilton.
Necromancy is also mentioned in VS, which of course is also featured prominently in Tactics Ogre, the most famous practitioner being Nybeth Obdilord, who led a whole family of necromancers, his wife Cassandra, and daughters Cressida and Moldova, necromancers one and all.
A not unimportant detail I hadn't noticed is when you descend into the Chamber of the Seal beneath the Hanging Gardens of Heim (I'll show the scene right before for context)
The Chaos Gate, or an entity from the Underworld, or the Underworld itself, speaks to Dorgalua. (This whole scene and the whole battle with the doppelgangers was added to the PSP remake, it wasn't in the original, so this next bit was added by Matsuno with all intentions)
It's immediately reminiscent, to those keen-eyed few, of the scene in Vagrant Story where Grissom is coming to terms with the fact that he's possessing his own corpse, and he hears a voice speaking to him. The overlayed text effect looks and is used in the exact same manner.
Another thing to note is that "the Dark" speaks to Dorgalua in *iambic tetrameter*, the same poetic meter that is used by the Occuria in FF XII
Speaking of FF XII, I like that the TO remake uses the same terminology to denote something that comes from the gods by using the term "deifacted" (FF XII further makes the distinction between that which is god-made and man-made, by referring to the latter as "manufacted")
Related to this, in FF XII, we see the incorporation of the Dynast-King figure into Ivalice lore, as well as a special sword (the Brynhildr in TO and both the Sword of Kings and the Treaty-Blade swords in FF XII). This is not to mention of course all the parallels to TO in FFT.
The intention is clear; reuse plot elements in order to continue using them under a different name (a recurring theme with Matsuno, as I'll point out later).
Another detail I hadn't remembered was that the same plot point about the dissolution of the Senate under false pretenses was reused in FF XII
But FF XII took that plot point further by making it also a Vagrant Story reference, by having parallels of Bardorba, Sydney and Joshua in Gramis, Vayne and Larsa respectively. It's subtle but Gramis' death at the hands of Vayne was all part of Gramis' own plans to protect Larsa
Since he feared the Senate ousting Vayne and installing Larsa as regent (also a call back, or call forward? to Duke Larg and Prince Orinus in FFT) would give them total control and Larsa would buckle under the pressure (though I think he underestimated his own son)
Gramis' death was orchestrated with Vayne to ensure that House Solidor lived on and continued to rule in a complex parallel to what happens in VS with the Duke's death
FF XII continues incorporating Ogre lore with the figures of Basch and Gabrant. In TO, there are two Lanselots, Hamilton and Tartaros. Hamilton is the captain of the aforementioned Holy Knights, while Tartaros is the Captain (High Champion) of the Dark Knights.
During TO's backstory, Tartaros abducts the priest Prancet, father to protagonist Denam, and burns down their village. Upon hearing that "Lanselot" will be passing by their town "again", they prepare to ambush him to get their revenge.
However, they quickly realize that they got the wrong Lanselot, as the one they're after captains the Dark Knights of Lodis, this Lanselot comes from Xenobia, and Prancet's abductor had "one eye" (he has an eyepatch).
This is of course reused, in a way, when Gabranth poses as Basch to kill King Raminas, giving the Empire pretext to step in and assume control of Dalmasca. "A twin brother? Fancy that." Twin in names in one, in appearance in the other.
Basch is then captured by the Empire and imprisoned, tortured and interrogated, there's even a scene where Gabranth utters lines similar to Lanselot (Matsuno works very closely with the translators so he knows exactly what it is they're saying and how)
Going back to the topic at hand, that scene in the TO remake (as opposed to the original) with the good Lans in chains has the bad Lans uttering almost the exact same lines that Guildenstern uses in Vagrant Story
I forgot to mention and include these two scenes, I think they speak for themselves (as to establishing parallels between the two games)
Which brings us to #CrimsonShroud. Those who played it immediately recognized numerous references to Matsuno's previous games, from Tactics Ogre, to FF Tactics, Vagrant Story and FF XII.
Some time ago, Matsuno revealed the prologue he had planned for a VS2, and right away I noticed that what he described was almost exactly what he wrote for Crimson Shroud https://twitter.com/lionknightcid/status/1260297267086528517
Now knowing that Crimson Shroud is essentially a continuation of Vagrant Story, with different names and other slight changes since Square owns the rights, we can get a good picture of what he probably envisioned he would be adding next to the world of Ivalice.
And of course that involved even more incorporations of Ogre lore. One of the first things you learn about the Sun-Gilt Palace of the Rahab is that it was built by the king for his queen
While Tactics Ogre says that he had the Hanging Gardens built as a gesture of affection toward his queen, Vernotta.
Spoilers for Crimson Shroud ahead
In Crimson Shroud, you learn that there are these objects, called Gifts, that grant their holder different powers, not unlike the powers people develop when their souls are tainted by the Dark power that rests in Lea Monde.
The tales concerning their origins vary but supposedly there was an Original Gift that is the source of magic for all the rest, and as such, would prove to be a popular object of quests.
An important figure, the theologian Natanael concluded that these Gifts were not divine relics but were rather objects of dark power, which the church deemed heretical and he was executed for it. His manuscript detailing his findings, "Defense of Heresy" survived but was stashed
by the church, locked away. Later, this manuscript was found by the monk Andolay, but he goes missing, and an earl, Artur Milandra, hires a group known as the Chasers to locate his whereabouts and recover the book, which the game posits he may intend to use to gain more power
Moreover, the game describes a tribe known as the Qish who are godless (as in they worship no gods), hold no land and are nomadic, and were persecuted by the church and executed in a manner that is described as a Qish tradition
Which of course parallels branding Kildean heretics with the Blood-Sin in Vagrant Story.
Additionally, in the New Game+, you meet a demon who comes through a gate and offers magicks via a pact with it, which is not uncommon for some people in Ogre lore to do in order to attain power.
What I wanted to show with all that is that the Palace of the Rahab, beyond being akin to Lea Monde, is also clearly meant to evoke the Hanging Gardens and the fact that it sat atop a Chaos Gate, which led to the Underworld and was sealed, in both games, by 12 people no less
Which is the whole point of this messy, rambling thread, to point out that I think Matsuno intended to further inject Ogre lore into Ivalice, and now knowing how Crimson Shroud is Vagrant Story 2 in a roundabout way, I'm even more convinced of this.
This is in no way an exhaustive list of elements I noticed, just the more salient of them, I'm sure I'll remember more later. Also, this is only my interpretation, I don't truly know what Matsuno intends, but I wanted to share what I had thought after having beaten T. Ogre again.
Another thing I forgot to mention is the parallels between the characters of Abigail and Mannaflora in Crimson Shroud and Tactics Ogre respectively, one of which bore the king a child, the other which was accused of having eyes for the king and thus executed for it
Also both Tactics Ogre and Vagrant Story having spells made up of nonsense words (except for Philaha, who is sort of the equivalent of Faram in Ivalice lore)
Also also, Warren Omon coming down to rescue you from the Chaos Gate's collapse, uttering a spell not unlike the one Sydney uses to teleport Merlose, Josua and Hardin away in Vagrant Story
Which also reminds me that both games, to me, look like they have similar teleporting animation as well
