I’m approaching what looks like the final chapter, so I’ll post my final squad and thoughts below. Spoiler warning. Also, this is an edit of my last post since I cannot post three times in a row.
Overall I really enjoyed this game. It started off a bit slow, but quickly got interesting and the second half was very captivating. The gameplay is a strong suit - I enjoyed the map designs, especially in the endgame chapters, and the difficulty level felt challenging but fair. I liked the cast of characters, and I think the relationship between Prosel/Nidas/Aster in particular was done well. I expected the cliche of Aster being killed at some point to motivate Prosel, so the subversion of that trope was a pleasant surprise. I also really liked the designs of Birgitta, Hama, and Girulian. The Dread Knights’ portraits are beautiful and I enjoyed their characterization as well as role in the story.
Here is my final squad with thoughts on each unit/character.
Final Squad
This dude was extremely Str-screwed. He was a poor combat unit from early to midgame, but became better in endgame after promoting. I Hammerne’d his Royal Chopper since it’s very good at taking out the high number of mounted/armored units in endgame. I enjoyed his himbo personality and the way he referred to Aster as “King Dad” was endearing.
2-range staves had great utility and she became a solid combat unit after promoting, although I still usually used her for staff duties since I had enough strong physical units.
Excellent Gotoh with limited offensive use by the time he joined since his low Spd held him back. However, he was great at soaking up hits in spots, and I gave him the Bloodaxe back which allowed him to one-shot most sword-wielding units. He also did 60 damage to Birgitta in a single turn in the throne room fight (acting twice using Melanie’s Play), which I felt was very appropriate lore-wise considering most of my other units could hardly scratch her.
Very good player phase unit for the majority of the game alongside Hute and Annie. I kept the three of them together as a squad to make use of their supports. His low-ish Spd became a hindrance in endgame as he was unable to double a good chunk of enemies.
My MVP. From start to finish his massive bulk allowed him to take the vanguard position and soak up hits like no other while also dealing high damage in return due to his unexpectedly high Spd. He was only slightly vulnerable against mages, but I gave him a Talisman or two and he was even able to tank magic hits for the most part. His mastery of the weapon triangle also allowed good flexibility in dealing with different types of enemies.
Excellent player phase unit, although she dropped off a bit towards the end as a frontline unit due to her squishiness.
She was a worse version of Lou at the start but I think she’s better than him in the endgame due to her higher Spd allowing her to double many enemies he cannot. Very squishy, although she had some utility in baiting mages.
Excellent frontline unit with good bulk, although like Lou, he fell off towards the end due to his low Spd holding him back from doubling enemies. I kept him with Prosel at all times for their support. Also, what’s his history with Birgitta hinted at in their boss dialogue?
Dancer. I like her portrait.
I generally like rounding out my squad with staff users for utility, and that’s why Madari is here. She had some niche combat utility with Cthylla, and eventually became my Galdrar holder (as my only unit with an S-rank in Dark), though her use was primarily as a healer.
Required some babying and a Speedwing to get up to par due to his late join time as an unpromoted unit as well as his low Spd. Eventually he became a competent combat unit, although his low Res and susceptibility to archers forced me to be careful with his positioning.
Basically a staffbot. I selected her over other potential options (such as Lyra) due to her surprisingly decent bulk meaning that I didn’t have to worry about her getting splattered on accident.
She has good offensive power, but her extreme squishiness meant that in practice I could not really rely on her to be a frontline fighter. She ended up being mostly a staffbot that provided some cleanup duty.
Solid filler combat unit with the ability to open doors and chests. His stats are decently strong, but his low bulk meant that he was not a frontline unit when I had much better units at taking hits.
Thanks for making this game! I think it holds up well compared to more recent romhacks I played despite being 5 years old. I had fun.