With Scissor Axe and in true Heroes Tradition - With a sword in the artwork that remains unused. Although if honeydew was an og character, they might released her with a sword just for the lols. I used Raven and Echidna as Inspiration for the lower part.
Wanted to include it in my big post but I forgot.
Paloma I mean Jamakaya I mean Honeydew my beloved.
Are you referring to other characters who used her sprite?
Thanks for sharing. I still think it is funny that Honeydew has endeared so many people. Love the art.
I think so. Paloma is from J&P Gaiden and Jamakaya is from Storge. They are all repallettes of Honeydew
Judging from a screenshot there, Neun appears to be an enemy (I don’t know if she can be recruited) and that’s no good for internet fame and fortune unless you’re Batta.
Neun is an Arran/Sampson recruitable in ch2 or so iirc
I see. Never played them but I was aware of repalletes existing in other hacks.
If they’re mercenaries too, this in a way could be coloured in all different ways lol. But I doubt that.
A door in Chapter 3-1 won’t register as openable.
Also, is the Bard class supposed to be have no movement penalty on pillars?
Pretty sure the door behavior is vanilla since it doesn’t expect you to use a key from the inside.
Michael has acrobat as a personal skill so he ignores terrain penalties.
No, I tried it from both sides. It doesn’t work.
Alrighty! This is gonna be long, so buckle up…
So a few months ago I decided it might be fun to read through all the supports in this game, one character per day. I finished up recently – soon after hearing about the Lengths of Time announcement, conveniently enough – and felt like rebounding my opinions a bit.
Tiers are mostly qualitative and therefore not necessarily hierarchical.
I took notes on my opinions involving all the characters, and ended up filling up a document with ~17k words total. But I’m sure nobody wants to slog through all of that text, so I tried to abridge it all down into quick summaries along with some general commentary on the support writing as a whole. The first few folders are the longest but they get shorter as you go down, I promise
On metacommentary supports
There’s a handful of supports which are mainly about discussing Fire Emblem gameplay mechanics, either from GBA or other titles. Now I love myself a good meta joke – I have a huge soft spot for meta humor – but in terms of characterization most of the VQ meta supports are kind of lukewarm for me. I think it’s because most of their substance is just “yo what if we alluded to X feature in Fire Emblem” which comes off like the Yodel and Dayan support in FE6. Supports like these just tend to kind of exist, maybe garnering a laugh or two, and they don’t really do much for building up the characters’ personalities.
Ruslan-Kir is the meta support that I liked the most since it’s used in a productive way. It showcases Kir being a good teacher and trying to find the best way for Ruslan to learn, while also demonstrating that yes Ruslan isn’t competent but he’s also not outright dumb. he just learns differently. This is the best VQ meta support in the game for me, because it’s deliberately used to characterize them both instead of solely lampshading a game mechanic.
On food supports
I did a food support myself last week. talking about food irl is just a Vision Quest reference, change my mind
I found the food supports to be inoffensive at worst and fun at best. But from a strict lens of what they brought to the table for a character, they also often felt like fluff without characterization. I feel like you enjoyed writing them though, and they definitely feel like your shtick so so all the more power to you. keep on keepin’ on man.
On fizzling/failed romance endings
You really seem to like these, huh? lmao
I found these to be a mixed bag. Some of them felt realistic – with how some of the relationships were built up, like Storch/Larisa, Cashew/Maelle, and Duck/Stina, it felt natural that things would turn out this way. A few of them like Naia-Bosco felt a bit like surprise sidearms though, if only because they had an optimistic A support followed by a pessimistic ending. Those endings left me a bit conflicted – it makes sense that relationships would fizzle like this in real life but the narrative payoff here doesn’t feel satisfying for me.
Fizzling romances also started to feel a liiiiittle too common at some point, to the point that when it happened for the tenth or so time I started thinking “oh, again?” Though maybe that’s moreso because I was reading all the supports in a sequence, it’s not like a player would unlock them all in one playthrough… I think.
On offscreen occurrences
I noticed a pattern in VQ supports where sometimes character backstories will mention parts of the lore that aren’t mentioned or connected to anything in the main story whatsoever. As of now I’m thinking of instances like the Unagi Purge in Menahan-Hokulani B, the Wabooz uprising in Radoslav’s backstory, or the other Mostynian nobles in Stina-Duck. You could even count more minor, less historic events like pink Kelik Anisa’s kidnapping/adoption into Kuching.
It feels like these events solely exist in a support-oriented vacuum instead of being meaningfully connected to the main story, and that’s a big part of why I don’t find them quite as compelling. I kind of wish they were relevant to VQ’s plot, or at least mentioned somewhere else, instead of just being throwaway backstory details?
In the Unagi Purge for example, we’ve never heard of a Lord Unagi before nor seen him onscreen – he hasn’t been mentioned once. And we haven’t spent enough time in Mahala to really know much about the country either, so we have little to no emotional connection to the event as a whole. It kinda falls a little flatter to me personally, because they’re talking about someone whose personality, kingdom, and actions we haven’t seen firsthand, and also has no face or appearance in the flesh.
that said, there are definitely exceptions like Tien’s history with Kosuke and Rakkaus mentioning the Sea Lion, to be fair.
Looking back, I talked about a few of them in my initial post after completing VQ, but ig it wouldn’t hurt to share in a bit more detail. These are really long, but the other folders aren’t half as long as these are
Rakkaus
I think Rakkaus is a character who isn’t quite as thematically focused as some of the others I put in top tier. He doesn’t have a clear concrete backstory like Anisa does, nor a thematic focus like Ruslan. Yet rather than only centering around one core aspect that I really like, I feel he’s able to convey his fun and charming personality very clearly without having any supports who are outright duds or boring to me. I feel none of his supports fall flat for me, all of them are solid and convey the various aspects of his personality really well. It’s just a lot of fun seeing all the different sides of him – seeing him be wry and snarky to mess with people, seeing him ham it up and act dramatic because it amuses him, or lower his outer shell of barbed quips and appreciate the things people do for him, or try to be a figure of guidance for Cashew… It makes for an overall package who feels entertaining yet also notably complex, at least for me.
Easily my favorite Vision Quest character, no questions asked. I am still a little confused by Menahan B though, since I’m pretty sure the Sea Lion was an enemy WE fought and killed in the chicken gaiden already by the time Rakkaus joins the party… so Rakkaus is just lying through his teeth about killing the Sea Lion to flex on Menahan? I wouldn’t put it against Rakkaus to lie for cred, knowing him. Though maybe he just beat the Sea Lion in a duel without actually killing him…? I am not sure.
Sri
Sri is much like Dewi in that he isn’t super interesting outside of supports but he’s still just really great all around. Easy top tier choice here albeit influenced by my own personal bias – he’s a character that just personally meshes with me really well. And how can I say no to such a good-looking guy?
I do like how his alcoholism is taken seriously as a problem too though, the context of his dad makes sense as to why he became the way he is – dude probably grew up surrounded with liquor. He also does something really cool and interesting that I hadn’t seen before in older FE games and hacks, which really blows me away: his normal ending ends in tragedy since he dies of alcohol poisoning. But if Dewi helps him out and intervenes with his alcohol problem, his ending directly gets better and his future gets better which is really interesting imo. This particular concept of a character having a crappy normal ending, but can improve their life in a paired ending is really intriguing to me, and I like how you handled it with Sri (though I kind of wish there were more ways to make his life better).
It’s too bad that Surya wasn’t enough to get him to change. It’s really crushing to hear Surya’s words of advice that dying to alcohol deeply hurts one’s family members, especially since we know Dewi firsthand and how much she worries about him, but Sri just kinda brushes them off and his ending doesn’t change with an A with Surya.
Pink Kelik (anisa)
I really like Anisa as a character and it’s not just because she has pink hair that clashes sharply with her personality, nor is it because she says things like “I’m not here to make friends” that could just as easily come out of an edgelord’s mouth. I feel she just always adds to the dynamic between characters in some positive way, in the same way that Vagelis does with all of his cutting remarks. but she’s more than that too, there are other aspects of her that are clearly fleshed out and explored in a really interesting way I think. She’s no-nonsense, yes, but she’s also got a prickly and somewhat self deprecating side showing how accustomed she is to feeling ostracized by her culture.
I really love her relationship with Hollace in particular. they do the whole long lost family thing really well and realistically imo, contrary to like FE Fates where people meet their long lost sibling and are instantly “woh we’re besties”. here pink Kelik and Hollace are having a lot of trouble really connecting to each other. And while they do somewhat succeed in the end, pink Kelik even acknowledges “yeah I didn’t even know I had siblings till recently, and we’re really different as adults now so idk how well we’d mesh”. it also helps frame pink Kelik’s kelik-ness, showing why she’s so defensive and why she’s always acting as the straight man in other convos. I usually dislike the long-lost sibling trope but this imo is how to do that kind of story in a good way.
Ruslan and Papillion
Going off story appearances Ruslan’s only remarkable cause of his wyvern, but I honestly really like his supports. he’s one of my favorites now which I didn’t expect going into reading this. a really cool guy tbh and not just because of Papillion
“If I fail, people scoff at me. If I run away, no one notices.”
I really like how despite all his failures in the academy and how much he struggles as a student, he still comes off as a sharp guy. like with Helga where he slyly sets the wyverns up, or with Dewi where he’s mindful enough to realize that certain historical events are taught differently in Nevanese schools compared to in Kuching. it gives me the impression that he just wasn’t fit for the academy’s stricter and harsher teaching style, rather than being dumb, and it’s a consistent feel throughout all his supports (and something that kir even picks up on). I really like this character mold a lot.
Kir A is super emblematic of this, and it’s touching to see Kir recognize Ruslan’s talent and learning style being different rather than dismissing him as a bad student, which I wasn’t expecting from a support chain that basically exists to parody FE.
Duck
a while back Devisio told me that Duck is going to be the jagen of VQ2, and seeing the announcement I’m honestly super hyped to see more of him.
“I see you judging me right now. Go ahead. Judge me. Call me a coward. Call me a traitor.” is such a gem of a line. Duck’s seen people like Stina before, he knows how they react to his life story. No doubt he’s been shamed and judged tons for his decisions, but he’s used to it now, so he challenges it and pushes back. Yet when Stina explains why she feels the way she does, he’s still open to sympathy. It feels like a very human support to me, I get the vibe that there’s still a lot of distance between them that will always be there even in an A support.
Rereading the Gunnar one, I think part why I’ve grown so fond of Duck is cause he has a few light shades of Samto FE3 in him. He’s very down to earth, and he’s also the type to help a friend out with the drop of a hat. he hears Gunnar’s story and he’s immediately like “y’know what, let me help you once we’re done, I’ll do what I can to help you reach your goal”. it’s just so… Samto-esque and I like that a lot.
Duck is a character who’s really grown on me, he feels like a free spirit and a total bro who isn’t afraid to give the clothes off his back to an ally in need, nor is he afraid to speak his mind and stand his ground when it matters. With how he occasionally has these very outspoken moments, it makes sense that he pushed back against his imposing father. I liked him somewhat when I first played, but he really shot up now that I’ve actually got a better grasp of who he is. he hits all the right notes for me and I’m looking forward to seeing him in VQ2.
Finally, here’s some typos (and 1 or 2 lore inconsistencies) that I noticed along the way. I haven’t been checking this thread regularly so I didn’t realize that you weren’t doing any more updates, but I’ll drop them here anyways just in case you ever feel like returning to VQ for some reason, or if someone else wants to implement them or something idk.
Do note that I’m using an old patch (the first patch with all chapters completed, but before the addition of the extra endgame and Part 3 gaiden). So it’s certainly possible you’ve fixed these already. I also didn’t start recording typos/errors till I got down to Vernon so I’m sure I might’ve missed one or two in earlier supports.
Well, that’s that I guess. Part of why I wanted to do this was because I feel support writing often goes underappreciated and underread in hacks, and I wanted to show that this kind of time and effort isn’t necessarily thankless. The support viewer being 100% unlocked was one of my favorite QoL features of this hack, and I’m happy I got a chance to put it to use!
It probably goes without saying at this point but writing is something that’s important to me – though somewhere along the line I got the impression that VQ was a gameplay-first hack with story being secondary, so perhaps I’m being a bit harsh with my critiques here. I do enjoy digging deep into hack writing like this, regardless. I feel like I’ve learned a decent amount in general about what to do/what not to do for hack writing from this little endeavor, and I had a really fun time reading everything you wrote.
Ruslan and Dewi was one of my favorite supports. It truly felt like two people who never, ever, should have met under normal circumstances getting to know one another. I haven’t gotten to see their ending yet (currently on my 3rd playthrough, I am on the penultimate chapter) but I do have high hopes for a happy ending. They’re just a rare perfect match.
Edit: They don’t have an ending… damn. Also Bosco’s and Naia’s ending is unnecessarily unhappy I agree. Hell, she was the one that first pushed to look towards the future. She has every right to deny him whatever he asks for, but, the ending just sounds like she did a total 180 on him. And it wasn’t just an old common dead friend they had in common - they loved scones, or ice-cream, whatever it was. Yes, their friend was a part of that memory, but it hardly means it has to dominate their relationship. A small segment of poor writing amongst piles of golden writing, oh well, hard to complain past that 
Thanks for sharing these - I appreciate you taking the time to read all of the supports (gosh it took me writing at least a chain every day or so for 6 months to do all of them lol), and seeing this type of analysis and appreciation makes the effort feel worthwhile. I’m not surprised there’s some inconsistency, but some of it may have been fixed in the newer version.
I’m pretty much aligned w/ you on your feelings. Some of the supports and pairings I had really clear ideas for, and others honestly I was at a loss for what to do or say.
I put this list together after I finished VQ dev, but it’s basically my tier list of “how much I enjoyed writing these characters / how easy were they to write” and I def see some alignment w/ you. Note this is both main story, boss dialogue, supports, etc. - all of it.
Ruslan and Sri in particular were characters I struggled to write, but I’m glad that you found the pay off worthwhile. I think for Sri the subject matter can be heavy, plus trying to write a mostly realistic take on an alcoholic is hard and can be emotionally taxing.
Ruslan I felt like as I was writing him, I never really knew what I was doing. I felt like he benefited a lot from who his partners were more so than him on his own merits, but you’re not the first to hold him in high regard, so maybe it was a happy accident on my part lol.
Onisim/Esfir A I get, although it’s one of my favorite chains, it was the first one I wrote and also probably the most detached from how the characters act in their other supports. I’m rusty since it’s been a long time since I’ve written or read them, but IIRC Esfir and Onisim are usually in more guiding roles in their supports, so I wanted to use their support to give more insight into their character when they aren’t acting in those roles. Both have down things they aren’t proud of, and to me, it was a bit about finding acceptance in that and building a closeness to share those details. I can see how this can come across as odd in context of everything else, but it made sense to me when writing it.
I agree w/ you that Rakkaus probably has the best bunch of supports in the game and I’m super happy with how they came out. He was fun to write. IIRC the Sea Lion stuff is referring to the past, but he may be BS’ing Menahan. Considering timing of when this would happen, he wouldn’t have known that the group defeated the Sea Lion in 2-1x and they’re both older, so I’m inclined to think I was referring to the past. However, knowing Rakkaus, he was probably embellishing the truth here, too. I honestly don’t remember.
I’m glad you liked the Anisa/Hollace stuff. I really wanted to play up that Hollace’s memory and her non-memory of the event are so different, and that Anisa feels like a true outsider. I agree w/ you and also dislike when media makes long lost stuff feel like it’s no big deal.
As for sad romance stuff, especially Storch’s, I feel like too often FE games don’t give the female characters in the pairings any agency. They just fall for the dude w/o regards to their own goals or ambitions, and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. All the pairings that worked I wanted to work because they’d be able to support each others’ goals and such w/o contradicting their own personal arcs.
Storch is someone who is desperately trying to return to a past state where he felt happy, and it makes sense that he’d pursue companionship with people from that part of his life (+Esfir, who makes him feel safe). However, all 3 of them have their own plans and ambitions and want to move forward - Esfir from her past, Naia from the heartbreak of losing Augustyn (as she does w/ Bosco), and Larisa who has bigger ambitions than sitting at home w/ Storch in Rask. Not to mention that he also essentially ghosted her for close to a decade.
Yeah Duck is unquestionably my favorite character to write. I found getting into his voice to be easy and almost always rewarding, and it’s been fun writing an older version of him in the new project.
I know I didn’t respond to everything, but thanks again for sharing all of this. Glad it was worthwhile.
Glad you enjoyed writing the supports for the cast of Vision Quest. I really enjoyed Storch and Kusuma, Duck and Mango, Tien and Hokulani, Sri and Nazar, Dewi and Ruslan, Hollace and Anisa, Otillie and Osane, and Titus and Zoya in my first playthrough. I will return playing Vision Quest one day, with a second planned playthrough one day with a different team set up with a few units that I am willing to try out on. Hope you will one day finish Lengths of Time with some new supports for the new cast and develop some interesting stories as well.
I’ll be honest, this classic moment is all I could think of during Storch and Larissa’s A support.
I lied. It’s actually cold!!!
I played this hack several months ago and I remember quite enjoying it. So much so that yesterday I woke up and decided to compile average stats for it. Here they are for the convenient viewing of the public (Also lemme know if I made any mistakes I spent a day grinding this out lol).
Definitely seems right, super aggressive overall, makes sense!
