Thanks for reporting! This actually is probably due to the haphazard way I assigned weapon locks, since the hack is older than the cool Weapon Lock EX hack that now exists.
My guess is that when I gave Arckady his new PRF, I probably used the same combo of locks for the main gauche. This is unintentional. I may go back in to fix it, but it’s a low priority. Will keep it in mind should anything more major come up down the line that requires an update.
Thanks for reporting!
Thanks for replying! Seems a promoted axe merc Honeydew cannot use it, which makes Arckady a more interesting character.
It’s not a bug, it’s a feature !!
You can look at other comments as well if you have further inquiries
@Pandan, Just completed my playthrough and saw the request for feedback, so here I am. Full disclosure, your hack is actually the first GBA fire emblem I’ve ever played. I have only played Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn and Three Houses up until this point, with a smattering of Awakening thrown in. So this was a very different experience on my end. That said, I enjoyed it immensely, and I kept coming back to it despite the time commitment games of this type tend to require.
Gameplay
I’m not especially qualified to compare it to GBA fire emblem, but I think it was a fair and balanced challenge most of the way through. Parts 1 and 3 seemed to be the most balanced challenges, requiring careful positioning against foes of similar power to my characters. Part 3’s pacing and lack of a shop was also a fun challenge, and I think the music change to reflect the different culture and cast was a nice touch. Parts 2 and 4 were good fun but for different reasons. Part 2 gave me an opportunity to raise and play around with units I might not otherwise have touched in part 1, like Cashew, Duck, Honeydew and Naia. The fact that I had a bunch of over-leveled characters meant I could afford to experiment and see new personalities. Some of that group ended up coming to endgame with me because of this opportunity. Part 4 was more challenging than part 2 and generally had more varied objectives, but unfortunately the new characters that appeared were generally less useful than what I already had. The only part 4 character I ended up using past their initial appearance was Lori, and only because I didn’t have 18 characters all caught up to speed on the final map. If I had been doing an ironman run with high casualties their presence might have been critical to my success, but as it was I didn’t need them.
Just a few other thoughts I had gameplay wise.
+I adore the early Warp and Rescue staves. They saved my bacon on so many occasions and gave me a lot of utility on the earlier maps. I used them both up pretty quickly on my first attempt but saved them more on the second run I ended up completing, and they were critical tools.
+Proficiency weapons were great. I like how most of Storch’s compatriots from the first three maps got them as it gave them more staying power, and for characters like Marlen and Cashew it helped them get caught up quickly.
+It seemed like most of the cast would have been at very least serviceable if I had tried to use them. No one was weak or useless so much as situationally outclassed/redundant (Osane comes to mind, but if either Onisim or Dewi die she could be critical to the player’s success)
+The game is generally pretty good at preventing cheese. You could theoretically peck at throne-bound bosses for experience points but there were only a handful of those in the game. Outside of that there were rarely good opportunities to train units beyond where they should be; every arena was on a map with a time limitation, and the endless reinforcements maps tended to either stop sending guys after you or send them in such numbers and strength that training against them is too risky. The end result was that my characters didn’t fall behind so long as I kept using them, but also that I never got ahead of the level curve for too long (outside of mid/late part 2 anyway).
+Stealing is a wonderful mechanic and I made full use of it. If/when I play this game again, I might use Otilie as well as Esfir, just so I can nab more stuff.
+Relatively few problems with critical hits, though the killing weapon guy with a red gem strategy got tired after a while.
+Fog of war maps I actually like, with plenty of methods to mitigate the fog of war while still requiring you to play close and cautious.
+/-The hardest map in the game for me was 2-1, because the number of fliers and powerful enemies made getting anywhere extremely hazardous. I’m convinced that using a rescue/warp staff is mandatory for stopping the bandit on the right from burning the village, and even then Natsuko with a Lady Blade was the only way I could catch up with the guy.
+/- Skills ranged from fantastic to mediocre. I tended to forget to account for them with a few notable exceptions. As an example, it wasn’t until the last chapter of the game when I realized that flash of light during Vagelis’s engagements was him canceling enemy skills. Other skills like Marlen’s Swap, Dewi’s group restoration, Esfir’s pass, Bosco’s damage, Natsuko’s speed, and Storch’s inspiration were ones I constantly tried to exploit. Boss skills very rarely factored into my plans with them. The one exception to that rule was Kitozawa, and that was mostly because he fights in a radically different manner to most bosses. On the whole, skills probably balance out somewhere positive, but with substantial bloat.
Story
There is a lot to like here. Storch, Titus and Waluyo were all solid lords and characters in their own right, although I think Titus is the most interesting to observe. Storch and Waluyo are still both good in their own right, Storch for his idealistic foundation and personal struggles and Waluyo striking a balance between Storch’s determined lack of ambition and Titus’s excess of it. I also liked how you managed to reuse certain characters throughout the story. Natsuko acting as the messenger who jumpstarts the plot of part 2 is a nice detail. Marlen and Lera appear regularly, even after the narrative focus moves off of Storch and onto Titus. I’ll avoid talking about the ending and epilogue for the sake of spoilers, but I found it satisfying in all the ways it needed to be while still leaving things open. Side characters are generally quite strong and reasonably varied, though I would need to play with more of the cast to really get to know most of them.
Other Story Points, both good and bad.
+The Gaidens are a great bonus for keeping characters around and offer solid rewards in experience and items. It also is a good way of characterizing people I otherwise didn’t use much. A couple of them had my favorite story moments in the game (Kir, Gunnar, and Michael), while others were just hilarious (Honeydew).
+Onisim is a gem and is hands-down my favorite character in this hack mechanically and narratively.
+Bonus conversations are a nice treat for using a varied cast of characters.
+Hidden items given to specific characters are a nice touch, although I have no idea whether I got them all. They’re a solid reward for those who pay attention to backgrounds and dialog, and all of them were pretty powerful.
+/-Some of the support chains/endings feel like narrative landmines in regards to how they impact the characters involved, and I don’t know how I feel about them. Some, like Storch or Bosco, can sort of be seen coming if you grasp their character arcs or see the game’s themes. Others like Sri, Cashew, Hollace and especially Arckady feel like a kick in the teeth if you do or don’t do certain things with specific characters, and while they might be accounted for on a subsequent playthrough, new players that are trying to find fun/satisfying conclusions for certain characters won’t have that context. On the other hand, not everyone gets/deserves a happy ending in stories or reality, and having that partially reflected in a game that tries to keep its narrative and characters grounded with both understandable ideals and flaws makes sense. Like I said, I don’t know how to feel about it.
-A few characters didn’t have any narrative presence in the main game, which is admittedly partly my fault for not using/supporting them. The most egregious example was Anwen, who came and went without anyone commenting on her existence, despite how important she is supposed to be in-universe and in the game’s conclusion. Everyone else at least gets recognition on their own map, and many are referenced in conversation, even if they don’t pop up again later outside of support conversations
TLDR:
I really liked this hack, and consider it to be among my favorite Fire Emblem experiences. I will absolutely play this game again, and it’s gotten me interested in trying not only other Fire Emblem hacks but GBA fire emblem in general. If there is ever a sequel, I would leap at the chance to play it and see what happens to this cast of characters and their next generation. Thank you for creating this.
Thanks for sharing and writing such detailed feedback. I’m glad you had a great time and hearing that this was your first GBA FE experience is humbling. Considering you only played through once and blind, I think your insights are spot on and aligned very much with my own feelings about certain aspects of the games, and it seems a lot of the characters I also felt strongly about came through for you as well (Onisim and Kir in particular).
Will address some other bits point by point, lots to digest:
LOL I probably did this too much, fair call.
Totally fair - I used an old version of the skill system and was too inept to make any of my own custom ones, so there’s some repeats. Throughout dev I continued to nerf the presence of skills and was okay with most of them not mattering too too much, but it would’ve been difficult to rebalance after their outright removal should I have gone that route (Which I considered).
Yeah I can understand this. I agree w/ you on the getting/deserving happy endings, but I also understand how that can be less satisfying since from the player standpoint, it can feel like “you” drove them down this path. I do think it would be boring if everyone got a happy/marriage ending, nor did I want to write that many of them.
The biggest thing with many of the sad endings, especially the breakup style ones, is that getting together would be a disservice to one half of the pair and sully the development they have throughout the story. I tried to think what would make sense for each particular character versus what may make the player feel best, which as you mentioned, leads to mixed results.
I felt it was especially important to write independent female characters with their own goals, since the mainline games are often awful about their agency, especially in the context of relationships.
I’m overall glad I took this direction with some of the supports though, albeit I totally understand if you get a particularly sad batch and it dampens the experience.
I recommend checking out the support viewer - I’m almost positive most characters have at least a few happy pairings/conversations.
You know, I didn’t think about this until you mentioned it. Anwen was one of the last units added to the hack (if not, the last), and the map was written to focus super heavily on Cassius and his subsequent info dump. That’s an oversight on my part.
Thanks again for playing and sharing your thoughts - it means a lot to me you rate the experience so highly and had so much to share from your run.
I’m having so much fun with this hack and I’m so close to the end of the game! I’m encountering only one problem with 4-6: Penultimate Battle. I understand from talking to one of the houses there should be an S rank weapon in one of the trees, but I’ve been to all the tree squares and I haven’t had a trigger for this weapon yet. I’m not sure if I missed something or if the event is not triggering. Also what is the weapon if anyone knows? I’ve loved these hidden weapons but for some reason, I’m having trouble with this one? Thank you again! I will be leaving a full review soon!
Thanks for sharing - I think there may be some miscommunication from the game, since I don’t think the house mentions the lance requirements, but does hint at a secret shop.
The 4-6 S rank weapon is the lance, Steekspel.
You have to trigger Bromhilda’s boss quote with Erasmus. He does not need to defeat her in battle.
The house I think refers to the secret shop, which is adjacent to the house or in the area immediately surround it.
Hope this is helpful! Good luck and I look forward to your review.
Redoing Run in 2.2. Something to do when I have the tine.
LOG
It’s better than bad, it’s good!
In the spirit of the recent thread on old hacks, I preserved all of VQ’s major public releases here on dropbox. This is a nested folder with the current v2.2 patch as well, so you can access from there.
VQ turns 3 at the end of the month, and thought this was an appropriate way to celebrate.
The folder includes:
Please note these patches (especially the older half) are prone to glitchiness. I hope I don’t regret showcasing the early “bad” releases, but I think it’s worth keeping a public record and putting my ego aside.
Thanks again for all of your support.
Future modders can use those “embarrassing” old versions as reference points when they run into problems with their own work. Being able to compare them to newer versions will save them much time and effort. It’s an excellent choice to make!
Ha I hope it inspires people to consider feedback and how it can help a project improve with time. For me I like going back and seeing what was changed and added, spotting differences. A lot of this is hazy for me now.
Very grateful for the helpful feedback that helped inform many of the changes over the years.
On the subject of S-rank weapons / hidden weapons (the latter to mean, weapons/items that require a specific character to do something specific to get them), how many are present in this hack? I’ve found a few but I’m guessing there may be more.
A S-rank Bow nabbed off the back of a wagon in 1-2
A S-Rank Axe found in the pool in 1-11 (needs Natusko, Ruslan, or Helga to get I think)
A S-Rank Sword Slagzward given Larisa’s dad (I think Larisa needs to survive for this to happen, but she’s never died for me so I don’t know for sure), happens after 1-E
A S-Rank lance which Erasmus gets if he fights Bromhilda in 4-E
Vagelis gets a bow if he visits a house in 1-11(?)
Esfir gets a brave knife if she visits a village in 4-2
As an aside, I’m only aware of two secret shops. One that sells exclusively steel blades in 2-3, and one in 4-7(?) referenced by a little girl in one of the houses.
Is that all of it or am I missing some?
Close - there’s a few more. There is 1 S rank for every weapon. You have all the secret Prf weapons.
S-Rank dark - on a forest in the lower-left section of 4-4.
S-Rank light - engage Kosuke in combat with Tien in 2-4.
S-rank anima - Talk to Lori with Titus in 2-E
S-rank staff - save all green units in 4-2, same chapter where Esfir can visit the village for her prf.
There’s a secret shop in 2-7 near the top right of the map, and one in the boat staircase in 2-5.
I’ve tided them 
“!”
…?
Anyone know if there are rewards for saving all of the green units on any given map? I’m stuck on 1-8 trying to rescue the ones by Lajos while also reaching the village to the north in time.
Lajos’ guys are just meat shields to keep him alive longer. If a map has rewards for keeping green units alive/requires it, it’ll be explicitly stated.
Up to chapter 9 now. Gotta say, I’m doing much better this run.
Also, where’s the entry for ‘Skills’ in the guide?