Okay, essay time.
This is easily the best hack I’ve played so far, better than most vanilla FE games too(duh, it’s a low bar). The story was engaging, the maps were, usually, at least okay, and the music was great. The original tracks especially. My favorite track in the game is Oasis Quest and I’m not really sure why. I just like it. Chill desert romp. The use of Ken’s theme for Storch being epic was also great. I get that it was probably meant more as an end-of-act map theme, seeing as how it’s also used for 3-E, but personally it felt like Storch’s theme.
First criticism I’ll bring up is that this game is looooong. By the end I had clocked in just under 80 hours, not counting the time lost when I was forced to reset maps. I don’t mean the game should be made shorter, but… this game is a real commitment to finish. Might actually be longer than Radiant Dawn.
Now, balancing. I thought this game is kinda all over the place when it comes to balance for, well, everything. It’s not the sort of thing that brings down the experience, but more like “this unit is lacking” or “what’s the point of this weapon”. I played on difficult, so that’s probably the source of most of my issues with the game balance. There were many times I thought the game was too hard and didn’t see a good, safe method of clearing maps, but there were just as many, if not more times I thought the game was too easy. If I played normal, the hard maps would probably feel more like they’re meant to, but then even more of the game would be too easy. A tough dilemma.
Act 1
Act 1 was like FE6 earlygame without Marcus. Everyone’s hitrates were unreliable when I needed them to be, and I didn’t have enough ways to increase them. Storch’s charisma is not quite enough help once big bosses with lots of leadership appear on the map. Additionally, he can’t benefit from his own charisma, so his hitrates in particular were a problem. I don’t understand why his prf rapier-like weapon needs to be less accurate than the standard iron sword, especially when the things it’s effective against often use lances.
Quick tangent before talking about act 2. I don’t think leadership stars are a good mechanic after playing this game. On your own units, it basically means anyone with any leadership at all may as well be a force-deployed unit for the rest of the game. I’d be stupid to not stack those +5 hit leadership stars as much as possible after struggling for reliability in act 1. I found Titus to be a pretty lackluster unit. Does okay magic damage, but is slow and not nearly as bulky as any other armored unit. Can’t kill by himself without dire thunder. I didn’t want to deploy him, but I had to anyway because of his leadership. I’ve heard that he’s an excellent nosferatu user after promotion, but I don’t remember when your first nos tome is. The first time I got one was act 4. On enemies, leadership means that taking out specific enemies will lower the enemies hit and avoid. However, these bosses are usually the last enemy you face anyway, or are someone you’re supposed to run away from, so this tactic never becomes a strategic decision. Even in the second-to-last map with the wyvern lord boss with 5 stars and the gate defender with 3 stars, the wyvern lord charges at you so you won’t get to the gate defender without killing the wyvern lord first anyway. In summary, leadership just limited my deployment options and made hitrates unreliable in act 1 and 3.
Act 2
Act 2 is an odd one. By the end of act 1 the units I had trained had good hitrates, and in act 2 these units continued to excel. Then the desert started. Kitozawa is epic. I never really tried to understand what he was trying to say, though, as he was just too much of a meme to take seriously. 2-3 was where I promoted Storch, and this changed everything. He was so powerful at this point that he could solo the whole rest of the game, though I hadn’t quite realized this yet. The desert maps’ spread out side objectives helped with this.
Also, 2-3x is not fun. While I loved there being more Kitozawa for no reason at all, the map quickly extinguished my enthusiasm. The main issue was that it was a desert map, in fog, with enemy fliers. I think there were even falcon knights? I don’t quite remember. Enemies flying out of the fog and doubling my units while I could barely move sucked. This map was a catalyst for me having Storch solo the game, as I had him deal with most of the map by himself due to this feeling unfair. Storch was my only unit who was strong, fast, and bulky. All of his stats were high and he has 1-2 range with hand axes, so he pretty much single-handedly turned the game around from FE6 Marcus-less to standard FE7, with Storch being Marcus. I gave him boots whenever I could.
After the desert arc is over, act 2 is suddenly very easy. Probably just because Storch is Storch, but also that the last few maps could be narrowed down to a single “main” path to the objective, allowing a single strong unit to do the bulk of the fighting.
Act 3
Act 3 is massive whiplash. It has much of the same issues that part 1 did, but this time it’s more like FE6 with Marcus thanks to Waluyo. However, not only were hitrates not reliable, but now weapon uses were a problem. You have 3 axe users right away, and I felt I was not receiving enough axes for them. On the contrary, there were tons of swords, but only one sword user who was weak, not fast enough to double, and had no bulk. Promoting Kir really helped so that he could start using this big pile of swords i was amassing while running out of axes. At this point i wasn’t resetting when units died because I knew I would eventually return to my vastly superior units from previous acts. Reaching side objectives felt impossible in this act. I remember specifically there was a map where I could recruit a bow scout and a shaman, but the bow scout died on turn 2 and the shaman turn 3. Enemies were far too dangerous to advance that quickly.
Act 4
In Act 4 I’m fatigued from act 3 and solo as much as possible with Storch to get the game over with, ignoring side objectives as whatever they might provide won’t matter. One map I was particularly confused about was the prison map. Why am I rewarded with boots, arguably the greatest reward you could possibly give the player, for skipping the map and seizing ASAP? Stealing the body ring off the boss is a much bigger ask. After that, I discussed the penultimate map already, and the endgame map looks like it will be a map, but is over in 4 or 5 turns because the final boss just charges at you through all his guards. Why? Most of the map is rendered pointless by him doing that.
Some smaller miscellaneous points
I know Arckady was supposed to be buffed in 2.0, but he doesn’t feel much better. He’s still this guy who’s advantage is his speed, but doesn’t double. The reaver 1-2 axe prf wasn’t as big a help as I thought it would be.
You seemed to want cavaliers to not be the best combat units, but Sri was my next best combat unit next to Storch, having both high str and spd alongside bow use. The main reason I think
he’s so good and wasn’t just blessed was that you gave him quick burn, an insane skill that
makes him reliable when no one else is, and excellent supports with other mounted units. Lategame his avoid was always close to or above 100.
Rakkaus is insane. He had better str and spd than Nazar who I was training extensively at that point, and it’s also the same map where menahan and his squad join who seemed pretty weak but at least somewhat serviceable.
Erasmus is epic because he is very good and his name is fun to say. ERASMUS!
Mage-effective weapons were pretty pointless. Mages are usually onerounded anyway, and these effective weapons were not strong enough to oneshot them, so I never found a use for them.
There is a strange fixation on steel blades. So much so that when Gunnar is identified as “the one with an affinity for steel blades”, that could have meant Storch, Hollace, or Mango.
The story spends a LOT of time on food talk. It’s nice and all, but it’s not what I’m playing the game for and it isn’t relevant to anything in the story.
S rank weapons have 15 uses and some give valuable speed boosts, but they’re not the best weapons in the game as they might have been intended. Brave weapons still outclass them, and they’re only B rank!
Early on there were many status staff enemies who had stealables. This disincentivized killing them and wasn’t fun to play around.
What is the point of the Main Gauche? What does it help you do? I don’t understand it at all.
The gem tier of weapons is a bit redundant for player units as they’re basically just more accurate, lighter steel weapons. They do make weapon triangle worth taking advantage of when on enemies, however.
The game’s ending has so much sequel bait that it makes itself an unsatisfying end to the story. Endgame X on top of Titus’s final scene doesn’t help, though I understand the novelty of having an Endgame X chapter. It all makes the ending feel like if FE6 ended when you kill Zephiel, and Idunn was sequel bait. Something short and sweet like Zephiel’s scene at the very end of FE7 would have sufficed.
I tend to lean more into criticism than praise, so I’ll end off by repeating that I enjoyed this game thoroughly. Best hack I’ve played yet, and probably for a long time.
Good hackrom mister cheese and wine man.
