It took me until chapter 9 to realize that Cassandra could use light magic lol
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Yeah lol Im only on chapter 2 and I saw her magic growth and im like “what? she doesn’t even use mag- oh.”
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I finished the game last Monday (from last week) and it took me a while to write this and some difficulties accessing the site made my task more complicated, so… here’s my opinion.
Scenario
From start to finish, we go from revelation to surprise. The use of Gaidens, which allow us to see the story from the perspective of a “third group”, Sevran’s, and the regular alternation between groups, have piqued the curiosity and kept us wanting to progress.
The three parts are played differently, and I think you handled this aspect well, avoiding player fatigue. Even though the game is difficult, players who might otherwise want to quit always want to keep going to find out more about the storyline.
The characters all have a background that explains why they are there, their lives, their past, or even what they may have experienced without us knowing in the previous game, or what they are planning for the future, and this is well reflected in their support and skills.
Even the descriptions of their classes—I remember seeing a change due to an event in the description of some of them. It’s a small detail, but it’s appreciated.
A lot of spoiler ahead, read at risk.
Gameplay
I’ll be honest, I was expecting the worst from the game with the abusive reinforcement system you put in the previous game, but you’ve toned it down nicely and I find it more ‘tolerable’. There were some excesses in the previous game, and I guess I’m not telling you anything new since you’d already received feedback on that.
But here, it was relatively doable. Maybe a few corrections need to be made on certain cards, but you’ve managed the reinforcements well; they’re not excessive and remain ‘acceptable’.
I was even surprised that in chapter 24 there weren’t that many reinforcements and that it was even relatively ‘easy’.
I wouldn’t have dared say that about a game you created regarding reinforcements. 
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I have also seen feedback about missing ‘evolutionary items’. Personally, I haven’t had any problems in this regard and have been able to evolve all of my characters without too much trouble.
Similarly, recruiting Mehran didn’t pose any particular problems for me. If you pay close attention to the characters who can talk before the battles start and you’re even slightly curious, it’s fairly easy to do, despite a few constraints in terms of character movement.
On the other hand, I may have missed a few chests, notably the one on the map where Sheila joins us and asks us how we’re supposed to proceed. I don’t think I had ‘Warp’ in my team, and it seemed relatively difficult to achieve if we wanted to get everything or do more than was possible (defeating the boss, allocating XP correctly, etc.). Or even in a town during the escapade, I was ‘blown away’ by the fact that some of our units left on their own. 
Something else I noticed is that I feel like magic is useless at the end of the game. magical units can no longer keep up with the enemies, and we have very few black mages or truly powerful mages, only one if we exclude Galen, who is lacking in that area and only exists with his personal weapon (very effective, though) or Walter, who is more useful with his Personal Tome than with a tome of black magic.
In the final chapters, it’s very difficult to use a mage who doesn’t heal. Walter struggled and couldn’t tank very well, responding weakly due to his low speed despite his generally good stats and excellent healing skills.
Most mages will only heal if they can and nothing else. I personally had a hard time attacking with Theodora because she couldn’t do anything other than heal units, remove status alterations, or perform first aid.
This makes healers and staves more interesting, but at the expense of mages.
It’s funny, but I’m going to make a small comparison with the previous game where, in the final map, everything depended solely on Julia, who had to deliver the final blow and who was a healer. Even with her ultimate weapon, she needed a little ‘boost’ if we wanted her to hold out. 
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One thing I already mentioned in my other comment, but being able to use all your units and delay the ‘bench’ deadline for as long as possible is something I appreciated.
I don’t like leaving anyone behind, not only because you have to catch up on their levels and XP, but also their support, which is quite annoying when you can’t find the ‘right map’ to use them on, further delays the deadline, and you end up with an obsolete unit on maps that are too advanced for them.
Well, that didn’t stop me from being unable to achieve certain character supports or rank them up. In particular, I wasn’t able to get Radahn and Isabelle to rank A, as they simply didn’t appear even though they were together on the map, but they weren’t the only ones.
I thought I would have time as the chapters progressed and given that all the characters participate in the battle until chapter 22, but I didn’t succeed. 
Finally, I tell myself that their support is still happening in parallel and that you will take most of it into account in the next game, as with Hadima/Rivkah, which did not prevent the relationship with Dwalt..
A small bonus point for the allocation of skills that make characters ‘interesting’.
I’m talking primarily about Isabelle and Adrax. Their stats aren’t great or even average, but then you see a fairly unique skill that makes them very useful, and they transcend the simple notion of stats, which can easily be replaced by a skill that makes them usable—not perfect, but usable, even at the end of the game—and that makes them unique.
Music
I would like to give a big thumbs up to the music you included. It fits very well with the maps it is associated with and the storyline, and I particularly enjoyed hearing Falling Petals in chapter 28.
I had imagined a lot of things: the characters’ progress up to that point, their potential defeat, the fact that Cassandra had finally fallen into enemy hands, with Madelina orchestrating the whole thing, Gawain the ‘benevolent’ knight with his angelic face, and Desserine who, despite her benevolent attempts, decided to get down to business.
But just that moment in the game made me feel bad for the team, and I had a very bad feeling about what might happen to Cassandra after everything she had been through and endured, and that she was probably ‘next’ after Radahn.
It’s also a very apocalyptic beginning.
The characters are in a desperate situation, surrounded by creatures they have never seen before and do not understand, already mistaking the monsters from The Dark Amulet for a mere delusion.
The sprites of the three characters (Madelina, Gawain and Desserine) come to mind, looking satisfied with their little dirty trick.
Honestly, you placed and used this music very well, it made an impression on me right away.
There is also the message explaining that Cassandra and Radahn’s story was well and truly over and that we are reaching a new ‘stage’ after having played through the entire game with these two characters and not thinking we would continue without them.
And speaking of Radahn, the moment when he defeats Hestephal and we see his ‘dreams’ almost brought me to tears after everything this character has been through in his life. Beloved had a huge impact on this moment, particularly in terms of what his daughter had suffered and his memories of his wife.
However, the adaptation of some of the music doesn’t work as well. Twilight God, for example, didn’t give me as much emotion as it did in the game it came from. It wasn’t as epic as in the original game. Well, it must be because the GBA version doesn’t have the same intensity, but I didn’t appreciate this version.
As for Sephiroth’s theme, it just made me laugh, to be honest. When you see the angels’ appearance and hear the music start, it at least had the merit of making me want to laugh. I don’t even know why, it just came over me all of a sudden. (lol)
In any case, you did a great job of using music from different games in the main series and placing it well.
Character
I would mainly like to talk about the characters relationships and romantic entanglements.
I’m quite happy to see the characters from the old game back here, although not all of them are here (Leandra, Catrine, Griss…) or have suffered a different fate, but I’m happy to see some of them again after a long time without them and the war against Zeddard.
It’s also nice to see that Edric was able to have a ‘double romance’ because we knew what was in store for him with Elyse and her ‘curse’. I was quite fond of Freya, and it must be said that she was very useful in the base game, which is still the case here.
Galen and Miley, after seeing their support, I understand better their lack of reaction to Dwalt bringing up a rather sensitive subject.
I don’t remember the details, but it seems to me that there was a connection between Miley’s ‘Kiss of Death’ arc and the fact that her child died in childbirth, right? Something was said in the base game about this arc.
In short, both suffered a sad fate that I do not envy them, and an even less enviable end. I will not forget them.
It was a small pleasure to see Dwalt, Rivkah, and Hadima again.
The latter two performed well in my first game, with Rivkah helping me a lot. I was surprised to see her with a bow, as she didn’t have one in her base class.
I hadn’t pushed their support beyond rank B, so seeing them with children and a climate that must have toughened them up, judging by their appearance, surprised me.
Hadima is always lovely to look at, and like her companion, she helped me a lot with TDA.
As for Hilda and Alexias, it’s a shame that these two aren’t as effective as they are in the base game. Hilda is still decent, but Alexias didn’t seem as ‘remarkable’ to me as in the first instalment, despite his range skill, which is ‘forgettable’ compared to the fact that there are tomes that give 3 range and that most enemies have them.
The fact that magic becomes quite obsolete at the end of the game also plays a part.
Eleonora, damn, you gave her a good boost in terms of ‘physical appearance’.
I didn’t have the opportunity to use her more than that, but she also seemed less effective to me than in Dark Amulet.
Unfortunately, I don’t have much to say about her, despite her cheerful side giving way to a certain coldness due to her status as a diplomat, which is also a noteworthy development.
It’s been a long time since I’ve played the game, and I didn’t use her much, just like her alter ego Isaac (though a little more than him).
All of them have undergone physical and personality changes, which is something we always expect to see in sequels: to see what they have been through, what they have experienced and how they have ‘grown up’ in one way or another, even though they are already adults.
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As for the support of Sevran, even though I find the character… ‘stupid’ or a little too naive or prone to provocation only to calm down again afterwards, I saw him getting back together with Theodora after he came to his senses and not settling for his ‘fake relationship’ with Maryam, which I find a little too “forced” if I go by your list of romances to make as many couples as possible and avoid ‘single’ characters.
This Mango story is nice, but… I doubt that a relationship of several years can be broken at a glance. I don’t really believe in love at first sight, and I’m willing to believe that Maryam is a rather beautiful and ‘gifted’ woman, but… it doesn’t really work for me.
Anyway, it’s also a matter of perspective, especially since another character in the game seems to have his eye on her, which you might want to explore in the third instalment. A love quadrangle, perhaps? 
Cassandra
As she said, she has already experienced love once in her life.
In my opinion, she doesn’t need to experience it a second time.
Her love of her life, despite being orchestrated in part by Isabelle, is her one and only love.
She will get him back when she dies or if he comes back to life.
Her love for Forrent seems rather forced and unusual to me, even though she claims to need time. her vengeful devotion to avenge Valentin seems to me to indicate that she is not ready to have another lover for a very, very long time after everything she went through with him and what she wanted to experience in the long run, ready to give up her royalty and her comfortable life to live a ‘normal’ life.
Radahn
Similarly, Radahn’s relationship with Seruth revolves more around ‘pleasure’ than true love.
She is somewhat obsessed with him, more for his title and achievements than for the person himself, who has had a difficult life.
Despite this, I find it honourable of her to take care of what remains of the Red Falcon of Ghomar in chapter 27x and grant him his final respite.
I just find these relationships a bit forced and, above all, unsuitable given what the characters have been through. Radahn still seems to have too much remorse for his deceased daughter and too much attachment to his memories of Hannah, which he relives through Isaac.
He is absolutely not ready, just like Cassandra, to settle down with someone else.
I also expected a romantic relationship between Cassandra and Isabelle, given that they have known each other for a very long time, but you didn’t do that, which surprised me a little, considering the example of Leandra and Catrine in the previous opus.
In short, to conclude.
In my opinion, you should never have suggested a romance between Radahn and Cassandra, or at least, you should have refuted their potential partnership with dialogue stating that they are not ready and left the relationship where it is, even if we are at rank A.
Even though I’m still suspicious about how things will turn out with Serut, or whether Cassandra is also expecting a child, we’ll see what you do with it.
Finally, I don’t mean to say that these backers were bad; they’re still well-crafted, but most of them tackle the subject of flesh a little too ‘quickly’.
Madelina
Personally, I find her past rather sad and realistic, reflecting the reality of life for women like her in the Middle Ages. We learn more about Madelina, and seeing her transferred to the ‘red unit’ at the end of the first instalment already gives me an idea of what might have happened, but she has gone far, very far.
Her story, which she gradually reveals, the fragments of her soul that she has “broken” in order to manipulate everyone at the risk of what it will cost her… I find her ultimate goal quite “idealistic”, but personally, I wouldn’t have stopped her.
She hit the nail on the head regarding the problems of world order, marriages, engagements, the abuse that most people can suffer, and the fate that ‘we deserve’.
‘Breaking the cycle’, however, I think most people should have given her a chance. Whereas Zeddard was very aggressive, Madelina played more subtly and schemed to achieve her goal, but I find her objectives quite commendable and even though the conflict with Zeddard is still present, Madelina made me feel more sorry for her despite her ‘cruelty,’ which most people talk about, including her son. She is ‘almost’ alone and has never had a real “ally” or support to lean on. She has suffered for years, decades, and has had to play different strings to achieve her goal. And in fact, even though the ending of the game is ‘bad,’ I find it good in a way, given that the ‘pre-established order’ of most kingdoms, rulers and thinkers has been broken.
Madelina is a well-developed character with a background that makes her more ambiguous than evil, despite some of her ‘cruel’ actions.
her sprite as a goddess is magnificent, she is very beautiful.
Is this really her as a younger version with her hair down and the ‘complexion’ of a goddess, or is it a fusion between Desserine and herself?
As for her plans, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had planned to use Gawain/Desserine as a last resort if Cassandra or Maryam weren’t suitable/no longer suitable, and if she hadn’t just ‘faked’ her surprise at ‘Oh, my dear Desserine, you’re a princess in love? WHAT A COINCIDENCE.’
They all got played, and she played her cards right with fragmentation, which seems to me to be a double-edged sword.
I think Elya will have a role to play in this, and that’s why Madelina is actively seeking her out. Perhaps she has a way to counteract the negative effects of fragmentation, which must make her ‘fragile’ on a divine level, through Elya.
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Finally, I would like to add that I was expecting a rather different ending, in which Madelina would have used Hestephal’s remaining feelings for her to sacrifice him. I think that would have been quite ‘beautiful’, even if it didn’t fit with the fact that ‘a princess in love’ was needed.
Did you plan this in a prototype or in your notes?
I won’t comment on the others, I’ve mainly given my opinion on those that stood out to me or caught my attention the most.
Bofforo
Bofforo, despite what people say about him, made me laugh, and his theme is epic and well chosen.
I really liked this colourful and exuberant character and his very ‘darling’ relationship with Cassandra. Despite his detestable methods, like Madelina, he is ‘very lonely’ and his story, although not equivalent to Madelina’s, gave the character a little ‘compassion’ and added a nice touch of humour to the game.
He’s a bit of a troll, but I hope you can bring him back (one way or another, even if it’s going to be ‘very, very difficult’). In the third instalment, I think he’s the only one who can save us from what lies ahead.
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Anyway, I’m eagerly awaiting The Tyranny of Light to find out how this story ends.
I hope to have as good an experience with the third instalment as I did with Shadow of Dawn and the first game.
Good luck to you ! (2027 seem pretty long)
ps: I use a traductor because I not good at writhing in english, sorry if some texte are “strange” to read + I don’t think I’ve forgotten (except the characters’ stats and what they give at the end) anything in this long text…
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Hi, so just wanted to give a quick update, yesterday i played chapter 20 and after it was over during the “negotiation” cutscene the music and stopped and them the game stopped responding and the emulator closed itself on me. I replayed and even finished the boss with the same unit (Abrax, but missing a perfect level up ToT) and the “negotiation” cutscene happened normally and i was sent to the “nostalgic castle” cutscene. I don’t know wxactly what happened that was wrong but maybe it’s useful to know it happened.
My emulator was mGBA btw.
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Beautiful game just finished it can’t wait for the next sequel
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Hello, for some reason the .ups link is not allowing me to actually download it. It just tells me there is a issue with the item.
Posting here after completing the game. This is a fantastic sequel to The Dark Amulet. I love how you integrate most, if not all of your characters into the general plot.
Spoilers
Many veterans from the previous game show up and they each make a solid impact. Unfortunately, I did not see Catrine or Leandra return, even if the former was mentioned, but I enjoyed many that did show. Although, I was kind of taken aback with how you handled Alexias and Hilda’s story given their TDA epilogue stated that “their love won over the [Florincian] nobles and they were wed”, yet their marriage was officiated 10 years later with none of the nobility present or consenting. A subtle retcon, but I do approve of this because of the great writing you were able to mine out of them. I enjoyed how Alexias surrenedered himself to protect Hilda and the rest of Cassandra’s party after being declared traitors. That was a royal move by him. Shame about how he downgraded back to tier 1 mage when he was a royal sage in my TDA playthrough.
Tancred and Sheila were nice to see, even though the latter was put into a coma after 1 map of using her. I enjoyed the references to their relationship in Tancred’s supports and you have planted more seeds into his story for the third game with him taking Edgar’s son as his apprentice, finding a cure for Sheila, and facing an unknown terror beyond Madelina. You have my attention, old man.
Miley and Galen were awesome in terms of how often they show up in the cutscenes and how much they give insight into Edric reign as king. Their ending was heartbreaking as they die in a valiant effort to protect Elyia from her grandmother turned goddess. Their last goodbyes to each other was pitch perfect.
Edric’s story from the previous game continues here and you made a satisfying conclusion. He got the crown by upholding the lie from his mother, and he seeks to makes things right in his own way. He confesses to Cassandra and cancels his betrothal to her. He helps her escape and goes to confront his mad goddess mother one-on-one. He stared down certain disintegration by his mad goddess mother and refusing to bend the knee to her, all while referencing Radahn’s view on the natural order. Another pitch perfect scene.
Finally, seeing Shorn and Gareth was a kind gesture after the depressing turn at the end. Having them adopt Elyia and planting the seeds for their family relationship for the third game is a trope you see in classic FE but it works so well given how much writing set up you did for them.
Not to say that the new cast’s stories aren’t as good as the veterans’. They are just as good. Radahn’s path for redemption. Severan’s rise and fall as King. Cassandra’s road to taking the crown in the memory of her lover. Isabelle’s attempts in saving Cassandra or the world.
There are multiple storylines that you have weaved together excellently. Even with the party split, where we play two different armies with their own perspective, the story is easy to follow and its elements connect together seamlessly.
Criticism
There are a couple of critiques I would give this narrative–one small and one big.
- While the liberal use of warping is okay in my eyes, since you set up some rules and items to justify teleporting characters, I think the rules are too vague that for some people, it comes across as a plot convenience that the heroes can warp to save the day in the last few chapters. Especially with Tancred who can warp entire armies over long distances twice.
- The existence of Fragments and the power of Goddess Madelina. During the ritual of gaining the Sun Goddess’ power, Desserine was able to summon fragments of dead characters who retain their memories and are under her control. They can even speak and share information with others that they learned before their death. It is reason enough to assume Madelina has this power. What is stopping her from reviving either Miley or Galen and forcing them to spit out where they hid Elyia? She would have found her much earlier if that were the case. I think this plot hole wouldn’t happen if the fragments weren’t able to retain their memories and share them under mind control.
I wrote a lot about the story and not much about the gameplay, but I’d say this is a marked improvement from the previous and stands tall as one of the best FE hacks out there. I eagerly await your third game and whatever project that comes after.
Edit: Spelling and Grammar
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Hey @Vorgus , I was thinking:
How old are Gawain and Desserine (did I write it right?)? She is Velaina’s child, that we know, so she must be at least 10 years old. Gawain falls in love with her so, unless he is a pedophile, she must be older. How old was she when the battle of Pale Pass happened? And how old is Gawain? honestly, he looks to be in his early twenties in both the Pale Pass and the present.
Desserine was 9 years old during the events of The Dark Amulet. Gawain was 26.
Spoiler-filled details within.
Here’s a rough timeline to understand her relationship with Gawain.
- Zeddard discovered the Dark Amulet when he was 30.
- Slowly, he became obsessed with half of the relic he had in possession. He was never mind-controlled by The Sleeping God (thanks to heavy reliance of dragon’s blood, which made him paranoid and aggressive as a side effect), but certainly lost much of his humanity from mastering the Amulet.
- During this time, Tancred hears rumors of people losing their minds in while in the vicinity of the old mines in Westmarch where the Amulet was originally found. He sends his best student, Velaina, to investigate.
- Within a few years, Velaina is entranced by the whispering of the Sleeping God, and meets Zeddard. She begins working with him to unlock the secrets and power of the Amulet. Their relationship is close, but mostly transactional. Intimacy, but not love.
- Ten years after finding the Amulet (Zeddard is now 40), he imprisons his estranged wife, Sophia, fearing she intends to assassinate him.
- One year later, Desserine is born. If Duke Ormer learns that Zeddard was unfaithful to Sophia (Ormer’s sister), this would end any control that Zeddard currently exerts over Ormer. So, Desserine is kept hidden.
- Nine years later, Zeddard usurps the throne of Redenze. The events of The Dark Amulet take place. Gawain, a royal knight of Redenze, is convinced by Zeddard’s vision (not by being brainwashed by the Sleeping God) to serve him once Morven is dead.
- Gawain is assigned the protector of Desserine. She is nine years old.
- Zeddard and Velaina are slain.
- Madelina is tasked by King Edric is eradicate whatever remains of Velaina’s Cult of Blood.
- Madelina discovers Desserine and Gawain in hiding, but offers them the opportunity to work with her. The Dawnsworn cult is formed.
- Ten years later, the events of The Shadow of Dawn take place. Desserine is 19. Gawain is 36.
Their relationship is meant to feel a bit icky. Gawain is too old for her and too familiar with her, and he knows this. But he still desires her and this causes him great guilt. He is devoted to her as her knight, but in love with her, as well. Desserine has been sequestered for much of her life and worshipped as a Goddess by most of the people she interacts with. Gawain is the only man she is really close to, and she finds herself deeply drawn to him. It’s a tragic, messy, unhealthy relationship, but their love is certainly real.
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Uh, I expected her to be the same age as Cassandra, turns out she is older. That said: THE HELL YOU MEAN GAWAIN WAS 26? Bro is 36 in TSOD? Damn, I wish I had his skincare routine 
Edit: I really don’t find their relationship “icky” at all, my grandparents had a 18 years old difference. As long as they are consenting adults, it’s fine. It IS rather unhealthy though. She fell for him because no other man treated her like a human being, only he has seen the humanity within her. Had she known another man, would she have fallen for him as well? Maybe she was so craving for affection she had to hold into the closest thing to her, that being Gawain.
Anyway, he is a great character and I hope to see him in the third game. Being alive and with his love dead, I think he deserves both a redemption and his vengeance.
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Uuh, that details section was left open.
Quick update: I’m in chapter 25 after a short hiatus playing the game. The emulator crashed again while i was playing, this time i was just trying to move Abrax in range of a paladin. Are there any known issues in using mGBA as the emulator for this game?
For some reason, I decided to go through Terra x Darin supports… Damn, Vorgus, damn. You got me wishing that A support was cannon. That’s some good story you wrote there.
All of Darin’s A supports are canon.
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HELL YEAH!!! That’s incredible, really. That makes Tommen, Terra’s son, a lot more interesting, specially if you put it in the sequel.
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Hey @Vorgus , I may have found a little error here:
Summary
During Amirah’s dialogue with Hestefal in chapter 27, her portrait suddenly transforms in that of Seirut. See for yourself.
Nothing game breaking, but just in case you want to change it .
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Made an account just to say how good I think this and Dark Amulet are. I appreciated your writing, character development, battle mechanics, new weapons etc. At first I didn’t like the constrained inventories and limited party deployment options, but I was so sold on the story I had to keep going! Looking forward to your next projects.
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You know… In this playthorugh I decided to go over all the supports I never finished before. Abrax x Isaac was incredible, probably my favorite A support ever. Now, I have 2 theories to share. I’m a huge aah yapper when I like something… For all I know, I may have written 2 potentially huge spoilers. Be warned.
My favourite A support ever: Isaac x Tancred
Isaac has seen a prophecy regarding Tancred and Sheila. Isaac asks whether the Dark Amulet can be reforged or not. Tancred flinches, asks Isaac why would he say that. Then Isaac asks if he would reforge the amulet to save Sheila… Tancred flinches again, his mouth shut, and runs away.
In this game, Tancred can summon the angels of the Sleeping God. In fact, he apologises to the gods the first time he is deployed… He has sacrified his own dark magic to be able to master the amulet. Again, he hasn’t just “uncovered all its secrets”, he has MASTERED it. He can invoke angels after studying a mere shard of the amulet, imagine what he could do if he had it whole.
Isaac’s last words in this support: Gods, have mercy on us all…
This is cruel, Vorg. Very, very cruel. You are actually going to do this, aren’t you? Tancred is an incredible character and with such an ending, he would be perfect in my eyes. You would make him perfect, and a painful loss.
Tancred x Serut A support (even bigger potential spoiles)
In their A support, these two speak about the 12 gods of the Pantheon… But the book they are talking about… Well, it’s older than civilization itself, over a thousand years old. They mention a 13th god. All the pages refering this entity have been ripped, every mention to its name scratched out.
“War into bloodshell…
We must never forget…”
Now, I can’t fathom what those final words alude to, but there is a 13th god or goddess out there. My quarrel is: who didn’t want others to know there is a 13th god? I couldn’t say. However, we know that the divine spark is transmited from one emperor to another… Or well, that’s how it should be, at least. The book is a millennium old and according to Serut, the empire was still young at that moment, but it existed. Hestefal himself says that he has lived for over 800 years, but not a thousand. The divine spark was probably passed normally from emperor to heir normally until Hestefal decided not to die. If the book was already in this state before Hestefal, who the hell tried to erase the 13th name? Maybe the book fine was until Hestefal appeared, and he decided to make everyone forget about the other god. And this would make sense, actually, at least if my thoughts on this are right. He would have done it so nobody knows he is not so special. Why?
My theory:
Don’t we know someone else whose life cycle is very similar to that of the Ghormese Emperors?
That’s right: the Phoenix. In this game, we see Elya, a child, being clearly much more powerful than her own mother, the previous Phoenix.
Both the Emperor and the Phoenix powers pass from parents to children. However, the Phoenix is special. The Emperor can live a long live and pass the spark to whoever he sees fit, we don’t know if he dies afterwards. In fact, we don’t even know if the spark is real. Maybe it is, and Hestefal was so scared of letting it go that he passes his conscience to another vessel along with the power, consuming the heir in the process. Maybe the spark never truly existed and was just an excuse for Hestefal to do this.
The Phoenix, however, must die in order to pass it’s power. Also, as I said, Elya as a child is more dangerous than her mother, to the point she almost burns the castle while trying to show off. So this power growns every time it is passed.
You see, I believe that Elya is not Elyse, just like Elyse was not her mother. All three of them were their own person, but they’ve got 2 essences inside them: the woman and the Phoenix. I believe the power of the Phoenix God is so grand, so daunting that, when they are finally awoken, there is no going back. Your fate is sealed. No woman (or man) can contain that power for long… And so they die. The power is passed to the child. Elya has BLUE hair. Blue, unlike her mother and grandmother (presumably). She has her father hair colour. If she was a reincarnation of her mother, it would be red. Remember, Fenix said that Elyse looked just like her mother, but Elya doesn’t. This confirms that she is not her mother, she is her own person. And I belive that the entity coexisting within, the power within, is the 13th god .
Still playing this… and I realized I… screwed up.
Spoilers
Missed my chance to re-recruit Graff… and I’m on Chapter 26. Damn and blast. (Ignore the double spoiler; I’m getting used to this new mobile UI…)
It’s a shame but it is what it is…
I made an account just to comment on this thread, which is something I’ve never done in my 8 years of playing FE romhacks. Simply put, this is my favorite hack I’ve ever played, and one of my favorite games period.
As I type this, I beat the game less than an hour ago and no hack has made me feel the way I feel now, very few games in general have left me with this feeling, and the ones that have are my favorites.
I was amazed by the quality of the story. I enjoyed TDA, but there were some rough aspects to it that hindered it from being top-tier in my opinion. TSOD however has completely shattered my expectations of what a story could be like in a FE romhack. I was genuinely hooked on the plot, I just had to find out how the story would progress. No other story in a romhack has made me feel this enthralled and invested. I’m incredibly excited for the sequel(s?).
The characters were also superb, I think I knew the character writing of TSOD would be amazing from one early chapter where Walter and Forrent talk about their families. That, and some of the other early dialogue made me immediately like the cast. Then reading further supports and seeing character relationships progress was incredible. I particularly loved Walter (obviously, best boy and one of my favorite units!), Ricard and Farrah. And who could forget the incredible main characters of Cassandra and Radahn, absolutely peak. I haven’t read all the support chains yet but the ones I got were incredible.
I felt like romantic relationships were mostly handled a lot better than TDA, that being said, there were a couple early ranks that felt a bit off for me. Serut and Radahn’s C-support felt really out of character for Radahn, and some of the other early ranks between a couple of characters made me interpret them more as horny teenagers than grown adults. That being said the later ranks definitely salvage them (I got the Radahn x Serut ending and I though it was incredibly touching), and it was a small minority overall that were weaker than the rest. I also want to say the queer pairings were handled much better than TDA which is incredibly commendable.
I found the gameplay also improved over TDA which was great to see. Particularly loved how you get to use the full roster until the merge. Map-design was solid. Unit design was great as well with every unit feeling viable and like they had a niche. My one complaint is that just like TDA, early-game was tough but fair, but the game’s difficulty really falls off once your units start to promote around mid-game. Obviously it’s impossible to balance late-game maps but I’m hoping that the sequel’s late game is less open and more tightly designed with stronger enemies.
All in all, I have to say that this was a phenomenal experience. I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here.
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