[FE8] Fire Emblem: Ballad of the Bard (20/28 Chapters + 3 Interludes)

[MegaCowsamMan]

@SubwayBossEmmett

I sincerely debated on making Sophia pretty bad when she joined.

That might be something you could look over again. Lots of the units that were considered “bad” in FE6 are quite good here. Wade has high strength, offsetting his low skill, Dorothy gets a 2-3 range prf weapon to keep up with Klein, and Geese is…one of the best units in the game (more on that later.)

Having Sophia have some sorta glaring flaw could be in character with her reputation in the fandom. Jus’ some food for thought.

@SubwayBossEmmett

I generally kinda want bosses usually easy to deal with and the main challenge of a map is to get/do everything in it

Fair enough. Wouldn’t want a long map be soured by a challengin’ wall in your path.

Chapter 5

I’d say this is my least favorite chapter currently. Map layout wasn’t too interestin’, especially for repurposing an older FE6 map, that was revamped. Enemies felt easier to tackle, with their pretty simple weaponry, like iron and steel weapons. Perhaps this was done so you could catch up with Cath…if you can, that is.

I tried four separate attempts to recruit here, and not once was I successful. I’d like to meet the guy who managed to do so with success. I’d suggest moving her back at least 1 or 2 turns at minimum.

Also, the paladins seemed kinda fast. Maybe turn them

Chapter 5x

Pretty fine chapter all things considered. Wish the treasure chests had more valuable items. Physic being the only exception. An Iron Rune sounds nice, but the lack of killer weapons and general crit rates didn’t drive me all that much. Light Brand’s kinda cool, but not too fancy, and the Talismen is a Talismen.

Chapter 6

This chapter really shows off the strength of Thea quite well. Having the party force split (and only one healer avaliable) makes this a unique challenge I don’t see much of.

One nitpick though, is that the right side wasn’t quite as dense compared to the left side. maybe one or two more enemy units could tighten that up I betcha.

Chapter 7

An excellent chapter indeed. Cavaliers’ high movement is shown off well here. has a nice flow too. Splitting feels really natural, even with out tight the spaces are. The map also just visually looks great.

Though, recruiting Gonzalez feels a bit weird after just recruiting Geese, who has better stats, a higher weapon rank, and a brave prf weapon. The choice feels clear to me.

Chapter 8

Sheesh this chapter felt pretty rough. Didn’t even bother going for the killer weapon armory that pretty much every character talked about. Cavaliers prevented me from even approuching the shops due to their strong weaponry. And that’s not even mentioning beefy Paladins coming.

No boss either? Maybe a generic reinforcment could sit where Flaer was, since that would prevent me from having Thea fly Ellfin to the throne. The Al sword’s kinda cool though. Enemies deal a lot of damage, so having something to prevent that is pretty nice.

Chapter 9

One of the better chapters for sure. I didn’t bother splitting, which was really difficult to do mind you, since both sides had excellent incentives. Enemy placement I found to be very solid. Especially the Wyverns. Dorothy made good use of her prf weapon here.

Also, having a ring give an instant crit is such a strange yet cool idea at the same time. Didn’t bother to get it though over the angelic robe.

Chapter 9x

A lot of cool ideas, bogged down by some questionable pacing.

Idea, fantastic. Having to trigger levers to have platforms appear is a much better mechanic than having them randomized for the player to wait for. However, with how big the map is, and how many levers there are, it took a little while for me to get to Oates at the end.

Downsizing the map, removing some of the levers, or even just weakening the enemies on the levers, would be pretty great for this map.

Chapter 10

So…I found this stowaway:

So, lookin’ through the game, I’m not quite sure why this guy stuck around. It may have something to do with my Cleric Nabatean perishing last chapter.

So I used him. A very interesting unit, boasting pretty odd growths, and a high weapon rank. Gave 'im the Afas Drops, and got hid defense growth to 100%, and went to town on wyverns and pegesi. A really fun unit to play around with. I like this little goober!

#SaveNabatean

Anyway, chapter 10 felt a little rough around the edges. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of strong enemies here. Especially againsts the cavs with javaliens. Pretty fun map overall though.

Chapter 11

Really memorable chapter this one is. Really like to cut off corridors and high amount of wyverns here.

I issue I have is I didn’t bother to bring Elen, so I never recruited Zeiss. A bit confused, since every recruitment had Ellfin, Larum, Echidna, or Klein to recruit. I’d like it if one of them could recruit ‘im, but it’s not a big deal otherwise. Maybe just an event before the prep screen with Elen sayin’ somethin’ I guess.

Chapter 11x

Jus’ gonna mention this here, I got a bit overwhelmed by the amount of text and key events happening here. Obviously, this isn’t a traditional chapter, but regardless, it was a bit much.

Also, did Narcian really have to go down like that? I understand Zephiel isn’t the smartest guy in the world, but I wish I got to see Narcian’s shortcomings a bit more beforehand. Also, when he threatened to kill Fae, why didn’t he y’know, actually do it? It’s also a bit hard to believe Zephiel killed Narcian, his dragon, and somehow not layed a finger on Fae.

Chapter 12

Moving on, chapter 12 was loads of fun for sure. Staying out of range from the Ballisticians was tricky, but satisfying when done right.

One thing though, did any of your playtesters, including yourself, even catch one of those soldier classes? Are they even supposed to be defeated?

Chapter 13

This chapter I’m thoroughly torn on. On the one hand, having to manuver the elite soldiers is fun, but having to deal with purge tomes, brave weaponry, and 2-3 range javelins is quite frustrating with where my army is. If I had a knight with me, it wouldn’t be much of a problem, but as it is, I find it one of the most frustrating maps in the game.

On the other hand, almost ironicly, the part with the maneketes, the villagers, and castle guards was an amazing feat this hack reached. Flame Campaign makes use of Brunnya’s leitmotif well, turning it from mysterious, into fear mongering and relentless.

So yeah, kinda hard to figure this one out.

Chapter 13x

Okay, I cannot take Roy seriously. Him wanting to blindly fight off the bandits jus’ was plain silly to me.

I always found Roy to be the kind of character who would lock himself within his chambers, lamenting about his friends, and his own shortcomings. Roy has more friends and family than really, any lord in the series off the top of my head. Celica, Marcus, Wolt, Eliwood, Lilina, Hector, I mean the list goes on. Wolt even mentions this in his “recruitment” dialogue with Roy.

Anyway, about the gameplay, It’s alright. Havin’ fighters protect the villagers was a neat idea, and seeing Garret was a really nice detail. Though, enemies felt a bit weak to me. Chad was going ham on the brigands for instance.

Chapter 14

Alright, who is sending a unit to the exact top left of the map? There’s not even a house there! You’d have better luck finding Stefan in the sand!

Granted, three points of resistance and a whole unit are very different, but still.

To the map itself, enemy density was a little much, especially on the top path, with the three mercenaries. Had to get Saul over and use the sleep staff on one of 'em.

Giving Falcoknights great value brave lances was a bold choice. Any unit disintegrates in front of 'em. Really like the snags on the sides, helpful in case either side needs more support, which they usually do.

I know you said you didn’t want bosses to be very threatening, but I easily oneshot Sieks with halberd Geese no problem. I’d suggest having him equipped with his silver axe instead, to prevent any easy kills.

Chapter 15

And to wrap this up, chapter 15 really shows off the strengths of having two dancers. Constantly avoiding wyverns nomads, monks, and snipers provided a lot of pressure, but a lot of options for where your units go. I’m excited to play through this chapter specifically again, and try a different strategy!

I’ll make a post about the story and bugs a little later. Right now, that’s all I’ve got.

If you need me to go into more detail, I’ll be happy to ablidge.

[SubwayBossEmmett]

Wow, was not expecting the whole thing to be done!

I debated to respond to the whole thing but thought I’d just focus on the 4 chapter comments that stuck out the most to me.

I might respond to the other comments here or maybe over dms, not sure.

Chapter 5

I don’t want to make this sound the wrong way, but I am surprised Cath was that difficult for you, but you were able to handle the rest of the game? Cath was originally my first and deliberate “hardest point” in the game, but I wouldn’t say she’s supposed to still be that. Especially with you beating ch13 and all.

Did you get more comfortable with bardtraning as you went along? Did you not make use rescue dropping to force along Echidna and like… silver bow Klein for more damage vs the wall?

Edit: Okay after thinking+typing about it on it Cath is not supposed to be that difficult to recruit since a number of promo items are tied to her now vs when she was originally designed. I’ll def delay her by a turn.

Chapter 9x

Lmao this is def a great example of Murphy’s law going wrong. I recently had to check/realize I never had EMS that expanded unit cap (rip my saves) installed and while checking I realized I was going to swap out making these units retreat with just dying. I just made the new event kill one of them twice instead of killing all three. I’m sorry the Nabatean will not survive but they can promote. Good for them?

Honestly, I think this is the push I needed for resizing ch9x. My friend testers said it was “fine” but I knew deep down it’s still tedious

I can trim it down to this much and lose nothing.

Chapter 13x

This is probably the most confused bit of feedback to me.

I always found Roy to be the kind of character who would lock himself within his chambers, lamenting about his friends, and his own shortcomings. Roy has more friends and family than really, any lord in the series off the top of my head. Celica, Marcus, Wolt, Eliwood, Lilina, Hector, I mean the list goes on. Wolt even mentions this in his “recruitment” dialogue with Roy.

…is that not what literally I show is in the chapter? Like the start is Eliwood asking to enter Roy’s room while he’s shut off. It’s in the recruitment convo. I’m confused what you want out of this.

The chapter is a bit easy, but its semi designed to allow for training up whoever you want + if it’s easier, people are more likely to spread out and see Garrett.

Chapter 14

There’s a very simple explanation for the secret house.

Sleep deprivation?? Being annoyed at setting up some other conditional? I don’t remember.

Honestly, knowing someone else has discovered it is awesome, though.

Ch14 is like super dense and I don’t love it but I felt like with just a few less enemies it became too barren and empty. I def will need to mess with it more.

Oh yeah looking at Siecks he’s even weaker than I remember. Def will make him a bit tougher.

Thanks again for playing and leaving feedback on the whole thing! Really awesome!

[MegaCowsamMan]

@SubwayBossEmmett

Did you get more comfortable with bardtraning as you went along? Did you not make use rescue dropping to force along Echidna and like… silver bow Klein for more damage vs the wall?

Honestly, this could just be me, but I never got “use” to the bardtraining until…chapter 8? Not to say it was hard or anything, but that I didn’t think about it too much, and just went into autopilot with using them to refresh my lower movement units, and less so to thrust my units into potential danger for a reward.

I didn’t on my first attempt, but every other attempt I tried, but was always a little too late due to Ellfin refreshing my other units, and preventing them from being slammed by the reinforcements.

@SubwayBossEmmett

Edit: Okay after thinking+typing about it on it Cath is not supposed to be that difficult to recruit since a number of promo items are tied to her

An excellent point I didn’t even bring up. Had to miss out on a few promo items due to not having Cath to steal 'em. Though I don’t really find it a complaint, since I actually had fun with sparce promo items, kinda replicating FE6’s design philosophy. Ironic.

@SubwayBossEmmett

I’m sorry the Nabatean will not survive but they can promote.

Blast. Had a lot of fun with 'im. I was pretty close to promoting him, but didn’t manage to get a guiding ring until chapter 15. I’ll miss 'im…

@SubwayBossEmmett

Honestly, I think this is the push I needed for resizing ch9x. My friend testers said it was “fine” but I knew deep down it’s still tedious

I can trim it down to this much and lose nothing.

Yeah, knowing something’s just “fine” isn’t a good feeling. I’m glad to have helped you out.

@SubwayBossEmmett

is that not what literally I show is in the chapter?

Alright, I completely forgot about this scene, since I quit my session at the chapter 13x prep screen, and then picked it up the next day, most likely forgetting about that scene. Whoops.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I’m seeing, you’re kind of taking most if not all of the characters from FE6, and making them different in terms of personality. I really enjoy that (most of the time, we’ll get to that), don’t get me wrong.

With that correction for me, I still think it’s a little weird, almost off-putting, for Roy to be throwin’ himself out there like that. I’d have Roy lock himself within his chambers, and refuse to leave. Then later in the chapter, join in on turn 3 or 4, and speak with Wolt or something.

If you like how Roy is, that’s totally okay. We all see and express art differently, so yeah.

And on the topic of the secret house, I think my post mentioning this came off in a negative light a bit. Not saying you view it as such, it was more like a raw reaction to it. Little easter eggs are fun.

Still collecting my thoughts about the story and characters, but here’s some bugs 'n stuff I’ve caught

Bugs to squish

A typo in Celica’s unit description:

Correcting me, but I think this is the wrong character description:

I chapter 8, I found this goober on the top left of the map. He seems to 'ave spawned when I put Klein in the ballistician to the left of the village:

I’d say the strangest bug I’ve encountered, but after exiting the chapter and then resuming, Rutger jus’ warped to the left side of the map. Everything else played out like normal though;

Since I’m assuming chapter 15 isn’t quite complete, so I will say I’ve finished up my run. I’ve had loads of fun with your project, and to me, should be the prime example of creating within a pre-existing world. Taking the building blocks of what FE6 had, and reinterpreting them into something thoroughly new, but also familiar.

Even on the gameplay side, like a lack of skills, or keeping paladins axe rank, or even the steel lance’s 13 weight! It’s not perfect, I still have some reservations, but overall, a very solid and underrated hack.

[UltraxBlade]

Anyway play Ballad of the Bard it’s a cool hack

[SubwayBossEmmett]

I hate everything what is happening

[SubwayBossEmmett]

Back at FEE3 this year for what should be the penultimate time!

[Art belongs to @Tuki_Janu on twitter. Note their account has some risqué art]

This year’s submission doesn’t drop for another 4 hours, but I’m not strong enough to stay up that late to watch the premiere of a video I edited. Forgive me.

I did plan to try and get this hack finished by around the end of this winter as per the recording, but a large irl issue that took up most of August then the release of a little indie game called Silksong once September rolled around ate into a lot of my time.

This past year’s progress was filled with a lot more higher concepts map I needed to make or realizing I “should make” to emphasize the storytelling. It was both fun and rewarding to do… but also required a lot more brainpower and time to test than anticipated. I do really hope you enjoy what’s been cooked up as I head into the last stretch!

To anyone who’s played or even listened to me ramble about this hack on discord, it means the world to me!

[Tiresome]

Really enjoying it. There’s a “reserved” attitude I really appreciate here:

• It looks like FE6
• Enemy feel is very reminsecnt of FE6
• The hack focuses on the central mechanic of the bard refresh, but otherwise makes minimal changes, allowing a deep focus on the bards themselves
• The writing is very strong, and feels in tune with the pace, word count and word choice of FE6 natrually.

My only note might be insurmountable, because I do think you lay out the plot in the most natrual way: player unit variety is crazy low.

• Wade just feels worse than Lot. I can’t see an arguement for investing in Wade. We get Bartre and Geese as a double act as well. That’s a tougher choice between growth and immidiate usablity. But we’re already overloaded on Axe units, especially with Echidna being an “axe forward” hero. And suddenly, wham, there’s an underlevelled Gonzales for another, fifth axe user. Even though we’ve left the Isles, and storywise he doesn’t really belong narratively anymore.
• We get Shin, who’s mounted. We get Klein, he has great base stats, serviable growths. Then we get Dorothy with amazing bases and a 3e range bow. Each have good comparable strengths and reasons to invest, but it does feel crazy early to have that many bow locked characters.
• Bartre is an axe and bow user, so he’s actually the 4th competitor in both categories.
• The first 2 promotion items are Hero Crests, so even if you’re promoting Fir, the likeliest second promotion is Lot/Wade for another Bow/Axe unit.

This isn’t something that’s all that rare in Fire Emblem (we usually get 2 contrasting but similar units relatively back to back and are asked to pick one, whether it’s the christmas cavaliers, Raven vs. Guy, Lot and Wade coming together in FE6 in the first place.) It’s just that this hack takes it much further with the Axe and Bow than a traditional FE would. And of course, we do have 2 bards that are effectively force deployed (i know lalum isn’t but you’d miss critical stuff without bard-hopping, like Cath recruitment).

It feels noticeably lacking in unit variety, which is extra compounded ony by the fact that with two refreshers, I’m using the same units more than once a turn.

This is… a challenge. I don’t know how I would even recommend fixing it. It would be hard to sneak an armor knight/mage somewhere in there, but I think it’s worth exploring. I love Gonzales, but I really think a different character should be recruitable in this chapter.

It’s easier to write at lengths about the gameplay elements that don’t sit well with me, but please don’t let that detract from the praise. This is the FE project I’m personally most excited to continue playing, and think you’re doing an unmatched job in capturing what made FE6 great. This is hitting much harder than standard nostalgia would, because it’s got smarts behind it and not just coziness.

Great work. Stellar work.

[ATHATH]

clearly the solution is to give wade a vouge prf so he can feel like a mage

[SubwayBossEmmett]

Wow, this is absolutely one of the nicest reviews I’ve ever seen, and it’s at my own project!

Thank you, it means so so so much to be appreciated for a very specific goal and vibe I have.

@ The unit variety + some rambly context

I will admit both of the fun and struggles with this hack is when I’m sometimes forcing process of elimination combinations/interactions for unit distribution for plot and gameplay.

I have screamed into the void/friend’s dms about “SIX AXE USERS BY CH7” more than once lmao.

Sometimes part of the game’s story revolved around the units I wanted for smoother gameplay (Saul).

Then others times the a logical story joining unit needed me to wrack my brain on how to make them stand out more (Dorothy).

Really there has only been time I’ve just thrown my hands up in the air in frustration. That absolutely is Gonzales. He even used to have a prf, but it made recruiting him more annoying so I uh, decided to rework him closer to being “a designated trainee unit” if you catch my drift. The Ch6 Hero crest is a relatively recent addition but that was more… “Wait a second if someone doesn’t get the non telegraphed ch2 hero crest they can’t promote any of them for like 15 maps.” It might be uneeded but not sure yet.

There’s def been sparks of genius I’ve felt but also walking on nails trying to make things work well. I def think the light magic users and two dark magic users do help allievate the lack of traditional anima mages for example.

Hilariously, the common consensus amongst my friends is that Wade clears and Lot has been buffed more than once to match him. It mostly stems from reliable steel axe one shots being feasible and a lot of enemies being just slow enough for him. Lot is def better as an all arounder and is probably just as good now after gradual touch ups.

Also @ATHATH clearly the answer is I give him a res hitting vogue…

[ATHATH]

gonzalez’s secret manakete heritage will be revealed next patch, trust

[ATHATH]

wait I just had a brain blast

New Gonzalez gimmick: A route Gonzalez and B route Gonzalez are actually two separate people (they’re twin brothers). If GonzAlez is deployed (and GonzBlez isn’t dead), GonzBlez will spawn next to your army at the start of turn 1 player phase, effectively giving you two units for one deployment slot. GonzBlez is present in preps (so you can manage his inventory and such), but can’t be manually deployed unless GonzAlez is dead. Whichever Gonzalez corresponds to the route where he’s level 11 (I forget which one is which) is a prepromote, so as not to take up an extra hero crest, while the other remains an unpromoted pseudo-trainee (until you promote him).

the addition of axe units will continue until morale improves

[tweetyboy]

Are the supports vanilla supports or new supports and options?

[Tiresome]

I’m glad my love for the hack is coming thru the criticism.

I do think a lot of the choices you’re making are “organic,” so I understand why the progression of units comes in at the rate that they do. You’ve found some clever spots to hide folks like Dieck, for example.

I’m suprised folks are pro-Wade. I have a very hard time justifying someone with a low base speed and low speed growth. I espeically feel vindicated because by chapter 9 and 10 I’m facing cavs with double digit speed who would double him. In a similar way, I have a hard time seeing Gonzales as a trainee when his skill is going to handicap him pretty hard.

Still, other units do come in with great unit feel. Ellen is the only possible context for a secondary footlocked healer to come in and feel worth training. I managed to blitz her to 10 and had to remind myself sophia needed the guiding ring more, even though training her was so fun. Those two come in as good duplicates with a unique usecase that pushes them forward even at a severe EXP disadvantage (when compared to Saul and Raigh, respectively.) Well done, there.

Smaller notes, that are strictly my opinion/tweaks I’d recommend.

• I think you can throw more promotion items at folks earlier. By chapter 10, I think it’s worth throwing out an Orion Bolt to either give Dorothy 6 move or help Shin catch up with her and Klein’s raw stats. 9x should probably have an additional guiding ring, considering it thematically fits the location + all of sudden there’s 4 characters who contest it? Curious to see when I can get my hand on a promo item for Geese, he’s starting to need it.
• Enemy damage is really high. I’d dig getting 1 of those Gaurd Swrods with added defense and res. It would help Echidna or Noah shore up their bulk and feel less fragile.
• In general, the whole cast feels very, very fragile since enemies are rocking silver weapons, tomahawks and arcfire. It’s mostly fine, but it feels out of place for every single character in my army to get two-shot at the midgame. Maybe throw out a stealable Dragon Sheild so ambitious players can shore up Echidna/Noah/Geese.
• Even using savestates, I could not catch all the desert thieves. Is that intentional?

Positive Highlights:

• Elen and Sophia’s gameplay feel
• Telegraphing Zues’ recruitment / the slow creep of Bern’s presence in the plot makes them horrifying. Especially with the “meta-knowledge” of what FE6’s plot is meant to be like, there’s kind of a delicious “is Roy even alive?” going on. I know you intend to have the entire playable cast in here, but feel free to break my heart by sending Zelot/Marcus/Oswin to their deaths?
• The support system being different somehow makes this feel even more Old-School-Clunky in a way that’s charming, and the conversations are written well.
• Lalum and Elphin having a covnersation to check in with each other every chapter is really endearing. Their relationship also seems to be remaining platonic? I appreciate that.
• Echidna is a very fun character with her expanded plot relevance.
• For the most part, every chapter feels well playtested and enemy placement seems very considered. While I have my suggestions for gameplay that stem from my taste, the first 10 chapters I’ve played are certainly polished.

Overall, enjoying myself enough that I missed my bus stop trying to beat chapter 10.

Thanks for making this.

[ScubaLuigi]

The low speed axe fighter nobody wants to use is the peak of FE unit design

[SubwayBossEmmett]

So roughly there’s not much traditional support growth at the moment. The closest example is to think of it as the game having designated moments for a lot of optional base conversations at once (if not doing something in a main chapter).

I would say it’s about 60% traditional support partners for these conversations and 40% unique pairings of characters just interacting. (Usually logical, like Thea and Noah may end up realizing they both know Zelot.)

I do plan on having the ability to get paired endings for a number of characters but you won’t be able to pick between a large amount of them.

[Aeroponce]

Sup. I’ve been giving the game a shot and i’m having a blast, units that i would usually relegate to being benchwarmers in a usual FE6 run became surprising mainstays in my army here. I also like the little bit of spice added with some of the new weapons, not too much to affect the feeling of OG FE6 but still noticeable enough to take into account. Outside of that, i’m stuck with a little problem, is chapter 12 supposed to be that hard? At least one runner always makes it out, and at minimum 2 of my units get killed between enemies overwhelming me and the river section halting to a stop most of my movement

[SubwayBossEmmett]

If you watch closely I did choke in my fee3 video on 2/4 of the thieves. Although one is cuz Noah CHOKED.

They might be a bit much unless you specifically have a good mount trained which I really didn’t have this run. On one hand I was deliberately rushing / not checking ranges just so the footage was more visually appealing.

On the other I am the dev with intricate knowledge so. Might get a tweak.

Also def noted about lack of bulk increasing stat boosters. I def could swap out an earlier reward to a drop and slot in a Dracoshield/Robe.

Overall, enjoying myself enough that I missed my bus stop trying to beat chapter 10.

One of the best pieces of feedback I’ve ever gotten.

@Aeroponce

Glad to hear you’re enjoying yourself!

I will say I def playtest the maps myself a lot but the later on the game gets the less “outside testing” the game gets.

There is a solid chance ch12 is overtuned about making like an early correct play.

I’ve gone back and forth on how I feel about the soldiers. I think it’s kinda pulling double duty telegraphing how the others work and that they’re not like running away entirely (for plot reasons). But you’re not the only person to be confused about the first one especially. They also are supposed to be more telegraphs of strong reinforcements you can intercept, however not unkillably strong anti turtles.

[Tiresome]

Finished what there is of the hack so far. Some closing thoughts:

Starting with Cons so I can end on Pros and leave it on the positives. As usual, prefacing this by explicitly saying these are my opinions, and I will be watching the thread and enjoying the upcoming chapters even if you take zero percent of my gameplay feedback. (There’s a reason I chose Tiresome as a username , I try to be respectful and self aware. )

Cons

• From Chapter 12 onwards, I do think enemy damage and accuracy is across the board too high especially in relationship to the 2 bards. 2 Bards should allow for really risky play, we have a way to push and reposition agressively. Instead, most of my manuevering was really careful to trigger 1 “pack” of enemies at a time. I ended up playing the hack like someone would typically play Hard Mode X-Com.

• Couple with how most chapters don’t have turn limits / timing elements, the clearest solution to most chapters is to slow to a crawl and only engage on confident terms. Risks are very high with very minimal rewards. People meme on the low hitrates in FE6, but they’re kind of necessary for player survival as much as they hamper player reliability. By giving everyone higher hit rates but traditional Fe6 damge, it becomes a game of Rocket Tag.

• I’m going to recommend that Promo come more often and earlier. At the Sacae chapter, I was sitting with two level 15 mages waiting on a Guilding Ring, Geese at level 17 waiting on an Ocean Seal, Level 16 Zuess waiting on a Whip… The only promo item on the map is an Orions Bolt (theoretically there for whichever of Dorothy or Shin I hadn’t promoted) but the roster already includes Klein and Igrene is force deployed. It feels a little silly.

• Chapter 13: Taking on the capital of Erturia is a big emotional beat. It’s the big goal for the mid game. It’s very well written. But the map is… deeply unfun. Perfectly strait corridors with multiple artillery enemies, reinforces coming in with 2-3 range weapons so they can’t be countered… This was such a slog that it took the momentum right out of me.

• In the aftermath, requiring the player to kill unarmed civilians to escape is a very bold story moment. A - I think it worth a content warning? It’s a way darker story beat than I’ve come across in any FE hack I’ve played. But B - the weight of it is undermined by having to play the same under-designed map. The moment I “got” the emotional beat, I switched over to ‘only cares about gameplay mode’ and blasted through the civilians to just be done with the map already. I’d recommend the map be reworked heavily. The follow up escape should also be swifter. The Writing/Narrative Ooomf of the civilian deaths is so strong, but unfortunately wears off after 3 turns.

Nuetral Thoughts:

• Are you expecting certain characters to only shine in an Iron Man context? Dieck and Clarine, for example, come in under-leveled, without stellar growths, and the meta-knowledge that: Clarine is not giong to level fast enough to compete with the upcoming Cecelia… Dieck is competing for a promo item, and is behind the curve for Echidna.
• The above isn’t good or bad, to be clear. If it’s intentional, it’s totally a good thing. In the same way (and maybe this was pure coincidence) Treck’s base starts were comparible to my trained Noah, and Rutger was a hair better than my trained Fir. They feel like natrual “leap-frog” characters.
• In a world where you don’t want units to step on each other’s toes so closely, it might be worth looking into pref weapons (or pref adjacent, like the Ice Spear shana gets) to stick on late joiners. Rutger being able to yoink Fir’s special sword felt a little mean. She was with me from chapter 2 and I feel guilty about how fast I benched her
• Base FE6 has some of the worst unit balance in the franchise, though, so seeing units be equitable in gameplay strength is a BIG improvement. I can actually lock in characters I’d never bother using (Hugh is finally usable! Love it!)

Pros:

• Everything you’ve done with Igrene is just so cool. I love her! She’s a character with a ton of implied depth in FE6 that gets nowhere near enough screentime + is not mechanically strong. Here, she finally shines like her father does in FE7.

• The Thanee/Zeuss/Shana unit comparison is very fun. Each of them has clear strengths (availability, damage, growth potential) without room on the roster to field all 3. Chosing which to use is a rewarding mechanical and story choice.

• Despite my feelings on Chapter 13’s gameplay, the story-beat is well executed.

• The Phrean Crew has great unit feel across the board. Roy isn’t useless! Lance and Cain’s identifable differences are still here, but tweaked to 110% in a way that feels great. Wolt is a Tanky Archer, which is funny, and does actually make him stand out completely from all the previous archers in the roster.

• Was I supposed to train Roy by blasting a bunch of the manaketes, btw? I didn’t. If he’s expected to use this as a growth opptorunity, it’d be good to telegraph that with him saying “i need to get stronger” or something. I think most players would be too rpecious about spending Durandal uses. I’d also dig a paralogue chapter about him using Durandal for the first time. It’s a big switch from him being depressed to him being capable of heroics, it would be rewarding to see it and play it, rather than to hear about it happening off screen.

• Chef’s Kiss for how you handled Narcian.

• The one-chapter bosses pick up a an extra bit of narrative weight here that helps a lot. Flaer’s expanded presence makes fighting him feel suitably tragic.

• you got me good with Zuess having a conversation option with Flaer, btw. I’m super glad I save stated. What would have happened if I beat the chapter after Zuess turned Red again? would he just leave and not be re-recruitable?

• The hack does reward creative uses of tools. Nosferatu Tanking, using the Sleep Staff, longbows et cetera, all feel extra valuable. The double-barding allows for creative usage of items I’d normally hoard for endgame out of parania until it’s too late to enjoy them.

I hope this oversized essay is of use to you!

In summary, I enjoyed this enough that I couldn’t put it down (20 chapters in 3 days is a crazy pace for me as a player. I usually go 1 or 2 chapters a day…). Any recommendations I make are either about adding polish or about my personal tastes.

Thank you so much for making this!

[SubwayBossEmmett]

@tiresome I love all this feedback and will probably respond to it in DMs when I have more time

However I will regretfully inform you that uh, Geese uses a Hero crest here. Ocean seals went extinct 20 years ago.

[Tiresome]

Shame about the seals.

In that case, I’m encountering a bug. Geese can’t use the Hero Crest in base or on map.

Glad the feedback helps.

Thanks again for fun!