[FE8] Fire Emblem: Vows of Fate [Complete, v1.2]

[cactusyote]

Hi everyone! I’m excited to share my complete hack project – Fire Emblem: The Vows of Fate! I began development at the very start of the pandemic as a wedding gift for some friends. The pandemic stopped the wedding from happening, and I wanted to give something special to capture this moment in time forever. As Covid continued, it turned into a much larger project, spanning 14 chapters, a completely new script, unique maps and objectives, custom animations, portraits, sprites, and much more.

Note: Due to the nature of this being a wedding gift, there are some inside jokes, but they are kept to a minimum. Otherwise, this is a fully-playable Fire Emblem game with a script to match such an adventure.

The Story

Join Rift and Wes, husbands-to-be, alongside their group of friends, as they attempt to hold a wedding ceremony despite the looming dangers of Covidiots and Covid monsters! Will they be able to pledge their vows for each other? Or will their special day be derailed by sinister plots lurking behind the scenes?

Screenshots

Features

• 14 chapters, including 5 prologue chapters to introduce separate party members and learn how they play.

• All new story featuring 10 playable characters, all who play quite differently and complement one another.

• Balanced and streamlined skill system – Each character starts with a personal skill and gains only one more at level 5. Skills don’t proc on random chance, requiring you to strategize.

• Easy, Normal, and Difficult modes are included and tested thoroughly. Easy is comparable to vanilla FE8, while Difficult requires strategizing the entire team and utilizing skills affectively.

• Both Casual (units revive after each map) and Classic modes are included, however gameplay is designed/balanced around Casual mode due to the small roster of units.

• Character bios, including gameplay tips for each.

• Custom artwork and animations!

• Unbreakable weapons.

• New Armory System, which allows you to buy gear you may have missed.

• Secondary weapon system. Hidden throughout the game, each character has access to a weapon unique only to them.

• General enemy and item rebalancing.

• Dance items have been placed back into the game and are used in fun and strategic ways.

Download Link

VowsOfFate

Known Bugs

• There’s a chance that visiting houses in Ch9 will cause the game to crash. These houses have been removed/recoded, and seems to be dependent on the emulator used. This should be fixed.
  (Update) - Version 1.2 has been uploaded and the crash appears to be fixed.

• If a phantom attacks/is attacked by an enemy boss first, the boss conversation will show duplicate portraits (the bosses look like they’re talking to themselves :P)

[MakoQueenofAdrestia]

I’m loving this already

[ElPinguinot]

That’s a very wholesome reason for making a romhack, and the chara-design is also quite cute !
And congrats for the release, I will be sure to try the game !

[JeyTheCount]

What
why is this about the plague lol

[cactusyote]

Aw, thank you very much! It was so much fun to make!

[anon74447618]

This seems like a fun little half-serious/half-satire hack. I love that there are only 10 characters. I also love the humor regarding COVID. I’ll check this out for sure!

[Dizzlepath]

Although the plot is a little reluctant, the dialogue between the characters is very interesting. Thank you for the joy this hack brings me.

[anon74447618]

Found a bit of a bug. If Taska tries to summon a Phantom, but already has one summoned, it will perform the summoning animation on the map, but a new phantom will not be summoned, and an XP gain as if it was would be gained. Just pointing this out because this can be cheesed easily.

[JrpgAddict]

@cactusyote

Just completed this wonderful hack, amazing work for such a short but very well done high quality hack, Thanks!

Story was very funny and the char pictures were very refreshing!

Maybe hard mode could have been a bit harder but thats the only improvement i can think off.

Fav Char: Rift!

Looking forward to ur next hack!

• on mGBA 0.9.3 visiting houses on ch9 still crashes.

[anon74447618]

Can confirm that the above bug still persists. As confirmation:

Edit: The crash occurs right after you receive 100 Gold. It runs the event fine but after you get the gold or when your supposed to get the gold, it crashes. May have something to do with the event that gives you gold may not be properly lined up or something, just a guess.

[cactusyote]

Thanks for the heads up! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a way to remove EXP gains from summoning, or a way to remove the old phantom to make room for the new one.

[cactusyote]

Thank you so much for playing through it! It means so much!!

Sorry that the crash still happens. I went ahead and made some code fixes and changed how the houses function. I’ll do some playtesting the next couple of days and should have a new version up. Thanks a ton for the feedback!

[cactusyote]

Thank you for the heads up! I did some reworking of the houses and will be playtesting the next couple days. Expect an updated version soon

[anon74447618]

FINAL REVIEW - SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION

Are you SURE you want to proceed?

Well, I defeated COVID-19 today! Which means it’s time for my review of the game. Before I begin, allow me to clarify a few details for context:

• This was played on the recommended mode & difficulty, those being Casual Mode & Normal Difficulty
• This game was played over the course of about a week. I did Chapters 1-7 in one sitting due to shorter length, but when I hit Chapter 8 I slowed down.
• I will take into account the fact that this was made as a wedding gift and clearly made with Fire Emblem new-players in mind, considering I’m sure there are several persons this hack was made for/aimed at that may not have played the series prior.

Let’s begin.

STORY
I enjoyed the story of this hack. While obviously a parody aimed at making fun of certain real life events, it was executed very well. I appreciated that this was not a total meme hack, yet based off of satire. I enjoyed the main plot of getting Rift & Wes married and the overall story of the game, fighting off the Covidiots and the Covid monsters. It was believable and made sense within the lore of the world, which is the absolute most important aspect of a story. The story was simple, yet to the point. I have no issues with the story.

GAMEPLAY
I enjoyed the gameplay very much. The custom systems put forth allow for simplicity & easy understanding for newcomers, while providing some more tactical areas for veterans of the series. Skills were present, but you were not bombarded with them. I very much appreciate the Guide, clarifying what each character does, as well as the tutorial chapters showing how to play each character. I also appreciate the small roster size. I knew each character’s strength & weakness, and they each played a part in my strategy.

My one critique of this hack is that, more towards the Endgame (Ch.12-14), the game, at least in my run, became a little bit too easy for my personal liking. This was likely a side effect of the smaller cast, as everyone at that point was at least Level 12, save for Quixote (apologies if I butchered that name). It should also be kept in mind that I am a veteran to the FE series, and I have more knowledge of the game than the original intended audience. With that said, I have yet to play the higher difficulties, so I will withhold any further judgement on the matter. I only encountered a single crash in my playthrough, and the game was almost bug-free.

PRESENTATION
Within the confines of GBA Fire Emblem, the presentation of this hack was quite splendid. I enjoyed the art style, as well as the jokes (inside & outside). Again, the satirical nature of this hack is quite refreshing, yet it feels like a Fire Emblem game (just a light-hearted one). Each character’s personality felt unique from each other in what little sample size was given. I will say though, maybe cut back on the “power of love & friendship” a slight bit. I understand that this was a wedding gift, and I give proper grace, but especially towards the end, the theme started to become slightly oversaturated. I would not call it cringe-worthy by any circumstances, but it should be noted nonetheless.

CLOSING THOUGHTS
This was a very pleasant experience for me to play through. I’d like to thank the creators of this hack for putting forth a wonderful project. Although smaller than most hacks, the quality of this hack stands out. It both serves it’s original purpose as a wedding gift quite well, and serves as a well-made, enjoyable, standalone Fire Emblem game.

My Final Score for Fire Emblem: Vows of Fate is:
9/10

Again, thank you for the experience you and your team brought forth into the community. If you choose to make a sequel, or another fan game, I eagerly look forward to that day. Cheers!

[cactusyote]

Hi everyone! I’ve updated the download link with v1.2

Fixed the bug in ch9 where visiting houses crashed the game. This was occurring due to a space issue within the chapter.
The houses have been removed and replaced with ruins. Any items gained are found through different means throughout the chapter.

I went through and playtested the game, but definitely let me know if anything breaks, thanks!

[Bowiechowie82]

So sorry for bumping the thread, but this is my favorite romhack. It’s short, simple and not too complex like some romhacks (4+ skills per character and over 50 units, etc.) I like the story about the MC’s getting married but the Covididiots ruining it.

[HeroAltra]

Two homo getting wedding is quite cute. In real life, never judge who they are no matter what. I’m loving this not are they just that, but because how cute it is and these jokes are hilariously funny! Especially with COVID jokes haha love it! Great hack man!