I am unofficially releasing Chapter 22 of The Lonely Mirror. Similar to Chapter 21, I have only play tested areas where I have made direct changes. Next official release will still be after Chapter 26 is completed. Endgame is planned as Ch 32.
I have uploaded a new UPS file titled FE_LonelyMirror_22_DEV for those who want to check out the new chapter. It should be compatible with any existing saves that you may have.
New Features and Bug Fixes:
Chapter 22 is fully playable.
Roxie can be recruited if she did not join in Chapter 12 and survived the first arc.
Also special thanks to @RandomWizard for creating character Deugan who is used in the into cutscene. I have updated the Special Thanks text file to reflect this.
Dodge animations that may have previously crashed the game for certain classes with custom spells should now be fixed.
Chapter 16 no longer has a siege tome reinforcement.
Infinite money bug in Chapter 14 involving Benji/Helga is fixed.
I am unofficially releasing a fully playable Chapter 23 of The Lonely Mirror - a desert map! The game is becoming pretty solid.
I have uploaded a new UPS file titled FE_LonelyMirror_23_DEV for those who want to check out the new chapter. It should be compatible with any existing saves that you may have.
Chapter 23 is titled Reflection:
This chapter is actually really, really cool. It is certainly one that stands out to me in this game. Itâs very story heavy chapter, and I might consider it the climax of the game.
2 new units are available to recruit. Faith automatically rejoins at the start of the map. The other⌠I wonât spoil.
Side note: I am impressed that I was able to crank out this chapter in 2 weeks, but I guess there is not a lot to do these days. Lots of time on my hand. I have already created maps for Chapter 24 and Chapter 26, and Chapter 25 is in progress too. Just got to wrap all the story and game play together, and the next arc in complete.
It has been about a year since i released the first 10 chapters of this ROM hack. I want to formally release the next part of Fire Emblem: The Lonely Mirror as part of the anniversary month. This release contains 31 maps on a single route of play and completes the Celyste-Ametona War story arc, Jubirâs Drum arc, and the newly added Kuroâs Horn arc. I still recommend playing on Normal Mode.
Enhancements/Updates from Feedback:
I reworked the enemy placement on Chapter 14.
Leah has a new updated portrait in this version courtesy of @LaurentLacroix
Slim weapons are actually kind of good now.
Lots of text edits have been made.
Added a another recruitable character to the Celyste-Ametona War arc to provide more character choices.
Re-balancing of some of the characters. Most notable: Roxie, Brett, and Benji have been buffed.
Feature Update:
Original story and characters.
31 playable maps on single route of play (32 total).
38 total playable characters.
Player choices that impact branching chapter maps, character recruitment, items, and enemy placements.
Unique chapter objectives and map interactivity.
Custom backgrounds that enhance story telling including hand-painted, storybook intro.
Custom battle sprites.
Newly introduced classes and weapon types.
Newly added music.
Enhanced gameplay; though, staying true to classic GBA Fire Emblem.
Supports:
Supports conversations have been added. You can now read the following pairings:
Myles x Winifred
Ariel x Saoirse
Joseph x Wise
Support conversations take a while to write. Please let me know if there are any that youâd like to see so that I can prioritize them. I would accept help on this if anyone wants to throw their hat in the ring. This one is a bit of a mountain of dialog writing.
Recruitment:
For those who want more information on recruitment. Some characters can be tricky to recruit:
Recruitment Spoilers
Prologue through Chapter 10
Leah - automatic join (Prologue)
Grant - automatic join (Prologue)
Kathryn - automatic join (Prologue)
Vergil - automatic join (Prologue)
Brett - automatic join (Chapter 3)
Faith - Talk with Leah or automatic at end of chapter (Chapter 4)
Parvati - First, talk with Leah on Chapter 2. Second, visit the northern village in Chapter 4.
Atticus - automatic join (Chapter 5)
Roxie - enter the ruins near the chest with any character (Chapter 5)
Boone - automatic join (Prelude 1)
Caspian - automatic join (Prelude 1)
Winifred - automatic join (Prelude 1)
Travis - automatic join (Prelude 1)
Myles - automatic join (Prelude 2)
Lael - Open the door to her cell or automatic join at end of chapter (Prelude 2)
Joseph - automatic join (Prelude 3)
Liang - Visit the northeast house with Joseph (Prelude 3)
Caden - Talk with Joseph or automatic at end of chapter (Chapter 9)
Chapter 11 through Chapter 27
Boone - automatic join (Chapter 11)
Caspian - automatic join (Chapter 11)
Myles - automatic join (Chapter 11)
Ariel - automatic join (Prologue)
Liang - Liang and Roxie must have been recruited and survived Part 1. Accept the bow in the south village. Speak to him with Boone or Myles after he appears the next turn (Chapter 11).
Travis - automatic join (Chapter 12)
Rob - automatic join (Chapter 12)
Roxie - Liang and Roxie must have been recruited and survived Part 1. Accept the tome in Chapter 11. Open the door. (Chapter 12)
Wyatt - automatic join (Chapter 13)
Silvan - Choose to release Silvan in Prelude 1. Talk with Boone. (Chapter 13)
Noelle - Visit east village (Chapter 13)
Saoirse - automatic join (Chapter 14)
Joseph - automatic join (Chapter 14)
Helga - automatic join (Chapter 14)
Benji - automatic join (Chapter 14)
Winifred - automatic join (Chapter 15)
Wise - Talk with Winifred or automatic at end of chapter (Chapter 15)
Parvati - Parvati must have been recruited and survived Part 1. Visit the southwest village. (Chapter 15)
Atticus - automatic join (Chapter 16)
Queenie - talk with Boone / automatic join (Chapter 16)
Eamon - automatic join (Chapter 16)
Wanda - choose to help House Talford. Talk with Boone or Wise. (Chapter 17A)
Tanya - choose to help House Dalmask. Talk with Boone or Wise. (Chapter 17B)
Kurtis - talk with Joseph, Wyatt, Benji, Helga, or Rob. (Chapter 18)
Leah - automatic join (Chapter 19)
Brett - automatic join (Chapter 19)
Kathryn - automatic join (Chapter 19)
Grant - automatic join (Chapter 19)
Vergil - automatic join (Chapter 19)
Lael - automatic join (Chapter 21)
Caden - automatic join (Chapter 21)
*5. Liang - Liang survives Part 1 and/or Roxie is recruited in Chapter 12 or she dies in Part 1. Visit the southern village. (Chapter 21)
*8. Roxie - Roxie survives Part 1 and/or Liang is recruited in Chapter 11 or he dies in Part 1. Enter the northern sandbar using a flying unit. (Chapter 22)
Faith - automatic join (Chapter 23)
Pepper - Pepper is not killed during Chapter 22. Talk with Boone or Silvan. (Chapter 23)
Irina - visit the left house on the right side of the city. (Chapter 24)
Eliza - automatic join (Chapter 25)
Ozias - Talk with Boone or Eliza (Chapter 26)
Shane - Talk with Boone or Wise (Chapter 27)
Amanda - On Chapter 26 make sure to deploy only male characters. Talk to Amanda with Boone or Caden on Chapter 26. On Chapter 27 talk to Amanda again with Boone or Caden.
The Special Thanks and Credits document on Dropbox has been updated. I also wanted to thank @RandomWizard for helping with two boss characters (Deugan/Quinn)
What comes nextâŚ
Well, Endgame⌠This main story of this ROM hack is nearing completion. There are only 5 chapters remaining. I might take a break from it, and build out Hard mode as that has been the biggest request that I am getting. I also want to include more support conversations and and other additional refinement in the next release.
Does the hack stop at a cliffhanger or anything or does it just end abruptly and wonât be a complete story till the other 5 chapters come out? Just looking for a little clarification. Thank you.
Oh man, do I dare play this again? It doesnât sound like this update is compatible with my old save file. Iâll probably end up playing it again at some point. Iâd like to try out other characters, and the new runeseeker character sounds interesting. Iâm curious how it plays.
I would rather you finish the main story over a Hard mode. If people want Hard mode right now, tell them not to use Joseph or Wise. Those two are busted.
I would not recommend using an old save file in this updated version. I re-mapped some of the character IDs as part of handling supports, so you could run into some strange bugs.
The Runeseeker class is very interesting and can be quite powerful in certain situations. I personally had a lot of fun using Parvati, but my experience is my only point of reference. Hope you try her out at some point.
Fliers like Wise and Joseph (promoted) tend to be good in Fire Emblem; though, are they the best in the game? Thatâs hard to say. I have heard a lot of love for Ariel and Vergil as well as some other names.
I can finish the final 5 chapters instead of Hard mode; though I personally just wanted a change of pace. Building out chapters is A LOT of work.
wttttttt
I think I lost 4 characters lol (didnât recruit)who know how to recruit roxie
and I think I forgot to load save in silvan (I wanna see what happens in both choice)
parvati maybe forgot
Thanks for the release wishes, Pandan. I hope you are well.
Yes, the Verge is pretty awesome, especially in Part 1. He comes back a little late in Part 2, but he can still integrate into your main team with not much effort.
Roxie has a very strange recruitment. In Chapter 5, enter the ruined house near the chest. In fact, if you open the chest with Atticus, you will recruit Roxie. To re-recruit Roxie in Part 2, her and Liang must have both survived Part 1. In Chapter 11, the house near the start (Ariel can reach on turn 1), the player is given a choice between a bow and a tome. By choosing the tome, Roxie will join in Chapter 12 when the door is opened. If the bow is chosen and Liang is recruited, Roxie can be recruited late in the game on Chapter 22. Joseph will mention something strange about the sandbar to the north. Enter this region using a flying unit while the map is foggy.
To recruit Silvan, choose to let him go after defeating him in Prelude 1. Silvan will return on Chapter 13. Recruit by talking to him with Boone. If you choose to turn Silvan into the town, you are given a speedwing.
Parvati is a character that is now available, so if you played the hack before, you would have missed her 100% of the time. She will appear on the map in Chapter 2 (maybe the 2nd turn?). Just talk to her with Leah to trigger the cut scene. She will then be available for recruitment in Chapter 4 by visiting the northern village. If Parvati survives Part 1, she is re-recruitable in Chapter 15. Visit the southwest house.
I am in the middle of determining the scope for the 4th major release for this project, and I think I am prioritizing a completed path on Normal mode over Hard Mode. That was suggested - sample size of 1.
I want to add a lot more support conversations in the next release as I want to continue strong in the story aspect of this ROM hack. The product manager in myself wants to ask the community as to which character pairings you would like me to prioritize. These can take a long time, and I donât know whether to go for a Liang x Silvan, an Eamon x Kathryn, etc first. Is Faith still hated? Is Saoirse the favorite character? I donât know.
I also would like to promote some general discussion cause I know there are a lot of good ideas, and Iâd like to hear them to make this ROM hack better and better.
Please let me know if you have an opinion; otherwise, I will just do whatever. Thanks!
Hello, I found this hack about a week ago and have been playing it since then and have completed all the current chapters so far. Unfortunately, I missed the part about not playing on hard mode, so I donât think I had the best experience possible, but I certainly did still enjoy it. If anything, I hope that this can help with balancing Hard Mode, most maps feel fine enough however some are nearly impossible on HM. Thank you.
Firstly, thank you so much for this write up! I havenât had like a collection of feedback to discuss for a while. Haha, though, like you said much of this feedback does apply to Hard mode. The mode that everyone seems to play after I say not to⌠I guess you all are true Fire Emblem fans then. I always play on the hardest difficulty myself.
Truth be told, I have not played Hard mode once past the first two chapters. I think of Hard mode as its own beast. I intend to change maps around and maybe even play around with new characters or switch up some character recruitment. I honestly havenât decided yet. That being said, I will definitely examine the bulk of your feedback when I get to Hard mode. Also, you have confirmed my suspicion that Pre 3 and Chapter 16 are rough on Hard mode. Honestly, Pre 3 is not bad on Normal. I beat it consistently on my first try without issue; though, I do have sort of a route that I take that is low risk. Chapter 16 is really difficult on Normal mode.
Let me comment on some of your feedback. I truly am curious to learn more here.
Tricksters are hard⌠I KNOW, RIGHT?! That was my take away from my last play through too. I will probably nerf them. They are a nuisance. I found them more difficult than Judge Amanda.
Runeseeker is awkward⌠I honestly want to hear other perspectives on this. I found the runeseeker limited but powerful. The rune pickups are fairly generous on maps, but do require you to really go to each of the map quadrants to get runes. Granted, I am aware of this information. I also know that Parvati can become a Trickster, and⌠yeah, see above comment. Super useful.
Wise feels too meme-y⌠Really? How so? I mean, it might not come off in my writing well and I may need to revise some of it, but I find him to be a very complex character. He is really a self conscious guy who is living in the shadow of his older brother. His free spirit antics and call outs for affection from Winifred, Joseph, and Eamon is a vice to validate his worth. He thinks of himself as trash, but vocalizes himself as the best to help him deal with his anxiety. Again, it might not be super clear from the writing. I am curious about othersâ thoughts on his character though.
The Proclaimers being âgoodâ is awkward⌠I donât think the Proclaimers are ever good. Their end goal might be for the greater good, but their methods are certainly not. Yes, the party does end up sharing the end goal, but are not acting on the same method. I did want to share things more from their perspective, and I recognize it may not be the perfect transition. Story telling is difficult.
Chapter 27, the route map with enemy reinforcements⌠First of all, I have no idea what this map is like on Hard mode. It might be totally unfair. My intention for this map was to feel like a bit of an enemy gauntlet. The enemy is to keep coming for a certain number of turns. I wanted to blend the Survive style map with a Route map. The only traditional Route map in this ROM hack is the Prologue chapter. Thatâs it.
Otherwise, I can certainly add some additional silver weapons and Master Seals mid game. That may help. The experience reduction on Hard mode is something I will need to look at too. I believe the vanilla game naturally cuts experience. I may not want that for my Hard mode.
No worries at all, I appreciate the response! I agree they were much tougher than Amanda on that map. While Brave Lance Boone makes can take them out pretty easily, hitrates are still low and they deal a lot of damage back. Thankfully, itâs pretty easy to choke the hallways they are in
To be fair, I havenât touched much of Runeseeker aside from her join map and the map where you get her back in part 2, however the gimmick was enough to put me off from choosing her over the other units. I wasnât really sure how to acquire new runes so I didnât bother with her.
Maybe meme-y is too harsh, as I do agree that he is a quite the nuanced character with different relationships that help flesh out his character. His more lighthearted nature brings a good balance to the game and tone as well. I donât think Iâd change his character, but I do remember him saying something was âepicâ feeling a little immersion breaking
I actually do like the idea of working with the enemies as more truth is revealed to the player, and Iâm sure that the last few chapters will tie things up nicely, it just felt a little strange to be working with them after having them built up as the bad guys for the first 13-something chapters only to start working with them without really feeling a ton of pushback. Since then Iâve come around to the idea and I donât have any problems, it was just a bit surprising as a narrative shift
Conceptually, I do think the idea can work, and if I were to replay it I probably wouldnât have had nearly as rough of a time as I did before. Iâd say it was the status staves on the Tricksters that made the map notably harder. If they didnât have the sleep staves things wouldâve been easier, but I was spread thin trying to recruit Shane (who suicides on the wind mage if he doesnât hit both times with his brave axe) so my healers werenât in proper position to mange restores.
I will say I have already made some adjustments based on your feedback @FLR .
I changed the enemy Tricksterâs luck growth from 70% to 50% as well as lowered their speed from 60% to 50%. That should definitely make them less dodgy. I am also taking off their status staves on Ch 27. I think that will make them more fair.
You know, I never liked that âepicâ line from Wise either. Everytime I play the hack I always think about changing it but never get to it. I think it is out of Wiseâs character. I have finally changed that interaction with Joseph.
I am going to address the Hard mode gameplay specific things later when I actually work on this difficulty mode. I want to say I have a complete story from start to finish first.
A final note on music as it was listed as a con. Firstly, I am only using music tracks that originated from a Fire Emblem game for this hack. I have only used GBA Fire Emblem music with the exception of an attempted music insertion: Shackled Wolves play on Ch 24 through 27 player phase. I think it sounds okay, but could use some cleaning up.
I know my strengths and weaknesses. Music is not one of them AT ALL. I scored a D in music class in the 3rd grade (my proudest moment ), and itâs been downhill from there. Creating new music tracks to sound good in the game may be beyond my ability right now. Still, it is on my mind of something I want to improve. It just might take time.
And⌠sorry I wrote a novel to your feedback.
), and itâs been downhill from there. Creating new music tracks to sound good in the game may be beyond my ability right now. Still, it is on my mind of something I want to improve. It just might take time.