I’ve played the 1st few maps as of now, and I’ll mostly speak of what I think of the gameplay from the 1st two. I won’t delve into anything else, purely gameplay.
This will also be… quite in-depth. Apologies for the wall of text.
And also apologies if I come across as overly critical… I usually am critical, but it’s from a place of genuine interest and care. If I am out of line with whatever I say, call me out on it.
Firstly, the Prologue.
Currently, it’s a slugfest, but without the challenge. A dozen enemy brigands that automatically charge at the player, makes standing on a forest, mountain tile, or the fort you spawn on, and waiting until they’re all dead the best strategy.
It requires minimal to no thinking and it is easy to execute. I saw that some of the bandits would try and go to the village, but you can’t tell which brigands go after the village. Not like it matters much though considering they go for the player when in range (which is everytime due to the villages positioning compared to the enemies and players).
How I would recommend changing this chapter up, is the following;
Step #1: Cut the enemy population by half, and spice up enemy variety.
7 (or around that number of) enemies can easily deliver the experience you want to give to the player, instead of 13. Those extra 6 goons don’t amount to a more challenging or thrilling experience, merely more EXP for the player to gulp up.
It might also be helpful to switch up the enemy ai occasionally. Having an enemy stand guard with the “Do not move” AI, or with another AI, can spice up gameplay and allow for more unique encounters.
It also doesn’t help that every enemy in this map is a brigand. I would recommend replacing 1 or 2 brigands with an Archer or Mercenary, but the call is yours to make.
Step #2: Add risk to the chapter.
To get to the village, the brigands have to go past Lucas, the lord character. Unfortunately, when in range, the Brigands will always go after him. To avoid this, I suggest putting the village on the other side of the river, so the player has a reason to push forward, instead of camping comfortably with their bloodied picnic attire and utensils.
Step #3: Nerf Lucas.
Lucas is, for lack of a better term… Broken. His bases are pretty high, and although he cannot double immediately, he will after a few kills. He also gets Canto+ 3 levels away from base. Take that skill away, slightly detract from his base stats, and he should still be good, just not game-breaking.
It will also give Cid more of a use other than being a Rally-Strength bot.
Next up, Chapter 1.
Alright, I’ll just come out and say it, THIS MAP IS WAY TOO BIG.
What I mean, is that this map could easily have been cut in half, or even in three, and the gameplay would feel quicker, and overall smoother. I’ll explain more as I go on.
Like the prologue, every enemy charges at the player. This is once again a problem because enemy confrontation in this chapter will almost always result in the player turtiling at the bottom of the map. On the plus side, enemy variety is much greater here, however on the other end, after all the enemies are dead, the map turns boring as you move your units from one end to another, maybe taking a long detour to buy an item or two.
That is, until without warning, about 20 brigands pop out and chase after the player.
Is this the anti-turtiling incentive? I will say, you’re on the right track, but there are some issues here.
First of all, they’re all axe-wielders, meaning they’ll have issues even hitting all three of the player units. That, and they’re easily disposed of. This turns a punishment into a reward by giving the player an EXP bomb, and I doubt that was you’re intention.
I have two suggestions;
Firstly, make them stronger, give them better weapons, and add variety to their classes. Perhaps a few pegasus knights and magi? A shaman? All of them being brigands makes it easy for the player to cut them all down, by hiding somewhere and baiting them one after the other.
Secondly, give a warning to the player that this event will occur.
The enemy spawn occurs at turn 12, so at turn 11 or 10, alert the player with a message from a soldier saying more enemies are arriving soon, or perhaps the boss monologuing about how his cronies are late.
You never want your player to feel screwed because something occurred that they could never have accounted for. If the enemy spawns weren’t just brigands, I know I would be frustrated by the possibility that I would have to replay the chapter over again.
For the map itself, the size of it makes it slow and tedious once all the enemies are gone, so here is my solution; cut the map in two, or even three, and have some enemies on “Do not move”. Tinker with what you think could also help with the chapter.
Phineas joins this map, and he’s a thief. Along with Lucas, and Cid, that’s three sword users in the party…
Not a complaint or issue necessarily, I just think it’s interesting.
Something else I do find intriguing, is the gimmick you implemented into the chapter,
where if you visit a village, and NPC will help you out.
I find this to be very interesting, however I don’t feel it was utilized to it’s fullest potential here.
I feel the size cut from before, along with buffing them up slightly, could make this chapter feel pretty unique.
A suggestion however; have an enemy soldier or brigand go after these villages, and perhaps after they get to the village, those same green units pop out red instead?
You don’t have to follow this, but it would be intriguing.
Oh, I can’t forget this… MAJOR SOFTLOCK IN CHAPTER 1
When restarting the map, the game will softlock once a brigand tries going down the map. I don’t entirely understand why. When playing the map on it’s 1st go, this does not occur.
Zanza's weapon is the one true Longbow: instrument of destruction and rebirth.
That’s mostly it for now. I’ll try and get more done when I have available time. Interested to see how this project turns out. May the Flames of Freedom prosper and stay aflame (no pressure though, work on it as best as you can, whenever you want).
