Welcome to my passion project for the past year or so. Fire Emblem: Dark Paragon designed to be on the shorter side with about 12 planned chapters. It is a very experimental game, with several new mechanics.
Game mechanics include:
- Every playable unit has a galeforce-like effect called Vigor. This allows them to move again after attacking and defeating an enemy, similar to how Galeforce works in Fire Emblem Awakening.
- A small cast of characters. All units are force-deployed on every chapter, and there is only a very small amount of them. In exchange, the game is designed with Casual mode in mind; sacrifice strategies are heavily encouraged to make it through.
- Every unit has a rally skill. These skills’ effects do not stack with each other; the specific Rally a unit has is determined by their affinity.
- All infantry has a movement skill. Similar to the Tellius games, every infantry unit has a movement skill, while cavalry gets to utilise Canto. Unlike Tellius, there is a further split, with melee infantry getting Shove, while ranged infantry gets Draw Back.
- A unique promotion system. There are two separate promotion items: The Heaven Seal and the Earth Seal. Earth Seals promote units to an upgraded version of their current class (e.g. Fighters become Warriors), while Heaven Seals allow them to draw new strenght, usually gaining a mount in the process (e.g. Fighters become Wyvern Lords). Promotion does not reset a unit’s level; the level cap is 30. Weapon ranks are determined by a unit’s class.
- Skill System: Every unit has their own personal skill, which can upgrade at levels 10 and 20, often gaining additional effects, a larger area of effect, or a boost to their effect. Additionally, units gain access to a class-specific skill upon promotion. Three additional skill slots can be selected through skill scrolls, or by reaching higher support levels with other units.
The game’s main focus is making use of the tools players have access to, and judging which tools are the most useful for the current situation. As such, a large emphasis is placed on money management, as it can be used to purchase skill scrolls, stronger weapons, tonics, or permanent stat boosters. Weapon durability is largely absent with the exception of staves; however, many weapons have effects to distinguish them from each other. Silver weapons retain their weapon durability; however, they have been made uniquely powerful in exchange for this.
The story
Story
- The story follows Marie, a mage on an important mission. She is part of a small group of resistance fighters, who oppose the king’s tyrannical and selfish policies. While seeking the aid of two well-known war veterans, she meets Arthur, a young fighter, who accompanies her on her mission.
- Meanwhile, Marie’s resistance group is under attack by the royal army, who seek to eliminate them before they can be a threat to their king. They can fend off against them for now, but Marie knows that she needs to return as soon as possible…
Difficulty
Dark Paragon features several difficulty modes, which vary in enemy stats, weapon loadout, and skill distribution. Higher difficulties may provide less gold than lower ones, and certain powerful items have to be stolen from enemies instead of being dropped.
While the game is intended to provide a challenge, it is not meant to be overly difficult. As such, features such as DS style map save points and a turnwheel are provided. Players who seek an additional challenge can turn those features off at the start of their playthrough.
Downloads
Currently, I do not have a proper demo for the game to offer. However, you can download a work in progress version of the prologue and chapter 1 here and a work in progress version of chapter 2 here.
You can also join the project discord server for more news on the project!
And lastly, some screenshots:
Credits
Credits
Item and Skill Icons by:
2WB • Batima • Beansy • CamTech075 • Cardcafe • Ereshkigal • LordGlenn • rainlash • SMITHYGCN • suneohair • Zelix • ZessDynamite
Map sprites by:
ArcaneEli • ArcherBias • BoneManSeth • CamusZekeSirius • Dei • Der • dondon151 • flasuban • Leif • MeatofJustice • Nuramon • Pikmin1211 • SALVAGED • TAS20xx • Tdim • WarPath
Custom unit portraits by:
ThiccMoulder
Generic portraits by:
BatimaTheBat
Class portraits by:
CamusZekeSirius • Der • flasuban • Jj09 • Nuramon • Pushwall • RobertFPY • SALVAGED • SamirPlayz • Shtick
Combat animations by:
7743 • BatimaTheBat • Black Mage • Craigrandall55 • eCut • Eretein • Flasuban • FrecciaVerde • Glenwing • Greentea • Hoodie • Iscaneus • Kenpuhu • Kyrads • Leo_Link • ltranc • Maiser6 • Marlon0024 • Max Limit • MeatofJustice • Mercenary Lord • Mikey Seregon • MK404 • Mycahel • NamelessX • Nuramon • Orihara_Saki • Pikmin1211 • RedBean • RRSKAI • Sax-Marine • SD9k • Skitty • Sphealnuke • Spud • TATUTACHANG • Temp • The_Big_Dededester • TheBlindArcher • Ukelele • Wan • Zane Avernathy
Tilesets by:
ZoramineFae
Most assets were taken from the asset repository.
Thank you for reading! ^-^