Stratagem Lost, a -Punk, indie game, inspired by FE but not an actual ROM hack- game from @Smithy
What is one thing about your project that you feel has had a lot of/the most time and effort put into it?
Smithy: The character combat animations definitely took the most effort. It has been worked on even before FEE3 2023 and took over a year to get just right.
What was/is the most enjoyable part of working on your project?
Smithy: I think the most fun part is making the characters come to life. I love that we’re able to feature some more unconventional characters and concepts.
What inspired your project’s creation?
Smithy: Stratagem Lost has a lot of influences, like too many to list out, but here are some highlights. It’s obviously influenced by Fire Emblem, but it’s also influenced by other games like Codename Steam, XCOM, Darkest Dungeon, fighting games, even some lesser known titles like Stella Glow. Visually, the game has a lot of inspiration from punk/grunge aesthetics, but also a lot of visual art like printmaking. I’ve done a lot of linoleum printmaking and it inspired SL’s crosshatching and general heavy line work. Some ideas in the story and visuals are inspired by political/art movements like Dadaism and postmodern. There’s also inspiration from hard rock/alt rock/nu metal/that sort of 2000s rock era. It’s coming back, nu metal is cool again. There’s also some rather bizarre influences, like sitcoms? Those actually taught me how to write, and contributed to me really focusing on character dynamics and motivations. In general, kind of an absurd mixing pot of ideas.
What got you into making Fire Emblem fan games?
Smithy: Honestly, seeing FEE3 content persuaded me to start making games, since I saw that you didn’t need to have a big company in order to do so. I took a different route than ROM hacking, but it started in a similar spot.
BONUS QUESTION
What media have you been consuming recently?
Smithy: I am listening to the Iowa album by Slipknot again, Metabolic is a very underrated track . Also I am watching Legend of Korra with friends. I don’t have a lot of time to play games anymore sadly, but I do want to make more time for them. Sometimes I pick up Sonic Frontiers again and then I realize I’m playing Sonic Frontiers and then I stop playing Sonic Frontiers.