Sins of the Wild Rose, a -story-driven Mystery Fantasy Drama Isekai- romhack from @Pink_Bunny
What is one thing about your project that you feel has had a lot of/the most time and effort put into it?
Pink_Bunny: It’s hard to say! I actually spent days working on some events. There is a particular chapter that has no combat in the normal sense, it’s actually a series of puzzles of increasing difficulty as well as a mystery to uncover, it’s quite daunting and complex! But I also spend days of my working hours on each map to ensure they’re as high quality as I can provide.
But ultimately, the story is what takes most of my time. Writing in the events, houses and the overaching plot has taken the most effort to think and to produce. Part of it is also to make it not too long, afterall the pacing is an important aspect to make a story engaging to the reader!
What was/is the most enjoyable part of working on your project?
Pink_Bunny: Making characters. It was unexpected, but the process of doing so was really enjoyable! It is something that I favored both in story and gameplay. Forcing myself to make weapon diversity and to strike diversity in multiple aspects really gets my creative juices pumping and it allows me to make cool characters that I ultimately am proud of
What is one thing about your project that you wanted to talk about that you didn’t have the opportunity to include in your video?
Pink_Bunny: I’ll be quirky and give two things!
First one is that I wanted to showcase more about the characters, both players and villains, but during the process of creating the trailer only three portraits were done: Micaella’s, the ghost child you see in 2 scenes and an Egyptian-Inspired woman that you see near the end. And since I didn’t want to show portraits that were just placeholders, I held off on that aspect.
Another thing that I want to showcase about was about the concept of Heroes!
Not to be confused with the Class, Heroes are a title given to Humans from our world that go into the fantasy world of Eden. Eden’s world is filled with magic, mystic creatures and the people there have above-average and sometimes superhuman features, much like the standard Fire Emblen where you can move so fast you create after-images or strenght so great you can spin your weapon at ridiculous levels to deal lethal damage. So Humans from this world when going to Eden’s world also recieve a great deal of magic and superhuman body. The role of a Hero is to protect and guide the community or group they’re inserted to…
There is a reason why people are being ‘Isekai’d’, nothing is by ocasion.
But, despite this, Sins of the Wild Rose is all about Micaella and her inner and outer struggles.
What inspired your project’s creation?
Pink_Bunny: I guess you could say my whole life is an inspiration for the project’s creation. But to tell you the truth, one of the main instigators was actually The Amazing Digital Circus and how well the pilot was all the way back in 2023. Still, there are many media in my childhood and young adulthood that were inspiration on many levels, like Adventure Quest Worlds, Dragon Fable, Ib, Fear and Hunger, the one Digimon season where the characters are isekaid to the digimom world and they can transform into digimons, the Winx, Corpse Party, Patapon, Wakfu, Fire Emblem (duh), Danganronpa, and so on…
What got you into making Fire Emblem fan games?
Pink_Bunny: I have some experience in the basics of programming and computer logic. That got me into game making. And in the past few years I found myself really enjoying the process of writing. One of the big factors was actually how easy it was to modify Fire Emblem thanks to FEBuilder. And with that I got very involved in various small and big projects along my time in the community.
BONUS QUESTION
Who is your favorite character from your project? Why are they your favorite?
Pink_Bunny: Hard to get into without spoilers… so there will be spoilers about the character! Read at your own peril!
It was a bit hard to choose but I think the character I like the most is Sayo.
Sayo is a Hero, she comes from Japan and is now associated with a guild of thieves called “the Underground”. Sayo is just a pseudoname, as many Heroes adopt a new identity/name to go with their new life, symbolic of them moving past their terrible past life and into a new, ““better”” life.
For Sayo’s case, however, it isn’t that great. She was always an average japanese student and daughter who was forced to work to her limits and beyond, always striving for greatness and a steady future. The pure pressure and abuse she faced from her parents, as well as her difficult time handling her classmates who ridiculed her being so quiet and socially awkward, made her hate this world of ours.
When she was transported to Eden’s world as a Hero, she had a chance to be in control of her life and carve her own path. Sadly, it isn’t as easy as said, for Sayo didn’t know any other way to live. She was never taught independence and free thinking. From one abusive family to another, she found herself in the grasps of the leader of the shady group of thieves and mercenaries of “the Underground”, and was exploited for her immense potential and skill to do his and the groups biding, akin to a puppet.
Sayo was never thrilled to kill, but that was the only way she was accepted and viewed as. Her worth was defined by the expectations others placed on her, and she internalized that as her defensive mechanism.
I like Sayo because she is complex and interesting. Her story is tragic and somewhat relatable to a certain level. I sympathize and want to care for Sayo, I would love nothing more than to give her a hug and tell her everything’s going to be ok. Still, she’s an antagonist and quite a formidable one at that. Expect to see a lot from her! She’s also a character created by my Ex-girlfriend, but I hold no negative emotions torwards Sayo, I like her very much as a character.