This is your daily reminder to play Absolution by ZessDynamite.
Chapter 5 of Absolution has a confluence of two gimmicks, both of which are super unique on their own, and combine to make the chapter an absurdly fun and memorable one.
First and foremost, your party starts out split. Four units - the lord, and three of your choice - are stranded on the right side of the map (a higher floor of the building, in the story), at the bottom just by the stairs. Meanwhile, the rest of your party is down at the entrance to the building in the bottom left. The doors are closed behind the lord’s party; the only way for them to make it back down, or for allies to make it up to help them, is to unlock the door at the top left and use the Stairs command from Fates to send units through. The actual objective is to defeat a boss on the throne in the top right; this is made difficult, however, by a band of enemy mages on the upper floor - who form the second half of the map’s gimmick.
You see, the enemy mages - consisting of every enemy on the right half of the map - are all receiving major stat bonuses. These bonuses are given by a set of statues on the left half, which are on the five dark orange tiles. Each statue is associated with a specific stat, and the player units on the left side can destroy that statue to remove the mages’ bonus to that stat - which they’ll need to do to give the party on the upper floor a fighting chance. In effect, the player needs to keep moving forwards on both sides at once in order for either side to accomplish anything.
While all this is happening, there are enemy reinforcements charging from behind, thieves robbing chests, loads of tools for the player units on the right side to push past the mages’ power before the statues fall (from resistance-boosting food to an archer capable of outranging the mages to a pegasus knight with terrifying offensive capabilities), and some generally really fun enemy placement and level design. Chapter 5 isn’t just a well-designed chapter, though; it’s a well-designed chapter with two memorable, unique, and engaging gimmicks that elevate it to the very top of a game already full of cool levels. In conclusion, play Absolution by ZessDynamite, even if it’s just to see this one map in action.