Lore

Yeah, it is a lot! My plan is to start with a scaled-down proof of concept without the non-linear and "outside battle" mechanics, a limited selection of classes and items, and just a short campaign of a few maps strung together, to show off the basic game play and story. RE: Classes I'll post more later, but the basics are: There are Tier 1 and Tier 2 classes. The class system is designed to be balanced among the weapon triangle. For Tier 1 classes, every side of the triangle has: 1 Physical Melee Class 1 Physical Ranged Class 1 Mounted Class 1 Mage Class 1 Staff Class ...plus right now there's 2 extra outside this division, for 17 total Tier 1 classes. Each Tier 1 class can promote into 3 possible Tier 2 classes. Two promotions are shared with other Tier 1 , and one is unique. Staves are also of a type (Fire, Wind, Earth). All types of staff have healing staves, with some variations...one might have the 1-2 range healing staves, others have the high value staves. Utility staves are split among types. Fire has the equivalent of Hex (since they already have Hidden Weapons) and Inferno (which deals damage to all, friend and foe, within 2 spaces), Wind has Rescue and Silence, Earth has the equivalent of Freeze (Root) and Mire (Fissure), and there's plenty of others. The planned Tier 1 classes are: Base Classes in Sequence Swordsman: Sword-using infantry, with balanced stats. Rogue: A foot unit that uses daggers, and can unlock chests and doors. Locktouch: Can unlock doors or chests without keys Wyvern Knight: Flying cavalry that uses swords. Weakness: Dragon, Flying. Mage: Glass-cannon magic unit that uses fire tomes. Troubadour: A mounted healer that uses fire staves. Weakness: Beast Soldier: Infantry that uses spears. Has skills that make them strong in tight phalanx formations. Archer: Infantry that uses bows. Pegasus Knight: Flying cavalry with high Resistance that uses spears. Weakness: Beast, Flying, Sacred. Seer: Balanced magic user that wields wind tomes. Weakness: Sacred. Monk: A swift-traveling healer that uses wind staves. Weakness: Sacred. Guard: Heavily defended infantry that uses clubs. Weakness: Armored. Fortify: Takes 4 less damage if hasn't moved that turn. Slinger: Sling-using infantry. Brace: Gains +1 range when using slings if hasn't moved that turn. Outrider: Horse-riding cavalry that uses clubs. Weakness: Beast. Shaman: Bulkier mage that uses earth tomes. Healer: A more robust healer that uses earth staves. Base Classes Outside Sequence Cavalier: Sword and spear-using cavalry. The only base class that can use two weapon types. Weakness: Beast. Bard: Can refresh units. Uses clubs. (The weakness "Sacred" is like "Armored" but for high-RES units. There's an Earth tome called "Profane" that deals effective damage vs. Holy units, like the magic equivalent of the Hammer) As an example of Tier 2 classes, the Mage can promote into: Magus (shared with Seer): A levitating mage that can deal AOE damage to friend and foe, whirling around the battle like a storm of flames. Uses Wind and Fire tomes. Weakness: Flying. Vagabond (shared with Swordsman): A capricious warrior that uses Swords and Fire tomes. On even-numbered turns, gets a large bonus to MAG and penalty to STR. On odd-numbered turns, gets a large bonus to STR and penalty to MAG. Warlock (unique to Mage): The ultimate offensive spell-caster, potentially able to ORKO bosses. Uses Fire tomes.

So this is a passion project of mine that I'm planning on making in Java, probably using libgdx. I was thinking of using something like FEXNA, but I think the game's system will be different enough that it'll be more work to customize it. Despite the lackluster story, I consider FE Fates Conquest to have the best game play of the series. This game takes it as a basis, and attempts to refine it even further, while also adding in a lot of unique mechanics. Probably the most unique concept of the game: You can do good in the real world to effect the world of the game. The game's setting is similar to the world from Neverending Story, separate from our own world but linked. Suffering in our world manifests as shadow monsters in that world, and goodwill in our world manifests as divine aid. Mechanically, this is represented by being able to get in-game bonuses by donating to real world charities. It's not that you just get "pay to win" stuff and trivialize the game. Instead, you get things that can positively effect the story like reviving dead characters, getting special reclass options, bonuses to supports ala Seeds of Trust, etc. I want to make a game that takes the science of freemium games, and uses it for good instead of evil. Also, I want the game to feel cozy but not purely escapist like Animal Crossing, since you can look on the tranquility you've created in this fantasy world and feel good about it. The story takes place in a kingdom plagued by these encroaching shadows. The privileged of this kingdom live safe behind the capitol city's walls. The rest live in small villages on the outskirts, constantly prey to monster attacks. It is a difficult life in the outskirts, and few make it past their 20s. The protagonist is an orphan child living in one of these villages. He begins to hear the voice of an otherworldly being (aka the player), and similar to Joan of Arc, follows this voice to become an unexpected tactician. He ends up leading a small but growing band of villagers and other vagabonds, eventually coming into conflict with the king's regime and many other factions in a quest for deliverance. Other Features: Non-Linear Plot: Minor arcs and major arcs are triggered by and feed into global variables like the player's reputation with certain factions, or things like "the protagonist's faith of themselves as a leader" and relationship levels between characters. Rich Chapter Design: Chapters have multiple ways to win, as well as lots of optional side objectives, each of can affect the direction of the plot. Nearly all maps have some element of time pressure, and you can't just use the same tactics of turtling or easy baiting. Focus on Consumables: Weapon durability is back. There are some crazy staves, and using them effectively is key to getting through chapters without deaths. There's no grinding in the game, and player's must manage their resources carefully. Rebalanced Weapon Triangle: takes some ideas from Fire Emblem Fates and some from Fire Emblem Heroes. Nothing is neutral on the weapon triangle, like bows and magic. The weapon triangle is tied to an elemental trinity in the game. Humanity/Fire, the element of ambition and the progress. Corresponds to the Ego. Red. Tends to have balanced units. Weapon Style: Agile and Slashing Melee: Swords Ranged: Daggers Magic: Fire Divine Being: Dragon Celestial/Wind, the element of enlightenment and universal law. Corresponds to the Super Ego. Blue. Tends to have units with high movement, high resistance, and low defense. Weapon Style: Precise and Piercing Melee: Spears Ranged: Bows Magic: Wind Divine Being: Kirin Wilderness/Earth, the element of ancient and unchanging nature. Corresponds to the Id. Green. Tends to have units with lower movement, high defense, and low resistance (the equivalent of an Armor Knight uses Clubs instead of Spears in this game). Weapon Style: Powerful and Crushing Melee: Clubs Ranged: Slings and Siege Weapons Magic: Earth Divine Being: Forest Spirit (Giant Elk) Divine Beings and Blood: The player can recruit a small number of divine beings. Unlike Manaketes/Laguz, they are always in a non-human form and can't reclass. However, their abilities are strong enough to make up for it. Divine beings have intermixed with humans over the years, and nearly everyone has some small traces of divine blood, but some have enough divine blood for it to express physical as horns, animal ears, etc. These characters have Major Divine Blood, which lets them use certain weapons/items. However, there are also weapons effective against the divine blooded. Other Features from Fates Same reclassing system with internal level maxing at 40, Heart Seals, and Partner Seals. Personal Skills Differences from Fates Uses the Rescue system from GBA games instead of Pair-Up. Possible Features Child units received after a ~25 year time skip at one point in the story. After the time skip, the now elderly characters will start leveling with negative growths, to represent aging.

My Skype username is Timothy Peters; could you please add me to the group chat? I'd love to play some games online, and get ready for the tournament coming up soon!

I'm bummed there's no Mordecai, and probably won't be since Green has already been in two sets. I wish I had him for the Fang-based deck I want to build.

Here's something from the category of "stupid shit I did as a kid": when I was a 12 year old in summer camp, a counselor was doing face painting. I asked if I could paint her face, and when she let me, I painted a swastika, lied about what it actually was, and let her walk outside with it as a prank. It's especially bad because, unbeknownst to me, she was Jewish. I got in tons of trouble and had to make an apology. It's one of those things that still make me cringe whenever I remember it.

This was my second playthrough of Fates, after Birthright. Both were on Hard Classic, iron man (no resets), and without any grinding allowed. I lost 10 units over all (1 capturable boss and 9 "real" characters): Chapter 9: Silas. And I'd wanted to marry Sophie so bad, nooooooo... Chapter 11: Felicia. This was all my fault because I was trying to grind the boss for EXP/support points but messed up. Chapter 14: Benny. I thought Pike-Ruin Clubs, etc, were just like the Dual weapons, and only messed with the hit percentages. I didn't realize they actually tripled might like Beastkillers/Armorslayers. It was a fatal but valuable lesson. A shame though, since I was really liking his character. Paralogue 19: Leo, Camilla, Kaze. Yeah, this chapter was a bloodbath. I probably should have used the dragon veins more effectively. Conquest's level design is pretty brilliant/evil for how often it makes crowds of enemies with both Wyrmslayers, Beastkillers, Armorslayers, and magic attacks...no tank is safe. Chapter 19: Kumagera: Bless him for his sacrifice. He died to the Kitsune so that others could live. Paralogue 15: Shigure. Really good character...he was my #2 in Birthright. Chapter 22: Velouria, Beruka. This was an especially big loss because Velouria was my wife, and Beruka was her mom. Velouria died because of Hana procing Rend Heaven twice in a row. Beruka died because of my being flanked on two sides at the end, and a Pegasus Knight with a Bolt Naginata getting through. Despite the tough losses, this playthrough further solidified my love of iron man. It enriches the experience so much. I like to think that "death shouldn't be an inconvenience, it should be a tragedy." Permadeath isn't for all games, because sometimes you just want to play and chill. But for a story-based game, which is supposed to make you feel emotions and relate to the characters, permadeath makes everything much more real. I did hate how the cutscenes still have dialogue from "dead" characters (retreating is BS), but I imagine it in my mind as the MU being unable to deal with the loss and just imagining them. And everyone else just awkwardly deals with the MU's eccentric behavior. I was lucky to not lose anyone past chapter 22, even though there were some perilously close calls (like Shura going down to 1 HP during enemy phase, and Odin dodging a lethal attack at 85% hit chance!). My team was pretty solid by Chapter 23, too. That's also the point where I finally reached Galeforce with my two Dark Falcons. Galeforce is nerfed here, but I still absolutely love this ability. Like in my Birthright playthrough, I gave both my Ebon Wings to related units (Odin and Ophelia here). My "Dark Falcon reclassed to Malig Knight via Partner Seal" Ophelia was an insanely powerful glass cannon. Gale Force, Lightning tome, Trample, Savage Blow...oh boy. I also found it interesting how I had way more units at max level than in Birthright. I didn't get any units to Promoted 20 in Birthright, but had about 5-6 here. I guess I had to focus my EXP gains much more tightly. Endgame was absolutely insane. I managed to make it on my second try. Now, my usual rule is that if I get a game over through Lord death, on my 2nd play of that chapter, I have to suicide-sacrifice any other characters that had died before my lord, plus one extra, who "took the hit" for the lord. But on my first play of Endgame, by the time MU got killed, so many other units had died I couldn't even remember which of them had. So, I let myself cheat a little here. With more informed preparation, I was able to make it on my 2nd attempt without a single death. Ophelia did get killed, purely because of the stupid mistake of me forgetting to move her after Galeforce activation. But I had that one charge of the Bifrost staff, which I'd specifically gotten Dwyer to A-Rank with Staves to use on this chapter! Bifrost was a life saver...literally. It looks like it's an unpopular opinion, but I liked Conquest's story a lot more than Birthright's. Admittedly, it had some cheesy parts, but it was less generic than Birthright's "Hey, let's fight the evil empire!" plot, where there's not much plot besides the MU's merry band wandering from battle to battle. I'd rather the story try to do something different and fail, than not do anything at all. The one thing I really dislike is how Azura's disappearance was such a loose end. Pairings, in the order that I reached them: Arthur/Effie, Odin/Nyx, Keaton/Beruka, Niles/Azura, Xander/Charlotte, Jakob/Selena (I was actually loving Leo/Selena, until he died...Selena had some real bad luck with her loved ones constantly dying in this playthrough), MU/Velouria, Percy/Ophelia. I was trying to get to Laslow/Elise, but Laslow was one of those useless benched units, and I just didn't have the space for him in the final chapters. Using a useless unit would've been too much of a liability, and could've led to more deaths. Now, I'm on to Revelation. The biggest planned difference in my approach: getting the kids earlier, even before they come with Offspring Seals. They should still come in with appropriate levels that way, and the only thing I'll be missing out on is the 20k I'd save from a basically free Master Seal. On a no-grinding run, if you wait till Chapter 19 to get the kids, it's nearly impossible to get them to S-Rank. I don't feel like 20K is worth missing out on pairings. I still want to marry Sophie, but Silas is recruited awfully late in Rev, so I don't think that'll work out. I might hold off marrying Sophie until a future Lunatic Conquest iron man playthrough...we'll see if that's actually possible!

Draconic Hex is hella good. It's funny since all my MUs in fates have been awesome tanks, but horrendous hit rates and damage capability, so that my lords are basically the equivalent of fly paper. The enemies rush me, I deal some pitiful 5-7 damage to them, and I soften 'em up for the rest of my army with the debuffs.

Also, couldn't they introduce an S-rank Beaststone in a hypothetical future DLC?

I really like Galeforce. Even if it's OP in Awakening, I think it improves the game a lot since it gives you so many more tactical options. I'd rather a game gives you a few semi-broken skills, and balances the difficulty level to them, then just keeping the gameplay more vanilla. I've been enjoying it a lot in my playthroughs of Birthright and Conquest. I'm not allowing myself to do any grinding in either game, so it took a hell of a long time to actually get it. I first got the skill in Chapter 26 or so of Conquest, and Chapter 24 of Conquest since I was planning for it better. It's been invaluable for those nasty late-game maps, though. In both playthroughs, I've given both the Ebon Wings to related units. In Birthright, it was Hinoka and Sakura, while in Conquest, it was Odin and Ophelia. I just think it's cool like that! And both give me the option of a more physical-oriented attacker, or a more magic-oriented attacker (though Odin still uses magic 95% of the time). The Beastkiller can be awesome in the hands of a Dark Falcon, too. Right now I'm absolutely in love with my Ophelia, reclassed to Malig Knight via her pairing with Percy. Galeforce and Trample go together awesome...along with Savage Blow. If I wanted to slingshot over the map even more, I can equip her with Lunge. I could just buy all the skills to make the broken combos, but it's more fun to plan it out so they inherit or properly learn them. I've also given both of them the +Skill stats boosters, because the one downside to Galeforce is being screwed if you fail to get the kill. Sometimes I Rally Skill on them before sending them out, too. I'm actually fine with that, since I find it tactically interesting to play around.

I have my game paused while I try to figure this out, since otherwise I might be sending a unit to certain death: In Fates, if I attack with Galeforce, activate Galeforce, use my 2nd turn, and then sing with Azura...will the unit that was refreshed be able to activate Galeforce again? Thanks in advance.

I first heard of FE after playing Battle for Wesnoth, and went online to find recommendations of similar games. Wesnoth is a great game, which probably does the tactics better than FE, though not the characterization and story. I was so intrigued by the FE games I ended up getting a 3DS to play Awakening, even though I haven't touched a console since the N64 like 15 years ago. Now I'm at a bit of gaming renaissance in my life, all due to FE.

Beruka gets a critical hit in the arena and says, "You won't survive this!" Her base damage is a pathetic 2, so it deals 6 damage, and the enemy has 7 HP left...yeah, he survived it.

I started playing Fates via an ironman run, and I've really been enjoying it so far. I think it'll become my default way of playing FE games in the future. I want to go really in-depth about the reasons why in a blog post sometime, but some of them are: 1. Immersion. Actually accepting permadeath makes everything much more real. Some people feel it's too much pressure, and just want to play a chill game. And that's fine for most games, but in a narrative-based game which is trying to make you feel emotions, I think the immersion is important. I don't want to "frustrated" by a death, I want to be emotionally affected. I've been saddened by deaths in an ironman run. I've gritted my teeth and said, "You bastards! You'll pay for this!" 2. Less Tedium. Replaying the same chapter is tedious to me. I don't like grinding in games, and it feels like that. I worry less about missing out on content, then wasting my scarce free-time on the same content over and over. 3. Makes Each Playthrough Unique. I don't like RPGs where you can get 100% completion, because that means every playthrough comes to rest at the same static point. I want to miss some supports. I want the characters to live different lives than they might have. I want to make choices with irrevocable consequences. 4. Forces You to Adjust Strategy. Oboro and Kagero were both awesome units in Birthright...but then they died. Hard-hitting deaths will force you to rethink the tiers of your units, and push some to the forefront who'd otherwise be neglected. 5. And on a more personal level...I find it very poignant to learn about accepting loss in a video game. Very few games play with that concept. I'm actually an orphaned adult, and dealing with deaths in Fire Emblem resonates with me in a good way. It's kind of like it takes a big scary part of life, and puts it in a safe, contained, piece of plastic which is much easier to swallow (if that makes any sense).