Fire Emblem game with a branching plot and a variable main character

[Topaz Light]

Heya!

So, I've been tossing around this idea for a while now, and I wanted to try to gather feedback on the general concept to see how people feel about it.

Basically, a Fire Emblem game wherein the plot branches somewhat depending on what you do at certain points. It wouldn't be anything as boring as a bland ol' "good/evil route" dichotomy, though.

An example of what I have in mind would be, say, there's a chapter where the protagonists are caught in a pincer attack between two armies. This chapter would effectively have three clear conditions; kill Boss A, kill Boss B, or flee from them and escape. There could even be a fourth, if you're able to successfully Rout all enemies. (Although I realize you'd need to set both bosses on Seize tiles and have those be the victory catalysts rather than simply killing them to make this work, shhhh.) Depending on which victory condition you fulfilled, you'd proceed to a different chapter afterward.

Obviously, the branches would have to be somewhat limited and there may only be one with that many possibilities in the entire game, due to chapter slot limitations, but that's generally the sort of thing I'm going for. Additionally, on the subject of such chapter slot limitations, each playthrough of the game would probably only be around 15~20 chapters long; maybe less, even. Due to the chapters being fewer in number, however, my plan was to make each chapter denser to compensate, with bigger maps and more content in general than your average official GBAFE map at an equivalent point in the story. (Don't worry, though; I am very aware of the threats of fake longevity and difficulty, and will be as vigilant as I can about avoiding them!) There would also, of course, be multiple potential endings. And some sidequests.

On top of this, I had also planned to allow the player to pick which of the game's "Lords" they wanted to follow as the central character. This choice affects the player's starting point, as well as having some chapters and characters exclusive to certain protagonists due to being reliant on choices made before they all meet up. Depending on how the plot pans out, the route of the third and final "Lord" may or may not need to be unlocked by clearing the game once with each of the other two "Lords" selected as the central character.

Ideally, I want as many of the choices as possible (preferably all of them) to be made not through menu prompts, but through the player's actions in gameplay. For example, no beating a boss in gameplay and then choosing to spare them. Kill them in gameplay, that's it. They're dead. If you wanna spare them, you need to clear the chapter without killing them (which would be made possible if sparing them was to be an option).

I'm also considering having branching promotions in the game. Unlike in the non-Fates official Fire Emblem games, these would be extended to the "Lords" as well; each Lord would have three potential promotions, one for each of the three weapon types they didn't initially start out with. For example, a Lord using Bows would be able to pick up Swords, Lances, or Axes as they promote, while a Dark Magic-using Lord would be able to pick up Anima, Light, or Staves. Which promotion path each "Lord" would go down would very likely depend upon the decisions one had made prior to that point in the story, as they would probably all be plot-based event promotions, no matter who was selected as the central character.

I'd be really interested in hearing what people think of this! I'm rather fond of the idea, personally, but I'm open to hearing others' opinions and criticisms of it. Any suggestions? Anything I should look out for? Any (constructive) feedback at all, really? Don't be afraid to let me know; I'd love to hear it!

Edited December 17, 2016 by Topaz Light

[Alex95]

This is pretty much how I thought Fates was originally going to go, minus the "choose a lord" bit. Though it'd be nice to see that return from Sacred Stones.

[Eliwan]

This is what "meaningful choices" means.

Do great things with this; because it certainly deserves to exist completed.

:O

[soren_]

This sounds great to me. Really like the "multiple potential endings" idea. :^)

[Avril Lavigne]

I thought of doing this, to be honest. However, the work that needs to be put into that kind of thing could potentially be insane. There are so many things to consider, but don't let that discourage you! I love the idea of a hack like this, it gives a massive amount of replay value to it and definitely could give players a fun run. It's an unconventional hack that I'm sure some people would love to see. I know I would jump right on that! Doesn't matter if the routes are all short, I still think it would be fun if there are spaced out, well-paced, and obviously interesting chapters involved. The concept has some great potential.

[Enaluxeme]

You can have chapters in common between routes to cheat on the limit.

It would be cool if lord promotions were also not choosen by menu prompt. By the way, 3 classes for each lord seems excessive to me, 2 is probably enough.

All in all, I think thiss will never be due to the great amount of work it would require... Still, I hope I'm wrong, good luck.