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A jam submission

Falnarion TacticsView game page

An SRPG Reminescent of classic Fire Emblem games.
Submitted by Team Syukino — 11 days, 2 hours before the deadline
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Falnarion Tactics's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
People's Choice Vote#803.1113.111

Ranked from 18 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Team Members
Syu-Syu

Engine
SRPG Studio

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Comments

Submitted (1 edit)

Falnarion Tactics, oh boy. 

I went into this without any huge expectations, since this clearly made in a particularly new engine (SRPG maker). Since I am pretty familiar with SRPG's I had to see what this game has in store for me. 

I am a bit conflicted.

The first battle in a tactical RPG should be pretty straightforward. Easing the player in and getting a feel for the game itself. I immediately see some issues. For one, there are maybe a few too many enemies on the field which drags out the battle rather than make it challenging (which is a trend that continues through the course of the game) and the mapping is much to be desired. Having a protagonist that can one shot enemies isn't the best way of fixing this, especially when I want to utilize my other units and give them time to shine. He can be really strong, but he can not be untouchable. The tutorial feels kinda thrown in there with not too much thought behind it. It just happens and Felm has some playful banter with his 2 other units. Instead of having more enemies, I would slightly lower the stats of the protagonist (just very slightly),  lower the amount of health each enemy unit has but increase their defense,  and just get rid of a few enemies on the map. That way there is still some challenge, but it will not feel as tedious. Since there will be less enemies, I will decrease the size of the map accordingly. I prefer a more closed map rather than a open one for the first battle.

The game has a sense of balance, but it's off in quite a few ways which is unacceptable in an tactical RPG. You got to have most of it balanced to a tee, otherwise the tactics of the game will be thrown out the window due to me abusing a blatant exploit or me losing a unit due to me getting hit to an enemy that has a high ranked weapon that can one shot everyone including Felm (and that would be a mere average unit not a boss unit). 

As the game progresses, I get more enemies thrown at me and even bigger maps for them to be placed in. Every battle I faced thus far has been in really open maps. Which makes battles feel exactly the same except with sightly more powerful units to slaughter and slightly more powerful boss along with it. The battle in Chapter 3 (or Chapter 4) with the large skirmish is reasonable in terms of the map itself and the story going along with it, however, I feel that it is a big battle that should be saved later in the game when there is more build up to it instead of thrown in there relatively fresh into the campaign.  Also, promoted enemy units start popping up at chapter 4. Have higher level basic units, but save the promoted ones for way later in the story (and try to avoid giving them really rare weapons upon introducing them).

Speaking of story, it is totally Fire Emblem inspired. Except it is terribly cheesy in so many regards. From the units, to the story itself. Evil kingdom wants to revive a greater evil to plunge the world into darkness. Why? Because Why not, I guess? It is a guilty pleasure to be honest. I do not hate it, but the writing is painfully cliché and needs work. After all, a strong SRPG needs a strong story to keep me going through the tough battles ahead. 

Also, there's this wonderful gem that made me die from laughter by how cheesy the writing is.


Overall, I have not finished the game and may continue onwards (I know in the comments that you mentioned a patch version on steam that I may check out as well). This is not a bad game,  despite my bashing and criticisms that may say otherwise. An SRPG is not easy to make since there is so much that needs to fall into place so the game play is satisfying and has the story to fortify it. Both of those things, as of now, I faintly feel from your game.

I will keep my eye out on your game and see how it develops. I want this to become an amazing SRPG as a fan of this sub-genre of RPG'S, but also as a fellow game developer that wants to make an SRPG of my own in the future. I wish you luck on your game!

By the way, Luna is best girl in this game next to Ashelo. No question.

Developer (1 edit)

Hello D. Thanks for replying. It is clear you gave the game a try and I appreciate it. I will try my best to answer some of the issues you seem to be having. You mention you want the game to ease the player into it. Yet, you want a challenge at the start. It's a bit like that, but in many fire emblem games. The main protagonist can one shot the bandits. That what I was replicating. Also Momo and Arestol are very powerful late game if you bother to give them tomes and level them up. Also Selten is a bit broken on purpose because all the horseman knights in FE usually are. Also the thing with the maps is this; SRPG Studio needs to have a map of 40x27 at the very least to avoid graphical errors in full screen mode. If it is any smaller it won't fit my 1280x720 resolution and the program can't go into full screen properly. People who use 640x480 (The program's default) do not run into this issue. So the maps are huge and open in order to fix this resolution. This program gives you nothing to decorate with in terms of default assets, so I do what I can. I'll have you know I am not the best at making maps, but my boyfriend is and he made maps for chapters 8,9 and the side quest "The Machinist".  But I did the best I could knowing the map limitations. Felm's stats were lowered over time, so he is stronger, but he can still be killed. The only indestructible units in this game are Selten (early game and against physical units) and Kefaro the boy who transforms into a dragon. Not actually in this build though.  You mention that the game is unbalanced and that it is unacceptable in a tactical rpg. You are forgetting Final Fantasy Tactics one of the best SRPGs of all time. It was unbalanced as hell and thats what made it great. The enemies also in the future do get plentiful, but their stats are increased and pose a huge challenge. I've seen different people play the game and I swear they have a tough time on some missions. But, if you are an experienced player you won't see much of a challenge until chapter 6 where it can be a bit brutalish from then on out. Again chapter 6 isn't in this build.  Lastly the story is supposed to be a bit of a piss take on how fire emblem's story is. I mean, was FE fates really all that great in story? But, regardless that part with Felm ripping off his sleeve was intended to be overly dramatic and unnecessary. If you played my games, some of them are serious, but don't take themselves too seriously sometimes breaking the forth wall.


A few other things to note:

-Promoting doesn't change stats, it just gives you another chance to gain more levels, change your appearance and gain new skills. The only person who gains stats from promoting is Momo if she turns into a Pegasus knight. *Not in this build.*

-The story doesn't start out strong, but definitely picks up after Momo becomes the main character.  I'm not good for a strong start with my stories, but for interesting twists and out of left field turns with strong endings.

-If the game ever gets too challenging for you you can always do the side quests. New ones become available over time and some disappear over time.

-This is my only game where there are so many females, other then the Solenars Edge series. Which is like Fire Emblem in having so many units to manage, but in a turn based JRPG style. I suggest checking them out if you have some time.

-This build is so bad in comparison to the one on Steam I don't really like looking at it lol. But, thank you for playing and I hope you enjoyed yourself.

Submitted (2 edits)

The resolution issue was something I had no idea about, so I will at least give you leeway on that. Also, the default assets being limited in map decoration is something I can also give leeway too. My apologies.

The problem here is that Felm one shots more than just the bandits. He can kill a lot of enemies with one attack. Believe me, I am using Arestol often and is already seeing the effects of his growing strength. Selten is just ridiculous. I like caviler units, but he should not be able to take on an entire army alone without being promoted. Horseman knights are good, but not untouchable. 

Sadly I never played FF Tactics so I will not be able to make a case for it, but that does not mean you should neglect taking the time in refining your games' balancing when it clearly need some tweaks to be made.

Since this is more of a slight parody of FE plots then I can take it less seriously. I was conflicted on whether I should take it lightly or I should take is seriously, so I am glad that cleared things up a bit more for me. Also, we do not speak of FE fates. Unlike your game, their plot was horrendously flawed and tried to take itself too seriously which makes it increasingly painful to sit through (also, Felm is far superior to Corrin as a protagonist). I am unfamiliar of how any of your games work, in terms of plot, so I would not know.

I do not mind side quests, but I try to avoid doing all of them just so I can get the optimal challenge from the campaigns' battles.

I am so used to dealing with a very serious and relatively grounded plot in SRPG's that I forgot that parody plots can coexist as well, so it was a bit of an eye opener.

In short, this opened my eyes to a few new things about your game and I do appreciate your reply. This still does not change the fact that a few fixes should be made, not mandatory but something I highly urge.

Hopefully, I do not sound like an elitist pushing my opinions down your throat. I just really care for your game and want it to be refined and enjoyable as it can be.

Developer (1 edit)

I understand. I do want to point out that the quests aren't exactly made to be optional. Yes they can be, but you will miss out on all sorts of bonusus and extra characters. They are basically paralogues and shouldn't be skipped as they were made first and greatly influence the game and the main story pales in comparison. You can unlock more dialogue options but gaining side characters and doing quests and you can get limited items. You will have many empty character slots in battle if you don't do the quests. Also if you didn't do the quest "Warriors' Way" by chapter 3's ending you will no longer be able to do it ever again. Useful characters such as the machinist Astren who uses a gun and Kefaro who can turn into a dragon and wreck things are side characters. A normal fire emblem game is around 22 chapters. Falnarion Tactics is roughly 12 chapters. There are 27 confirmed side quests. So again when you skip the quests, you are skipping about 60 percent of the game. Also the thing about the combat is that there are so many enemies because the premise is for the battles to go as quick as pokemon fights. Not very effective- low damage. Normal attacks, but find the right counter and it's super effective. Also in the later chapters there will be mages and mage killers. Selten may seem like an unstoppable killing machine, but so was Fredrick from awakening. However, you have him in a room against Necromancers and Soulless casters. He is quickly screwed. That being said things were balanced. In chapter 10 on-wards some enemies will have a weapon called a mage killer. It ignores defense and has crazy range. So if you try to attack from afar it will be able to attack you back. The only tome able to attack someone with the mage killer from a far enough distance is the Helformorium. Also, there are so many weapon redesigns and things that changed since then. I feel like you should play the steam version and if these issues still exist for you I'll gladly take a look.

*Chapters 0-5 are a cake walk as well as the starting quests.

*Chapters 6- 12 are increasingly hard alongside some of the advanced quests.

Submitted (1 edit)

That is kinda odd to have side quests that aren't entirely optional in this case. Also, Frederick was good because he was a strong promoted unit. After a few chapters (especially in the second arc of the game) he starts to be less useful due to enemies simply getting better and him not being able to keep up, all the while I rarely fought mages from that point in the Awakening campaign.

I will just have to take a look at the Steam version to see if things change. I will take all of what you said in consideration and will have a final critique of your game from there. Plus, I am interested in how your game ends...

Edit: Welp... I see that the game is $9.99 to play. As much as I do want to see how it concludes from the IGMC version, I am not willing to spend money on it. It's a shame, but I will respect it. In short, I can only wish you the best of luck in finalizing Falnarion Tactics.

You have something that can be really great, no doubt.

Developer

Just wait until the lunar new year sale~ but yeah the second half of the game doesn't exist in the non steam version. 

Submitted

Wanted to let ya know that I promoted your game, along with my own, on the SRPG Studio Reddit page. I hope your game continues to do well, all the feedback you've been getting seems to be so positive! I will be playing your game soon myself :)

Submitted(+1)

I played through the first few bits of the game, and it is good! :)

Feels like a Fire Emblem game, which seeing as that's the goal, is fantastic. There are some ideas here that I think I should try doing next time I make a game in SRPG Studio, or as I expand the current one. Anyway, fun tactical game. Hope the project does well!

-JS

Developer(+1)

Thank you for that >w<. I also want to point out that during the contest I am unable to update

the build because of the rules, but the version on Steam I feel is like 10x better then this

build. With more original assets and faster fluid animation among several other U.I fixes and

things. I'd suggest playing that version if you want to grasp a major feel for where the game is

heading.

Submitted

No problem!

That makes sense to me, I am sure that the Steam version has only gotten better since you have had time to get feedback and such. I wanted to play this version for the contest and be sure to rate because you made a fun game :) I'll check out the Steam version too though!

-JS

(+2)

your game is amazing. My friend is in the competition and she has never played a game in your engine you used, so she doesn’t know what is rtp or not and her comment to me was this is the game. This is the game that’s going to win. My whole office then watched me play this... take it these are gamers and not developers and they said the same thing. So I have to say for you to achieve that with some rtp Jesus says a lot about how good this game is. When you have the team behind you or more time to work on this, it’s going to be even more incredible than it already is. I think we forget people only had a month. For someone solo putting this work out in a month... damn I can’t  wait to see it when you have more time. Really great job 

Developer(+1)

This comment is refreshing. It's not something I hear a lot. Not something I am used to. It makes me happy. I'm not sure I'd win, that's not the goal. The goal was to just try and get some exposure. I appreciate everything you've said and it puts a smile on my face. Thank you. Whoever wins this contest, I wish them the best of luck. But, if by some chance that I were to win. Everything would be replaced with all original assets.

I don't know what is or isn't default, but I like it. The environment, battles, and story feels very Fire Emblem.

Submitted (1 edit)

A very fun little Fire Emblem clone, although I don't think it's quite ready for Steam yet with all the RTP being used.

nice FE inspiration, love FE games, needs a little polishing, but still enjoyed playing it

Developer

It's in early access right now, so the polish isn't there yet, but working on it!

(+1)

Great game. Normally not into these games at all but i really liked this one!

I'm not sure how to feel about this. The game itself feels like it accomplished what it was going for by being a fire emblem inspired title. It's just little things here and there that kill it for me. I'm not a fan of extremely overpopulated enemies in basically the beginning of the game as i feel like the beginning should serve as a way to ease the player into the gaming experience. Also the dialogue is hard to follow because it alternates between bottom and top with no distinctive pattern. I would just stick to either or. 

Developer

I get what you are saying. The enemies are in a large quantity because there aren't just 5 chapters. The quests are extra chapters that are like paralogues in Fire Emblem. Not all the enemies are too many. Also the fights are mean't to be short and sweet. The main character can practically one shot everyone. If you have too little enemies and a party of one shot characters pretty much. The game will go by very quickly. You won't have a challenge. If you wanted to be eased into the game in the start, do the lvl 1 quests mean't to level your party and get rewards. This game isn't mean't to just skip through all the quests and do just the story. It's not as fun that way. Also, I agree the dialogue can be a bit confusing, however it's easier then just a one window dialogue system where you forget what was said last. Keep in mind the program I am using to make this game was made in August so much of the functions and stuff aren't there.

Submitted

Looks pretty cool, I want to try this!

Submitted(+1)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/974180/Falnarion_Tactics/

Submitted

Couldn't quite make it pass the 2nd battle. Might have a tad bit too many enemies on that one considering it's just the 2nd fight. Loved the battle system. Hoping there's perma-death and it affects the story. Can't wait for the whole thing!

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

The side quests not only expand your gameplay, but make the main story easier by giving you great equipment and bonus points to level up your characters. They are definately a good thing to fall back on if you cannot beat the main story. Not to mention gold and exp by killing enemies.

Submitted

fair enough! i'll give it another go later on :) looks promising! any perma-death in the game?

Developer(+1)

Earlier on, the chapters prevent perma death for the main characters.

The side characters whom you get from quests or the main story-line can be killed

during missions and you can revive them with an item. This item is a finite source.

Once the item is gone forever, you will no longer be able to use that unit. Resulting in perma-death.

Some characters can again only get injured in the beginning and if Felm dies, it's an instant game over.

If you want an updated version of this game where it's a bit easier yet still challenging and has more content and stat changes.

I suggest buying the game right now on steam. Please note it's in early access and a work in progress, but I will not be updating the game here on Itch.io anymore. The demo was for the game jam only.  Please have a nice day~

fyi on my pc, avira's giving me a false positive. (HEUR/APC) 

Developer

Sometimes the Antivirus will do this especially Avast. It's annoying. But rest assured I have no idea how to make a virus nor do I want to.